SEATTLE: A LOCAL'S GUIDE

The Seattle Space Needle, seen from the Chihuly Museum - glass flowers and blue sky.

WORDS FOR SEATTLE

waterside

lettered

downtown

espresso

illuminated

locality

tulips

intercontinental 

amicable

second-hand

hella

rain

more rain

granola

hipster

xylophone

sakura

pouring cats & dogs

thrifting

revelatory

microsoft

fishmonger 

flannel

collective

glass & iron

ethnic

market-fresh

nourishment

bongos

chilhuly

traffic

green

arrondissement

radish

eddy

modish

sleepless

drizzling

bike-lanes

The beautiful Nicole Komen!
Cherry blossoms at the University of Washington.

I love to try and snatch the right words and phrases out of the air around me, feeling them tentatively before I grab them and place them in-between their neighbours. 

If I was to describe Nicole in one word, it would be 'spirited' : she is brimming with spirit, life, enthusiasm and spark. Many of my best 'Nicole' memories contain a fragment of her distinctive and contagious laughter. Ah man, those were good times. So, of course when Nicole offered to show me around her hometown Seattle, I jumped at the opportunity!

When I travel, I make a conscious effort to engage in the new places I walk through. I try to almost diffuse into the space. This becomes much easier when I am able to talk with the local people - because it is at that junction of conversation and localised experience where I begin to belong to a space, even if for just a moment. A lucky side-effect of my art work is that I am also made constantly aware of my surroundings. Trying to capture individual moments and savor them completely will do that to a person.

As for Seattle, there were so many moments to engage in. I remember feeling fully awake when the city lights reflected on all that water, the rain on the windows of the car, and the headlights reflected in puddles and wet highways that arc'd over the rushing tides. It was calming, to watch the drops pool together on the window. I remember the way people would embrace a sunny day as if it was their last. That kind of appreciation is special. I remember the shifts in my vision; mountains to lakes to docks to thirty-story buildings to neighbourhoods. Inside, outside, coffee house, thrift shop, cherry tree. 

 

THE TRIED & TRUE

 

Chihuly Museum and Gardens

The Chittenden Locks

The Space Needle

Pike Place Market

The house boats ala Sleepless in Seattle

Kerry Park - the views of the city

CHIHULY MUSEUM & GARDENS

air . filled . glass

Chihuly Museum and gardens - the glasshouse.
Glass art flowers in the glasshouse at Chihuly Museum.
Chihuly gardens glass art.

THE SPACE NEEDLE: BEST VIEWS

spaceship . on a . stick

Vie of the Space Needle from Chihuly Museum, under the beautiful glass flowers.

- inside chihuly -

Space Needle seen from below in the Spring with cherry blossoms.

- in spring -

View of the Space Needle from Kerry Park.

- kerry park -

The Space Needle and Seattle lights skyline seen from Alki Beach at night.

- seen from alki beach -

THE CHITTENDEN LOCKS

monumental . movement . of water

Boat at The Locks, on high water, Seattle.
The Locks working gates in Seattle, WA.
Boat and reflections at The Locks, Seattle WA.
Water emptying out of The Locks, Seattle WA.

PIKE PLACE MARKETS

the hustle . & . the bustle

Pike Place Market sign in neon letters, Seattle.
Crab legs at the Pike Place Market in Seattle.
Flowers in buckets - tulips and spring flowers, Pike Place Market, Seattle.

THE WEIRD & WACKY

 

Gasworks Park

Cherry blossoms at the UW

Reading Room at UW

The view from Seattle's Public Library
(top floor)

Thrift shopping

The real life house from the movie 'Up'
sandwiched between big buildings

Jazz bars

The Compline Choir at St Mark's Cathedral
Sunday at 9:30 pm

Broadway Dance Steps

GASWORKS PARK

abandoned . iron . playground

Gasworks Park in the rain.
Playing on the abandoned machines at Gasworks Park.
Seattle city skyline seen from Gasworks Park, with a boat driving through.
Mucking around on the old machines at Gasworks Park.

CHERRY BLOSSOMS: UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON

carpet . of . petals

Seattle cherry blossoms in the spring rain, University of Washington.
Cherry blossom up close, Seattle in spring.
Cherry blossoms on a lane with benches, at the University of Washington
Cherry Blossoms at the University of Washington.

THE READING ROOM

harry . potter . library

The Reading Room library at the University of Washington.
University of Washington Reading Room. Like the library from Harry Potter.
The Reading Room, University of Washington. Windows and wooden panel detail.

THRIFT SHOP

totally . hella . cool

Awesome colourful 90's shoes at a thrift shop in Seattle.
Old records at a thrift shop in Seattle.
An old photograph of a family camping and binoculars, at a thrift shop in Seattle.

ALKI BEACH AT NIGHT

city . on the . water

Alki Beach view of Seattle skyline at night - with all the lights on the water.

OTHER AWESOME PLACES

View of a sky rise building from the Seattle Public Library - interesting windows.

Seattle Public Library

Real life 'Up' movie house, in Seattle, between two big buildings.

The real 'Up' house

Houseboats on the water, Seattle.

House Boats

The Compline Choir at St Marks, Seattle.

The Compline Choir

Chewing gum on the Market Theatre Gum Wall, Seattle.

The Gum Wall

Dance Steps on Broadway, Seattle.

Broadway Dance Steps

THE FOOD PLACES

 

The Bay Cafe - Fisherman's Terminal

Pho Big Bowl - Ballard

Theo Chocolate Factory

Wholefoods

Thai Tea - anywhere

Ivars Fish Bar

Dicks Burgers

WOW Bubble Tea - 4553 University Way

Fremont Sunday Market

Homegrown radishes at the Fremont market Seattle.
Pho Big Bowl in Ballard, Seattle.
Dick's Burgers sign in Seattle WA.
Thai Tea, in Seattle.
Roasted With Love, Seattle WA coffee beans.

Zoe Eccles