Monday, December 28, 2015

How I Spent My Christmas

But first, in THREE and a HALF DAYS, I will be RETIRED!!!!!!!

Okay, now we've got that out of the way, here is what I did on Christmas Day:


This is the Star Wars-themed gingerbread village in the Sheraton Hotel lobby.  Tina and I popped down there to see if we could get any sketching in.


Everything else was closed, and it was too cold to sketch outdoors -- but of course, hotel lobbies never close.


But we found the displays, while fascinating and fun to look at, were far too complex to draw, and there was a constant stream of people passing in front of them.


So we looked around the lobby for other possible subjects.  These glass sculptures were quite attractive -- but there was no good place to sit and again, they were a bit too complex to sketch while standing (trust me, sketching while standing for any length of time gets VERY uncomfortable!).


At last I spotted this peculiar sculpture -- a perfect subject.  Interesting, not too complex, and out of the way of the Star Wars traffic.


It was made in 1982.  I've no idea what it is supposed to mean or represent -- and I doubt that the number "12" refers to Seahawks' fans.  The piece is titled Obelisk with Phoenix and Esoteric Symbols of Nature.   Whatever it means, it was fun to draw.


Next, we headed over to check out the lobby of the Four Seasons Fairmont Olympic hotel, one of the oldest in Seattle.  Stay tuned for that report tomorrow!

3 comments:

  1. That is a mighty weird sculpture indeed - we need those Big Bang Theory fellas to help us out with that one LOL.

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  2. P.S I'm so jealous of your retirement that I can hardly stand it. Hope the last few days fly by!

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  3. http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-2874000068.html

    "James W. Washington used his art to keep his own spiritual door open. “What I am trying to say with my sculptures is that each one of us has something within us waiting to be released, and that something is spiritual, the spirit being the universality of life itself,” he said in A History of African-American Artists. The result of this practice was an incredible body of work rich in symbolism and quiet strength. His latter sculptures such as 1973’s Three Wonders of Nature, 1981’s Testimony in Stone, and 1982’s The Obelisk with Phoenix and Esoteric Symbols of Nature were monumental stone works covered with animal figures and various symbols including crosses, the Egyptian ankhs, eyes, and triangles. “Everything we deal with is symbols, and all symbols lead to truth,” he told Ament. “Symbols can convey an emotional state beyond the capability of words.” Through the use of symbols Washington felt he was finally reaching the universality that he had so long sought. It worked. The universal meanings in his art spoke loudly to an appreciative public."

    I'm also envious of you with your impending freedom from bondage.

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