On the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, the Panama Hotel Tea and Coffee House

Out of town sketchers coming to Stephanie's Good Bones Workshop got to see a Seattle style sketch outing..rain and all!  We were hoping today would be sunny and dry as it was forecast at the beginning of the week but you can never depend on the weather report.  So each sketcher had to find dry locations to sketch.  I happen to see Logan and Kay walking and asked where they were going.  They had planned to go to the Tea and Coffee House at the Panama Hotel.   I have always wanted to go there ever since I read "Hotel On the Corner of Bitter and Sweet," an historical novel by Jamie Ford set in Seattle during the Japanese internment.  This was a great opportunity to see the hotel and didn't disappoint.  It had the character and feeling that you would expect of these old historic ID buildings.

Other people had the same idea and soon Jane Wingfield popped in and then Frank Ching.  

Here is my sketch for the morning.

Seattle International District | New Century Tea Gallery

Wet weather and cool temperatures made it challenging to find a comfortable spot with good vantage points in Seattle's International District.  I was sitting under the gazebo at Hing Hay Park when a smiling Buddha behind the storefront window caught my attention.  Near the corner of Maynard and King, I stumbled upon a tea shop called the New Century Tea Gallery.

Inside the shop, massive jars filled with assorted teas line the walls all the way up to ceiling.  I asked the storeowner (Dafe) if I could draw inside and he invited me to sit down at this beautifully carved wooden table. As I sketched, he treated me to a traditional Chinese tea ceremony - sampling various types from green, to jasmine, to oolong, and aged pu-erh.

Two quick watercolor sketches, an education on Chinese tea tradition, and two 1/4-lb bag tea purchases...
Not bad for a rainy Sunday afternoon.

King Street Station

I have been meaning to visit this revitalized Seattle landmark since the construction scaffolding came down last fall. I was not disappointed. The classical organization so rigid, the space bright and the plaster work immaculate.