State Fairs Near and Far

Visiting artist Cathy Tenzo sketches at the Minnesota State Fair Sketch Out and at her own state fair. Click on the image to view an enlargement. Image ©2015 Cathy Tenzo, used with permission.

We had a great Seventh Minnesota State Fair Sketch Out this year. Local artists made a return visit to sketch and share their sketches with all of us—and while it was a hot day, it was mild compared to some we have faced with our sketchbooks and little shade!

This year we also had a few visitors from out of state. One of those visitors was Cathy Tenzo. She lives in the Seattle area. She learned about the sketch out through my class in the "Beginning" session of Sketch Book Skool—Drawing Animals. (I did go on and on about how wonderful the Minnesota State Fair is!)

Cathy used to live in Minnesota. This year she took a trip back here to visit friends. She was able to time her trip to coincide with the sketch out. She wrote about her experiences at the sketch out in a blog post.

 “I love color,” Cathy said to me, as she was showing me her sketches at the meeting. She loves to use vibrant colors that capture the moment as she feels it. Realistic colors aren't what she's after. She's working in the moment and experimenting. You can see all her sketches of animal, people, and buildings at the link above. It was great to meet Cathy. I hope she can make it back here next year!

Her adventures for the summer didn’t end with the Minnesota State Fair Sketch Out, however. After returning home to Washington, Cathy made a trip to her state’s fair, called “the Puyallup” because it is held in Puyallup, Washington. You can see sketches from that sketch outing on her blog at this link.

There was no bird flu epidemic in Washington State, so those fairgoers enjoyed something we couldn’t enjoy this year—BIRDS, and of course the sketching of birds. Check out Cathy's bird sketches at that link. Thanks to Cathy we can all enjoy a little dose of bird cuteness this year, without having to travel out of state!

Whether you live 200 feet from the Minnesota State Fair Grounds or you came from far away, like Cathy, have you taken a moment to scan and post your sketches from this year's Fair? Perhaps you’ve posted them on the Facebook group? Remember you can post them here as well. Let’s show your work to all the folks that weren’t able to make it to the meeting!

(And yes, I’ll be posting some of my sketches soon. 

My scanner died at the most inopportune time.)

I want to thank everyone who came out on September 1, 2015 for the Minnesota State Fair Sketch Out. This is my last sketch out (that I’m organizing). It was great to see you all, and to see the lovely work you created on the spot.

I’m looking forward to next year’s Eighth Minnesota State Fair Sketch Out. Local artist Marty Harris will be taking over the organization of the sketch outs. I’ll be sure to direct you to new info as it’s available.

I look forward to seeing you all next year, in the barns of course—the poultry barn I hope!