Not-So-Festive in Wallingford

 

12/7/25 Fuel Coffee, Wallingford neighborhood

Wallingford Center used to be a thriving retail center housed in the historic Interlake Elementary School building. It’s been going downhill for a while now with fewer and fewer shops and cafes, but USk Seattle has met there nearly every winter because the interior is spacious, cozy and, around the holidays, festive.

Sadly, we were disappointed to find that it wasn’t even decorated this year. Since I’ve sketched there numerous times, I took a walk through the Wallingford neighborhood to find an alternative. Fuel Coffee has window seating looking out on a strip of quintessential Wallingford buildings, so I settled in there with a Cortado. Patrons around me were having interesting conversations that I couldn’t help overhearing. A new pastime: urban eavesdropping. 😉

Meanwhile, most other sketchers found plenty to sketch inside and outside Wallingford Center, festive or not!

Sketchers Give Life to Empty Wallingford Center

 

3/23/25 Wallingford Center

Even before the pandemic, Wallingford Center was a reliable but quiet mainstay for USk Seattle during the wet, cold months. If the weather cooperated, we had all of the Wallingford neighborhood to explore. If not, the Center’s cozy historic building kept us comfortable. After the pandemic, it never really recovered, but at least we had Trophy Cupcakes to keep us caffeinated and sugared. Unfortunately, Trophy recently closed, so there’s not much left there except a couple of retail shops and one restaurant. It’s a good thing we sketchers showed up this morning to liven up the otherwise ghost town vibe!

Although a few hardy souls sketched in the cold drizzle, I opted for the warm and comfy. Wallingford Center has enough window views that I could still capture one of the neighborhood’s classic bungalows, trees and street furniture. I also got snippets of the few remaining retail spots and some other sketchers, of course.

A great turnout in an otherwise empty space!

Warm and Dry at Wallingford Center

 

12/9/23 Wallingford Center

View of N. 45th Street from Chocolati

“All-day rain, 100% precipitation” said my weather app. Ya think? For once, it was accurate. Despite the downpour outside, USk Seattle stayed dry inside Wallingford Center, which has become a winter mainstay for us. Although it’s technically a retail center, it’s deserted all year round, even during the holidays. Nicely decorated with trees, wreaths and stockings, it was quiet except for the music, and we enjoyed having the place to ourselves.

Before settling in there, though, I took a short, soggy walk through the Wallingford business district and then ducked into Chocolati, which makes the best mochas in town. Grabbing a great window seat, I sketched the buildings across the street and a man in the opposite window seat (at left and below).

Fellow patron at Chocolati

Nourished by the mocha, I made my way back to Wallingford Center and wandered around a bit. I don’t usually attempt large, interior views because I don’t want to work on all that perspective, but I thought I’d give it a shot this time (top of post). Without getting fussy with measurements, I just eyeballed the perspective and focused on values. Despite the obvious complementaries, I’ve never blended red and green together this way, but the color mixing I’ve been learning with watercolors has made me more adventurous with watercolor pencils, too. Ho, ho, ho – a festive combo!

Winter is coming

We  met at Wallingford center this morning. The weather was crisp and bright.  

I did my first sketch indoors.  While there were Christmas decorations up in the building, I was still in a pumpkin mood and not done using my orange. 

 

Next I sat outside the hardware store.  It was small but very well stocked.  Displayed outside was a selection of shovels to remind us that Winter is Coming.  

 We were about 25 sketchers today. At least one person is missing from the group photo.

Wallingford Center: For the Hardy, Hardcore or Cozy

 

11/19/22 Wallingford Center behind trees

Located inside the restored Interlake Public School building, Wallingford Center is a spacious retail and business venue that was originally built in 1908. Now on the National Register of Historic Places, it’s an ideal winter meetup location for USk Seattle because it offers shelter if the weather is bad and an old surrounding neighborhood if the weather is hospitable. On a brilliantly sunny but cold Saturday, a strong turnout of urban sketchers bundled up for the morning, though I must say that not many were hardy (or hardcore) enough to sketch outdoors.

Taekwondo Institute building

Chilled the whole time, even while standing in the sun, I’m not sure I qualify as hardy, so I must be hardcore. I started out with a sketch of an old building at the corner of North 45^th and Burke Avenue North, which is currently the home of the Taikwondo Institute (at right). The building is actually blue and yellow, neither of which I have in my secondary triad palette, so I looked at it as a study in cool and warm by using dark violet and orange.

Needing to warm up, I went inside Wallingford Center, where the majority of sketchers had smartly and comfortably settled in. I think some of the center’s boutique shops didn’t survive the pandemic; I saw several shuttered spots and not many shoppers. In fact, I saw almost no one besides sketchers! At the end of one corridor, I found a beautiful, quarter-round-shaped window in the wall between the main hall and a stairwell. It was just the kind of thing I like to take on with a small value study.

Inside Wallingford Center

After that short break, I put my down parka and gloves back on to venture outdoors for one more sketch. The entrance of Wallingford Center with columns was mostly in shade, but from across the street, I got a good view of the airy, orange tree in front (top of post). I wanted to be sure to get the open panel truck, so I put that in first, and sure enough, it drove off shortly thereafter.

The hardy...

... and the cozy!

Not exactly mobbed with shoppers.

Catching Up

I've been taking my Gage students around town for a couple of years now. Wallingford Center has plenty of seating and several different vantage points for interesting and cluttered views.

This was sketched under the awning at Cloud City, though a few stray drops blew in at an angle as I was finishing up.

My class has drawn at Suzzallo Library many times. With so many obvious verticle and horizontal lines, it's not my favorite location, but it's helpful for beginning students to have such clear structural landmarks.

There's a new Grand Central on 45th, so Donna and I sat outside with Tessa, a friend's dog she was dog-sitting.

This is on the second floor of King Street Station. There's a new gallery on the third floor, but no wet media is allowed, so I can't do my ink washes up there.

Two views on 45th street. I wanted to capture the old Guild before it's gone. The parking lot ticket booth was demolished the day after I drew it. You gotta be quick to capture our quickly changing cityscape!

A Great Turnout at the Wallingford Center

We had a terrific turnout of about 22-24 people to sketch at the Wallingford Center today. Guest hosts Kathleen Keckler and myself (Sue Heston) managed to herd 18 down to the central staircase for the group photo, but I know we lost a few on the way! There were also 5 or 6 new and newish sketchers, so Welcome!
It was a chilly morning, not quite drizzling, but several people sketched outside anyway. I settled on this view of the main entrance with it's graphic white columns and black trim. Those doors lead directly into Trophy - a decadent cupcake shop which several of us got lured into. Don't say you weren't warned!

Just remembered about posting. Better late than never?