Provocative ‘chimney fairy’ appears in West Seattle

September 3, 2010 at 6:03 am | In West Seattle news, WS culture/arts | 28 Comments

Certain to get some reaction in the neighborhood, a new “statue” has appeared on the chimney of a home at 44th & Brandon, the same location as the much-discussed “minotaur” wood carving that was unveiled back in 2008.

According to the staff at West Seattle Nursery (the home’s neighbors to the east), the statue was hoisted to the roof earlier yesterday, and people worked all day to install it. When we went to the house, a man on the roof helping with the installation described the sculpture as a “fairy” and said they were almost done with it.

From the street, it indeed appears to be a “fairy,” albeit one with very little clothing. The statue faces southwest, with her “wings” facing northeast toward California Avenue.

If you want to see the statue in all its glory (well, some of its glory): click here.

28 Comments

  1. used to live near that house. there’s bigger concerns than the fairy.

    Comment by k — 6:18 am September 3, 2010 #

  2. LET THE BITCHING BEGIN!

    Comment by unconcerned — 6:51 am September 3, 2010 #

  3. i think “home” is a generous way to describe the structure that stands west of the nursery. i haven’t been to the nursery in a few weeks, and don’t know if someone is actually working on it, but last time i was there, i wondered if that place had been condemned.
    .
    i love art, but maybe some money should be put into a roof before the rain starts.

    Comment by mar3c — 7:06 am September 3, 2010 #

  4. I have been going past this thing for a long time now.

    We were happy when the owner just put some caps on the ends of the exposed rebar along the Brandon sidewalk.
    .
    To bad we don’t get many lighting strikes here in the NW.

    Maybe the new fairy will bring us some better luck.
    .

    Comment by Neal Chism — 8:14 am September 3, 2010 #

  5. Good point mar3c, I was thinking hugging a chimney would make one sooty fairy, but now that I’ve seen the roof, it should be a chimney only in name and not utility.

    Comment by tom | tall clover farm — 8:17 am September 3, 2010 #

  6. I would have probably gone; roof first, then cover up the exposed drywall on the south side, then after that maybe get after the fairy chimney statue work….(Does it rotate?)
    .
    While I am at it, after going to all the trouble to cut down the big beautiful trees on that corner to carve a wooden minotaur, I would have spent a few minutes to put a coating on to preserve that ahhhh…… errr…. artwork. Now the minotaur has some pretty severe butt cracking issues.
    .
    Having your own minotaur in the front yard is a step up from one of the big wooden bears at the Puyallup Fair…..

    Comment by Neal Chism — 8:56 am September 3, 2010 #

  7. Great. Now the neighborhood eyesore will become even tackier.

    Comment by Jay — 9:04 am September 3, 2010 #

  8. The big pile of dirt is what confuses me. I’m not even judgmental about it, after all, it’s their yard, but why? Also, I do hope no kids live there. It’s got to be rainy and cold inside in the winter.

    Comment by cherylc — 9:43 am September 3, 2010 #

  9. Odd set of priorities for these home-owners.

    Comment by dawsonct — 9:44 am September 3, 2010 #

  10. Guess it takes all kinds! Just glad I do not have to look at it daily……

    Comment by RJB — 10:03 am September 3, 2010 #

  11. That “house” was actually moved there, from a lot several blocks south on California, about 15 years ago. The assumption at the time was that it would be rehabilitated after the move. So much for assumptions.

    The pile of dirt in the front yard is from excavating the basement.

    The owner seems to have difficulty finishing what he starts, hence the minotaur and exposed rebar. Surprising that the chimney seems to be an exception.

    Comment by Jay — 10:40 am September 3, 2010 #

  12. Has everyone talked to the property owner to share your views before posting here? Just wondering…

    Comment by SomeGuy — 11:25 am September 3, 2010 #

  13. If you go by at night, he has a reader board in his South-facing window offering tours for $5!

    Comment by sw — 12:18 pm September 3, 2010 #

  14. Huh…I thought the address was 1313 Mockingbird Lane.

    Comment by Leroniusmonkfish — 12:29 pm September 3, 2010 #

  15. She’s real!

    Comment by JasonG — 12:38 pm September 3, 2010 #

  16. I do have to look at it daily. No joy there.

    Comment by BA3 — 1:48 pm September 3, 2010 #

  17. I’m sure no one lives in that house; they live in the trailer next to it and I think their kitchen is the weber outside.
    .
    While the tree carvings are “interesting” I sure hope they don’t take down that gorgeous madrona or hack it up and carve a hideous figure out of it.

