Zona Blanca

I've been painting a lot of Spokane landmarks with years of tradition stretching back, but this week we're going in a different direction. Spokane is growing and changing and full of vibrant energy. Zona Blanca and Chef Chad is a big part of that. A contestant on Top Chef and a hometown Spokane guy, Chef Chad opened Zona Blanca, a ceviche restaurant, just over a year ago in the Steel Barrel Tap Room, a brewery incubator space.  I found Zona Blanca on Instagram shortly after it opened. The colorful plates of food, wild and creative captivated me and I immediately put it on my list as place to go draw at. I wanted to see if the food tasted as good as it looked!

Spoiler alert.

It did.

I enjoyed my Octopus tostado by a window and after I drew and ate it (Take that hipsters, I did you one better! No food photos, food paintings!), I admired the view of trains passing by on the elevated tracks, a quintessential downtown Spokane scene.

Elevated train rail!

Delicious!

All gone!

Come see me this weekend at the Urban Art Coop Holiday Show! 10am-5pm on Saturday and 10am-4pm on Sunday. Free Admission at Urban Art Coop: 3209 N Monroe St, Spokane, Washington 99205. I'll have new prints and cards, including prints of my paintings of Auntie's and the White Elephant!

White Elephant Store Kiddie Ride

Hurray for Auntie's Bookstore!

Artist's Eye on Spokane On TV

Exciting news everyone! Artist's Eye on Spokane (and thus ME) made it on tv! KXLY here in Spokane in fact, but now the video has been released to the internet and I am sharing it with you here!

Caroline Flynn of KXLY and I have been in touch since this summer trying to work out a time when our schedules could mesh together and it finally did. Caroline interviewed me about Artist's Eye on Spokane at the historic Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox and filmed me as I painted the iconic sunbeam light in the auditorium. Watch the video to see me in action! Thank you to the wonderful Alison Highberger at the Fox for helping me coordinate this visit. 

I was a bit nervous to be filmed and it is a bit odd to see and hear myself in video form, but Caroline is a total pro and I think the video came out great!

You can also click here for the video along with a short summarizing article. 

Auntie's Bookstore

Auntie's Bookstore is a fabulous independent bookstore in the historic Liberty Building in the heart of downtown Spokane. I am a huge bookworm and love to read so bookstores are one of my favorite places to visit (though resisting the urge to add to my giant personal library at home is always challenging).

The sweeping staircases up and around the open atrium at Auntie's is a distinctive part of the store. It is always fun to peer down at everyone browsing their way around the ground floor.

Here is Auntie herself, happily reading with a hot cup of tea on her sign outside the store. 

I always stop at these freestanding bookshelves when I visit. I always find new and interesting books that way. This stand seemed to have a lot of Star Wars and Harry Potter stuff! Not sure how I feel about the Star Wars/Shakespeare crossovers!

Rick Davis is a local sculpture artist working in metal. Several of his sculptures hang from the railings in the atrium. Large, strange and kind of prehistoric looking, I love seeing them. Definitely not something that they would have at Barnes & Nobles! 

Small Business Saturday is coming up and I highly recommend putting Auntie's on your shopping list. They have books, magazines, journals, cards and stationary, coloring books, t-shirts, fun knickknacks, and more!

Wolffy's Diner-a Spokane Stalwart

Wolffy's is an old fashioned diner with great food and great prices, which makes it popular with all the nearby Gonzaga students! That was my first experience with the place. A friend of mine was obsessed with Wolffy's and went nearly every Saturday, so one day a couple of friends and I went with him. Good memories ensued, so I always have fond feelings whenever I drive past the restaurant.

The restaurant has a really fun retro exterior. I had a lot of fun painting the neon lettering!

I stopped in to sketch at Wolffy's around 11:30 am and the place was packed! It is a lot of fun to sit at the counter with other people-college students, construction workers, people bringing their out of town visitors...I'm so glad to see the restaurant is doing well and staying busy!

