Both Ways is the best little breakfast joint in Seattle. Hungry, we had parked the car just a block down from the cafe on South Genesse Street. It was early Fall and the trees throughout the neighborhood of Seaward Park had effectively dropped the majority of their leaves. There was a light drizzle as usual. A woman about 40 strolled just ahead of us, upon leaving the hair salon she opened her black umbrella, passed the cafe and turned North at 50th Avenue. I was enlivened by the scene, bright orange leaves surrounded us.
As she left my sight I entered the cafe, feeling a short burst of warmth followed by a thick aroma of coffee and pastries. As I enjoyed my spicy veggie tofu scramble and a delicious soy latte I was distracted thinking about the potential painting to be. The following day in the studio I enriched the umbrella, adding purples and pinks to contrast with the heavy layers of orange. In the last hour of the painting’s progress, on a whim, a little wind storm blew through the scene and mid-air leaves swirled about. For me, Layla just seemed an appropriate name.
