seattle pics

Thursday, May 7, 2009

The Bittersweets at the Tractor

The Bittersweets headlined the Tractor Tavern in Ballard last night. They are touring the west coast (Portland tonight) in support of their latest CD, Goodnight San Francisco, on Compass records. The one time duo of performing songwriters Chris Meyers and Hannah Prater began playing venues in the SF Bay Area in 2004. Their live shows were always well received and they got a lot of radio airplay. They were joined by Steve Bowman (of Counting Crows) and two other performers in a full band for a time and recorded their first full CD, The Life You Always Wanted. The band moved to Nashville two years ago and continued touring as a trio through the recording of this latest CD. Steve needed to depart from the band last fall, and the Bittersweets are again the original core duo. They were wonderfully accompanied on lap steel and harmonica last night by fellow Nashville musician Jason Goforth. Opening for The Bittersweets were two bands I very much enjoyed, local Americana folk group Moe Provencher (great original songs), and new arrival on the Seattle scene, The Ledgendary Oaks (lots of great roots sound and high energy). It just so happened that when I snapped a shot of Oaks lead singer Craig Schoen that he was standing next to a poster of another performing songwriter, Anna Coogan, who happened to be in the audience last night and who joined a few of us for drinks at The Sloop after the show. These things will happen, but I was surprised when I put together these photos to show you that a poster of her would be next to a photo of her :-). The bird in front of Anna is Maverick, a plastic dove that likes its photo taken wherever it travels, sort of like Flat Fred. He belongs to Jason Goforth, who is wishing you "cheers" in the last shot. The Tractor is a local treasure of a venue, featuring great performers in roots, alt, indie, rock, jazz, bluegrass, and country music. I learned that Anna will open for Fred Eaglesmith there on May 21.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Seattle Op Artist

This is a portion of a ginormous op art work I saw at SEATAC airport. It is by artist and art historian Francis Celentano, a University of Washington professor emeritus, and a very active artist, now 80. His work, along with other artists' who explored the op art genre of abstraction, has been influential in the work of several quilt and textile artists I admire. I've even noticed some fabric manufacturers creating fabric colorways that mimic the airbrushed gradations of color Celentano uses for his stripes to achieve optical effects like this. He works like a quilt artist, assembling a new whole out of precisely cut and reassembled pieces. This work is acrylic on masonite strips, and this is just a straight ahead detail of the very long and tall work, Spectrum Delta II, which I believe dates from the mid 70s. Lately he has produced amazing curving striped abstracts that were exhibited at the Laura Russo Gallery in Portland last summer. I dare you to try and follow one stripe with your eye from top to bottom or bottom to top. :-)

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Viaduct Past Safeco Field

I was on the way to the airport when I took this. I played with a crystal effect in Picnic and liked the hint of granular pointillism it offered to a mundane scene. It has been a really busy five days or so. I hope to catch up with myself soon. Hope your work week is going okay, and maybe, just maybe some of you are enjoying Cinco de Mayo festivities. Our very best wishes continue to go out to Mexico City which has been basically shut down for a time. By the way, Mexico City has been very artistically represented for many years by Carraol, whom I consider to be one of the most creative and technically great photographers among all the CDPB global community of photo friends. He sometimes uses sophisticated post processing in his work and if you haven't ever visited his site, give yourself a treat and head over for five or ten minutes and let him show you the many beautiful facets of the world's most populous city. :-).

Monday, May 4, 2009

Crab for Free

I'm sure there will be a run on the Market if I don't explain that, yes, the sign actually DOES say "Crab for Free"; however, appearances can be deceiving and that is not all that the sign says. The complete text reads, " We Will Clean Your Crab for Free."

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Hexagon Tile Washrooms

If you followed yesterday's neon sign down the staircase, you would have found the charming hexagon tile mosaics telling you the ladies and gents washrooms are just through that entryway. Beyond is a tile floor with a border detail, a large XX just outside the door marked women only. That's odd, because XX signifies male and XY female. Hmmmm. Maybe we'd better go a little further down the passage way and see if Bibi's magician who turns $1 bills into $20s is still there, just a little further down the passageway. This may take some magic :-).

Saturday, May 2, 2009

What's Below?

One of the iconic neon Market signs points the way past the bustle of street level shoppers and vendors to the lower floor of Pike Place Market, but what exactly will you find if you wander down that way? I'll show you tomorrow :-).

Friday, May 1, 2009

Theme Day: Shadows

CDPBloggers' theme for May is shadows, so I'm showing you Fishnets at the Locks: Everyone gets an instant pair of fishnet stockings shadow-cast on them while crossing the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks at sunset. :-) Cutting through the locks is a popular route across the ship canal for cyclists between the Burke-Gilman trail and the bike route that leads to the Elliott Bay waterfront and downtown, but they must walk their bikes while on the premises or face a hefty fine. When you slow down to a walk it gives you a chance to notice the great blue heron that sits most evenings on a line spanning the ship canal, and you can see the silhouette of the evening BNSF train rumbling over the iconic Ballard railroad bridge. A slow mo portion to the commute, like slow food, can be really pleasant at the end of a long day at the end of a long week. Happy Friday everybody!

Enjoy seeing creative, beautiful and fun shadow shots from all around the world: Click here to view thumbnails for all participants. And be sure to leave us a comment, especially for Rudy at Antigua, Guatemala, who is celebrating his third anniversary of La Antigua Daily Photo.