I picked a spot at the counter in front of the grill so I could watch the action, even though I had to break the "seat spacing rules" of alternating empty stools. The fry cook was a wonder in action, cooking up multiple orders in a dance of spatulas and sizzle.

A big basket of fries and a milkshake for around $7 is hard to beat, plus you get such great atmosphere. Get on down to Wolffy's and grab yourself a spot at the counter!

The White Elephant-A Spokane Tradition

A bit late thanks to an exciting trip down to the Southwest this past week. I went down for a wedding and decided to take the week with a friend and go to the Grand Canyon and Joshua Tree National Park. It was delightful! Please let me know if you'd like to see some of the paintings I made while on the trip even though it isn't paintings of Spokane! 

Now on with our regularly scheduled programming: The White Elephant!

The White Elephant with its vintage lettering and proliferation of white elephants all over its building always makes me happy. I mean, who doesn't like cute elephants? A busy camping/outdoors and toy store (a combination that seemed odd to me originally, until I was won over to the White Elephant's ways), it saw plenty of traffic through its doors as I sketched the outside of the building from across the street. 

Why is there a swing set on the roof of this building? Who knows. Also, MORE elephants!

This kiddie ride is a beloved toy for all children visiting the store. I saw several delighted kids ride it was I painted at the store.

I played with Playmobile toys when I was a kid so I LOVED seeing these three foot tall Playmobile figurines on the shelf at the White Elephant. So fun! The blue rectangles below are a wall of endless Hot Wheel cars. Perhaps the White Elephant needs to be on your Christmas shopping list? (Eep! Sorry for bringing up Christmas shopping! :) )

Fall at the Japanese Garden

Fall in Spokane is such a beautiful time. The leaves turn brilliant colors and I try to get out to enjoy the blue skies, crisp air, and flaming trees as much as possible. Soon we're going to be buried under a pile of snow!

So many people suggested the Japanese Garden at Manito to me as a place to sketch, especially in the fall and they were totally right. It is breathtaking. Get over there before it is too late. The Japanese Garden closes for the season November 1. Last year, the foliage was so spectacular, the Manito staff decided to leave the garden open an extra week or two, but don't count on that. Get over there!

I just LOVE the color behind this stone lantern. Absolutely GORGEOUS and so much fun to paint! This is the most recent sketch I did at the garden and the foliage is really at its peak!

This sketch was completed on an overcast day before the foliage really exploded into full color. The evergreen shrubs and trees really set off the red maples well!

On the day that I sketched this, there were only a few visitors standing on the bridge, but when I returned to paint the stone lantern above, the bridge was crowded with people taking photos!

To paint this stone pagoda, I balanced precariously on a rock along the walk way, trying to stay out of the way of passersby. 

As I was walking into the garden, I saw this view. The gold at the end of the path along the outside garden fence caught my eye and when I needed a break from over 2 hours of sketching on a chilly day, I got into my car, cranked on the heat, and painted this!

Individual World Poetry Slam

 Spokane hosted the Individual World Poetry Slam last week. Poets came from all over to throw down for a chance to win the slam but there were also plenty of more casual slams happening around town as part of the event. Auntie's, Merlyn's, Boots Coffee, and Neato Burrito all participated along with the downtown library. I love how Spokane has a burgeoning literary scene-lots of writers and poets and it is attracting outside interest, such as this awesome poetry competition.

Merlyn's is a fun comic and gaming store next to the Saranac Commons, so a perfect spot for the "Nerd Slam". Each poet picked a nerd specialty and was asked a trivial question about their specialty before they performed their poem. It was really fun to see what people picked for specialties-Star Trek, Dr. Who, Westaros religions, Naturo and more. The time it took for each poet to think about the trivial questions gave me a chance to think about how I was going to tackle sketching them. Except for the cross spread title sketch at the end, I made each sketch in around 1-3 minutes. Challenging and fun!

Superman themed poem!

Gesture and body language was a big part of the performance.

There was some swearing.

People are really into Game of Thrones, man.

