Parent-Kid Date: Princess Artiste

Because Hubby was stuck at school, awaiting a lumber delivery that never showed up (Grr), he missed a day with Princess Artiste and me in the Big City.  And what a beautiful day it was!

Princess Artiste has been commissioned by a teacher at school to create art tiles similar in style to a set he'd seen in the Patricia Rovzar Gallery, created by former architect, now artist, Vicki Grant.  (I encourage you to have a look at her stuff... It's amazing.  As a wanna-be architect and an appreciator of design elements, myself, her work has roots and a style I love.  Also, in wandering to galleries she linked, I came across the work of Destiny Allison at the Brunner Gallery, which I also loved.) 

from Patricia Rovzar Gallery

ANYway, Hubby and the princess were scheduled to accompany this man to the gallery to have a look at the tiles during Christmas break, but that never happened.  Eager to start the project, Princess Artiste asked me to take her to see them last week.

As it turned out, the exhibit at the gallery had long been changed, and the tiles were no where to be seen.  We enjoyed studying the works of Joseph Maruska and Deloss Webber, instead... Which were not tiles, nor ceramic, but beautiful, inspiring, and interesting.

The view up 1st Ave from Starbucks.
Image thanks to this post on StarbucksMelody.com

Not seeing the tiles did not spoil our day in the least.  We enjoyed Greek yeeros at Mr. D's at the Pike Place Market, and of course, I had to make a run through Sur la Table, to see fun kitchen wares.  We walked to Pioneer Square, where we people watched from Starbucks, enjoying some coffee/tea beverages, and then trekked back to the ferry terminal to head home.  

With an hour to spare, we decided to walk up the waterfront, north along Alaskan Way.  At that point, still having drinks in our hands, we couldn't explore any of the shops, so we just looked in windows and kept going... 

Until we were drawn toward the Big City's newest attraction, the "Great Wheel."  Frankly, it's not as large as I'd expected from the first hype they put out before construction, but it's still pretty cool.  Who could resist flying up over the city and waterway on a beautiful, clear day like we had?  Not us.  This is the first time I remembered the camera was in my pocket...

We got off the big ferris wheel with only 5 minutes to get to the ferry terminal (several blocks away), buy our tickets, and load onto the boat... so we chose to miss it and play for another hour.

We walked further down Alaskan Way than we ever had until we reached the Maritime and Convention Center, where we enjoyed more fabulous views.

Now drinkless, we were able to visit a couple of the shops that particularly intrigued the princess, and in search of a fun key chain, she found one that amused her, and decided we should have our little elephant twins.

This is mine.  Hers is with her at school.

This time we made the ferry, as intended, and rode home.