Chilly But Sunny at Swansons Nursery

 

10/26/23 Swansons nursery

We’ve had all kinds of weather this week, including a sudden turn toward winter temperatures, but USk Seattle lucked out on Thursday at Swansons Nursery. Although it was cold (I had to get out my down parka for the first time this season), the sun warmed us whenever it popped out from behind spotty clouds.

One of our favorite fall and holiday season venues, Swansons always gives sketchers plenty of colorful displays. I found a stack of pumpkins next to a spray of fall colors and a cone (which makes any scene sunnier).

After walking around and chatting with friends for quite a while, I needed a warm-up inside the nursery’s Barn & Field Kitchen café. Always a bit daunted by the jungle of greenery surrounding the tables and yet attracted to it, I tried a tonal study this time.

We’re all looking forward to getting back to Swansons for the holidays!

Clouds, Rain and Orange at Swansons Nursery

10/25/19 Swansons Nursery

A big reason why USk Seattle meets at Swansons Nursery at least once (and often more than once) a year is that it’s ideal for any kind of weather. And a big reason we like to sketch there in the fall is orange. It was a predominant color in the palettes of many sketchers yesterday, when we had a wide variety of weather conditions.

While it was still dry and not too cold (if one were dressed in down as I was), I found a mandatory pumpkin display and steer skull to sketch outdoors. Near the hay maze, children were invited to plant and water flowers inside pumpkin shells, so I tried to quickly capture one such child . . . though a 10-second “pose” is a challenge even with life-drawing practice.

Inside Swansons' Barn & Field Kitchen cafe 

The eventual rain and wind drove most sketchers indoors to the nursery’s café, which is filled with a lush jungle of greenery and even some pink anthurium. Noshing on my scone as I sketched, it was a relaxing way to warm up and chat with other sketchers.

Green Oasis

2/7/20 Barn & Field Kitchen & Bakery inside Swansons Nursery

For the next assignment in my botanical drawing class, we were asked to bring a blossoming plant. I headed straight for Swansons Nursery, where they had exactly what I needed (you’ll see it soon).

It was a good opportunity for a sketch break at the nursery’s café. Whenever I visit Swansons with USk Seattle, I’m more inclined to sketch Santa and the reindeer than the plants. On this drizzly, gloomy morning, though, the café was a green oasis with orange koi swimming languorously in their pond. Looking around, I saw that patrons were having actual conversations instead of staring into devices (I don’t think wi-fi is available). It’s brightly illuminated with natural light, and the coffee and pastries are delicious. It’s not exactly in my neighborhood, but the drive is easy enough. I think I may have resolved the coffee shop issue I mentioned yesterday!

Cold, Crowded Cacophony at Swansons

12/13/19 Swansons Nursery

If being frozen and jostled by mobs of squealing children while sketching doesn’t appeal, you might want to avoid Swansons Nursery during its annual Reindeer Festival 12 days before Christmas. USk Seattle goes there every year around the same time, so Kate and I were puzzled about why it seemed more crowded than usual. That said, I managed to make four sketches, so how bad could it have been? I had fun!

12/13/19 Dasher and Blitzen

Whatever else I sketch during these annual outings (I think this was USk Seattle’s eighth Christmas visit; we sometimes go in the fall and spring, too), Swansons’ reindeer are always my favorite. As far as animals go, they don’t move too swiftly, but scaling those enormous antlers accurately is the challenging part. No matter how small I draw their bodies, I can’t seem to fit their antlers on the same page. This time I hedged my bets and put both Dasher and Blitzen in the same composition so that the full rack of at least one of them would appear in the sketch.

Fully chilled, I retreated to the koi pond inside the café. A few years ago, I was more ambitious and attempted the whole pond. This time I focused on simply capturing a couple of koi (I apparently had trouble scaling again – one tail went right off the page).

 

12/13/19 koi

Although I hadn’t fully recovered from the cold, I pulled my hood up again and went back to the reindeer pen, this time to stand further back (top of post). Perhaps my proudest moment of the whole day was catching the gesture of the dad taking a selfie with his young kids – he was quick, and so was I.

