Iconic Seattle INSTALLED

Fourteen oil paintings, all 2’x3’ in size, are now installed in the Grand Staircase Gallery at the Washington Athletic Club.

In two previous posts I showed the steps involved in making them, and in the video linked below show them in situ.

The words below are my artist statement. It’s been a great way to make myself home in Seattle. Thanks for coming along on this journey with me.

In a city defined by change, Iconic places cement a Seattle Identity

Seattle is restless.  

 Since moving to the area in 1987: I watched Grunge come and go.  The Kingdome implode.  Felt the Nisqually Earthquake.  Watched The Sonics and the viaduct disappear.  Said goodbye to the OK Hotel and The Lusty Lady, and hello to the Seattle Art Museum, a new library and Light Rail.

There were two Superbowl parades. A crane littered South Lake Union during the pandemic.  Stadiums built and re-re-named.  Amazon bubbles. EMP became MPC.  Tech start-ups a plenty.  And new sports teams: The Reign, Sounders and Kraken. 

Also, Seattle is the most re-engineered city in the US, because of the Denny Regrade, Lake Washington Ship Canal, HWY 99 tunnel, and Harbor Island, which used to be the largest man-made island in the world.  The Space Needle, built for the World’s Fair in 1962, was a monument to a city ready to step into a fast-paced George Jetson-style future without looking back.

But 64 years later, on a sunny afternoon this past January, I did look back…and scoured the city looking for iconic places that I felt captured the essence of Seattle; that have managed to survive Seattle’s tumultuous penchant for change:   Pioneer Square, Pike Place Market, Seattle Center, the old Rainier Brewery, Paramount Theater and the deco-inspired WAC building are some. I’m sure you can think of many others.

The rush of trying to sum up this city in one afternoon was countered by three months of whittling those photos into the fourteen oil paintings.  Each painting is my attempt to stop time, unpack a moment and better see a place. It is my way of being a co-creator, rather than just a voyeur.   

We all co-create this city wedged between water and volcanoes.  We are the lifeblood of a place that doesn’t just survive but thrives.  A beacon to the world; an icon of vitality, coffee, tech, natural beauty and moistness.               

 I want to thank the WAC for letting me have a show. It is a great place to begin a series of Iconic Seattle shows that I intend to have in the coming years.               

 And yes, they are for sale! moodysteffon@gmail.com        

The video below shows all of the paintings on site. You may not to be able to see the video in the body of an email, but if you click the link to the blog, you can.