I thought it was interesting that all the poets that read their poem, did so off a phone, not a piece of paper.

Loved the flower headdress and tinted glasses.

Dr. Who was very popular.

Poem about Stephen King horror novels.

The rest of the writing reads, "I never would have gotten a Star Wars tattoo if I knew that it meant Geek Boys would touch me."

This guy started off the event and I had a chance to sketch some of the background poster as the organizers were getting set up.

If you want to go to some poetry readings here in Spokane, there's a weekly poetry reading/slam on Wednesdays at Neato Burrito and there are regular readings at Auntie's bookstore. Check them out. It can be a lot of fun!

Pumpkins in the Field, no pumpkin spice in my cup

When the Inland Northwest thaws out, Greenbluff is beautiful from spring until fall. Strawberries, cherries, apricots, peaches, apples, and pumpkins, the bounty just continues on. I visit it a few times a year to pick fruit-I love to make strawberry fruit leather, can peaches in syrup and make homemade applesauce. Fall is my favorite season-sunny skies and crisp air and crunchy leaves. I visited Siemer's Farm on a gorgeous day just like that when the clouds streaked across the sky. Pumpkins lay like jewels in the field-orange, white, yellow and green streaked, deep red-orange. 

Pumpkins as far as the eye can see and that warm, golden hour light!

Siemer's Farm in GreenBluff has all the pumpkins you need!

I loved how the farmers made piles of different pumpkin varieties! 

In the cooler fall temperatures, my ink wasn't drying as quickly as usual so I got some interesting bleeding effects that I think gives this painting a bit of a spooky look!

This was the last sketch of the day and the fading sun gave the scene a darker look, though I loved the whimsy of the castle in the middle of the corn maze!

Do any of you have plans for Halloween? Fun costumes? Pumpkin carving? Halloween party? There's so much to do to celebrate the change in seasons! I'm celebrating with lots of pumpkin decorations, apple cider, and piles of cozy knit sweaters, scarves, and hats!

Adventures with Architecture

I kickstarted my week by leading a sketch out with the Spokane Parks and Recreation department at Highbridge Park, in the Latah Creek area. The city decided to host a sketch out there because they are proposing a new Latah-Hangman Valley Nature Trail and they thought it would be cool to get people out and sketching in the area since there will soon be landscape architects doing their formal drawing prospectuses. It is a beautiful area. I loved the repeating bridges and the newly turning fall foliage. I'd never been to this park before so I am grateful to the Parks and Rec dept. for giving me an excuse to get out there and paint!

The graffiti contrasting with the dried grasses and fall foliage was fascinating.

Sketching other sketchers when out on an excursion is a delightful, meta practice. They are usually engrossed in what they are doing and don't move around a lot!

Later in the week, I wandered downtown with my eyes pointed up, looking for interesting architectural flourishes and details. Spokane has far more of those than you would expect. Try going for a walk downtown sometime, moving slow and keep your eyes off the sidewalk and your shoes! You'll be amazed at what you see!

I decided to use a pen with a smaller nib for this sketch in the hopes of having an easier time capturing the detail in this building's carved overhang, but it was still a little tight, so I had to abstract the patterning.

I love how the off white stone picks up creams and yellow tones from the light bouncing around the city streets.

The contrast between an old fashioned building syyle with classical swirls and dental moulding and the midcentury skybridge caught my eye as I walked by. 

This is the simplest of the building vignettes I saw that day. I liked how whoever designed it, decided to make the interlocking patterns of blocks beautiful as well as functional.

If you have a favorite building or cool detail in downtown Spokane, let me know! I'd love to hear about it. This may become a continuing series throughout the project!

Take a Class with Me

Hello Everyone! 

I can't believe that it is already October! The days are just flying by! I had a great time at Lucky Vintage Fall Festival. Thank you to everyone who stopped by!

A lot of people had questions about whether I teach classes and since I have quite a few coming up this fall, I thought I would share them here. They are all coming up fast so if you want to learn about making art this fall with me check out the Corbin Art Center website.

