Kyle Wendt 10/29/15 Kyle Wendt 10/29/15

"On the Corner" opening Thursday, November 12 at Joe Bar

“On the Corner” is a reflection on the significance of the (individually-owned?) neighborhood corner store and cafe. Small in scale and apparently modest in means, our corner stores and cafes play a critical role in the way that we live, get by, stay healthy, and also provide a scene for us to connect with our neighbors.

“It has lately been assumed that people no longer want to walk to local stores. This assumption is mistaken. … (T)his is because local stores are an important destination for neighborhood walks. People go to them when they feel like a walk as well as when they need a carton of milk. In this way (…) they draw a residential area together and help to give it the quality of a neighborhood.”

— from ‘A Pattern Language,’ Pattern 89: Corner Grocery*

“We know that people enjoy mixing in public, in parks, squares, along promenades and avenues, in street cafes. The preconditions seem to be: the setting gives you the right to be there, by custom; there are a few things to do that are part of the scene, almost ritual: reading the newspaper, strolling, nursing a beer, playing catch; and people feel safe enough to relax, nod at each other, perhaps even meet.”

— from ‘A Pattern Language,’ Pattern 88: Street Cafe*

“On the Corner” is a show of all new watercolors depicting urban scenes throughout Seattle, in Everett and New Orleans.

The show opens at Joe Bar in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood on Thursday, November 12 and will be viewable through December 6, 2015. Opening reception Thursday, November 12 from 6-9pm.

*Alexander, Christopher, Sara Ishikawa, and Murray Silverstein. A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction. New York: Oxford UP, 1977. Print.

Kyle Wendt 6/1/14 Kyle Wendt 6/1/14

9 years, 9 parks

This May, my wife – Elizabeth – and I celebrated our 9 year anniversary. Circumstances meant keeping our plans close to home, and so she suggested that we celebrate by visiting 9 of our favorite city parks together. May is the height of spring in Seattle, and it proved to be a wonderful time to check up on some of our favorite parks and a few we had never been to before. So I’d like to dedicate this post to my lovely wife, who always manages to find new ways of inspiring me!

Kyle Wendt 4/27/14 Kyle Wendt 4/27/14

Biking the magic Skagit Valley

Earlier this week, I had the great pleasure of biking the Skagit Valley with my son, Ashir. Starting in Mount Vernon, then making our way to Edison, Bay View State Park, La Conner, Fir Island, before ending our ride in Stanwood, I figure we logged in about 65 miles or more. The ride provided for more than a few opportunities to sketch!

Ashir and I spent our first night in a cabin at Bay View State Park on Padilla Bay. I’d never rented a cabin at a state park before and was quite impressed at how comfortable it was. Our cabin had a porch swing, picnic table, a fire pit, and a great view over the bay to the west. The sunset was truly memorable!

On day 2, we biked south to La Conner where I found an empty pier with boarded up merchant stalls and an open space with a great view of the Swinomish Channel. Ashir proceeded to take a nap on a bench while I turned my attentions toward the interesting character of the old vender stalls.

Ashir requested that I paint the Rainbow Bridge just downstream.

From La Conner we rode east to the tulip fields and found this great strip of red, purple and white flowers. Really, there’s nowhere out among the tulips that isn’t picturesque.

We spent our final night at a cabin at Blake’s RV and Marina on Fir Island, right on the Skagit River itself. Word has it that just downstream was where Fishtown used to be. As interesting as the history of the place is to me, seeking it out and visiting will have to be an adventure for another day.

It began to rain at sunset as I set up to paint our cabin; the rain drops leaving little white blooms in the expansive fields of Fir Island.

Kyle Wendt 3/1/14 Kyle Wendt 3/1/14

The winter months

It seems like the transition from on-site to studio work should have been easier, but in reality, the holidays swooped in hard and fast. With the exception of a single outing of the Capitol Hill Plein Aire Society Thanksgiving week, nothing happened until January. I think next year I’ll put more effort into setting up studio projects well in advance.

November, December

Patron with a purse at Bauhaus Coffee and Books, Ballard, Seattle

January

In January, John and I met up with the Urban Sketchers Seattle group at the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) for a chance to sketch strange and wonderful relics of Seattle’s distant past, and for a chance to check out an exhibit of work by the man who started the Urban Sketchers movement: Gabriel Campanario. Little did we realize we’d actually get a chance to meet him in person!

As I’m sure many folks who know Mr. Campanario will tell you, he is as approachable, engaging and inspiring in person as his body of work through years of sketching suggest.

Stewing over this enormous exhibit, was a kind of a revelation for me. As a Seattle native, I experienced instant recognition of many of the places he’s sketched over the years for the local newspaper. As a sketcher, I also recognized the impulse to sketch on location, and the subsequent fulfillment and understanding of a subject in only the way on-site sketching can.

Urban Sketchers Seattle at MOHAI. Photo courtesy of Kate Buike.

After talking with Mr. Campanario, John and I wandered into the rest of the museum. First I setup next to an exhibit of 50’s pop nostalgia that included an old television set that ran a constant loop of vintage Seattle television commercials and – among other things – the costume of Seattle children’s television personality Wunda Wunda. Before the the theme song to King’s Clubhouse drove me insane, I wondered into the early settlers exhibit to sketch a beautiful 1850’s maternity wrap, then wondered down to the cafe to meet back up with the group in time for a group photo.

Costume of Wunda Wunda, Seattle children’s television personality, MOHAI, Seattle

Albert Wise Owl, buddy of Wunda Wunda, MOHAI, Seattle

1850’s maternity wrapper, MOHAI, Seattle

Campanario’s car show sketches exhibit, MOHAI, Seattle

The sketcher’s room at the Campanario exhibit, MOHAI, Seattle

February

February 2014 marked the beginning of the Year of the Horse. It also marked the beginning of John bringing his video camera with him during our outings…

Sketching amongst the echoes of drums and fireworks was exhilarating! For my first sketch, I setup on the corner across from the Jade Garden restaurant in an attempt to position myself in the path of the procession. Luckily, the Jade Garden turned out to be their very next stop. The only challenge at that point was getting a clear view from my little camping stool as the crowd of onlookers swarmed the street in front of me. By the time I had finished, the dragons had moved on to the next neighborhood storefront.

Dragons in front of the Jade Garden Restaurant, International District, Seattle

Flag bearers, Chinese New Year, International District, Seattle