With rain hitting the roof, the temperature outside is in the low 50s and a cast iron stove keeps things warm in the cabin that is being used as an art studio and classroom. There are summer days inAlaska. In travel ads, the skies are supposed to be bluebird.
On this trip to McCarthy, a bustling summer community of artists, writers, seasonal workers and visitors that sits 60 miles down a gravel road in Wrangell-St., there is no time for rest. There is a national park and preserve in the area.
Researchers and artists use field sketching to record their observations of nature, from waterways to winged creatures. Field sketching pairs illustrations with notes about weather, location, animal behavior and even the journal keeper's mood that day, offering more context than a stand alone photo. A powerful tool for travel, it forces you to slow down, to take things in, to simply look.
I'm excited about the class, but I can't draw.
Ms Link discovered sketching in art school. She said that you can hear people's conversations and engage with place in a different way if you're more present.
The town of McCarthy became a brothel and bawdy neighbor to the more serious mine and mill town of Kennecott, five miles up the road, near where copper was found in 1900.
Over the last 10 years, McCarthy's population has grown. The town had just 28 people in 2010. The number of people who lived between McCarthy and Kennecott in the early 1900s was not as high as it is today.
McCarthy is in a state of disrepair. There are stacks of fresh lumber on the steps away from the wooden buildings being overtaken by nature. The general store will soon have a side staircase that will allow you to buy scoops of made-in-Alaska ice cream or some duct tape to fix some of the challenges Alaska throws at travelers.
There is a museum of dead trucks in the town. There are some people with moss growing on their cars.
McCarthy's dogs are off leash and have their own agendas that shape the town's character. All dogs play roles in town from unofficial mayor to greeters.
The porch of Ma Johnson's Hotel was where Hercules slept most of the time. One of the oldest buildings in town is the pale yellow two story building. The Wrangell Mountains Center is a McCarthy creation. After the mining company pulled out of Kennecott, many of the wooden buildings were restored and turned into tourist attractions.
The area began to draw tourists after the park was established. The Ahtna Athabascan people still practice traditional hunting and fishing on the land. The Ahtna Alaska Native corporation is the owner of 622,000 acres.
Ma Johnson's would likely look like a boardinghouse if the computer and guest phones were gone. There is art on the walls and carpets.
The room is small. After a seven hour drive from my home in Alaska, there isn't much room to walk around the bed. The plush bed is my only concern after dinner at the Salmon & Bear restaurant. At the restaurant, foraged mushrooms, sautéed and served atop a hot stone stole my attention from a dish of black cod. It is my favorite meal of the last few months.
A meal of warm oatmeal will help the 13 members of the field-sketching class stave off the chill in the morning.
The easy chatter begins. A woman who lives up a mountain describes her drive to McCarthy by four-wheeler. Ms Link talked about the nature journal group they joined on Facebook. We're talking about where we're staying. Some at Ma Johnson's are tired of the constant rain and are camping in tents in a nearby campground. A woman lives in Kennecott. A woman is in a friend's home. It feels good to expand the circle of creative people after two and a half years without meeting many new people.
We walk to the log cabin that will be our classroom and art studio after breakfast. The original plan was to sketch and paint outside. Ms Link had to rejigger the workshop because of the rain.
We introduce ourselves in the room. People who have barely picked up a paintbrush are one of the groups.
A woman with an open journal who was moving out of Alaska detoured by camper van into McCarthy during her stay. She has had enough of hiking that requires her to look out for bears. She would like warm winters. There is an art adventure in Alaska. Some people, like me, just want to learn how to capture what we see, while others, like scientists, just want to learn how to make art.
We are sent outside to gather flowers, leaves and anything else we can carry back. We return with a few plants and leaves that are still wet from the rain.
Our first task is to see the shapes. We pick an item to draw, put pen or pencil to paper, and draw for five minutes, focusing on the outline and shapes of the flora. I have tried this before but I feel anxious here.
I look down when time is done. The image is familiar.
We learned a lot that day. As the workshop friendship grows, I hear more easy laughter from each table. I end up with a landscape that doesn't do the mountains justice. They are still better than I could have made. The blind contour is the best work I've ever done.
There is a break in the rain. We go to the swimming hole to sketch. There is a native wildflower that blooms from the bottom of its stalks to the top on the dirt road. Alaskans believe that when fireweed flowers bloom all the way to the top, summer is over.
The fireweed appears to be about to burn out.
Ms. Link said there was a lot of room left. She isn't ready to give up the colors of a McCarthy summer just yet.
We arrived at the swimming hole a short time later. There are a lot of bushes around the pool. speckled rocks are all over the water's basin
Ms. Link would like us to spread out. I walk up a trail and back out through a clearing next to the swimming hole. Ms. Link is determined to hold winter off a bit longer because of the huge stem of fireweed Poking out of the greenery is a single massive stem of fireweed.
I translate Ms. Link's suggestion of measuring far-off things with my pencil to paper. I look at the subject again and again while drawing. My work is done after 10 minutes. There is a scene of mountains behind the water. There are more improvements.
A large amount of water lands on my page. I go back to get more tree cover and take a few pictures of the rocks. The photos will be used as reference material for the sketches.
I heard a yell from behind me.
One of my classmates is trying to save her work from the elements. A field sketcher is forced to work with watercolors in the rain.
I return to the cabin by walking half a mile. The majority of the class has come back.
The sketch I made from the swimming hole is my anchor. Maybe I was onto something when I signed up for the workshop. It is far from a great work of art, but the sketch and notes with it will always put me on top of the speckled rocks by the water.
You need to park at Basecamp Kennicott if you want to go camping. Visitors can't drive into town. McCarthy and Kennecott have dirt roads that are only used by locals. You can either walk or take a shuttle.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