Intro to Watercolor & Beyond

Ages: 18 Yrs. and over

Fees:
- Fee $69.00

Description: 
6 weeks | Ages 18+ | Dian Zahner Come and learn the basics of watercolor, mixing colors, choosing the right paper, brushes to use, and how to transform a value sketch into a watercolor painting. If you have already taken a watercolor class before, the instructor will help you go on with what you want to accomplish. The instructor will provide photos for you to work off but feel free to bring your own to create your own fabulous works of art. Supply list included with registration confirmation. Class held at the Corbin Art Center, 507 W 7th Avenue. $69 

M          10/9-11/13           2-4pm

Sign up here

Colored Pencil Techniques

Ages: 18 Yrs. and over

Fees:
- Fee $59.00

Description: 
6 weeks | Ages 18+ | Dian Zahner Coloring books for adults are all the craze these days, but what if you want to practice the techniques of layering many colors to produce richer values, texture and depth. The Instructor will provide drawing for you to color and help you with adding shadows and leaving highlights. These colored pencil pieces of art will be so vibrant and 3-dimensional looking that you will want to frame and display proudly. Supply list included with registration confirmation. Class held at the Corbin Art Center, 507 W 7th Avenue. $59 

Th         10/12-11/16         12-2pm
Sign up here

A Creative Habit: Every Day Art

2 weeks | Ages 16+ | Megan Perkins Life is filled with beauty, but often we are too busy to slow down to appreciate it.  Sketching and painting bits of your life like; the view out of your window, your morning coffee mug, or part of your summer vacation.  These are all ways to memorialize little moments in time and bring some creativity and art into your life.  Get tips on drawing and painting parts of your life in a low pressure encouraging environment by making objects and scene sketches part of your day.  Supply list included with registration confirmation.    Class held at the Corbin Art Center, 507 W 7th Avenue.  $39

 W            10/25-11/1           6-8 PM

Sign up here

See my Art in Person!

October is Spokane Art Month and there is a ton of amazing exhibits and events going on! I can't wait to go explore all the amazing things going on in the creative community in Spokane! I am extra pleased to have this painting on display at Terrain October 5-7th at the Jensen-Byrd building! See you all out there!

Buddhist Monks Build Mandala at Spokane Community College

Last week a group of Buddhist monks came to Spokane Community College as part of their tour of the US making mandalas and praying for peace and the good of the earth. I had seen pictures of sand mandalas before but never seen one in real life so I was thrilled to get a chance to sketch this process.  

The opening ceremony involved chanting and the playing of horns, cymbals and bells. 

The monks chanted with their eyes closed, completely focusing on their task.

The horns and trumpets played were silver and gold colored metal that was embossed with decorative designs. 

This table held the tools of mandala making-rulers, compasses, white colored pencils, the metal cones that transfer the sand to the right spot in the design and cups and cups of colorful sand (my favorite part!).

I'm not sure what I would use it for, but I really want their giant wooden compass. I was very impressed with how deliberately and precisely they laid out the marks for the mandala. I guess it is all part of the meditative process.

These horns were super long and the monks held their crescent shape hats in the arms until it was time to blow the horns. Then they donned their caps and let out a deafening sound! Drawing quickly was essential to capture all the action!

Excitement grew in the community over the days that the monks made the mandala. At the closing ceremony, there was a huge crowd. I was working standing up with people pressed on all sides of me. In this sketch you can see people standing on the stair case behind the monks, trying to get a view.

This is my impression of the finished mandala on its black table. Musical instruments and other mysterious objects are on the table behind the mandala. I was blown away by the detail in the mandala and the 3-D quality. Some of the edges look like they were frosted. Gorgeous! 

What's not depicted here is the destruction of this beautiful  mandala. It took over three days to make and was destroyed in minutes with ceremonial brushes to the resonant chanting. As they pointed out-nothing is eternal, everything is fleeting. The sand was swept up into small bags and handed out to the crowd. What was left was carried off my monks and released into the Spokane River.

