Bartell’s Wreath

 

12/21/20 Roosevelt Square Bartell

One of my favorite holiday traditions has been to sketch Santa at shopping malls and stores – as many as possible (some years I even get competitive with myself and try to beat the previous years’ records). Feeling a bit melancholy that I couldn’t do that this year, I thought I would drive around Northgate Mall and see if I could find exterior decorations to sketch. Construction has been going on there for quite a while, though, so it was even more dismal than it might be anyway: No decorations anywhere. The parking lot looked nearly empty, too, considering that it was five days before Christmas. It was kind of pathetic.

After picking up a prescription, I noticed a large wreath outside Bartell Drugs. It might be as retail-festive as I was likely to find that day. The “atmospheric river” had begun, but rain streaming down the windshield as I sketched seemed to fit the mood. (Unfortunately, the Field Notes Signature’s paper wasn’t up to the job . . . it doesn’t look nearly as rainy as I wanted it to.)