Gnomes, Art, and Garden Treasures: Walking Seattle Neighborhoods

 

Since I've been walking my corner of Seattle much more in the last year, I'm discovering a whimsical side of my city.

Lately I've started approaching my walks as a treasure hunt. I look closely in yards and gardens I pass for the quirky, the art, and of course the ubiquitous gnomes. 

Seattleites love their gardens. With 75 percent of its residential land zoned for single-family homes (which BTW is now controversial with our growing population and affordability issues), there are a lot of sweet, tiny, and spacious yards to pass.

While some zoning is switching from single family to more dense development, with a loss of landscaping, plenty of yards and gardens persist, for now.

For starters, I'm seeing a lot more painted rocks, some with messages of encouragement, placed carefully in rockeries, parking strips, and even drainage swales.

And then there are little surprises sometimes when you look down at the ground.

Fence art and decorative gates are one of my favorite things to spot. I love that this niche is giving some artists work. The gorgeous sunflower gate below appears to be hand-carved.

One corner home/yard I passed last week was full of Easter eggs scattered about and hanging from trees, along with various other bits of garden art, like an old sink repurposed as a (dried up) frog pond. They even had a little machine set up on steps beside the sidewalk that pumps out bubbles as you pass by. 

I think I would like whomever lives there.

After gnomes and Buddhas, frogs (or toads?) are pretty popular, like this chill guy and the pensive one below. He called me to stop and contemplate for a moment.

And yes, the gnomes. They call a bunch of crows a murder of crows. Do you know what a group of gnomes is called? (I don't, but I could easily make something up. A gaggle? A nonsense? Ah, some commenters below says it's a donsey of gnomes).

My personal taste trends toward the Asian, which I find charming, a bit mysterious, and serene.

My Buddha, created by a Zen Master

This unique sculpture caught my eye yesterday. It looks like these three fish are swimming toward Puget Sound from up on the side of a modern box-style home.

While the rush is on here to convert smaller houses with bigger yards to tear-down/rebuild big box houses (or apartments) with very little yard, I value the green spaces, the messy yards, the tidy yards, and the shrubs and trees that provide habitat for birds and urban wildlife. 

And I especially appreciate those who take the care and time to add their own quirky, artistic touches to their landscape. I think I need to start looking for a home gnome to stash in my yard.

Not my gnome.

How about you? Do you have a yard with any unique art? Any gnomes or toads or decorative touches? Would love to hear in a comment below!

Happy trails and thanks for visiting Pacific Northwest Seasons! In between blog posts, visit Pacific NW Seasons on FaceBook, Twitter, and Instagram for more Northwest photos and outdoors news. 

Northwest Museum Snapshots: Henry Art Gallery

Beyond busy downtown Seattle and Portland Art Museums, many smaller museums and galleries thrive in the arts-minded Pacific Northwest. Look for several to be featured this year here at Pacific Northwest Seasons.  

A treasure trove of contemporary art in Seattle sits perched on the western edge of the University of Washington campus, just below the UW's iconic sculpture of George (Washington) himself.

Originally a small brick box of a building that opened in 1927, in 1997 the Henry Art Gallery completed a major expansion that quadrupled the overall gallery space and created an amalgam of quasi Neo-Gothic and contemporary architecture. I think this juxtaposition of new and old is part of the Henry's unique appeal.

When I was studying art history at the UW, I used to love to wander into the Henry and browse the manageable-sized galleries. I don't know about you, but I get sensory overload in big museums (and big box stores for that matter). While the Henry now has more space to exhibit, it still feels intimate. 

The old (left) and the new (right) Henry Art Gallery buildings

This rainy, cold January afternoon was perfect for getting a dose of art, so I drop by the Henry for the first time in a couple years. As usual I'm challenged, amused, and inspired by the art and installations there.

My first stop is, as always, the James Turrell Skyspace room (pictured at the top of this post and below). The first time I was here was for an intro to Zen meditation, and since then this space has hosted many more such events for quiet contemplation and perception-bending light displays.

Skyspace

Entry to this space is via the original entrance to the Henry, and I pass outside to reach this open-door, unheated room. It's about experiencing natural light and the elements, tweaked with a genius artist's touch.

Looking at the original Henry entrance from Skyspace

After sitting, absorbing the light, then taking photos, I sneak back into the warmth of the original main galleries.  

Right now the feature exhibit, The Body Draws, is the first major American exhibition of avante garde German artist Franz Erhard Walther's work.  His art is as much or more about the process than the finished product. So the exhibition features drawings, films, and fabric elements of his participatory events, of which there was one at the Henry earlier in the exhibition.

Franz Erhard Walther installation

As I stand and watch some of the films of the events, which are slow and deliberate, my natural impatience wells up until it gives way to the "being" of the artistic moment. Which is partly what his art is about.

