Seabrook, Washington, is the brand new, historic "town" that's the subject of Seattle artist Nathan DiPietro's most recent series of regionalist-inspired paintings. He's also begun to move closer to the city, depicting the Issaquah Highlands in his signature/appropriated (new/historic) style.

I wrote about him in this past week's paper (here), and in the comments a debate sprung up about Seattle city people's relationship to the land outside the city; maybe y'all can settle it here in comments. And has anybody been to Seabrook who cares to join in?

As someone who's seen the Issaquah Highlands and felt sensations ranging from vague uneasiness to premonitions of outright terror, this type of ambivalent representation is long overdue. Who in this city cares about the environment of the Pac NW other than hysterical environmentalists?... I'll never know how the 1st Peoples felt as they watched their numbers dwindle and their land devoured, but I'm beginning to understand how the 2nd and 3rd peoples feel as the 4th and 5th waves start to make their grabs. And that's the thing about waves: they just keep rolling in. Nice piece.

Yeah, FSM forbid that someone builds beach houses that aren't the tacky shit-holes of Open Sores. Sorry, I mean Ocean Shores. I can't afford a house in Seabrook, but 8 or 9 friends and I can rent one for about $30-$40 each, per night. It's quiet, the beach is a short walk away, it's relaxing. Why is it that the Stranger's writers all feel that you should be able to do anything you want, be "who you are", not be oppressed by other people ideas. AS LONG AS IT FITS IN WITH THEIR "CAP-HILL, GEORGETOWN, I'M HIP AND IRONIC BECAUSE I DRINK PBR" B.S. (emphasis mine). The usual Too Cool For School drivel. And these painting aren't some grand social contribution that the article makes them out to be. They are being sold to a inner-city hipster population that needs to feel superior to someone, anyone. And ironic, they always need to feel ironic.