Sketching Place

Too often, I’m guilty of drawing an iconic structure and assuming I’m capturing something of place. But place is so much more ephemeral than just a recognizable building. The feeling of being in a location might be about its energy, people, color, the weather… or a combination of many things. So I’ was kinda pleased when a sketch can take me back to a place long after I’ve been there.

This one of Asilomar does that for me. I feel the omnipresent fog in it.

(All that wild mark-making just has to be influenced by a whole weekend of teaching a texture and mark-making workshop with Uma and Nina. We had such a blast, we’ve announced the 2023 version of the workshop. I’m looking forward to it already!)

And for completely different reasons, this one works for me too. It captures what I feel about this project: a small beacon of hope in a crumbling, often struggling downtown.

Here’s the story of the Plaza Hotel:

Built in the 50s, the Plaza was once full of life and activity. Located right by the now-defunct Greyhound Station and Caravan Lounge, so you could grab a good night’s sleep (and a cocktail) to break up long travels across the country. But San Jose’s downtown, like so many cities around the country, saw residents move to the suburbs through the 50s and 60s and was desolate by the 70s. The hotel fell into disrepair but has recently been revived as much-needed temporary housing, giving it a new lease of life.