Russian Veterans Monument

8/2/22 Russian Veterans monument, Evergreen Washelli cemetery

With a bit of time to kill, I decided to do my sketchwaiting at Evergreen Washelli Cemetery, where I’ve sketched many times. It has a number of interesting monuments, including this white pyramid-shaped one near the memorial park’s northeast entrance. I didn’t know anything about this until I had posted the sketch in the Urban Sketchers Seattle Facebook group, where a member gave me enough information that I could begin researching it. I couldn’t find much detail, but I was able to confirm that it’s a Russian Veterans monument.

The member had also mentioned that its shape is reminiscent of pasha (or paskha), which is an Eastern European molded dessert made of cottage cheese, cream, almonds and currants and traditionally made for Easter. According to Wikipedia:

Cheese paskha is a traditional Easter dish made from quark (curd cheese, Russian: творог, tr. tvorog),^[1] which is white, symbolizing the purity of Christ, the Paschal Lamb, and the joy of the Resurrection. It is formed in a mold, traditionally in the shape of a truncated pyramid which symbolizes the first Passover in Egypt, a nod to Christianity's early Jewish beginnings and a reminder that the Last Supper of Jesus was a Passover Seder. Others believe the pyramid is a symbol of the Trinity.

This is one of the best benefits of urban sketching, especially somewhere historical like a cemetery: I often learn something!

Material and color notes: If this looks like an unusual palette for me, you’re right! The material I used is also unusual for me, at least for urban sketching: water-soluble wax pastels. More on both the palette and the material coming tomorrow. (My Instagram followers got a teaser a few days ago.)