Fire Station 1

Wildfires and the firemen who fight it have become increasingly visible in the minds of everyone in Eastern Washington over the past few summers. Smoke hanging as a constant haze, fire alerts going off in surrounding areas have all become sad, but common occurrences. I live out in the countryside, surrounded by dry flammable fields of wheat, hay, and grass, so I spend a lot of time in late summer worrying about fire, thinking about what I would do if one ignited near us (one or two recent fires have been about 15 minutes away by car). I am immensely grateful for firefighters and the work they do. Now that we've had some rain to wet everything down, I thought this would be a good time to celebrate what they do by sketching down at Fire Station 1 in downtown Spokane. Thank you to Mark John and Brian Schaeffer and all the firefighters at the station for making me welcome!

I thought, with fire season winding down, that it would be fairly easy to do some sketching of the fire trucks when I visited, but the station was a hub of activity with trucks going out on call and returning. I managed to sneak in this quick sketch of part of the side of a fire truck-a bunch of mysterious knobs and levers, along with a coiled up fire hose, ready for deployment.

Luckily (for everyone!), the Hazmat truck wasn't deployed at all and I assumed myself painting this creative interpretation of a Hazardous Waste sign on the back of the truck.

This classic scene caught my eye-coats, bags, and helmets  hanging on their hooks, ready to for the firemen to swing into action!

The firefighters came by to see what I was working on, and kindly pulled several pieces of rescue equipment out of one of the trucks to arrange it for me. Painting this got interrupted THREE times before I finished it (It usually takes me  between 45 minutes to an hour and an half to do a sketch).

Sketching at the Spokane County Fair

The Spokane County Fair is always a fun time whether you're going for the animals, the carnival rides, the tractors or the fried food on the stick. The fair really bridges the shift between the seasons-the heat of the summer fading into cool crisp mornings.

I've always been fond of tractors and really enjoyed the display at the fair. It was amusing to see how the manufacturers were making new tractors in the vintage style. And it was rather odd to me to see shiny tractors rather than the slightly rusted worn tractors I'm used to coming across in the field.

Colorful carnival rides were everywhere. This "Bear Affair" ride was super popular with kids and the bears in overalls and hats made me laugh.

I broke out the brown paper sketchbook to draw some cows, waiting patiently in the barn. They are HUGE.

Check out the horns on this guy! He was in the petting zoo tent (in an enclosure by himself), but I'd feel pretty tentative about petting an animal this big with horns like that!

I was super surprised to see these parrots at the fair. They seemed so exotic among the cows and sheep. These two are sleeping with their heads resting on their backs, but as soon as I finished my pen drawing, their owner woke them up and gave them some snacks.

Their plummage was a little ruffled looking. Time for some preening perhaps?

Rabbits are a good animal to sketch at the fair because they are in fairly small cages raised up off the ground. I rested my sketchbook on the edge of their table as I drew. 

Pigs are another good choice. These guys were not bothered by ANYTHING. This particular pig had sawdust all over her fast!

Sheep on the other hand were a bit more skittish. I approached several pens to have the sheep leap up in alarm before I found this pretty chill individual. His (her?) pen mate was on his feet and eyeballing me, but this one was completely unconcerned. I worked fast, trying to capture as much as I could before he moved.

I am definitely going back to the fair next year. Maybe I'll even buy a multiple day pass so I can really get some in depth practice at drawing animals from life! Did you go to the fair this year? Do you have fun memories of fairs you've gone to in the past?

Pig Out in the Park

Like many Spokane traditions, I first learned about Pig out in the Park as a freshman at Gonzaga University and it is a tradition I've been fond of ever since. Row after row of delicious food? People watching galore? the Inland Northwest in the fall? What's not to love?

Piggly's Barbeque had meat spinning on skewers and the smokey smell of BBQ filled the air as I sketched the Clock Tower overlooking all the activities.

The kettle corn booth was fascinating. Corn kernels were popped in a wide open kettle that was then flipped into the barrel of caramel syrup as the man stirred frantically and steam rose from the barrel. The guy had to wear a protective face mask!