Toes numb, I headed for the café again to get coffee when I suddenly remembered Santa! The coffee line wrapped around the café, so I skipped it and headed for yet another crowd – the one waiting for the big bearded guy. At least it was warm and the view relatively unblocked. (I’ve sketched a lot of Santas, and my favorite moment is when babes are seated on his knee, and suddenly they turn and realize this red-suited, bearded dude is not known to them – and let out a huge howl! It happened a couple of times as I sketched . . . though the little bald guy in my sketch was happily oblivious.)

12/13/19 Santa at Swansons

Halloween at Swansons

10/27/17 Swansons Nursery

Urban Sketchers Seattle made one of our semi-annual treks to Swansons Nursery yesterday – this one for Halloween (Christmas is coming up). The dinosaur topiary I sketched last year wasn’t ready, but several reindeer topiary pranced around instead. When I looked around for a good angle, I spotted Sage sketching a large display next to the children’s playhouse, and I decided I liked that view, too. 

Huge piles of pumpkins and other gourds, a hay bale maze, some young goats like the ones I sketched last year, scarecrows, a tractor. . . Swansons was full of fun things to sketch. But I had homework to do, so I took advantage of the beautiful sunshine to wander out to the back end of Swansons lot, which was full of many types of trees. . . (stay tuned).

Blue and Orange at Swansons

10/12/18 Swansons' planter display

USk Seattle likes to make at least two regular visits to Swansons Nursery each year – autumn and Christmas. Yesterday was our first visit of the year, and the pumpkins and other fall displays were out in full force. Looking around at all that orange, I then turned around and saw multiple displays of large ceramic planters organized by color. I knew the blue ones would be especially gorgeous if I could also get some pumpkins into the same composition. I walked around for a long time trying to get the blue and orange together while also taking into consideration the direction of the sun, but I just couldn’t make it work.

I finally settled for doing two separate sketches – first, the blue planters; then an old tractor filled with pumpkins (along with Arlene sketching them).

It was a lovely autumn morning for sketching outdoors – mostly sunny and bright (but chilly – I was very happy that I had grabbed my down jacket on the way out the door, especially for the top-down drive home).

10/12/18 Swansons Nursery

Bananas and Plants at Swansons

 

12/27/24 Swansons Nursery

At most USk Seattle visits to Swansons Nursery, I typically start sketching outdoors, then move indoors if it’s cold. But the chilly drizzle on Friday morning pushed me indoors right off the bat – first in one of the large retail areas, then a nice table in the café with a few other sketchers. It was a fine view of plenty of plants and the popular koi pond.

New at this visit were lots of banana-shaped caution cones scattered all over the store – bright yellow, eye-catching and fun to draw!

Halloween with Holidays on its Heels

10/23/24 Swansons Nursery

Swansons Nursery is a fall favorite for USk Seattle. More than a week before Halloween, the store was certainly decked out with autumn-themed decorations and plenty of pumpkins, but it was clear that other holidays were fast on their heels. Staff were already setting up the Christmas train display. Humphrey, the dinosaur topiary (whom I’ve sketched when he was fully “clothed” with greenery), was still wearing boots, hat and scarf in Seahawks/Sounders colors, but I was told his holiday gear was going up soon (as well as greenery, which he was sorely lacking). Workers were also replacing the sports-themed colored lights on parking lot trees with holiday colors. Whew – the retail rush is on!

In any case, we had fun chasing the orange before the colors turned red and green.

As is my usual pattern at Swansons (which we only seem to visit in the cold months), I sketched outdoors as long as I could stand the cold, then went into the café for coffee and chatted with friends.

Goats Instead of Deer and Camel

10/28/16 water-soluble colored pencils

Swansons Nursery has been a favorite location for the Friday sketchers for several years now. A mainstay during the holidays when it brings in reindeer, camel and Santa, Swansons was also fun last spring. Now we have a new season to add to our Swansons lineup: Halloween! Decked out in plenty of pumpkins and fall décor, the north Seattle plant nursery also has adorable Nigerian dwarf goats and a hay maze.

