Travel Portrait 17
Sandy Watiff Off-Season: Part 5
August 10, 2008 [listen]

I. The Overseer

I packed up Eddie's easel, art supplies and oversized drawing pad while he was at the cottage finding "something to study." On my way back to the cottage, I was stopped by an elderly man who had wise in his eyes, who stood his ground esteemed, using neither a cane, nor a rod, or a stick--though legged he was, gentle he was with his introduction.

"I am the Overseer."

"You are, are you?"

"Yes, I am."

The Overseer shared with me that his family was considered ancient in this community during his lifespan (thus far) and before, longstanding. He emphasized his non-maritime heritage, stressing his family's academic achievements, now post-affluent. I observed that the Overseer was fishing, however, fishing for some information about myself and the nature of my visit, but I was too distracted by his statured eyes to even comply with his implied request. His eyes were not sunken into his skull. His eyes did not protrude from his cranium. The wrinkles around his eyes that accented his face were linear squiggles that complimented his 'brows, slate forehead, slanted nose, and edged lips.

I said nothing of importance.

II. Prefab

Placidly, the Overseer provided me with a brief history of the cottage.

"Where you are staying was never meant to be a cottage. What this was, was a Sears Roebuck Company catalog-ordered garage--a prefab, if you will. This ground, on which you stand, belonged to my brother. When he died, he divided the property amongst his children. His daughter, with whom you are renting, decided to put an addition onto the garage and make the space habitable. Snazzy, huh?"

Huh, indeed! I was ecstatic that I was staying in an original prefab shed made into a unique duck. I felt as though I was experiencing a part of art and architectural Americana--the renovation and remodeling of space into place, of dimension into perception. The Overseer had zoned my attitude, thus conceptualizing the aesthetic lore for which I sought secretly.

The Overseer informed me that he, his wife and dog spend the latter part of the afternoon watching the Bay's activities from the shore. I acknowledged. We bid our "good evenings," then he proceeded up the road, I to the cottage where I parked my ideas, while preparing dinner.

III. Interior Design

After dinner, Eddie watched one of his DVD movies, the one with racecars. He scanned the scenes, playing and pausing, looking for a frame that he wanted to replicate on paper. Meanwhile, I read an essay from the Sandy Watiff catalog. The essay described the aspects of his life in relation to his work--in particular, life-work objects (natural things, vessels, and thresholds)--as Art, and the metaphoric anthropomorphication of decor: subject matter made abstract.

Eddie began to draw freezes taken from the DVD player's screen; I took photographs of the cottage's interior design, keeping in mind the aforementioned essay problematic.

Screen Freeze Studies

Decor Abstractions

Replete in resemination, we ate some popcorn, which was lightly buttered and salted. Exhausted, we brushed our teeth, and went to bed.

"Goodnight, dahdee."

"Goodnight, son."