One advantage of attending stay-at-home summer camp was the ease of pursuing adventures just around the corner. On my customary two-block walk to the bus stop, I pass almost a dozen examples of old east-side houses -- modest and less than lovingly cared for, in many cases -- and I'm fascinated by their architectural oddities. I've counted about half a dozen styles of old roofing material, and I constantly wonder about the odd little square windows placed randomly, it seems, where access to the view outside appears unlikely. They can't all be on staircase landings (like the one in our house).For months, I've been taken with a shabby house down the hill from the bus stop, its roof and part of one side just visible in the space between two closer buildings. Something struck me about the proportions of the dormer roof to the main roof, the funny placement of the dormer windows, and the rather perfect little chimney. I made some sketches from memory and wondered what would happen if I tried painting this slice-of-house in a very simple style. I spent my last session at summer camp giving it a try:
Well, Grandma Moses would be proud. (Or maybe she wouldn't.) I admit it looks verrrry Summer Camp. Still, I think something more engaging might be done with the simple geometries and funky details of these old houses.There's a bittersweet footnote to my adventure. I arrived at the bus stop one day to see with astonishment....no, the house hadn't become a "tear-down" (in Vancouver parlance). It's being renovated!! Spiffy grey horizontal roofing tiles have replaced the weather-worn diamond pattern -- the latter "one of the best roofing systems ever made," according to the man who repaired the raccoon excavation in our own old roof. New windows have been installed and the framing repainted (though there's not much they can do with the odd way the window frame goes right to the edge of the dormer). Surely an all-over paint job is coming next. The old house that captured my eye is no more -- in its present rejuvenated state, it would never have attracted my interest.
