presbyterian badminton

 

On Thursday evenings, people from age 10 to 70 gather to play competitive badminton in the gathering space of New Hope Presbyterian Church in Kent, WA.

Unlike most other courts, the surface is carpeted. It makes the game feel foreign to your body. Also, unlike the outdoor badminton you may have played in your backyard, this is a very fast-paced sport.

No one seems to know why there are badminton courts inside this place, but putting the space to use in the off-hours makes sense. There are also markings for basketball, but imagining that big heavy ball getting thrown around a space where there are stained glass windows makes me feel a bit stressed.

Despite the incongruity of playing in front of a giant wooden cross, it is a pretty nice place to play, especially when it's free. But because of that the sessions are quite busy, so you end up waiting a long time for your turn to get on the court. 

We went to New Hope a few times recently, when my partner was participating in a league. It's quite far from us, especially in rush hour traffic, so we probably won't become regulars. But I think it's interesting that it's a thing that's out there.

In the 'burbs

During an early morning drive to Trader Joe's, I saw this road side abandoned couch. Such items are one of Tina's favorite subjects . Later this afternoon I went back out to sketch it.

I drove around some more in my area, which I refer to as "Kenton" as it's on the border of Renton and Kent (WA...suburbs south of Seattle).

I saw these Torch Lilies next to a driveway.

I turned in to a side street with the intention of going around and back out on the main street in another direction. Then I saw this and pulled over. A guy in a great big truck stopped across the street from me, almost blocking the view. I made sure he could see I was painting from my car as I think he was trying to figure out whether I was a threat. Me??

In all of these I heavily edited the scene, not including a lot of background and distracting content. In this way, my main interest doesn't get lost in the clutter of detail.

Contrasts

It is another beautiful spring day to sketch outside in the sunshine. Today was the first day I used sunscreen, though there have been a couple others when it was needed.

My subjects today had significant contrasts: one the all American pastime and the other something quite unfamiliar to me (despite my undergrad major in Comparative Religion!).

I headed out to rural Kent to sketch this sculpture at a public park with ball fields. The field were locked up but the interesting playground was open. I like these kinds of odd sculptures and road side attractions. I didn't find out anything about it, though, as there was no information plaque and it's not listed on the Kent Public Arts page. The park is a 29 acre preserve that also includes picnic shelter(s) and trails.

I've passed this construction site several times and today I stopped to sketch it. It is the new Sikh temple or Gurdwara for "Gurdwara Shri Guru Teg Bahadur Sahib Ji of Kent" (that's what was on the sign of the original building). It will be far grander than the unassuming building that is there now.

It's a small world

Tuesday was another beautiful day.... sun and 61 degrees.  I'm even seeing pink blossoms on the trees.  Good day for outdoor sketching!

I went to the same area in which my husband and I went for a walk on Monday. There are several trails around the Green River in Kent, WA.    As we drove to the area on Monday, we passed the REI Corporate Headquarters.  I remembered I'd wanted to sketch there.  That was my first stop today.
  




Next I drove the narrow road along the Green River.  I stopped at a foot bridge.  Even though it was about 3pm, there were a lot of people out walking and bicycling.



Now for the small world.  A man came up to me while sketching and we talked a little. Then he asked me if I knew Gabriel Campanario.  "Yes, I do".  Turns out this is Mark Greengo , who was the man who guided Gabi on the kayak trip to sketch the crumbling Kalakala ferry 3 years ago.  He told me his version of the story, which was the pretty much the same as I remember Gabi telling during his tour of his MOHAI exhibit that featured a wall sized version of that sketch. 

Library Refugees

Our power had been out for four days and the temperature in the house was a cozy 46 degrees, so we found refuge at the Kent Regional Library along with hundreds of others with the same idea. It made for good people watching and sketching. As always people aren't that active at the library.

Waiting for the #157

After dropping Kiersten off at school I stopped at a local coffee house to get a sketch in. This guy really didn't look that sad or pathetic, sometimes the pen has a mind of it's own....

City Frame

It was a cold grey gloomy Labor day in downtown Kent. The parking spot between me and the buildings I was trying to sketch attracted only the biggest SUVs (Murphy's Law).