10/28/16 brush pen, colored pencil

At the beginning of the meetup, I went over to the goat pen first and had it nearly to myself. I took advantage of the relative quiet to do several studies of Tootsie Roll, Buttermilk Pancakes and tiny Mega Man.

Eventually the toddler set took over, so I moved out to Swansons’ main outdoor retail area. Sunshine broke through the overcast sky, and it was warm enough to eventually take my jacket off as I sketched the dinosaur topiary and surrounding greenery. (When we go back in December, I’m guessing we won’t be as lucky, weather-wise.)

When I went into the café for a break, a toddler at the next table caught my eye. If I thought the constantly moving dwarf goats were a challenge to sketch, they couldn’t hold a candle to this little guy, who gave me about 5 seconds to catch this pose.

10/28/16 brush pen

10/28/16 brush pen

10/28/16 ink

Cold and Windy Swansons

 

10/22/25 Swansons Nursery

“Why do we always meet at Swansons in the morning when we know it would be warmer in the afternoon?” I complained to Kate when I arrived. (Note to self: Schedule the next time in the afternoon!) A fall and holiday season standby for USk Seattle, Swansons offers colorful displays outdoors and a cozy café for inclement weather. In addition, the staff are always friendly and welcoming.

It wasn’t raining Wednesday, but it was downright cold and windy. I stayed outside for as long as I could stand it, sketching some bright blue pots, even brighter leaves that had caught my eye in the tree section, and Mark sketching by the shopping carts.

After that, I had had enough of the chill. Retreating to the café for coffee and a snack, I spotted Natalie and Kim – ideal victims under a jungle of enormous leaves. Swansons is always a good meetup spot in any weather.

Swansons Cafe

This entire fence at the back of the property was covered with dazzling Boston ivy!

New Reindeer But Same Santa

12/14/18 More kids were present than I've represented here! Way more.

Last year’s post about USk Seattle’s annual holiday visit to Swansons Nursery was entitled “Reindeer, Santa and Mobs at Swansons,” and I probably could have used the same this year. Luckily, the weather was all the way up in the high 40s and dry, so sketching at the reindeer pen and out in the plant displays was reasonably comfortable.

Before the crowds got thick, I started with the reindeer. Instead of Blitzen as in previous years, Dasher’s pen mate was Comet (I suppose even reindeer get some time off during the holidays). Every year I have difficulty scaling their antlers accurately – they seem so unbelievably large! I learned that it takes eight months to grow them each year.

12/14/18 Dasher or Comet?

12/14/18 Santa and a bald pink head.

My next stop was Santa (the same one as in previous years). When I arrived, a tiny infant had been placed in Santa’s arms, and for a few minutes while the older brother finished bawling, I had a good view of them. Suddenly the brother apparently gained courage and joined them, and mom sat on the chair’s arm, completely blocking my view. Whew! That was close.

12/14/18 Swansons cafe

By then I was hungry, so I went to the café for a snack. Chatting with Robin while scarfing down a scone, I hastily sketched the jungle of exotic greenery in the remaining time before the throwdown.

Sketching at Swansons with my USk “family” is a holiday tradition I cherish (we’ve been going every year since 2012).

Reindeer, Santa and Mobs at Swansons

12/22/17 Blitzen dozing

A Friday USk tradition since 2012, Swansons Nursery during the holidays is one of our favorite outings. We usually don’t schedule it this late in the season, however, and it was significantly more crowded than usual.

First, I had to fight my way through swarms of kids to get to Blitzen and Dasher, the reindeer who visit the store annually. 

12/22/17 Dasher and Blitzen

Then I had to fight my way through swarms of parents to get to Santa, with lots of Santa’s helpers blocking my view. (Even with my limited view of him, Santa remembered me from the time I sketched him a couple of years ago.) At least I didn’t have to fight to get to Pippin, Alex’s new puppy, who stayed relatively still chewing his leash.

