Recognized in Georgetown

 We met to sketch the garden walk in the Georgetown neighborhood of Seattle. We've been doing so since 2015.

It was too hot for me but the gardens were mostly shaded. It was gratifying that other attendees recognized us as "the sketchers" who come every year and were happy to see us!

I wandered around but there was either not room enough or too much sun in the gardens I liked.  I finally settled down to sketch alongside Joseph near the street but in deep shade with a little cooling breeze.  We sketched a bit of garden there that wasn't even part of the event. 

We met back in Oxbow Park where some sketched the Hat and Boots.  There were a few first-timers plus one visitor from Urban Sketchers Los Angeles.

...and the kitchen sink

As we have for the past several non-pandemic years, we met to sketch the Georgetown Garden Walk.  There were so many options I did more looking than I did sketching.  It's a problem.  

One of the gardens I visit every year is that big Victorian house across from Oxbow park.  It's known as the "Georgetown Castle".  The gardeners are Lynda, Micah, and Debbie.  It seems every nook and cranny is stuffed with plants and things collected.  I liked this scene on a side walk...bamboo and a sink! 

We met back at Oxbow Park, which is also home to the "Hat and Boots", a former gas station road side attraction.

Back in Georgetown

 

7/10/22 Oxbow Park in Georgetown

Although it’s not too far, I rarely sketch in Georgetown except with USk Seattle. After a two-year pandemic hiatus, the (normally) annual Georgetown Garden Walk was back on this year – and we lucked out with a gorgeous day.

My blog shows me that I have sketched the historic Hat ‘n’ Boots at Oxbow Park at least three times – why not a fourth? My only regret is that the few people in the park didn’t seem to want to walk close enough to the boots to put them in for scale.

After that, I spent more time walking than sketching (the public restroom was quite a trek), so I had time for only a couple of quick ones: a clock tower covered with scaffolding and a busy view of the Interstate 5 bridge with lots of the horizontal and vertical lines I love. It was good to be back in Georgetown, especially with USk Seattle!

Fifth Year

This was Urban Sketchers Seattle's fifth time sketching the Georgetown Garden Walk. Sometimes I walk many of the gardens. This year my knee was hurting so I stayed close to Oxbow Park, our throw-down location.

There were quite a few sketchers at the throw down.






I remember this flutist from last year. I couldn't quite finish the sketch before they were finished. I got the figures drawn and painted and then did the structures around them after they left.  The woman is playing bowls which made a very meditative sound. They were in the shade of the Hat portion of the famous Hat and Boots.



The oldest, continuously operating grocery store in Seattle is no more. A baker and cake shop is in the location now. But I sketched the overgrown garden. While there, the former grocery operator came down the steps from the second floor. I engaged him in conversation... basically, they retired. They own the building and now rent out the shop space. They still live above, though, along with the 14 year old pug who used to hang out in front of the grocery. And keep a garden.  

Hat and Boots - Vestiges from the Fabulous 50's

For the first time in a few months I joined Seattle Urban Sketchers on their Sunday sketch outing. And for the third year we've hit the Georgetown Garden tour. Those earlier visits had me at the Georgetown Trailer Park. This year, however, I was determined to get over to the infamous Hat and Boots at Oxbow Park. Created in 1954 for a Georgetown gas station, the historic landmark, was billed as the largest had and boots in America.

First I did a quickish thumbnail:

And then tried pencil and watercolor. 

Fun to be back with the group.

Sketching Vehicles at a Garden Walk

Urban Sketchers Seattle met to sketch the for the Georgetown Garden Walk 3rd year in a row. It was also just a few days before our 8th anniversary as the fist sketch outing in Seattle was on July 19, 2009.

After the 10 am meeting, I parked at Oxbow park. My intention was to make my way south and east as other years I've gone the opposite direction to find open gardens. But an open teardrop trailer across the street immediately distracted me.  I've recently developed an interest in these tiny trailers so I just had to investigate. 