Then I walk downstairs to the large lower level space, where a colorful exhibit by Californian artist Pae White is set up. I get so caught up in the sensory feast that I get reprimanded by a museum staffer who sees me walking into some of the display yarn on the floor, which I didn't notice. My bad.

Pae White installation

Then it's time for me to head back out into the damp January chill, where I enjoy the view outside the entrance back up campus to distinctly  not contemporary Suzallo Library.  

View toward Red Square and Suzallo Library

Like I said above: juxtapositions. I believe they make our lives richer and more interesting.

Happy trails and thanks for visiting Pacific Northwest Seasons! In between blog posts, visit Pacific NW Seasons on FaceBook, Twitter, and Instagram for more Northwest photos and outdoors news.

 When You Go
The Franz Walther exhibition runs through March 6, 2016. The Pae White exhibit only runs through Sunday, January 24, 2016. Besides the art exhibits, the Henry offers a vibrant menu of events, ArtBreaks, film screenings,  talks & performances, and ArtVentures (second Sunday of each month at 2 pm). Here are directions to the Henry and hours/admission. Like many museums, it's closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.  There used to be a cafe at the gallery, but right now it's not operating. The guy who took my admission said they are seeking a new vendor to operate the cafe, so hopefully this year.

Vancouver B.C. Must-See: Museum of Anthropology

Away from the tourist bustle of Vancouver's West End is a gem of a destination set high on cliffs above the Strait of Georgia.  The Museum of Anthropology (MOA) on the University of British Columbia campus at the westernmost edge of Vancouver offers magnificent examples of Northwest Coast art, both contemporary and classic.

Well before explorers and settlers arrived in the region from Europe and beyond, the First Nations people of the Northwest Coast had developed a sophisticated and complex culture of wood carving, painting, song, and dance. The MOA features some stunning examples in a lovely setting.
 
On a brilliant late summer weekend, we bicycle from the West End over the Burrard Street Bridge and through lovely, leafy residential neighborhoods out to the UBC campus and the MOA.

After parking our bicycles, we wander down the path to the contemporary MOA building, which was designed to reflect traditional northern Northwest Coast post and beam structures.  Just past the entrance, large and spectacular wood totem poles, bentwood boxes, cedar canoes, and sculptures are displayed in the Great Hall. I swear I can feel the power of these treasures set beneath the 15-meter-high high ceiling and glass windows.

 

Bottom of a Haida totem pole

Down below the Great Hall, we step inside a treasure trove of museum pieces stuffed inside glass cases and pull-out drawers in a darkened collections room. The quantity and quality of the collection is incredible.  To see it all really means many trips here to soak it all in.

Many masks, many more

Another highlight of the MOA's collection is Haida artist Bill Reid's massive wood sculputure "The Raven and the First Men,"displayed to full effect in the Rotunda. Princes Charles (aka the Prince of Wales) was here to unveil this masterpiece back in the 1980s.

The Raven and the First Men

Since I was here in the 1990s, a replica of a traditional Northwest Coast longhouse (or plank house) and a faux beach has been added on the grounds behind the building.  This simulates what a traditional Northwest Coast village would have looked like on one of the thousands of beaches that stretch northward up the coast to Alaska.

As with many museums I've visited over the years for my art history studies and beyond, I can only take in so much before I get sensory overload.  After a couple hours we head to the museum cafe for a cold drink and snack (banana bread baked on campus) on the outdoor patio before departing.  

I love this place!  It's on my intinerary for future trips to Vancouver. How about you? 

Happy trails and thanks for visiting Pacific Northwest Seasons.


When You Go
While the MOA is known for its Northwest Coast art collection, it's also world-renowned for its research, teaching, public programs, and community connections. If you're in the Vancouver area or visit often, check out their ongoing public programs.  The MOA is open daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and stays open until 9 p.m. on Tuesday evenings. Suggested donation per adult was about $16 when we visited last weekend. Check out their website for information on getting there via bus, auto, walking, or bicycle.

Northwest Snapshot: Seattle Center's Chihuly Garden and Glass

What's not to love about a museum where the staff  encourages you to take pictures instead of scolding you for sneaking a few shots?

One of Seattle's newest museums, the Chihuly Garden and Glass is a colorful, delightful, and impeccably designed oasis tucked in the shadow of the Space Needle at Seattle Center, which is going through a bit of a renaissance itself.

Stop by for a cruise through the exhibition, a compact series of galleries featuring highlights of local and world-renowned glass artist Dale Chihuly's work. 

