Soaked by an atmospheric river that just won’t quit, Western Washington is currently a landscape under duress. Some of the many startling images of rivers overflowing at record levels reveal entire trees being felled and carried away by rising waters.
The intense and immediate impact on the regional environment brought to my mind the new film Train Dreams, which landed on Netflix in late November after a limited theatrical run. Shot almost entirely in Washington state — with breathtaking cinematography by Adolpho Veloso — the movie showcases the sublime natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest while chronicling early railway expansion and accompanying deforestation and development.
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Based on a novella by Denis Johnson, the fictional story is set at the turn of the 20th century. Through fragmented vignettes we witness the small, quiet life of Robert Grainier (Joel Edgerton), a day laborer who helps clear trees to build the railroads eagerly chugging toward the western reaches of the country. As Grainier ages he sees two-handled saws replaced by chainsaws, steam power replaced by diesel and railroads nullified by highways. In the process, cities spring up on the sites of former forests.
Grainier doesn’t talk much. But an explosives expert (William H. Macy) voices the spiritual weight of this progress, explaining to loggers who’ve cut down 500-year-old trees that such work “upsets a man’s soul whether he recognizes it or not.”
The powerful story hits close to home in a literal sense for locals, who may recognize scenes shot in regional forests and towns. Grainier’s log cabin was built near Medical Lake. The St. Michael Mission chapel in Spokane, Rattlesnake Lake in North Bend, the Webley Lumber Yard in Colville, the historic train depot near Snoqualmie Falls — all served as filming locations.
Director Clint Bentley told The Inlander that Washington’s evocative landscape was a major draw — as was the state’s incentive program for motion-picture shoots. While the original book is set largely in the Idaho panhandle, “There are realities of making a film production,” Bentley said. “Idaho has no state tax incentives for films and Washington does.”
With so many large-scale movie projects choosing to film in Vancouver, B.C. over Seattle, due to our northern neighbor’s bottomless film incentives, it’s refreshing to see such a beautiful, heartbreaking film made right here.
Speaking of local connections to new films…
The new Ken Burns epic, The American Revolution, is a 12-hour PBS documentary series that traces the battle for American independence through the individual stories of militiamen, civilians, Native soldiers, enslaved and free African Americans and others. Recreating this extensive history demanded authentic set pieces and papers that reflect the time period.
Enter Whidbey Island artist Paul A. McClintock, who creates intricate and accurate reproductions through his Clinton-based company From Common Hands. Known in museum and historical re-enactment circles for his I-can’t-believe-its-not-edible faux foods — such as meat pasties, oysters on the half shell, fruit pies, dried prunes and cheese rounds — McClintock is also an expert in bookbinding and printed pamphlets.
For The American Revolution, he was asked to reproduce maps, newspapers, diplomas, wills and other documents from the era. In addition to reprinting the antique papers, he hand-aged them with walnut ink and in some cases added wax stamps. “Growing up watching [Burns’] documentaries … I never thought I would ever be a part of it,” McClintock told the South Whidbey Record. “It’s amazing.”
And one more locally connected film: WTO/99 (screening at Northwest Film Forum, Dec. 13-14) is a new independent documentary about the massive Seattle protests against the World Trade Organization’s Ministerial Conference in 1999. Local filmmaker Ian Bell composed the piece from 1,000 hours of archival footage, but the imagery of a gas-masked police force employing pepper spray and tear gas against some 40,000 protesters looks startlingly contemporary.
It may be December but we aren’t so much walking in a winter wonderland as slogging through a flooded waterland. As we hope for the rivers to recede, here’s some significantly less alarming water-related news.
< Today (Dec.11) is your chance to own a piece of Northwest art history as two bronze “Lloyd Center Fountains,” by revered Seattle sculptor George Tsutakawa (1910 - 1997), are up for auction at MBA Seattle Auction House.
Classic examples of Tsutakawa’s genius for modernist fountains, the paired works contain abstract representations of fish, birds and flowers. Fabricated in 1960, these were installed together in front of what was then the largest shopping mall in in the Northwest (in Portland). The auction starts at 5 p.m. and presents an unusual chance for the public to bid on such works. The catch: Bids start at $125,000 for the vertical; $75,000 for the horizontal. Water not included.
< Water is Everywhere in Seattle is a new photobook from Seattle curator, photographer and writer Dale Cotton, featuring 140 of his color photos documenting the many (kinder, gentler) ways our region does wet. Available at Long Brothers Fine and Rare Books and Peter Miller Books, both in Pioneer Square.
< Green Lake is hosting its popular Pathway of Lights event this weekend (Dec. 13, 4:30-7:30 p.m.), where luminary candles light the way as you circumambulate the lake. As always, the hot air balloon brigade (colorfully lit but anchored in place) is — gah — “weather permitting.”
< Wild Waves Theme and Water Park announced yesterday that it will close at the end of summer 2026. Open since 1977, the Federal Way amusement park said “the rising cost of ongoing operations” was to blame. I’ve never been, but I know this is a seat (slide?) of major nostalgia for many locals, so plan your last splashdown before Nov. 1, 2026.
And if neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow can stop your holiday shopping, here are a few more places to find unusual arts and crafts from Northwest artists and makers. (See also my long list of holiday happenings in last week’s newsletter.)
< Punk Rock Flea Market promises 200 purveyors selling vintage fashion, stickers, action figures, gemstones, ceramics, robot dogs and more during this holiday edition of the long-running “anti-capitalist shopping spree.” Dec. 12-14 (times vary) at 416 15th Ave. East, inside the former QFC on Capitol Hill.
< The sprawling hive of artist spaces known as Equinox Studios is hosting its 19th annual Very Open House in Georgetown. Approximately 150 artists and artisans will open their doors and sell their stuff (3-9 p.m.) while just outside, bands and bellydancers perform. At 9 p.m., various art “shenanigans” begin, making for a delightfully weird night. Dec. 13 at 6555 5th Ave S. in West Georgetown, just off Michigan St.
< Neighboring Beacon Hill arts spaces The Grocery Studios and Fresh Mochi are co-hosting their annual Holiday Pop-Up Sale, featuring original art and oddities by more than 30 local artists, including Mandy Greer, Laura Brodax, Sonja Peterson and Eve Cohen. Dec. 13-14, 2-5 p.m.; venues are across the street from each other on 21st Ave. S.
< And next weekend, the Duwamish Longhouse and Cultural Center is holding its final Holiday Art Market of the year (Dec. 19), featuring handmade works by Indigenous artists. Dec. 19, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.; 4705 West Marginal Way SW.
Don’t miss Season 2 of Art by Northwest, featuring printmakers, painters, sculptors, carvers and photographers making captivating work across the diverse geographical beauty of Washington state.
