Summertime means I am at the Farmers market at least once a week. And summer starts early where I live so Mother’s Day was warm enough for me to spend a good part of morning drawing in the market.
Gustine’s Gourmet Mushrooms was my first stop. I let Michael pick me a small mixed bag of mushrooms while we chat or I sketch.
Since I walk around and sketch while I shop, I buy stuff and then just leave it with the sellers until I’m done with sketching, then I gather it all up. Gomez farms has the best strawberries and they’re just a 20 minute drive south of me, so the berries are super fresh. I learn a lot as I hang around and sketch. The farm stand is full of HUGE strawberries, but customers in the know come by and ask for boxes of smaller, sweeter ones.
An important tent, but one many people overlook is the one with the market managers. It’s the stall where you can go grab a coffee or a lemonade for free. When it’s hot, I hang out there and sketch while i down a lemonade.
Right by them is the flower stand. Only on Mother’s Day do you see so many men queue up for flowers. One complained that they cost a lot more than usual. “Mother’s Day” Gregorio replied, smiling and shrugging his shoulders.
California Bakeshop‘s breads were what I took home that morning.
And before I left, I made a trip to the Mango Blossom Apiary honey stand. I love their dark honey, and they always throw in a few honey sticks when you buy a bottle.
That was my Mother’s Day morning. I’ve been back many times since and I try to pick a slightly different focus every time I sketch there.
This week, I hung around two tasting areas, enjoying people-watching while I sketched.
There will be a lot more sketches from the market over this summer, and maybe I’ll try and get my kids to come along and shoot some footage of the sketches in progress to share with you.
Sketch Away: Travels with my sketchbook 