Todays window, the advent calendar: As I have mentioned here, a good number of these windows came from homes in my neighborhood in Salt Lake City where I lived in 1982 for the year. (Actually, Thanksgiving on 81 to Thanksgiving of 82) This is one of them. I saw it and immediately fell in love with the simplicity and elegance of it. Such a simple design, but a touch of class. I liked the conical shape and especially the stonework surrounding the window. Rough cut stone is an element that lends a feel of permanence to architecture. Living now in Santa Rosa, CA, I have learned much about the Annadel State Park here which, in the late 1800s and early 1900s, supplied much of the cobblestones and cut stone for the Bay Area streets, especially San Francisco, as well as cobbles used for curbing that is still in place in many areas of Petaluma. The quarries at Annadel, in fact, are believed to have been utilized to extract stone as much as 3000 years ago! Maybe having been steeped in such history by association is what has given me such an affinity for it, I dont know, but I find it striking and worthwhile at the same time, this old, cut stone. While walking in nearby Howarth Park with my wife the other day, I was reminded that there are still a number of spots that show signs of the many tiny quarries that were located all over that area, and you can find big piles of the chips they hammered off the stone to make those rectangular cobbles. Shown here also is a photo of a group of Italian immigrant stonecutters taking a rare break from their labors to get a photograph. This window is sporting a small bunch of Holly for a festive touch, and has another of my telling, odd additions that seem incongruent, yet which make sense if I look back at my history: the trailing vine of fall grape leaves. The leaves themselves resemble maple more than grape but, again, without photos available to review, I was bound by imagination and memory for details on most of the subject matter here. As with most of the other details, I tried to represent three dimensionality with shadows as much as possible. Im sure glad I had those magnifying goggles while drawing this calendar! Its a shame that some areas of the drawings have shown their age so much more than others. The sill stone on this window has blurred more than any other area of the calendar. But I guess, at thirty two years old, its not in such bad condition overall. I drew this during the end of summer in 1982, so I was still 23 until October. Seems like yesterday; and so long ago. Its nice to see stonework making a comeback! Its nice to see this calendar making a comeback, at least for me, as well. Its one of my favorite drawings, celebrating what used to be one of my favorite seasons. Maybe the commercialism of the holidays will wane someday and Christmas, too, will make a comeback to its former glory. That would be cool! Its The Fifteenth Day Of Christmas!
Posted on: Mon, 15 Dec 2014 08:34:40 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015