Seattle City Light Systems Control Building Sketch

At first glance much of Jeffry Mitchell's art appears exuberantly decorative...Far from uninhibited play, however, the work is a sophisticated blend of low culture materials, a post-modern sensibility, and the artist's spirited musings on religion, sex, art, literature, and the importance of work.  (taken from Contemporary Art in the Northwest by Lois Allen).  This painting relates to Jeffry Mitchell's permanently sited Ballard Sculpture Garden, 46th NW and NW 8th.  His intention was to make the piece…identifiable, modest, cheery and, I hope, charming.  Jeffry Mitchell's work frequently deals with common, domestic and commercial aspects of middle class existence, while metaphorically alluding -- with philosophical, literary and visual art references -- to issues of mortality, consumerism, feminism and sexuality.