Rain in the Chinese Garden

A small group of Seattle Urban Sketchers met with visiting Australian artist Jane Blundell this afternoon for an ad hoc outing at the Chinese Garden.  I was relieved I'd picked the Chinese Garden rather than the Japanese Garden as we needed the shelter provided there.  It rained off and on all afternoon.

Despite that, I managed to get my sketches done in between the periods of rain.  When we were last here in April, I sketched the full side view of this sculpture.  Today I thought I'd try another view of "The Dragon Seeker". 



A carp becomes a dragon.... this is the "Dragon Seeker" sculpture.  According to traditional Chinese tale, a carp that could leap the high falls of the Yellow River at Dragon Gate (near Longmen, Zhejiang) would be transformed into a dragon.  This Dragon Seeker was made in Thailand over 100 years ago. More recently, a Seattle couple had it in their garden in Kuala Lumpur.  When they returned to Seattle, they donated him to the Chinese Garden.

I sat under a stand of bamboo for this view of the backside of the Garden structure.



Kathy beat the rain with a large umbrella!



We shared our sketches and had the group photo.   The Dragon Seeker was popular today. 




Kate, Adriane, Joyce, Marian, Kathy; Jane Blundell (kneeling).