I found young Hannah there selling cupcakes and other baked treats to raise money for Endangered Wild Cats. And I met her mother, Brie. I learned the tiny teardrop was home built by Brie's great grandfather. She and her father restored it and they use it for camping now.



After finishing that sketch, I thought I might continue with my original plan. But no... I remembered in other years I'd wanted to sketch the big, old, Mack truck that serves as a mobile art gallery. It's been there each of the three years we've sketched. I decided this was the year I would finally sketch it.



So..... I went to a Garden Walk and only sketched vehicles!

Well, not quite. I'd gotten there early and stopped at one of the many traffic circles the residents decorate with plantings and sculptures. This is the circle at Flora & Warsaw.



As usual, we met to share sketches and have a group photo.

The Georgetown Castle

7/9/17 Georgetown Castle

The most colorful house in the Georgetown neighborhood also has a colorful past – or maybe a dark one. Known as the Georgetown Castle, the mansion is apparently haunted (though ghostbusters of sorts have been employed to exorcise whatever ghosts are there). Regardless, it was part of the Georgetown Garden Walk yesterday, an annual event for USk Seattle the past few years.

Unlike last year and the year before, I resisted the giant hat and boots at Oxbow Park (though I was tempted) and instead sketched the mansion, or at least as much of it as I could see from the park. The conical turret of the Queen Anne-style house was especially challenging and fun to draw, since I don’t see many of them in Seattle.

7/9/17 Mercedes convertible

The mansion apparently had a fantastic garden that I suppose I should have at least walked through, but I was too distracted by vehicles. One was the Mercedes convertible on the street nearby (you know I can’t resist convertibles), and the second was the BMW motorcycle at the park. Sketching both of those made me think of Florian Afflerbach, the young urban sketcher who died in a motorcycle accident a little over a year ago. Known online as Flaf, he was particularly fond of sketching cars and motorcycles. 

7/9/17 BMW motorcycle

Thinking of Flaf also made me think of Bruno Agnes, an urban sketcher who passed away very recently. A USk global blog correspondent, he sounded apologetic in his last post more than a year ago that he hadn’t been drawing much because his job required extensive travel. 

I didn’t know either Flaf or Bruno personally, but I knew their sketches well. Feeling a bit melancholy, I thought about the importance of making time for the activities we love. It always seems like we have plenty of time to get around to the next sketch. But maybe we have less time than we think.

A Blast from the Past in Georgetown

Seattle Urban Sketchers met in the Georgetown neighborhood this morning at the Bank of America (Georgetown branch) parking lot for July's monthly outing. It was the occasion of the 22nd Annual Georgetown Garden Walk.

On my drive towards the sketchers' meet up, I was looking forward to seeing the historical homes and luxurious gardens that the neighborhood had to offer. It was the first time I had been here with USk. Upon arrival, I received a map of the Garden Walk which listed 59 officially numbered options. Where to start?

As a group of us started walking down Carleton Ave S. towards the only known restroom provided, we saw unusual buildings (one with a question mark worked into the pattern of roofing shingles), a plein air painter working in oils, and lots of invitingly shady gardens.

We reached Oxbow Park and I realized I had found my subject, albeit not a garden. The largest cowboy hat in the world and a matching pair of gigantic boots stood proudly at the end of the park, relics of the roadside attractions of the 50's. These unique buildings have been lovingly restored and moved here from the gas station they previously occupied. The boots were originally used as the gas station restrooms and the hat was the office.

I found a shady spot at the west end of the park where Kathleen was also intrigued by the unusual shaped buildings. As I sketched, Joseph sang Native American songs, played the flute and accompanied himself on the hand drum. Across the street another reminder of the '40's and '50's, a classic teardrop trailer, was all set up as a cupcake stand.

At 12:30 we shared our sketches. It was another beautiful summer day spent sketching in Seattle with the urban sketchers.