Norwegian Heritage Day – Lef Erikson Hall, Seattle – 25 March 2023
For 2023 this celebration moved indoors; I caught only one musical act, Skandia Kapell. The group, led by fiddler and singer Kris Johansson had a lineup 50% different from last year.
Kris Johansson
Kory Tideman & Deirdre
James Skrindi
Ballard Farmers Market – Karen/Brookfield Farm – 19 March 2023
Karen is my favorite honey vendor at BFM, although truth be told, I haven’t sampled every honey at the market. I suppose like everyone else, my honey preferences are idiosyncratic. Complicating matters is the stochastic nature of honey production by the bees, which is invariably linked to their sugar sources (not always necessarily floral), which are influenced in turns by plant biologies, and their growing conditions, such as weather and climate, all so unpredictable. So, as is the case with wines and their vintages and terroirs, when you find a goodie, buy in quantity, because it can never truly be precisely duplicated. Nonetheless, some broad generalizations are useful, with the obvious chacun-à-son-goût disclaimer. To me, buckwheat’s intensity (nearly umami-leaning?) renders it good only for cooking. Clover is fine, but its flavor profile skews sweet, without significant additional complexity. I’d expected orange-blossom to have a citrusy component, but after several tries found this not to be the case. In New York I once scored a superb squash-blossom honey from a roadside truck vendor. It had a very slight greenish tinge to its modest opacity, and the intensity of its other flavor elements was striking but not ovewhelming. Alas, that vendor was never to be seen again, nor was this honey type, at least so far. New Jersey Pine Barrens (from Sullivan Street Tea & Spice Company in Greenwich Village) is my paragon, but I’m good with supporting PNW small-batch producers. My favorite of Karen’s is her “Mountain Wildflower” variety. Unfortunately, 2022 was not a good year for this particular kind of honey; hopefully, this year will be more cooperative, and I’ll be able to stock up again.
Karen, Brookfield Farm
Busking Seattle – Ballard Commons Park – 11 & 12 March 2023
This was on the occasion of the re-opening of Ballard Commons Park, which had been closed temporarily for a (euphemistically) re-furb update. Among the festivities was a stage featuring assorted acts; I caught three buskers over the two days.
Judd Wasserman
Si_Inn
Pasquale
‘Berto – Acma Mission Orchard – 5 March 2023 – Ballard Famers Market
It’s quite a chore for Berto to drive from the orchard at Quincy (about 3 hours) and set all this up himself, and then undo it all at the end of the market! Hopefully this spring I’ll be able to reverse it, to get out to do some sketching out at the farm.
Busking Seattle: Golden Earrings Jazz Band – Ballard Farmers Market – 18 September 2022
Robin Kallsen’s modified “Vo-de-oh-doh” speaker says it all for this old-timey combo – not sure if any of their repertoire is more recent than World War 2. Musclemouth has already appeared a few times in the Seattle busker series on this site; here he splits his time between guitar and soprano sax. I’ve since learned that his immersion in cultures past extends to being somewhat of a lindy-hopper.
Golden Earrings Jazz Band
Busking Seattle – Ballard Farmers Market – 28 August 2022
I’m now such a frequenter of Ballard Farmers Market that I keep seeing the same regulars there, and usually pass on sketching the same subjects too many times. Plus I’m eager to get back home and start cooking my mushrooms scored at Sno-Valley. Thus a delight to come upon Thunder Cascadia; she seemed rooted in the Irish trad style, not that I always understand the mashups that seem to be de rigueur for the genre. It was one of those “Darn, I wish I’d brought some colors to work with” days.
Thunder Cascadia
Busking Seattle – 21 August 2022 – Ballard Farmers Market
The market featured two quartets on this date, so the pens were busy busy. Valence String Quartet was a welcome classical take on the busker scene. Latona Family presented a hearty slice of raucous Americana; all four members (each of whom purported to sport the Latona surname) were featured as vocalists in one song or another.
Valence String Quartet
Latona Family Band
Busking Seattle – Ballard Farmers Market – 31 July 2022
Just one new (to me) busker today, Sunny, bustin’ it on uke, doin’ oldies – Beatles, and a Zombies tune I didn’t know.
Sunny
World-Wide Sketchcrawl #76 – Kerry Park, Seattle – 23 July 2022
About 40 USk sketches from Seattle gathered at Kerry Park. The day was mild, but a bit hazy, so that iconic Mount Rainier could not be seen, although the Space Needle could be. The park has its own iconic feature, the sculpture “Changing Form” by Doris Chase. Additional sketches can be viewed at #worldwidesketchcrawl and #worldwidesketchcrawl76.
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By Sally Drew
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By Sheilam Callahan
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By Suzanne Shaw
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By Tina Koyama
Parsons Garden
Queen Anne United Methodist Church
Kerry Park Panorama
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Photos
Eric
Throwdown Left
Throwdown Center
Throwdown Right
Ballard SeafoodFest – 16 July 2022
This was a three-day extravaganza, no way to take in the entire thing, Saturday afternoon was plenty for me. With only a half-hour set, some sketches for The Salmonberries seemed skeletal at best, what can one do? Sketches of the following (and longer-setted) act, Caitlin Sherman, are being held hostage here until the names of the band members can be learned. Sketching a caricaturist (Odom) in action is my version of meta; just my luck he was sketching somebody’s dog! Food being an obvious feature, I just had to partake of the historic offering, a salmon dinner. I sacrificed hot for the opportunity to enjoy it more than once, taking time to sketch it as it cooled and famishment waxed. A bigger hunk of fish than I would have expected, and decent cole slaw (said the Bassicaceae snob), was definitely not hungry when I finished (the eating part)! An accessory/corollary to the event was Push/Pull Art and Art Supply Store’s first-ever Ballard Zine Exchange, wherein I created my first zine. I am eagerly awaiting its return to me (along with copies of the work of every other participating zine creator), to consider offering it here; stay tuned.
The Salmonberries
Ray Hall
Minwook Park
Tom Arbaugh
Thene Aldergreen
Elliot Fitzgerald
Markas Odom
Salmon Meal
