Secret Pockets and icons

So many times when I get to the Seattle Urban Sketcher's monthly sketch outing I feel the pressure to find something quickly to focus on and start! I hear the voice of those monkeys that follow me around, "You only have 2 and a half hours and you've got to produce something." 

So last Sunday I decided to take an easier pace, walk around, scope out the place.  So I started drawing a walking map, something I've never done. I got half way down the path when I noticed a little path I'd never seen before. And there sat hi-tech chrome plated frames tipped at different angles, Perre's Ventaglio III by Beverly Pepper. The frames sit in the middle of a walking path surrounded by plants and trees. I just liked the contrasts -- natural greenery/chrome; organic shapes/geometric rectangles; light/shadow. 

Then, with another hour to go, the map idea forgotten, I decided to sketch an icon--the Typewriter Eraser, Scale X by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen.  The shadows were really strong that morning making the eraser all the more dramatic. 

 It was a beautiful day - a tribute to a beautiful summer. 

Walla Walla for Labor Day

We drove across the mountains for Labor Day weekend to visit relatives in the Tri-cities and Walla Walla. Walla Walla has a long history and some interesting historical architecture. The wine boom has transformed downtown and boosted the local economy adding interesting upscale shops, tasting rooms, and restaurants 

The blue mountains above Walla Walla offer a vast array of subtly different shades of gold and green. The broad open sky is like a big aaahhhhh.

 I stopped on the gravel road and did this very quick sketch because of the colors. 

In town the sidewalk cafes were full of visitors and locals. Lot's of tasting rooms line the streets, but this one section of Main Street is lined with outdoor seating. 

The Die Bruke (bridge) building sits on the busiest corner of downtown. and according to the walking tour of downtown Walla Walla, it is so named because it spans Mill Creek which runs through downtown emerging just next to where I was sitting. Starbucks sits on the other side of the street adding to the pedestrian traffic. Students with parents in tow were just arriving in town for the opening of the fall session at Whitman. 

 I did a quick Google search to learn about the Die Bruke and found Jim Bumgarner's sketch on flickr among the first in Google's links.