USk International Symposium Pity Party at Toulouse Petit

On July 17, we at USk Seattle had ourselves a little pity party since we weren't in Toulouse, France for the 2026 USk International Symposium ... but actually, in the words of Jenny, "It's not a pity party. It's a celebration!" Temps were in the 70s under clear skies, the NOLA food and USk company were fantastic, the ambience at Toulouse Petit in lower Queen Anne was perfect, and it was breakfast happy hour - with French press coffee and beignets so we had no complaints!  

(Apologies to Leanne and Jenny. I don't know why this app sucks these photos in sideways, and I don't know how to fix it! Still, I'd rather have you in here sideways than not at all. 😅)

The cherry on top was our wait staff Kathy-with-a-K's reaction to appearing in my sketch. 🤣🤣 So I traded it for a contribution to World Central Kitchen!

Kruckeberg Botanic Garden: Cool and Green and Shady

We stayed nice and cool on this hot July day down in the wooded vale of Kruckeberg Botanic Garden in Shoreline (open Thursday- Sumday, in case you want to check it out!).

What a gorgeous place to do some art! I feel so refreshed after time out with The Gang (aka USk Seattle ) at @kruckeberg_botanic garden in Shoreline, about a half hour north of downtown Seattle. Definitely got my forest bathing🌲🌲🌲 in.

Richard Merz Reports on Sketcher Fest

 USk Seattle member Richard Merz offers his impressions of Sketcher Fest on his website. Shown here are some of his sketches made during and before the July 11-12 event in Edmonds. 

Edmonds Summer Market 

Alex Hollmann gives a workshop demo

Elizabeth and Mary Beth Person greet visitors at their Sketchbook Fair table

Elizabeth and Kumi enjoy sketching on the Ice Cream Cruise

Sketcher Fest, Day 2: Waterfront, Artist Talk, Sketchbook Fair

 

7/12/26 Olympic Beach sketch walk

For the fourth year, Mountlake Terrace High School Jazz Band gave sketchers great
music to sketch by outside the Edmonds Waterfront Center.

As artist liaison, my primary responsibility on Day 2 was to support Kumi during the Sketchbook Fair and her artist talk and document both with photos and videos. In between, I snuck in a few sketches during USk Seattle’s waterfront sketch walk and during Kumi’s lunch break when I staffed her table. I also remembered to make a sketch on the reverse side of my badge – a Sketcher Fest tradition!

While staffing Kumi's table, I sketched the crowds surrounding artists at tables across from me. The people drawn in white are the artists.

Making a quick spin around the Sketchbook Fair, I was dazzled by the stellar lineup of urban sketcher artists who generously shared their sketchbooks. I wish I’d had a week in there to look through each sketchbook closely. Alas, it was only quick hellos and glances through a few pages. (Shown at end of post are just a few of the artists I managed to snap before their tables were surrounded by admiring fans.)

Kumi's presentation focused on how her connections with people gave her many opportunities along her art career path.

Finally, I also took a bit of time to view USk Seattle’s very own exhibit of sketchbooks. I was honored and thrilled for my book to be alongside those of all my admired artist friends (below).

My sketchbook was part of an exhibit by USk Seattle members.

I sketched Olympic Beach on the reverse side
of my volunteer badge -- a Sketcher Fest tradition.

Kumi wore a traditional Japanese "festival" jacket
for her presentation and at the Sketchbook Fair.

Eleanor Doughty

Nishant Jain

Paul Madonna and Amy Stewart

Swasky

Andika Murandi

Kumi Matsukawa

Sketcher Fest, Day 1: Market Sketch Walk and Kumi’s Workshop

 

7/11/26 Edmonds Summer Market

After a year of planning and anticipation, Sketcher Fest 2026 was finally on! As an event partner, USk Seattle led three free Sketch Walks throughout the weekend. First up was Saturday morning at the Edmonds Summer Market. I was so busy chatting with other sketchers I bumped into that I didn’t have much time to sketch, but I didn’t mind – meeting friends I hadn’t seen in a year or more is one of the most important parts of participating in an event like Sketcher Fest.

I had to miss the throwdown to get on with my main responsibility of the day: Serving as volunteer liaison for guest artist Kumi Matsukawa. As I had mentioned previously, I’ve been a fan and friend of Kumi for years, and when I heard she would be a guest artist this year, I immediately volunteered to be her liaison. Using markers and other materials in varying colors Kumi showed her hard-working students how to “wink and squint” (her term for using one eye to measure proportions and squinting to block out details) their way to stronger, more confident sketches. 

Kumi Matsukawa's workshop

Registering Kumi's workshop participants (photo by Kumi)

My job as liaison was to register participants, take lots of photos for promotional use by Sketcher Fest and the instructor, and generally assist Kumi and her students during the workshop as needed. I was exhausted by the end of the day, but it was inspiring to watch Kumi teach and rewarding to help a sketcher I have long admired.

Kumi describing her unique process to students

Hosting guests at Ballard Locks

We met at the Hiram Chittenden Locks in the Ballard neighborhood. We had several visitors from away who are here to attend Sketcher Fest.

I wandered around a lot, undecided about what to sketch. I've been there a few times and was looking for something new to sketch...that was also in the shade! I settled on a shady bench with a view of one of the buildings partially blocked by a blossoming bush. The venue had two stamps, which I added to the upper left. 

 

At the throw down we were a large group.

 

Concert Truck

The Seattle Chamber Music Society is sending a Concert Truck to parks around the area. There is a single piano but 2 or 3 musicians playing a variety of music.

We met today at Coulon Park for performances by Andrew Armstrong, Jeewon Park, and Susan Zhang. They played Gershwin, Bernstein, Barber. Not to my taste. But the piano four-hands rendition of Starts and Stripes Forever (Sousa) was surprisingly good. Jeewon Park did a good job of that famous piccolo solo.

 

We had our group photo in front of the truck.

Then we were asked to come around to the back to show our sketches to the musicians. They were very happy to see them. Andrew said it made his week!

 

A New 4th Tradition

 

7/3/26 Old Stove Brewery Gardens, Ballard neighborhood

A typical weather pattern lately, the overcast morning gave way to sunny skies by late afternoon for USk Seattle’s drink & draw. We met this time at Old Stove Brewery Gardens in Ballard, which was the location of a drink & draw on the same occasion last year: the day before the 4^th of July holiday.

I usually write more observations or overheard dialog on these types of pages, but I was too busy with good conversations this time!

With good conversation over brews (and my grilled corn on the cob) under (mostly) shaded tables, we thought we were a small turnout. Halfway through, we discovered a bunch more sketchers inside the brew pub, where they had been viewing a World Cup match. Our group turned out to be much larger than we realized at first! By the time of our throwdown, the match was over, so everyone came outside.

It was a fun way to kick off (did you see what I did there with a sports mixed metaphor?) the holiday weekend. And now that we’ve done it for two consecutive years, it’s a tradition, right?

Have a safe holiday!