seattle pics

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

iPhone Wednesday #13: Happy Window

I'm following up yesterday's shot with another window. The brick arch of this small floor level window caught my eye at Gorditos in Greenwood. Someone had decorated it with colorful art glass shapes and beads. Through the seeded glass the light is framed by a wrought iron cross. This is the 13th in my iPhone Wednesday series where the image is made and edited using the iPhone and apps. Lets see what delicious things Chuck and Ming shot with their iPhones today.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Happy Man

Sometimes you glimpse someone from a distance and feel glad for having seen them in a candid moment. I used to see common scenes like this a lot when I lived in San Francisco, except the apartment buildings were usually turn of the last century wood frame Italianate three stories or, if newer, were more often stucco rather than brick exteriors. Here in Seattle the older apartment buildings do usually tend to have brick facades. There is something happy about a lighted window on a fall night.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Previously Owned. . .

. . .by the Smurfs or Cookie Monster? I've had my eye out for unusual bar stools for some friends whose breakfast counter in their new house turns out to be above standard height for most seating out there on the market. These custom stools I saw in a consignment shop window may not fill the bill for height, but if it were just the coolness factor they were looking for, this foursome might do nicely. I'm thinking these come from someone who subscribes to the Archie McPhee school of design :-).

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Betty Bowen Viewpoint Newly Restored

This is a setting I enjoy often and from which I've made several photos to show you in past years here and here. It is a viewpoint within small Marshall Park at the west end of West Highland Drive. In 1977 Seattle's famed architect Victor Steinbrueck headed up the effort to create an art installation as an homage to deceased writer and arts patron Betty Bowen, a life long Queen Anne resident. She had long been involved as an advocate to develop little Marshall Park into an attractive gathering area where residents and visitors alike could enjoy the beauty of the Sound and enjoy the open green space where sunset over the Olympics is the highlight of the day. Steinbrueck organized the creation of a seating area surrounded by a curved cement path in which are embedded mosaics created by himself, Guy Anderson, Harold Balazs, Kenneth Callahan, Richard Gilkey, Morris Graves, Charles Stokes, and Margaret Tompkins. None of the mosaics were signed, and after 30 years, the installation was in need of some cleaning and restoration. That volunteer effort has just been completed and celebrated with a gathering and installation of a plaque that finally tells visitors which artist created which mosaic and credits the many friends who helped in the viewpoint's completion.

This iPhone shot features the view rather than the art work (underfoot of a woman and her dog out for a sunny afternoon walk). You can see a huge cruise ship in the new Smith Cove cruise ship terminal in Magnolia, the Magnolia bridge, Bainbridge Island across the Sound, and beyond that the rare view of a snowless Olympic range.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

In Fall our Fancy Turns to Yarns

With the distinct chill to the October air and a mission to find a special birthday gift for my sister-in-law, I was inspired to pop into Hilltop Yarn, now located across the street from its old huge location in the tiny diggs vacated by a fave creative boutique, Bouncing Wall, which recently closed after two years on Queen Anne Ave N. My friend Chris had made several pair of wonderful colorful socks last fall and winter, so that influenced my choice of some self-striping sock yarn, needles, and a sock pattern. Which skeins among these colorful soft beauties might you gravitate toward?

Friday, October 2, 2009

West Through the Trees

A view of the marina and cruise ship docks looking west from Queen Anne Hill to the Magnolia neighborhood and across Puget Sound at sunset.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Theme Day: Contrast

That "International Yellow" work rig against that blue sky caught my eye when I came to a hault at this intersection in the Interbay area. Those crossed wires looked interesting and dangerous, too :-). I loved the contrast of the blue and yellow. Like yesterday's shot, this was taken with my iPhone and edited with an iPhone app called Best Camera (see yesterday's post for more info).

City Daily Photo Bloggers around the globe today are interpreting the theme "Contrast." Click here to view thumbnails for all participants. This was a challenging theme for me and not my most creative response. I thought of contrasts on the color wheel and this was the result I came up with. Yesterday's shot was also a contender and featured basic contrast of dark and light values. I'm sure you'll find shots to amaze and astound, and perhaps some humor, too, when you take a peek at this theme through other lenses. Enjoy your world tour, and be sure to leave us a comment when you drop by.