By Mike Weland
I caught the drawing bug in the spring of 1969, crammed in the back seat of a red Ford Galaxy 500 in the sliver of seat grudgingly kept clear for me on our family’s longest move from Junction City, Kansas, to Anchorage, Alaska — Ft. Riley to Ft. Richardson. Dad, mom and sister Laura Lee, three weeks old, had the front seat, crowded with the essentials of a traveling nursery.
In my small space, I had access to six or so comic books, a sketch pad and some pencils. Having read them, I started trying to draw them before we were out of Kansas. By the time we crossed the Kootenai River Bridge in Bonners Ferry and stopped at Eastport for the last lower 48 meal we’d have until our return to Ft. Riley 11 months later when dad was deployed on his second tour in ‘Nam, I could draw a fair rendition of Snoopy in various poses and I was smitten. My grades plummeted, but I could cartoon just about anything.
After barely graduating high school in Oklahoma in 1976, my doodling days came to an end and the few tries to draw in the years ahead met with frustration until I discovered the many tutorials available on YouTube just a few months ago.
Soon I’d turned out some passable landscapes in charcoal, tried my hand at sumi-e, using brushes and black ink, not getting the hang of it, but having fun trying.
And then Joy, the activities director here at the Restorium (today’s her last day and she’s going to be hard to replace), stopped in with her activities cart and recommended a sketch book and colored pencils. Before long, I was drawing and coloring “doodles,” stylized landscapes filled with critters.
People seemed to like them. A few I put in the silent auction at the annual Restorium picnic actually sold, helping raise funds for the dedicated Friends of the Restorium.
When I heard that Jocelene Litterell, a personal care assistant who did much for residents here, myself included, would soon be leaving to work in an orphanage in Zambia, Africa, I went from forest background to jungle and veldt, critters from elk and muskrat to rhino and pangolin, hoping to finish 20 to send off with her to give to the kids she’ll work with. The goal was overly ambitious — I only finished 11.
I was at a loss after she left early this month, but on my trips to town I started seeing the view in a different light … through the eyes of imagination. The big library flag, the Kootenai River Bridge, the North Side. I began seeing through the eyes of a doodler.
I took pictures and began sketching, starting up and starting over several times, trying different layouts, tossing it out when “happy little accidents” turned out to be not so happy.
And it slowly improved.
“Wow,” one person said as I was coloring away, “it’s so realistic … like Grandma Moses, but without the talent!”
“Busy,” said another. “And colorful. I bet it’d go good in the bathroom, across from the toilet so you can look at it on those days when things just don’t come out right.”
Said another, “What’s wrong with this … um, whatever it is down in the left corner? Is it taking a …”
“No, no, no,” I interjected quickly, “just a Bob Ross happyhappy.”
Buoyed by such enthusiastic and glowing accolades, I paid a visit to the new Line Point Printing, 7219 Main Street by the Museum downtown, having heard they did large-format printing and more.
To my amazement, I walked out with eight posters from a low-resolution scan that looked pretty good. Impressed and with some valuable tips for improved quality, I raced home and put the on the finishing touches … including the happyhappy deer in the bottom left corner doing what appears to be woodsy deer business.
I took the original drawing to Naomi at Line Point Printing and came away with vibrant posters on heavy, tear-resistant paper that impressed even me with their stunning realism.
People who see it for the first time stare at it in awe for long seconds and finally ask, “say … isn’t this supposed to be Boundary County?”
“Yes,” I beam, “What gave it away?”
“Right here where it says, ‘Welcome to Boundary County.'”
And there’s so much more, from the rich farmland teeming with wheat, canola and hops to the Selkirks and Purcells. Jake’s Landing, Goat Mountain, Katka, the Moyie Dam, the biggest U.S. flag in the region, the clock tower and the General, the Kootenai and Moyie Rivers, deer, bear, elk, Sasquatch, a mountain goat and a cougar knocking someone’s coffee cup off the North Bench, beaver, moose, elk and so much more! Egrets? It has a few!
You can order your very own for just $25, sales tax and $13.25 postage on our Boundary County Doodles Poster page or mail $4o per poster to 9B News, 6619 Kaniksu St., Rm 19, Bonners Ferry, ID 83805. Or save postage and stop in and visit and pick yours up for $26.75!
It’s high quality fine art with only a few of those Bob Ross happy happies, a true bargain at half the price!
Get yours today!