Jocelyn Curry

Art & Joie de Vivre

Drawing Group Goes International: Vancouver, BC

November 23, 2025

Did I need a deep plunge into a new blog site, right when such a time-consuming challenge really didn’t fit into my crowded calendar? The answer, no surprise, is “no” but at least I was able to navigate the mind-befuddling process of transferring the data from my old platform to this new, AI-enhanced version of good ol’ WordPress. My previous experience of working on good ol’ WordPress wasn’t stellar, so I’m hoping to improve my relationship with it asap. So far I have been able to upload my seasonally appropriate squash painting! But now, HOW do I get rid of “Hello World!” which was placed there by Good Ol. I’m not sure about this, but I think Good Ol’s default tips will stay on this, my First Post until I figure out how to discretely remove them without being told “This is not a good idea.” At least I got my squash up on this new site for your viewing pleasure! Happy Thanksgiving :-).

The three of us itching to have a little adventure, we decided to ride the rails to Vancouver, BC in May. There was no shortage of points of interests on our lists: we visited the Vancouver Art Gallery, Stanley Park, Granville Island, and the Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden before walking from there back to the grand Pacific Central Station for our swift return to Edmonds, WA. Sketching the sights was not the main aim of this trip, so while we each did a bit of it while in Vancouver, here are three finished pen, ink and watercolor sketches completed after we returned home:

Sylvia

The iconic Sylvia Hotel at the edge of Stanley Park was where we lodged. Not only that, but it was an early childhood home of one of our members! Her father was a toddler while living here when the Sylvia was an apartment building. And it was this member who was the one courageous enough to draw it.

 

 

Vancouver sketch

After we finished a general tour of the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden we took a few photos and then headed out into Chinatown to find a lunch spot. Once home, I focused on this one building in the series of structures that created the enclosed courtyard. In all of our sketches, the main challenge was what to render and what to merely suggest.
 
 
IMG_1321

The Sun Yat-Sen Garden made news here in Seattle when it was being constructed in the 1980's. Thus, we all wanted to tour it. A serene gem in the heart of Vancouver, the garden inspired this composed journal page.
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