Pig Out isn't just about food, there are plenty of concerts as well! I had a great time sketching the lunch time crowd while enjoying fabulous live music.

These next three images are close ups of the sketch above.

Here is a sketch of a concert at the Clock Tower field at last year's Pig Out in the Park.

Did any of you go to Pig Out in the Park? What was your favorite thing to eat? I had a gyro, but was sorely tempted by a block of fries!

Gathering at the Falls Pow Wow

Every year, Native Americans from all over come to Spokane for the Gathering at the Falls Pow Wow, a competitive dance pow wow. I've been meaning to go to the Pow Wow for years, but the great thing about doing this Artist's Eye on Spokane project is that it gets me out there, doing the things I might never actually get around to doing. 

I watched this dancer get the final touches put on his face paint before he put on his feather bustle and strode off for the grand entrance.

This feather bustle was resting on one of the fences while I sketched it. I think these are turkey feathers, but I'm not sure. The animal medallion in the center was intricately beaded.

This sketch depicts one of several drum circles providing music for the dancers. Everyone is crammed so tightly together you can hardly see the drum, but their drumsticks were a constant waving rhythm. The fiery colors in the far right corner is an unused feather bustle resting in a blue wagon. One gentleman was drumming while on his cellphone! I wonder if the person on the other line could hear him at all?

The frenetic energy and constant movement of the dancers made capturing them in action very tricky. I focused on the open, non-competition dances which were more about community and thus tended to be a little slower paced. As dancers came around toward me I would start trying to get them down on paper, finishing as they walked away from me, thus why this sketch is from the back. A fun side effect of choosing the open dances is the variety of regalia that everyone was wearing. 

At the Gathering at the Falls Pow Wow, the next Pow Wow royalty had to be chosen. These girls are giving their speeches about why they should get picked to be Pow Wow princesses. The gentleman dressed in red in the next images was one of two of what I think were the judges.

Here's a little montage of my sketching over the afternoon. It was a hot day and a bit of challenge, but I'm glad I finally made it out to the Gathering at the Falls Pow Wow. The music, dancing, and regalia were all amazing!

August Sketch Grab Bag

This week is a bit of a grab bag. The process going to sketch the building below started a couple weeks ago when I came across a Spokesman Review article by Nick Deshais about how this historic building at S 119 Stevens is going to be demolished to make room for surface parking. I loved the sign and the intricate brick work across the top so I made the time to drop by. Sitting on the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street, I sketched and thought about the time and effort taken to do the decorative work on the building, the uniqueness of the sign and the way that things change.

S. 119 Stevens, soon to be a parking lot. I hope the sign gets preserved. If they were going to throw it out, I'd take it!

This is the Museum of Art and Culture out in Browne's Addition. I've always loved the statue of the animals stacked on top of each other. I wonder what their story is?

The other bronze animal sculptures at the MAC definitely have a story according to Zachary Wnek of Spokane Historical. 

This is the Weasel, negotiating with the Two Leggeds. 

Here is the Salmon preparing the way to the River. I just thought they were chubby goldfish with a penchant for destruction of public property.

And this Salmon has the money! Now I want to go back and find all the other figures that are part of the story! What fun! The maker of these sculptures is Tom Otterness if you'd like to check out the rest of his work.

Kendall Yards Night Market

Kendall Yards is a relatively new neighborhood in Spokane, built a top an old rail yard (hence the name), but despite its youth and rough edges (parts are still under construction as I type), it has become crazy popular due to the many fabulous restaurants and businesses there. I myself am a big fan of Central Food (and their patio!) and frequently buy their fresh baked bread to take home. Brain Freeze Creamery is a no brainer (ha ha ha) for something to eat as you stroll down the Centennial Trail. Spark Central is a place to read, explore, play with cool technological widgets and learn! I also always pop into the Marmot Art Gallery and William Grant Gallery for a dose of art (though many of the stores display art for first Friday so you are spoiled for choice!). The Kendall Yards Night Market is a party on the streets as people peruse stalls containing not only fruit and vegetables, but fresh baked pastries, salsa, teas, honey, meat, nuts and more. There are food trucks and Veraci's mobile pizza oven and concerts at the "Nest" (the open plaza) are frequent. Last week also happened to be the "Renaissance Night Market" with dressed performers from the Spokane Renaissance fair strolling among the crowd and demonstrating sword fighting and dancing to all the visitors. 

