Seattle's Space Needle

While going downtown to pick Bruce up from work, I noticed the Space Needle has a new paint job!  Right now the top is decorated with a Christmas Light Tree that can be seen all across the city, at night.  In the daytime, from the I-5 freeway it appears to be painted green, although it is actually a trees design, inspired by, “THE EMERALD CITY!  Luscious green, as far as the eye can see." per the artist, Nicole Commins.  Apparently, this design can be better appreciated from the air.

Winning design by Nicole Commins

In a contest that drew more than 100,000 votes, Nicole's “trees” design was the public favorite and, as a result, will adorn the Space Needle’s roof from October 2012-April 21, 2013.

Nicole Commins, 29, is a self-taught freelance graphic designer, who lives and works in Seattle.  She found out about the roof painting contest from her father, after he read about it while riding the train from Edmonds to Seattle and suggested that she enter.  She grew up in Edmonds and attended Shoreline Community College.

The Space Needle is an iconic 605 foot high landmark that is recognized around the world as being in Seattle, Washington.  It was built in 1961 for the 1962 World's Fair, which was held in Seattle.  Until the trees design was painted, the top had been repainted, for a time, the same gold as the original back in 1962.

The structure itself was built to withstand earthquakes up to 9.1 on the Richter scale, winds up to 200 miles per hour, and has over two dozen lightning rods on top to prevent lightning damage.

The Space Needle has an observation deck located 520 feet up, and a rotating restaurant called SkyCity located 500 feet up.  It completes a full 360 degree rotation every 60 minutes.  The views of Seattle and the surrounding mountains, skyline and scenery from the observation deck and restaurant are spectacularly beautiful.

The view of the Space Needle and Seattle's Skyline from across the sound in West Seattle:

View from the deck (On a clear day!)

That is Mount Rainier in the background

 Note the top painted gold

Seattle's Painted Traffic Control Boxes 32

Photo by:  Cherri

Here is number 32 in the Painted Traffic Control Box series.  I described this one as a Griffin, but I really think a griffin has a lion body, dragon wing and tail and the head of an eagle.  This one seems to have a unicorn.  

 This box is sponsored by Table 219 which is a restaurant located at 219 Broadway at John.

Seattle's Painted Traffic Control Boxes 31

Photo by:  Cherri

Here is the latest Todd Lown/Jesse Brown painted traffic control box.  This one is on the southeast corner of Broadway and Thomas in the Capital Hill neighborhood.  It is sponsored in part by Charlie's.

Seattle's Painted Traffic Control Boxes 30

Photo by:  Cherri

So, here is the 30th Painted Traffic Control Box.  This one is in the Capitol Hill Neighborhood at Broadway and Harrison.  It is sponsored in part by the Broadway Grill.

Seattle's own legend: Jimi Hendrix

With today being his birthday, it seems appropriate that we feature Daryl Smith's Statute of  Seattle's Rock Legend JIMI HENDRIX.






Jo Ann took me to visit this Bronze Statue at the corner of Broadway and East Pine Street the day we went looking for more Painted Traffic Control Boxes on Capital Hill.

Photos by:  Cherri

The Seattle artist cast the statue in 1997 to be part of "The Legends Collection," a series of sculptures of musicians commissioned by Michael Malone, former chairman and CEO of AEI Music.   

A lot of research went into the making of the Jimi Hendrix statue. Hendrix's pose was one pictured in a famous photograph from the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967—the performance where Hendrix famously lit his guitar on fire.


 



Smith spent a lot of time on the statue's smaller details as well, such as the arrangement of Hendrix's guitar strings. Hendrix was left-handed, but played a right-handed guitar stringed backwards for left-handed playing. To accurately portray this musical quirk, Smith re-stringed the right-handed guitar used in the mold, so that the sizes of the strings would match up.




Widely recognized as one of the most creative and influential musicians of the 20th century, Jimi Hendrix pioneered the explosive possibilities of the electric guitar. Hendrix's innovative style of combining fuzz, feedback and controlled distortion created a new musical form. Because he was unable to read or write music, it is nothing short of remarkable that Jimi Hendrix's meteoric rise in the music took place in just four short years. His musical language continues to influence a host of modern musicians, from George Clinton to Miles Davis, and Steve Vai to Jonny Lang.

Jimi Hendrix, born Johnny Allen Hendrix on November 27, 1942, at Seattle's King County Hospital, was later renamed James Marshall by his father, James "Al" Hendrix.  Entirely self-taught, Jimi's inability to read music made him concentrate even harder on the music he heard.


Influenced musically by American rock and roll and electric blues, following initial success in Europe with his band the Jimi Hendrix Experience, he achieved fame in the US after his 1967 performance at the Monterrey Pop Festival. Later, he headlined the Woodstock Festival in 1969, and the Isle of Wright Festival in 1970, before dying from drug-related asphyxia at the age of 27.

Jimi at Woodstock

Instrumental in developing the previously undesirable technique of guitar amplifier feedback, Hendrix favored overdriven amplifiers with high volume, gain and treble. He helped to popularize the use of the wah-wah pedal in mainstream rock, which he often used to deliver tonal exaggerations in his solos. He also pioneered experimentation with stereophonic phasing effects in rock music recordings.

Wikipedia has an excellent biography of this amazing artist Seattle claims as its own at the following link:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimi_Hendrix

Seattle's Painted Traffic Control Boxes 29

Photo by:  Cherri

This is the second Painted Traffic Control Box in the Capitol Hill Neighborhood.  Like the first, it states it is funded by the Department of Neighborhoods & Supported by the Broadway Business Improvement Area.  This one is sponsored in part by Broadway Video.

Seattle Street Art 1+

After viewing my post on this wall mural, I was very unhappy with the way the photos were presented.  I'm giving it another shot in trying to showcase Henry's work.  My personal thought is I should have made a video while walking alongside the mural.  I may try that next time.  At any rate, here is my newest effort:

Left end 1

Left end 2

Left end 3

1st Stairwell Left 4

Details of Stairwell

Center section 5

Center section 6

Center section 7

As you can see, this is a very long mural, covering the retaining wall on the entire west side of the elementary school.  The mural continues with the side panels to the door below:

Right side 10

Right side 11

Right side 12

Right side 13

Right side 14

Right side 15

Right side 16

Right side 17

Right side 18

That's it.  I told you it was a big mural!