My personal favorite is the Northwest Room, the first main gallery, which  highlights early works by Chihuly that were inspired by Native American arts such as basketry and weaving.  In addition to the glass art, many of Chihuly's personal collection of Pendleton Indian trade blankets cover almost a whole wall in this room, and another wall features historic Edward S. Curtis photographs of Native Americans. 

And I am as awed by the stunning piece of wood that serves as a foundation for some glass work in the Northwest Room as I am awed by the art.  I can only imagine the size of the old growth tree it came from.

Progressing through the eight galleries, the colors and shapes get more elaborate and fanciful, reflecting Chihuly's evolution as an artist who continues to get commissions from around the globe.

The Glass Forest, one of Chihuly's earliest installations from 1971.

Native American basket and Chihuly glass work in Northwest Room

Detail of a Tower in the Sealife Room.

Glass balls blown in Finland for the Chihuly Over Venice exhibit.

 After enjoying the exhibition galleries, stop in the sophisticated Collections Cafe for a bite.  With an emphasis on local and seasonal fare, the menu offerings are quite tasty.  When I was there recently for lunch, I enjoyed the excellent spicy prawns and a big green salad spiked with nuts, fruit, and fine cheese.

Collections Cafe

A bit of whimsy adorns each table, which have pieces of knick knacks that Chihuly collected as a boy inset below glass in the middle of the table.  They hint at the creative and tireless eye and mind of this unique, pioneering glass artist.

A visit isn't complete without a stroll through the Glass House, inspired by two of Chihuly's favorite buildings - Sainte-Chapelle in Paris and the former Crystal Palace in London, and then the garden.  Alas my shots here are from a particularly drab and dreary Seattle winter day.  I'd like to be here just before sunset.

Looking skyward in the Glass House. Recognize the famous Seattle landmark?

When You Go
The Chihuly Garden and Glass is open seven days a week, from 11 am to 6 pm, and until 7 pm on Fridays and Saturdays.  Adult tickets are $26.  Click here for more details.  They also have lots of cool special events (check their website).

Art in the Park 2012: Heaven & Earth at Carkeek Park

While I traipsed through the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Louvre, British Museum, Rijksmuseum, and more venerable museums as an art history student, what most enthralled me was experiencing art in a natural setting.  In southern France I was fortunate to see ancient cave paintings outside a small village in the lush green hills of the Dordogne region: simple, graceful, powerful images of bovine creatures, painted on raw stone walls.

You don't have to travel to France or Spain to have a similar experience. In an enchanting blend of art in nature, visitors can wander through the forest trails at Seattle's Carkeek Park this summer and see kinetic sculptures and "landcape interventions." What a perfect blend of two of my favorite things: art and the beautiful Pacific Northwest outdoors.

Last weekend while walking on my usual trek through Carkeek, I chanced on a few of the art installations without knowing the Rootbound: Heaven & Earth IV exhibit had just debuted the same day. 

Colorful shards of glass inset into the cyclone fence railing on the stairs down to the beach refracted light from the setting sun.  At first confused, I soon remembered it was about that time of year again: this is the fourth year of this exhibit in Carkeek, one of the few such outdoors art exhibits in a public nature preserve/park setting in the U.S. 

Curated by David Francis of Seattle's Center on Contemporary Art, the exhibit features a variety of mixed media pieces, some of which will decompose during the course of the four-month-long event. While the event features mostly local Seattle-area artists, California, Oregon, and B.C. artists are represented as well.

As I stopped to read strings of hand-painted oyster shells hanging from a tree on a bluff overlooking Puget Sound (pictured above), several children clustered around as well, laughing and ringing the bells at the end of each string. Definitely not a stuffy art museum, where we're told to look but not touch.

Art from 2011 show

I haven't walked the whole 2- to 3-mile stretch of the exhibit, so look forward to discovering more as I go over the summer. I'll purposely not check the map to see if I notice what's different on my usual urban woodland walks.

Have you had an outdoors art experience that left you thrilled, awed, or delighted?  Or have you made it to Carkeek already and wandered through the exhibit?  I'd love to hear your comments below!

And a closing quote from Seattle artist Benson Shaw about the value of public art:

"Public art is important because it makes our built environment better - it shows that the community cares. Then there's also an intellectual component, the artwork usually references something or there's a little mystery in the stories of the artwork and it's fun to think about those."

When You Go
This exhibit officially extends through October 31, 2012, in north Seattle's Carkeek Park.  Be sure and park  at (or least walk to) the Environmental Learning Center, which is immediately to the right as soon as your turn off to enter the park, to see more of the exhibit in the meadow up there. (Most pass this and park down by the beach.)

Nihonmachi Afternoon: Exploring Seattle’s Historic Japantown

Did you know that Seattle’s Nihonmachi (a.k.a. Japantown) is the most intact historic Japanese American district in the U.S.?