August is sunflower season at the farmer's market!

There usually a couple food trucks on site to tempt the taste buds. I was too busy sketching to sample this one's wares, but judging by the gathering of people in front of it, it is good! I believe it is called Beet It Up!

Spokane Sidewalk Games provides over sized games to play on the sidewalk (duh!). Both Connect Four and Checkers were immensely popular with kids of all ages.

I attempted to sketch a couple of the Renaissance performers as they went through the motions of a dance. I am planning to attend and sketch the Renaissance Fair in October, which should be a lot of fun.

Folkinception, a local band, gearing up to "Rock the Nest" aka perform in the plaza in Kendall Yards, known as "the Nest" because of a nearby osprey nest and the plaza's position near the edge of the river gorge.

I'm not sure that the maker of this red abstract sculpture planned for it to be climbed by children, but I'm sure he or she would be delighted to see their work interacted with in such an enthusiastic fashion. I loved to play with public sculpture as a kid and it still makes me immensely happy today.

Sketching at a Spokane Indians' Game

The first time I ever went to a minor league baseball game it was because a friend invited me. I had no idea that minor league baseball still existed! It was in Everrett and the hometown team, the Aquasox, were playing the Spokane Indians, who beat the pants off the Sox. I was completely charmed by the scoreboard with its manual score cards, the scarves and paraphernalia worn by fans, the fact that trash pick up at the end of the game was done by a Boy Scout Troop. Norman Rockwell's America was right here, at the baseball stadium. Fast forward a couple years and I've attended a few games here in town in support of my now home team, the Spokane Indians. When I'm not chowing down on a hot dog or Dippin Dots out of a miniature helmet, I sketched players and the colorful ads and accouterments of the stadium.

Recently I reached out to the Spokane Indians to see if I could come out and sketch at the stadium in some behind the scenes places and was thrilled when they said yes!

This vendor had a great sales patter routine, a highlight of which was "The sun is hot, this beer is NOT." Luckily, I found a tiny patch of shade to sit in.

Sketched from the dancing mascot platform next to the Coors Caboose, you can see the smoke and haze in the air as the sun sets. I had to hurry to finish this painting so that the mascot could take the stage!

They let me up into the press box to sketch the scene below. I clamored up stairs and ramps that led up the back side of the stadium walls and roof into the box where I quickly discovered that when the crowd got excited, the whole box rocked! This made painting both challenging and exhilerating.

I was determined to try to capture a wide lens view of the field and stands from above, but was foiled by the limits of my paper and time. You can see the sky is dark here and before I was able to add color to the players or the crowd in the stands, the last inning was played and I had to clean up and head for home. It was a delightful night. Thank you so much to the Spokane Indians for hosting me!

Now for a throw back to the past-a peek into my sketchbook last year when I went to an Indians game with some friends. It is fun to revisit locations I've sketched at before and try to get a new perspective or cover areas that I didn't manage before.

Have you been to any fun sports events this summer? Are you looking forward to fall? Drop me a line!

St. John's Cathedral

For years and years I have driven past St. John's Cathedral. Sitting on Division on my way down to downtown Spokane, the tower is a distinct silhouette on the lower South Hill and every time I see it, I think, "Man, that looks so cool. I really do need to stop in there sometime" and then I don't. Last week that ended and I can't believe that it took me SIX YEARS to get up there to visit it. St. John's Cathedral is a beautiful refuge and a fascinating example of Gothic architecture. I hope seeing all these paintings will encourage you to go visit this grand landmark here in Spokane.

