Seattle, NE

Parking Lot, Seattle NE

There are public spaces that encourage life in the miniature, places that beckon us to pause. Some of these are little shops or unassuming restaurants, coffee shops or bakeries where you can stay as long as you like. There are lobbies, a place to perch when all dressed up, waiting until the next thing happens. Another place to be semi-invisible is the back alley, the nice ones; they exist and some progressive cities like Seattle are encouraging their use. The street corner requires that we stop and look; it might be worthwhile to stop a bit longer and look more closely at the passing parade. By the way, a quiet side street is recommended for this. And believe it or not, even the tiny, prosaic rest room might on occasion deserve an appreciative glance. The good ones try to live up to their names, and provide a sense of repose. And there are other small spots to find enrichment in the mini-meditation of a conscious pause. We each have our own list. These are some of mine.

Another topic that has always fascinated me is history. And for some reason I find World War One especially intriguing, especially now with the centennial of that great and terrible event approaching. 
This drawing is based on a photograph I took at a WW1 reenactment. It shows the backpack of a French soldier, or poilu, to use the then current term. The poilu carried a heavy burden of about 88 pounds. The round object shown here is a collapsible canvas bucket. The object on top of the bedroll is a mess tin.
I'm now working on a large series of drawings based on various WW1 subjects, and intend to post additional drawings as the project goes along.