Artist, 88, Draws a Picture Every Day During the Pandemic

Eighty-eight-year-old Robert Seaman¹ has been drawing since he was a boy. At age 60, he left his job selling houses and other properties to take up his hobby professionally. But it took the coronavirus pandemic to fully² return him to what he loved to do.

Seaman said, as a child, he sometimes liked to keep to himself and sometimes was "an extrovert³."

He added, "But in my introvert⁴ phase, I would love to go up to my room where I had a drawing table kind of desk and I'd spend hours up there drawing pictures. That's what I'm doing now."

Seaman recently marked one year since he started drawing what he calls his "daily doodles." He lives at the Maplewood Assisted Living center in Westmoreland, New Hampshire. He spends about six hours a day working on his doodles. He starts his drawings in pencil. He then finishes them with ink, colored pencil and watercolor.

"After a long life, I'm back doing what I did when I was 11 years old," he said. "And it's great, I love it. I'm so lucky that I can do this."

Seaman moved into Maplewood just two weeks before pandemic restrictions⁵ cut residents off from the outside world. For many months, they could not leave their rooms. It was only recently that they were permitted to interact⁶ in common areas without masks.

"The first thought I had was to just do some kind of dark stuff that reflected the nature of the confinement⁷ that we were experiencing and the difficulties that were created by this pandemic," he said. "Then it just started to grow, and I thought it would be interesting to do one a day."

He started sending the doodles to his daughter, Robin⁸ Hayes, and other friends and family. Hayes then shared them on Facebook. As interest grew, she began offering the drawings and prints for sale online. Half of the money earned was donated to causes, including a COVID-19 aid program, a homeless shelter and an organization that helps refugees⁹.

As the days passed, Seaman's art got brighter in both subject matter and appearance.

Some pieces show his interest in science fiction. Other drawings have playful images of animals or show his sense of humor. One drawing, "Portraits of a Shy Family," shows framed paintings of the backs of people's heads. A much-loved cat, Piper, shows up in many other drawings.

Seaman says he will "probably kick the bucket" before he runs out of ideas. To "kick the bucket" is an expression that means to die.

Seaman added, "I might be watching something on television, and someone will have a picture on the wall that will give me an idea. When I go to sleep at night, for a few minutes I try to think of some new ideas."

Doodle #365, called "Potpourri¹⁰" shows the Earth behind other objects. They include his cat Piper, a mechanical bird Seaman keeps on his desk, a horse and a man wearing a hat and eyewear. It is framed by a series of shapes that look like calligraphy¹¹ but are not actual letters. Seaman said he has no plans to stop drawing.

"It keeps me occupied, and I love doing it, but it also does help some other people, which is kind of nice," he said.

Words in This Story

hobby –n. an activity that people do for pleasure when they are not working

extrovert –n. a friendly, outgoing person who likes being with and talking to other people

introvert –n. a shy person; a person who does not find it easy to talk to other people

doodle –n. a drawing of done without too much thought or preparation

reflect –v. to show; to make something known

confinement –n. the act or state of being kept in a small space away from other people

framed –adj. describing something that has an outer structure containing or surrounding it

calligraphy –n. the art of making beautiful handwriting

1 seaman   

n.海员，水手，水兵

参考例句：

• That young man is a experienced seaman.那个年轻人是一个经验丰富的水手。
• The Greek seaman went to the hospital five times.这位希腊海员到该医院去过五次。

2 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

3 extrovert   

n.性格外向的人

参考例句：

• A good salesman is usually an extrovert,who likes to mingle with people.一个好的推销员通常很外向，喜欢和人们交往。
• Do you think you're an extrovert or introvert?你认为你是个性外向的人还是个性内向的人？

4 introvert   

n.性格内向的人

参考例句：

• You are very much an introvert.你是一位地道的内向性格者。
• The same conversation that energizes the extravert also drains the introvert.同样的交谈能让外向者荣光焕发，却让内向者精神颓靡。

5 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

6 interact   

vi.相互作用，相互影响，互通信息

参考例句：

• All things are interrelated and interact on each other.一切事物互相联系并相互作用。
• The policeman advised the criminal to interact with the police.警察劝罪犯与警方合作。

7 confinement   

n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限

参考例句：

• He spent eleven years in solitary confinement.他度过了11年的单独监禁。
• The date for my wife's confinement was approaching closer and closer.妻子分娩的日子越来越近了。

8 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。

9 refugees   

n.避难者，难民( refugee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The UN has begun making airdrops of food to refugees. 联合国已开始向难民空投食物。
• They claimed they were political refugees and not economic migrants. 他们宣称自己是政治难民，不是经济移民。

10 potpourri   

n.混合之事物；百花香

参考例句：

• As tobacco cigarette burns,a potpourri of 4000 chemicals is released,including carbon monoxide and hydrocyanic acid.当烟被点燃时，融合了四千种化学品的气体被释放出来，其中包括一氧化碳和氢氰酸。
• Even so,there is a slight odour of potpourri emanating from Longfellow.纵然如此，也还是可以闻到来自朗费罗的一种轻微的杂烩的味道。

11 calligraphy   

n.书法

参考例句：

• At the calligraphy competition,people asked him to write a few characters.书法比赛会上，人们请他留字。
• His calligraphy is vigorous and forceful.他的书法苍劲有力。