Pike's Place Market

In the past, I have posted paintings from my travel to Seattle. It was a city that really captured my imagination. My time there was marked by relaxed evenings sipping wine on a balcony in Capital Hill, adventuring to the Ballard neighborhood to check out Seattle's cupcake selection, making an excursion to Bainbridge Island, and exploring tourist favorites, like Pike's Place. This postcard painting (literally) was made sitting in a coffee shop adjacent to the market and mailed across the country. The painting's recipient recently sent me a digital copy of this forgotten image. There is a certain desirable quality to this sketch-like painting, a quality sometimes elusive in my typically controlled painting style.

20. Seattle Sunset

A little over three years ago, I moved from Baltimore to rural west Alabama. I spent a week between the two places in Seattle with my sister. The trip evolved from what had initially been planned as a road trip from Alaska to Kansas City in a Volvo coupe circa 1964. When the over-ambition of that trip, in light of time constraints, became apparent, it was scaled back to a delightful week spent in Seattle. This painting was made from a photograph we took on the first evening of our trip. As we explored the area near to where we were staying, in Seattle's Capital Hill neighborhood, I was totally delighted by this image of the sunset with the space needle and the water in the distance. I was interested as I made this painting at the amount of information, which can be conveyed with a simple painting: a wash for the sky and monochrome outlines of objects.

9. Public Market, Seattle

In the summer of 2006, I spent a week in Seattle and found the city to be extraordinary. I really enjoyed exploring the various corners of the city and staying at a bed and breakfast in Capital Hill. The city's proximity to the water is certainly an asset. It is no wonder tourists flock to the public market, near to the water's edge. In undertaking a series of "sign paintings" I've been primarily drawn to images with which I have a familiarity and nostalgia. With this image, I've indulged in the nostalgia of a relaxing vacation and imagination of the pleasure of living in a place like Seattle.