Our art class went out today to draw the morning light over the mountain. Mrs. Brown wanted us to capture the way the clouds dipped and touched the notched peaks. She told us to use bold strokes for the clouds because here in Wyoming the weather moves fast. I smeared my charcoal with my finger to get large tufts of grey to float over the mountain. I am not much of an artist; I would rather write. After about 15 minutes, I pulled out my notepad and started to describe the camp:
The barracks form neat and sharp rows of housing that face each other like soldiers saluting their commander. The commander is the peak of the mountain looming solid and immovable in the distance. The dust on the ground kicks up in the summer light, and sunset on the mountain is still many hours off. But the light from the dust diffuses in a soft way, blurring the harshness a bit, and briefly softening the mountain. The summer day is long and the light casts long shadows against the barrack walls as dust whips through corridors that are simultaneously lonely and bursting with bodies. All this activity is watched by guards above in a tower and we are all bound together by barbed wire along the edges of camp.
Unlike me, my friend, Stan, is a great artist. His pictures have such a feeling of flow, movement, and he captures the personalities of people around camp. He drew a picture of Papa sitting with his friends, and he captured Papa’s face hard and stern as he discussed the draft with some of the other men. When Stan showed it to Mama, she told him to enter it in the arts and crafts show. Stan has drawings from all the big personalities at the camp. He drew the head cook steaming rice, and he perfectly captured her with her handkerchief wrapped around her head and her face shining over the steaming pot. He captured Mrs. Hirahara working in the camp garden pulling up beets in the summer sun. I have asked him to use his drawings for the newspaper- they are better than photographs!
The arts and crafts show has created quite a buzz. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Nearly every person here has some kind of hobby that keeps them busy. Some of the ladies fold paper in the old style, although the bright colored patterned paper is not available, they are quite industrious with things they find around the camp. A flock of origami cranes were created with newspaper, and Florence’s mother and sisters strung a series of the newspaper cranes across their door using twine. The cranes flutter in the breeze and when the wind kicks up the bobble and dance in their constrained flight across the doorway. Many of the men sit in front of their barracks whittling pieces of wood and scraps they find into fancy birds, flowers, and butterflies. Even Mama created a flower pin by layering sunflower seeds and tiny pebbles she collected with Carol and Janice.
Everyone is gathering their creations for display in the high school gym. Mr. Hosokawa and Mrs. Brown have somehow worked their way through camp procuring prizes for the top 3 best drawings, best carvings, and the best decorative object. I think there might be more excitement over the arts and crafts show than there was for the first dance at the high school. I have been tasked with writing an article for the Heart Mountain Sentinel about the craft fair. Mr. Hosokawa asked me to write a piece about the different art and craft items. I think I will feature Stan’s drawings in my article- his details are almost like pictures from a camera. If I can capture “the pulse of the event”, Mr. Hosokawa says he will feature my article in the Saturday edition.
