The French Confection in Sandy Spring

The French Confection Bakery, oils on canvasboard, 14" x 11." Contact artist for price.

Driving towards Olney for the second weekend of the Olney Plein Air the day was gorgeous: clear blue sky, a warm sun chasing away the morning chill. It was also the date of Highland Days, a festival at a tiny community along the way where Herb and I like to shop at Boarman's, an old-fashioned country grocery that has been there forever. Boarman's was decked out with a great display of pumpkins, mums and scarecrows on an old hay wagon--I wished I could paint it for the Olney Plein Air, but it was not one of our locations, so I stopped briefly to take some photos for future reference.

We lived in Sandy Spring for seventeen years, but in all those years I'd never painted anything of the town (I was not into plein air painting in those days), and I wanted to paint something of our old hometown. Part of the problem is, the place isn't exactly scenic: Sandy Spring consists of a post office and a collection of old storefronts, most of them very plain if not ramshackle.

Elena drawing in Sandy Spring

The French Confection is housed in what used to be the old Sandy Spring fire station. After the fire department moved to newer, larger quarters, the old building stood vacant for some time and then the bakery, originally in the Olney shopping center, moved here. They remodelled, installed an awning and created a small patio area in the front, embellishing it with potted plants, that gives the place a much-needed touch of charm.

The French Confection's creations have been favorites of ours for years. Since we had ordered a chocolate Chambord cake for Herb's birthday from them earlier in the week that we had agreed to pick up in the afternoon, what better location to paint?

The architecture was a challenge--I worked on the drawing for quite a while (Herb stopped by & took the photos of me while I was working). I started to paint, and after a while was so oblivious to everything else except my painting, that I never even noticed Herb walking by when he came back to pick up the cake! Afterwards I ate my lunch at one of the little tables in front and then went on to a different location for my afternoon painting.