I missed the last meeting of the Seattle UrbanSketchers group at Centennial Park and so I ventured there myself to draw this view of the Pier 86 Grain Terminal. The Port of Seattle built this grain terminal in 1970 to replace the Hanford Street Terminal and satisfy the need for a larger facility as grain exports from the Northwest grew. A completely automated process moves grain from trucks and railroad cars to storage silos and from there, two 48-inch conveyor belts load the grain onto cargo ships at a maximum rate of 3000 tons per hour. The facility sits along and over the pedestrian and bike paths of Centennial Park on Elliott Bay and frames a view of downtown Seattle beyond.

This is a similar view of the grain terminal from 2014.

I’m updating an entry I posted a couple of years ago regarding what Fremont likes to call itself: “The Center of the Universe.” Here are two views of the literal center of the Center, the intersection where Fremont Avenue North, North 35th Street, and Fremont Place North all meet. The first is looking northwest toward Fremont Place North and Fremont Avenue North.

This second drawing is from a cold day in January 2014, looking northeast at the same intersection. On the traffic island, you can see a post with directional markers pointing to places both near and fa

These three scenes were done this past Sunday when the Seattle Urban Sketchers met in Georgetown for the neighborhood’s annual garden walk. The first is of the historic Queen Anne style residence at 6219 Carlton Avenue South, built in 1893 for Dora Horton-Carle, daughter of Georgetown founder Julius Horton. It’s an up-close-and-personal view rather than the contextual views I usually prefer.

The second scene is of Oxbow park, a few blocks south. The site is dominated by Hat n’ Boots, designed by Seattle artist Lewis Nasmyth for a western-themed gas station in 1953. The neighborhood rescued the sculptures sometime in the 1980s, after the I-5 interstate had slowly siphoned traffic away from the business over two decades.

And finally, since there were 15 minutes left in the session, I decided to do another up-close-and-personal view of this 1941 Mack truck, which was converted into an art truck and parked in a corner of Oxbow Park.

Lake Union was given its name by Thomas Mercer, who believed that the lake and canals —“a union of waters”— would someday link Lake Washington to Puget Sound. An array of pleasure craft ply its waters, from paddle boards, kayaks, and rowing shells to day sailers and cabin cruisers. Seaplanes take off from the south end of the lake. Floating house boats line its eastern and western shores. Yet these two views remind us that the body of water just north of downtown Seattle remains a working lake with dry docks and other boat repair facilities, particularly along the north shore.

Photo courtesy of Kate Buike

To follow up on my posting of a couple weeks earlier, the Seattle Urban Sketchers met at Fishermen’s Terminal yesterday morning to commemorate its first gathering there seven years ago. Close to 40 sketchers came to enjoy the sunny but breezy weather and share the USk experience at a quintessential Seattle setting.