Congressional Cemetery Sketchcrawl

Showers of rain drops dissolved the water based ink in this sketch. I liked the effect it had on the linesso I kept working through the shower.

Patrick Crowley took us on a tour of the cemetery including a look in one of the 150 year old vaults . That added so much to the experience to hear the history and see some of the hidden places. 

Fellow sketcher Robin M. seated among the graves. 

Two vaults recently restored still waiting for sod to cover the vaulted roofs. 

Public Vault had roses and sedum blooming and sat under a nice red Japanese Maple tree. Former first lady Dolley Madison rested here for five years while funds were raised to take her home to be buried with her family.  

First sketch was the wrought iron gate sign that was knocked down by a dump truck too large to pass under it's delicate iron arch. 

Congressional Cemetery

A bunch of us were itching for another sketchcrawl, so we gathered up at Congressional Cemetery (near the Stadium Armory Station) this past weekend. We started by getting an extremely interesting tour of the grounds from former chairman of the board of the Cemetery Preservation Association & sketcher himself, Patrick Crowley. We had a great overview of the grounds, peaked into a vault or two and learned quite a bit about the cemetery and DC history. Elbridge Gerry (see: gerrymandering) John Philip Sousa and J. Edgar Hoover are just a few of the guests on the grounds. While it's not as grand or well known as Arlington National Cemetery, its absolutely lovely and worth a visit. With an absolute over abundance of subject matter to tackle.

After our tour I began the sketch of a burial vault, and managed to halfway finish it before being interrupted by the rain. Now some of the other sketchers braved the rain better than I and made some beautiful work, but not I. So I took a break and walked around a bit, searching for a beautiful little statue Patrick pointed out on our tour. "Marie Estelle Krachmar" caught my eye with her broken legs, eroded surface (marble is vulnerable to acid rain) and the fact that everyday someone puts a coin in her lap. So I began sketching her when a there came a lull in the rain. That lull was short though, and ultimately I had to finish both sketches at home, but the group has talked about coming back on a sunnier day that may be more conducive to sketching outdoors. I'm looking forward to it.