Cathedrals are Complicated

Yesterday I made a rare visit to the downtown area of Seattle -- I had personal business to conduct at the King County Admin building.  Not being a fan of downtown, I figured I'd just get in and get out, but I took along camera and sketching supplies and food and water just in case.

I was a Girl Scout:  always Be Prepared.

This turned out to be a good thing, because my personal business took all of five minutes.  It seemed wrong to spend 45 minutes on a bus just for five minutes of downtown.  Then I remembered St. James Cathedral -- my sketching pals and I have been thinking of drawing churches both inside and out, and St. James was just up the hill.  I could go on a reconnaissance mission!

This cathedral opened in 1907, and has some fabulous architecture and embellishments.

Check out this little fisherman dude at the bottom of the main doors!

The interior proved intimidating as far as sketching goes -- look at all those arches!  And the details!  and the perspective issues -- aieeee!

Some of the side chapels were more manageable, but the whole place was very dimly lit.  I took these pics with the flash (before noticing the "no flash photography" sign -- oops).

I found a pew near the altar from which I could see this view, and decided to sketch part of it, and not to use a lot of detail because it was so dim that I couldn't see a lot of detail.  It was challenging.

It was nice and peaceful there, at least, until I finished up -- a tour group arrived and the guide began yakking, so I departed.

I didn't do any more sketching downtown, though I did wind up visiting the Seattle Mystery Bookshop, and then went to the Market to get some Beecher's cheese before heading home -- in for a penny, in for a pound.  My five minutes of business turned into three hours of fun!