Breezy Gas Works Marina

8/8/19 Gas Works Marina

Amsterdam’s record-breaking heatwave may have scarred me for life. Now I wake every morning and kiss my hoodie. When I see that the temperature is 60, I throw open the windows and yell “Hallelujah! No sweat today!” On a cool afternoon last week (a little cooler than I would usually find comfortable), I sketched at Gas Works Marina, where there’s almost always a stiff breeze. I reveled in being a bit chilly. 

Despite memories of heat I wouldn’t want to endure again, I do otherwise hold much fondness for Amsterdam. The waterbrush I used for this sketch still contains saltwater from the Oosterdok waterway near the NEMO Science Museum, and it was fun to sketch the rest of my time in Holland with that water. When I embed the “DNA” of a location into my sketchbook, the place stays with me in more ways than one.

Greg filling my waterbrush from the Oosterdok

Amsterdam's DNA is still part of my Seattle
sketches.