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Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Time Away From Home, A Ghost Town, by Joan Tavolott

Over the years I spent a lot of time visiting my sister and her family out in California. Since I was single for a long time, I would head out there once or twice a year...and usually when I visited we went off on some adventure. In 1981 we went to visit Bodie, which is a ghost town northeast of Yosemite National Park. From the website it looks like Bodie is a little more visitor friendly than it was back when I visited.

Here is a little information about Bodie from the website.
"Bodie State Historic Park is a genuine California gold-mining ghost town. Visitors can walk down the deserted streets of a town that once had a population of nearly 10,000 people. The town is named for Waterman S. Body who had discovered small amounts of gold in hills north of Mono Lake. In 1875, a mine cave-in revealed pay dirt, which led to the purchase of the mine by the Standard Company in 1877. People flocked to Bodie and transformed it from a town of a few dozen to a boomtown.

Only a small part of the town survives, preserved in a state of "arrested decay." Interiors remain as they were left and stocked with goods. Designated as a National Historic Site and a State Historic Park in 1962, the remains of Bodie are being preserved in a state of "arrested decay." Today this once thriving mining camp is visited by tourists, howling winds and an occasional ghost."

I used a photo I had taken when we visited Bodie to do this sketch.

10 comments:

  1. Old deserted buildings hold so much mystery. So many stories in each one. Fascinating drawing you have made.

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    1. It was so strange to look inside and see it like someone had just walked out for a minute. Thanks.

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  2. I like the limited palette you've used to convey the feeling of this place. And the receding perspective is great.

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    1. Thanks, Margaret. I love the shading on the brown barn wood in all the buildings. It was an interesting spot.

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  3. I love these old barns in your painting! You found a great spot to paint. It must really have been a feeling of ghosts to walk there.

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    1. Thanks. It was eerie to walk around in such a deserted area.

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  4. I can feel the ghostliness of this scene Joan. I can't believe I've never heard of it. I asked my husband and he's sitting here telling me all about it! He knows everything, says he has a booklet about it somewhere. Wants to go there! Really good painting you did of the area. Got to use your red paint again I see! ;-)

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    1. You should go. It is interesting to explore and would definitely make a great sketching opportunity. Yes, the red paint came out again. lol

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  5. This old town must be an artist's paradise. You have captured the feeling of abandonment and decay perfectly, and the colours are so rich, lovely sketch.

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    1. Thank you. Unfortunately back then when I visited Bodie I wasn't going out sketching. There are a lot of places that I visited in the past that I wish I had sketched.

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