It may be 2010 out here in the
'burbs where I live, but a barely visible turn off Lake Manor Drive will take you
back seventy years to a time when a bunch of bohemian types roamed into the
hills and set up a scattered community. When the real estate developers arrived
a decade or so later, they left the random houses undisturbed, built around
them, and life went on.
So three years ago, when my ex
went looking for a mortgage to call his own, he found himself on a winding
trail, complete with strolling peacocks, a sign reading "County
Maintenance Ends Here," and a flock of ZZ Tops on Harleys outside the local
chapter of Hells Angels. But hardy fellow that he is, he kept on going,
edged down a narrow path and pulled up in front of what was destined to be his
new home.
Quaint doesn't even begin to
describe it. Enveloped by trees, and opening onto a glorious view of the
hills above the tiny community, it came with two bedrooms, two baths, a chicken
coop and a mountain man.
Although he was offered the
chickens as part of the deal, after some consideration, he declined, though he
did keep the coop (and a lotta feathers and bird poop). It was a minor
detail compared to the rest of the property, with that cathedral ceiling
soaring into the trees, and the pathway through the garden with its charming
porch swing, and...oh, the mountain man?
Well, he's an elderly gentleman
with a long white beard and waist length hair, who's missing most of his teeth,
walks with a cane and keeps his ancient, worn cowboy boots hanging on the fence
around the tiny trailer where he's lived for twenty years. As he's quick
to tell you, he was born in them thar hills and never left, nor wanted to, and
has a million stories he could tell (and does) about the old days before the
city folks came up and started throwing up their fancy houses quicker 'n spit.
And even though my ex passed on
the chickens, the mountain man was a permanent installation, so when he signed
the papers for the house, he got him as part of the package.
So when I decided to do a series
of drawings celebrating our older generation, duh, where else would I go for my
first subject?
Here he is as a work in
progress...
He doesn't actually have anything
against modern society, as you can tell by those snazzy sunglasses. Plus he says
the beer these days is pretty good, and it's just a short stroll to the little
country market to get himself a cold one.
I'll
have the portrait finished soon (and will post it here, of course) and then
it's on to the next in the series.
But I'm thinking it won't be a person...those cowboy boots...the history
behind them, what they've lived through.
Every crack in the leather could tell a story.
Tell
me what you think in the comments.
About the boots or whatever else you think would be a good subject for
the series. I'd love to hear from
you.
