Sketch memories

by Laura Frankstone in Chapel Hill, NC

It’s said often that sketches can evoke memories of times and places like nothing else can. Well, maybe Proust would object to that claim, but still. Last week, sketching in San Francisco, I found that sketches can also bring back powerful memories of OTHER sketches, if you’ve been at this sketchy business long enough.

Drawing a scene at the Oakland marina, I was immediately transported back to Bouziès,  France and a sketch I made there in 2010. Here is Oakland:

And here is Bouziès:

Here are two men sitting at a café last week in San Franciso:

And here are two men sitting at a café from last year on a trip to Portland. The dynamic is different in the two drawings, but I felt a similar ease of connection between the men as I drew.

And here is a couple captured at an airline lounge at San Francisco airport. As is often true these days, the couple were lost in the world of their electronic devices.

And here is another couple at the San Francisco airport five or so years ago. Electronic devices played a big part then, too. I called this sketch “Jerry, I’m telling you.” I loved the wife’s response then. I still do.