Tag Archives: boats

I got up this morning and the sunrise to the East was one of those irresistible forces that I had to pursue. Normally I think my calling is to head West, but morning is different and reverses impulses. I drove to Lake Washington and found myself at Sandpoint Naval Station since this was the closest I can get to the Eastern sky without actually crossing the bridge to eastside of Seattle (which is not the same thing as the lingering Eastern border of the city). I’ve been to Sandpoint many times, but never this early. The water was different this morning and looked a lot like a large alpine lake rather than the settled and populated terminus of Seattlelites freshwater summertime leisure pursuits. It felt clean and empty. Sandpoint Naval station itself is a series of decaying hangers and warehouses that hold untold possibility. I drove around the parking lots looking for a viewpoint that included the sunrise, lake views, and collapsing corrugated walls and blown out window panes filtering the light and nature with a sooty patina. This search led me to a new road I had never been on with very promising industrial/natural mystery potential. It’s always my goal to drive down a new road – even today when it turned out to be a driveway into a government research facility. So this is what I did, and then I was promptly turned around by the friendly guard at the gate, even when I tried to play the “Hey I’m just a wandering artist looking to sketch government buildings” card. (Note to readers, this does work from time to time).
Now with my ideal view fading from me, I was tempted to drive West again, but decided to drive a little bit further North around the Lake and found a strip of dirt on the side of the road with a small open gate with an inviting Seattle Parks sign. I stopped and hiked down a little hill to a dock that was apparently fair game and then sketched this scene of sailboat rental dock. It was quite cold and as this is my second attempt at an ink wash; I think it may have been a little overworked, but not a bad way to spend the am hours.