USk Rides to the Eastside

 

9/13/26 Northwest African American Museum

I woke to hard rain on the roof and windows.

It was the kind of morning that if I hadn’t been the lead, I would have skipped the USk outing. Instead, I boarded the light rail in damp jeans to an outing I had helped plan and had been looking forward to ever since the 2 Line to the Eastside opened last spring.

The first stop of our two-part outing was Judkins Park Station across the street from Jimi Hendrix Park. I was relieved and happy not to be alone on this wet day – a small group of hardy sketchers joined me! Although most stayed in the park to sketch in the light drizzle, I ducked into the Northwest African American Museum, which I hadn’t been to in years (above). Its exhibits tell illuminating stories of noteworthy Black Seattle residents and other significant national figures and their contributions to American history and culture.

I found a window at the museum with a view toward the park’s large sculpture, “Butterfly Canopy,” which I tend to sketch every time I’m in the park. After that, with a short time left before the throwdown, I attempted a strange (and unsuccessful) composition of the edge of the Butterfly and the top of the museum (both below).

Jimi Hendrix Park

Throwdown at Judkins Station

After our throwdown, a handful of sketchers rode on to Part 2 of the outing: Bellevue Downtown Station. Most had not yet taken the light rail across Lake Washington, so it was fun to know that our outing was their first opportunity.

Riding the rails across the lake!

Famished by the time we got to Bellevue, I made lunch at Café Hagen my first stop. It was as good a place as any to finish a page of sketches for the outing’s second leg. Although we didn’t get the best weather, a day of sketching with USk is always better than a day without!

Cafe Hagen, downtown Bellevue

Throwdown at Bellevue Downtown Station

Hendrix Park on a Lovely Fall Day

9/21/24 Jimi Hendrix Park

The first time USk Seattle met at Jimi Hendrix Park, it was brand new in 2017. We hadn’t been back since. My memory hazy of everything except what I’d sketched previously, it all seemed fresh today. For my first sketch (at the top of the first panel above), I chose the part of the curving sculpture where Jimi’s silhouette is cut out. I walked back and forth and sideways until I found the perfect spot to frame downtown Seattle through the hole.

Making a loop around the park, I was surprised to discover Judkins Park Light Rail Station still under construction. Although I know that more northend stations are scheduled for the future, I didn’t know about this southend station, which is opening next year.

To fill the page spread, I made two small sketches showing a distant view of the same curving sculpture honoring Jimi (and Mark and David in the foreground) and the abstract vermilion-colored sculpture prominently featured in the park. I never learned its name the first time I sketched it in 2017, and I still couldn’t find its name this time, either.

The partly cloudy morning gave way to full sun by noon, and it was the kind of fall afternoon that I always hope for in September (but often don’t get).

Purple Path

The Jimi Hendrix Park officially opened just this past June. Urban Sketchers Seattle paid a visit on Friday. Also next to the park is the Northwest African American Museum housed in the former Colman School.

My first sketch was of the staircase that bears Jimi's signature.



My next subject was the one that stood out the most in the park: this large orange structure. None of us could decide what it was meant to be. I looked it up after I got home. Gloria's guess was correct! "The newly installed central shelter, a soaring sculpture reminiscent of butterfly wings, now anchors Jimi Hendrix Park."

That's Tina on the far left and Peggy JG on the right, sitting on the high bench.

There were purple sections of walk way with Jimi's lyrics carved on them.



We might consider going again next year as there is more planned for the park: "Within the next year, a purple “shadow wave wall” — designed with Hendrix’s face in the middle — will be built atop a small slope in the park."

Info about the park is here 

Seattle Times article about the recent opening.




A few people are missing from the photo.