    Comment by JBL — 2:04 pm September 3, 2010 #

  18. I admire this homeowner. He, I think, has rejected the normal route of homeownership. We fix them up to become nice warm, water tight caves, then take the rest of our lives to fill the insides with useless crap.
    .
    This man had taken a different approach, fill the outsides with useless crap then spend the rest of his natural life fixing up this cave.
    .
    I will say one thing, while I am in no way anything of an art major, I am confused. Is the grand scheme to take this house Greek mythological with the minataur ( which is suppose to have four legs,BTW) , or Disney Peter Pan style with the chimney fairy hardware? Or maybe take the whole thing Santa Fe art colony? I say you can’t have enough art in West-By-God-Seattle.
    .
    By the way, I did get a really good look at Tinkerbell’s behind this morning on the way out, and it is really nice.
    .
    I wish to thank the West Seattle Blog for allowing us this format that lets us chime in on our next door neighbors’ art projects.

    Comment by Neal Chism — 6:04 pm September 3, 2010 #

  19. As a nearby neighbor, I think it brings humor to the neighborhood. He is having fun and slowly fixing up his house by himself. Trust me, we got over the carvings and the big pile of dirt a long time ago. They are currently in the process of fixing the roof. They just finished the chimney yesterday. When you’re doing all the work by yourself, it takes time. Also, many of the trees can’t become their full potential when they have pressure from the dirt. So for all I care, have some fun and carve them. I also think having a fairy around a chimney is wicked cool!

    Comment by CS — 6:23 pm September 3, 2010 #

  20. JasonG, that link is hilarious! Thanks for sharing.

    Comment by CurlyQ — 7:11 pm September 3, 2010 #

  21. Come on people, to each their own!! Is he loud, selling drugs, or collecting ferrets? It doesn’t sound like it! I would take some “different” art over the alternative any day. Plus, just b/c its different doesn’t mean its wrong…maybe he doesn’t like the lawn bushes and yard trim that everyone else has…

    Comment by crystal — 10:15 am September 4, 2010 #

  22. So, here is the problem I have with the “to each their own” argument.
    .
    I live a few blocks away, have my own at-home business and there are quite a few things that I can not do out in my front yard because of this.
    .
    Also, I have driven past this property for the last 15 years and probably could go on ignoring the place. Personally I was on the side of this property being an eyesore until the little red sign went up and this new art work got installed.
    .
    Also know, that for me it is the beginning of a new business month and I have to pay a lot of bills to stay in business, like city, county, state, and federal taxes, disability insurance, business license, etc. etc.. The big quarterly, and annual tax reports are so much fun. The list goes on.
    .
    So there is a big difference between having what most would call an just an eyesore property and having an at home business. He is drawing attention to himself by being “different”, and if he wants to slide in and make money off of this work, be it indoors or out, then he needs to suffer with all the same rules and regulations that the rest of us do.
    .
    So I hope he is paying his 59 bucks a year for a business license, and if he is running this thing as a home based gallery he better get some insurance. Gotta report all that income and fill out those pesky 941 coupons every month too.
    .
    And believe it or not, I think there might be a zoning regulation on the little red LED sign in his window….
    .
    So it is not just about; Is it art or eyesore? Running a small business is a lot of work, and I wish him the best of luck.

    Comment by Neal Chism — 12:12 pm September 4, 2010 #

  23. He did not cut the trees down to make a sculpture. They got some sort of disease and he had to cut them down. The sculpture came later.

    Comment by Yeah me — 10:46 am September 5, 2010 #

  24. What’s the over and under on when the scaffolding comes down? I got three years.

    Comment by Seaviewer — 7:12 pm September 5, 2010 #

  25. I’ll take 14 years, or when the house falls down, whichever comes first.
    .
    The trees looked OK to me until he trenched through their root systems during the big concrete and rebar art work effort in the late 90′s.
    .
    Anyway, looks like Tinkerbell does rotate! I will send in time estimates for when the backside shows on the Brandon side. I like her. I guess it is a she fairy?

    Comment by Neal Chism — 9:15 am September 6, 2010 #

  26. good to know the roof is getting fixed. without it, the scaffold, the fairy, and the little red sign will all end up in the basement hole.

    Comment by mar3c — 10:18 am September 6, 2010 #

  27. Just got back to work after a week’s vacation, my co-workers made sure the first thing I did when I came in was to check out our neighbor’s newest artistic addition to his home.

    I have to tell you that we are totally kept on our toes wondering what that guy will think of next. I’m with CS, I think having a chimney fairy in our vicinity is “wicked cool.” Long live urban guerilla art!

    Comment by Galen Guffy — 12:38 pm September 7, 2010 #

  28. .
    Very sad to report that Tinkerbell does not seem to rotate. After a full week of waiting, it looks like the new fairys’ behind has been locked into a steady ENE position, pointed in the direction of the plants in the W. Seattle Nursery.

    Comment by Neal Chism — 6:39 pm September 13, 2010 #

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