City Seen: Arts Fair and Music on the Streets

Photo by Michael Johnson

Busker’s Paradise

Keep your ears open for the second annual Music on the Streets (MOTS). Last year the series transformed the usually quiet downtown Issaquah shopping area into something like a resort town, rejuvenating ArtWalk Issaquah permanently. “We’re trying to make downtown friendlier and music has been the key,” says the event’s creator, Michael Johnson. MOTS began as a ploy to attract art-walkers to businesses off the main path. Johnson placed bands strategically to lure people where they might not otherwise think to go. Soon, mini-concerts formed. “People were rolling down their car windows so they could enjoy the music while waiting at stoplights,” says Johnson. Now MOTS acts go on Thursday through Saturday, from June 21 to September 27, 5:00 – 6:00 p.m. From brass bands to Middle Eastern jazz, the mix of sounds should keep traffic coming into Issaquah. And if that poses parking problems, some of the audience can listen from their passing cars.

What’s the Best Meal You Ever Had?

Darrell Reeds, Executive Chef, Month of Meals, Redmond

It was three years ago when I catered an event at Smith Tower in Seattle. I actually got to sit down to enjoy the meal — and the view.  I served smoked beef tenderloin with an orange-juice and port reduction sauce and wasabi mashed potatoes. Dessert was a scoop of ice cream sprinkled with candied macadamia nut crumbles along with raspberry and mango compotes, all plated in the form of a yin-yang sign. We weren’t sure we would pull that off, but we did. I drank a Lemon Drop, one of my favorite cocktails.  It all went so well
that I was able to leave work on time, meet my family at Safeco Field and enjoy a game.  To top it off: the weather was beautiful. 

Photo by Kyle Johnson

Questions for Aki Sokabe 

Local illustrator and participant in Bellevue Arts Museum Arts Fair (July 25–27)

Is this your first time at the Fair?
This is my twenty-fifth consecutive year!  I’m probably one of the oldest participants.

Have you lived on the Eastside all these years?
I am originally from Shizuoka in central Japan. I moved to Bellevue in 1978, thirty years ago. I am old!

What’s special about showing work in the Arts Fair?
The feedback. My favorite works are paper-cut landscapes, but years ago I did a picture of a cat. Customers kept asking about that one. Now cats are back by popular demand. I also started to create more whimsical scenes. Last year was naughty: several ladies in kimonos playing poker.

Are there any artists you’re hoping to see this year?
So many talented artists come from all over. Watercolorist John Ebner and ceramist Paddy McNeely, for example. Also, every year a lady brings a poodle with one of those puffy haircuts.  I love it. I call it “moving bonsai.”

Any words of wisdom for an artist thinking about participating?
Never give up! Also: pictures of dogs don’t sell as well as cats.

Written by Tracy Heinlein, Bond Huberman