While an active Japanese American community doesn’t live there anymore, it’s still culturally important here in the Puget Sound region.

 And definitely worth a visit.

Nihonmachi’s numerous old and newer buildings are scattered across a south-facing hill tucked on the southeast edge of downtown, in Seattle’s International District.  It’s an eclectic mix of historic buildings with modern boutiques and galleries, Japanese restaurants, and a hillside garden park.  The destination businesses are centered on the block between South Jackson Street, 6th and 7th Avenues South, and South Main Street.

Looking south on Seventh Avenue South in Seattle's historic International District

I can’t quite pin down why I’m so drawn here (and the International District in general).  I suppose for a variety of reasons—the historic charm of the low-rise brick and stone masonry buildings, the sense of history the district evokes, the intriguing East-meets-West and old-meets-new vibe, and of course some of my favorite businesses there.

Panama Hotel Teahouse
As I often suggest to out-of-town visitors, last weekend I met friends for tea at the Panama Hotel Teahouse up the hill on South Main Street.  About 10 years ago this serene space was renovated and reopened as a lovely teahouse in the old Panama Hotel.  With exposed brick walls and gleaming refinished wood floors, the teahouse is a relaxing spot to meet friends, read a book, write, or just enjoy the fine tea and maybe a delicate wagashi confection made by Chef Chika Tokara in north Seattle.

Seasonal artisan wagashi by Tokara served at the Panama Hotel Teahouse

It’s also a bit of a museum. Framed black and white photographs of the district from the pre-World War II era line the walls, when Japantown was a thriving community of Issei (first-generation) and Nisei (second-generation) Japanese Americans.  As detailed in the bestseller novel The Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, which features the Panama, the formerly bustling Nihonmachi was decimated when Japanese-American families were forced from their homes and businesses to internment camps here on the West Coast.

Photos from pre-World War II Japantown

The Panama Hotel back in the day

Cullom Gallery
[Cullom Gallery no longer is in this space and has converted to a pop-up, online gallery] Next door to the Panama Teahouse on South Main, petite Cullom Gallery features contemporary and historic Japanese and Japanese-influenced woodblock prints and paper art. I’ve got my eye on one of artist Kristina Hagman’s 36 Views of Mount Rainier prints, an ode to the famous Hokusai and Hiroshige series 36 Views of Mount Fuji woodblock prints.

Collum Gallery is one door south of the Panama Hotel Teahouse

Kaname and Maneki Restaurants
Maneki, which claims to be Seattle’s oldest restaurant at over 100 years, is just around the corner from the teahouse and gallery on Sixth Avenue. It has a bit of a hole-in-the-wall look out front, which is just as well. This popular spot is often crowded, especially on weekend nights.  Yelpers rave about the black cod collar bone, but my tastes run toward the perfectly prepared soba noodle bowls.

Down the hill on the same block, but on busy Jackson Street, Kaname specializes in classic, rustic Japanese fare.  The interior is charmingly decorated like an authentic old Japanese noodle joint.

Stop in Kaname for a steaming bowl of noodles

Momo and Kobo at Higo

Right next door to each other at the corner of 6th and Jackson, Momo and Kobo at Higo are destination shops.  Momo’s friendly owner Lei Ann Shiramizu was featured in Seattle Magazine for her great sense of style, and Momo reflects her varied and impeccable taste. I’ve purchased numerous gifts here, from an antique clay sake jug to an authentic Saint James French sailor shirt. Momo is part high-fashion boutique, part gift shop, and always fun to shop. 

Unique gifts and clothes with flair at Momo

In a nod to history, Kobo has maintained the original Higo sign and some old fixtures from Higo’s 73 years as a family general store. Today Kobo sells exquisite artisan ceramics, woodwork, jewelry, prints, books, silk scarves, and more, with an eye to Japan.  When in need of inspiration for gifts, I always find something at Momo or Kobo.

Kobo's  has preserved portions of the old Higo store in their artisan gallery shop

Fuji Bakery
If you want a snack, scoot a block south of Jackson Street beyond the Nihonmachi boundary to Fuji Bakery, named one of Seattle’s top ten new places to eat in 2011. This jewel of a small corner shop features exquisite pastries and baked goods prepared in a classic France-meets Japan style. Beautiful round sesame seed-sprinkled buns sit next to glistening fruit tarts and croissants in the display case. My personal favorite:  the seasonal vegetable focaccio.

Get your fresh veggies in a delectable focaccio at Fuji Bakery

And how about you? If you're a local or have visited this part of Seattle, what are your favorite places?

When You Go

Click here for a map of the area. Be sure and check the Seahawks or Mariner’s schedules in the summer and fall because parking and traffic can get ugly in the I.D. on game days.