Hendrix Park on a Lovely Fall Day

 

9/21/24 Jimi Hendrix Park

The first time USk Seattle met at Jimi Hendrix Park, it was brand new in 2017. We hadn’t been back since. My memory hazy of everything except what I’d sketched previously, it all seemed fresh last Saturday. For my first sketch (at the top of the first panel above), I chose the part of the curving sculpture where Jimi’s silhouette is cut out. I walked back and forth and sideways until I found the perfect spot to frame downtown Seattle through the hole.

Making a loop around the park, I was surprised to discover Judkins Park Light Rail Station still under construction. Although I know that more northend stations are scheduled for the future, I didn’t know about this southend station, which is opening next year.

To fill the page spread, I made two small sketches showing a distant view of the same curving sculpture honoring Jimi (and Mark and David in the foreground) and the abstract vermilion-colored sculpture prominently featured in the park. I never learned its name the first time I sketched it in 2017, and I still couldn’t find its name this time, either.

The partly cloudy morning gave way to full sun by noon, and it was the kind of fall afternoon that I always hope for in September (but often don’t get).

All morning I had pondered which kind of poke I would get for lunch at Seattle Fish Guys, which is only a few minutes away from the park. It’s a good thing I fortified myself there for the grueling drive home, which took nearly an hour (compared to the drive down to the park in the morning, which took only 15 minutes). Fortunately, I had the top down (and it was the Miata’s 28^th birthday that day, to boot), which makes even a bad commute a bit more bearable.

9/21/24 Seattle Fish Guys