One of my favorite sketch journalists

Posted by Simo Capecchi on Monday, January 11, 2016

Lake Quinault

For our anniversary I decided to surprise my husband with an overnight at Lake Quinault Lodge on the Olympic Peninsula. He'd recently told me he wanted to ease into hiking again and the rain forest seemed like a good place to start. 

We took the long way from Olympia, forgoing 101 for a winding, yet more interesting route and arrived just in time for lunch at the lodge. After an adventurous hike in the hills and along the lake trail that was washed out and strewn with icy logs, the communal lodge complete with a warm fire and leather couches seemed the most inviting place to do some homework from Stephanie Bower's Craftsy class, Perspective for Sketchers

The next morning I found a patch of sunlight where I could sit before the sun slid behind the hill and the grass started growing frost. The lodge is old and spacious, built in 1926, after the first had burnt down. Historic photos line the walls telling the story of its development. The workers, and, I imagine, their bosses, were quite industrious, finishing the building in 62 days!

It's really quite a relaxing place. 

Capitol Nights

On a recent evening when the weather was a bit more balmy and standard time had not yet set in, I took a walk after work as the sun was setting. When I got back to my starting point darkness was just surrounding the Capital so that the dome glowed. 

I did a second without lines. 

Pumpkin farm on Yelm highway.

Seattle Urbansketchers went to Craven farm in Snohomish in mid-October. I couldn't go that day but instead went to a local pumpkin farm on Yelm Highway. It was a wet and drizzly day, but the weather didn't quell the turnout. Parents and kids roamed the lanes picking out the biggest or the roundest or the most orange. There were games and activities and crafts and hot apple cider. 

The heavy rain held off until after closing time, but a bit of drizzle added texture to the paints. 

Lumberjacks

Last Saturday we had to say good-bye to a huge, double trunked cedar that has graced our backyard since long before we bought our house 32 years ago. Our friend, Chunkie Keith, high-school teacher by weekday, arborist by weekend, headed up the crew of five, including his son Julian.

They started early and I soon realized this was an amazing opportunity to sketch these guys in action. As they shimmied up the trees, cutting limbs and trunks, I drew gesture after gesture. They climbed, cut, roped, chopped, chipped, ran, ranted and felled. I watched it all and couldn't stop drawing.

Danny WookGardens and King Street Scenes

The Danny Woo Gardens sit just across the street from the now famous Panama Hotel in Seattle's International District. Built by grants and private donations, the gardens provide space for the neighborhood residents to work their gardens amid the urban setting.

A few blocks further south, Canton Alley stretches between King Street and Weller. The view from the corner of King and Canton Alley just outside the Wing Luke Museum captures the international signage as well as the gate to the International District and the tower of King Street Station.

As I sat there drawing with my sister, just two days before China's President Xi Jiping was scheduled to arrive, a lion dance started down the street. Then a few black limousines arrived on the scene and men in black suits filled the sidewalk. It was the pre-delegation - those special emmisaries selected to arrive in advance of the Chinese President. They were heading into the Wing Luke Museum and had to pass us perched on our sketching stools. One stopped to inspect my drawing, telling me hi was an artist in Beijing. I thought about asking him if he knew the famous dissident Artist, Ai Wei Wei, but thought the better of it and held my tongue. 

Santa Fe and Surrounds

Over labor day weekend we had the fun opportunity to visit Santa Fe for Cousin Bill's wedding to Patty. We flew in to Albuquerque and the next five days were a mix of wedding, exploring and sketching whenever I had a chance. 

We started by renting a car. Sketching is always a useful pastime when waiting...

Presiding over a main street in downtown Santa Fe sits the Cathedral of St Francis, one of many churches in town. A bronze casting of a dancing Francis sits in the church courtyard. It's a delightful tribute to the well-loved saint.  

San Miguel church is just up the hill. Said to be the oldest church structure in the U.S. and just across the alley sits the oldest house in the U.S. It housed the Mexican Indians while they built the church under the direction of the Franciscan padres in 1610. 

Behind San Miguel is the Lamy Building, originally part of St Michaels College, now a government building and adjacent to where I caught the bus to go to Museum Hill.  

A few miles outside of town is Museum Hill. Four museums surround a large open plaza. 

• New Mexico Museum of Spanish Colonial Art
• Santa Fe Museum of Indian Arts
• New Mexico Museum of International Folk Art
• Santa Fe Wheelwright Museum

I only had time to visit the Folk Arts Museum and I was delighted to view  an fascinating exhibition called "The Red that Colored the World" which traced the evolution of the red dye produced by the American Cochineal, a tiny scaled insect that produces carminic acid. 

Outside I liked the larger than life sculpture of the Mountain Spirit Dancer by Craig Dan Goseyun.

Shops, museums and galleries line the town plaza. The weekend we were there it was filled with booths celebrating Fiestas, the annual celebration of the date in 1692 when the Spanish re-captured Santa Fe from the Pueblo indians. 

The Palace of the Governors sits on one side of the Plaza. On weekends Native American vendors sell turquoise and silver jewelry and native crafts. I bought a lovely turquoise money clip to weight down bills when I grab my sketching pens.   

We took the High Road towards Taos and wound through small hispanic villages in the rolling hills. 

One of those villages, Chimayo is hosts El Santuario de Chimayo, which is possibly the most important pilgrimage site for Roman Catholics in the United States. 

 

After Taos we decided to head over to Abiquiu and Ghost Ranch where Georgia O'Keefe lived  and worked. First we had to follow the Rio Grand heading south west to cut across some mountainous area. 

Ghost Ranch, a 21,000 acre retreat and education center north of Abiquiu, was unlike anywhere I'd been. It is open and wild, yet a deep sense of peace pervades the grounds. O'Keefe bought a portion of the ranch after her husband died. She lived and worked therefor many years.

Back in Santa Fe I found Our Lady of Guadalupe church on the westside of town. The statue of our lady presides over the church plaza adorned with flowers and rosaries, all ablaze in the September sun. 

 And oh yes, the wedding!