Restaurants as art: Seattle s closed storefronts become immortalized Naomi Tomky, Special to the SeattlePI
Even rendered in a simple painting, the deep crimson of the Moon Temple façade immediately evoked an emotional response, stopping my aimless Instagram browsing mid-scroll. The artist behind it, Mark O’Malley is a colorblind retired Northshore School District groundskeeper who followed a winding path through various styles and mediums of expression before landing on restaurants, which he paints onto repurposed rectangular wooden children’s puzzles – a quirky but inherently practical surface, as they come in their own frame.
The barely perceptible fractures under the paint from the puzzle’s intended purpose are unique, as is O’Malley’s personal route to art, but his draw to the beloved bars and cherished restaurants, and favorite coffeeshops is part of a growing trend. Illustrators Julia Wald and Nora C. Y. Ng also regularly render favorite restaur
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