12/22/17 obstructed Santa

12/22/17 Alex's new puppy, Pippin

12/22/17 banana tree

After all that, I had to break for lunch, and then I had my usual 15 minutes left before the throwdown. In Swansons’ crowded café, I had a mostly unobstructed view of the enormous banana tree growing by the koi pond. 

Despite the mobs, Swansons was still a fun way to end the year with Urban Sketchers Seattle!

Kate and Antonella

Swansons’ Reindeer



12/17/12 Black Velvet ink, Zig, Hand Book sketchbook

What’s up with “eight tiny reindeer”?

 

Any time I’ve seen Santa’s reindeer on TV or in books, they look like dainty Bambis gracefully hoofing the air. If the resident reindeer at Swansons Nursery are any indication, the team would look more like a small herd of stampeding cattle than Bambis. Dasher and Blitzen are huge, and so are their antlers. I started sketching Blitzen five times at the wrong scale, unable to fit his antlers on the page. Fortunately for me, he spent most of my visit chewing hay and dozing, not flying, so on my sixth try I finally got the scale right.



12/17/12 Black Velvet ink



12/17/12 Private Reserve Black Velvet ink, Zig markers

In the Wild

10/25/23 Ravenna neighborhood

While I enjoy sketching pumpkins and other Halloween decorations at Swansons Nursery, I find I rarely sketch them “in the wild.” On this cold morning, however, the rain had stopped and the clouds suddenly broke open to spill light on these orange characters on a Ravenna neighborhood porch. They were asking to be sketched.

Happy Halloween! And may all your treats be Snickers.

Bits and Pieces of My Days

 

1/7/25 Caffe Fiore, Sunset Hill neighborhood

As mentioned in a previous post, one reason I think my sketch journaling process has finally “stuck” is that I am not trying to stay within a specific format or approach. Drawing from life, from photos, from memory – it’s all good. By far, my favorite approach is the multi-panel, on-location comics format (like the one above). It always feels loose and liberating while paradoxically having a small element of tension: I have chosen a location (a café table), but I never know if I’ll have enough scenes to fill several panels from that spot. Meanwhile, I might be documenting something I want to remember that day (often a record of my downsizing activities).

On another day recently (below), I had gotten together with a couple of sketcher friends, all of us intending to sketch, but our conversation became so interesting that I never got past my pastry. (I wasn’t disappointed, though – it was a great discussion!)

1/3/25 still lives; photo reference

That evening, I didn’t want a page spread with nothing but my Macrina morning roll on it, so I added a couple of unrelated sketches (though related to what I was doing or thinking about that day). I didn’t leave myself space to write much, but the sketches are enough to prompt the memories. I also enjoyed putting a bit of thought into making the page look cohesive and “finished” with the broken borders around some elements. I don’t always care about finishing a page, but sometimes it’s a fun challenge.

Below is another example of an assembled page spread that documents my day in bits and pieces instead of one location. Before the USk sketch outing at US Bank Centre, I had enough time to make a quick stop at Pike Place Market. After I finished my errand, it was still early enough in the morning that I had a clear view of Rachel the Pig, a Market mascot, near the famous salmon-throwing fishmongers. (By the time I was finishing the sketch, the mongers started tossing and shouting, and suddenly my view was obstructed with excited tourists. It was nice to enjoy a rare deserted moment for as long as it lasted.) The rest of the spread includes my dessert with sketcher friends after the outing and my Market shopping. This spread was more satisfying to make than the previous one because I could sketch all of the elements live and not from photos.

1/11/25 Pike Place Market; Kastoori Grill; still life

Most of these types of pages are “rewards” for downsizing and home-improvement tasks accomplished. Other times, the reward is simply sharing a meal and sketching with a friend – that’s always reward enough.

1/8/25 Samurai Ramen and Jolli Daze, Chinatown International District

12/27/25 Swansons Nursery Cafe

1/10/25 ProShred in Tukwila

The last sketch shown at right is not in the comics format, but it’s the culmination of the focus of my most recent arduous tasks: I finally hauled all the paper and hard drives to a shredding/data destruction company. Making this sketch of the facility was visually brushing the dust from my hands – DONE!