All my fun facts written below are from "A Guide to The Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist" brochure that I found at the Cathedral.

The Tower is 167 ft and 9 inches tall.

The ceiling beams in the nave are made of California Redwood. 

I love all the flags hung along the nave!

The baptismal font is made of Tennessee and Italian marble and weighs 2,600 pounds!

The cathedral can fit around 1,000 people. 

The organ has 4,112 pipes.

The carillon (the bell set) was built and installed by the John Taylor Belfoundry of Loughborough, England. The largest bell is called Big John and weighs 5,000 pounds!

Spokane Youth Symphony practicing in the nave of the Cathedral. I stumbled  upon this by accident and it was fabulous to paint with live music accompaniment!

Oops! Ran out of paper trying to fit this MASSIVE door front all on the same page. The sketches made at St. John's are some of the largest I've done thus far for the Artist's Eye on Spokane Project.

The outside of the cathedral is made from stone quarried in Tacoma. The interior of the nave is sandstone from Idaho and the rest is Indiana limestone.

Volunteer guides offer tours of the Cathedral most Fridays and Saturdays 11 am-2 pm and on Sundays following the 10:30 am service. 

I was walking around exploring the darkened corners of the cathedral and then I turned around and saw this view. Absolutely stunning! This is the biggest painting I've ever done on location 16" x 20" !

As always, if you have any suggestions for where I should sketch, drop me a line at meganperkinsartstudio@gmail.com or just say hi! I'd love to hear from you. Also, if you know anyone who might like to get a weekly dose of art, feel free to share this with them. Help my project grow!

Manito Park

Manito Park was one of the first places that I got introduced to in Spokane when I came here for college. 90 acres of gardens, trails, and grassy areas for ponds (not to mention the duck pond and the incredible Gaiser Conservatory) make it a landmark destination, worth visiting over and over again. I have picnicked in the lilac gardens in Spring, admired the flaming maple foliage of the Japanese Garden in the fall and strolled the formal pathways of the Duncan Gardens in the summer. I think my favorite garden is the Joel E. Ferris Perennial Garden. There is such a wide variety of plants that there is always something new to look at and I admit to doing bit of window shopping, "Ooo! Could I grow that in my yard?". Luckily the Friends of Manito Park have their twice yearly plant sale in June and September where you can buy many of the plants found in the garden. 

One of the beds in the Joel E. Ferris garden. So many different foliage shapes!

Subjects that are back lit are always fun to paint!

The Gaiser Conservatory is a favorite refuge of mine during the colder months of the year. I get desperate to see living things and wandering through the tropical jungle and dry desert areas under the conservatory glass are just the boost of warmth and light I need on a gray, cold, February day. 

I stared up toward the roof of the conservatory to sketch this tall tree.

You can see the shade cloth the staff put over the conservatory to keep the plants from frying in the hot Spokane summers. It is very pleasant inside even when temperatures outside climb.

A wall of orchids!

The dry, desert side of the conservatory. I love the large cacti and agave!

Here, the garden is still slightly shaded in the morning light.

The Duncan Garden is laid out geometrically, a formal sunken garden. Planted in a "carpet bedding" style, the overall effect is of a dramatic abstract painting, masses of color offset by the repetition of green hedging and embellished with a fountain and rotunda.

My pen sketch of the garden before adding paint. I used a Pentel Pocket brush pen, which I am madly involved with.

So much color! It was a joy to paint!

While sketching at the park, I had to stop in at the Rose garden to admire all of the different rose varieties in bloom. On weekends it is a popular place for weddings.

This rose was leaning on a pillar of the white arbor that is so popular for wedding and prom photos.

I love the broken color on this flower.

A path going away, tempting me to see what is around the corner.

Instead I resisted and made this painting!

Painting and sketching in Manito was a delightful way to spend the morning. I envy the people who make walking in the park part of their daily routine. It is so beautiful and there is such variety among the gardens and landscape that there is always something new to see! I need to return and do some painting in oils soon!