Tag Archives: Claremont

Claremont, California

In the festive whirl of Scripps graduation, I found a few minutes to sketch the fountain I’ve been admiring the last few visits in the courtyard at “The Coop” on Pomona campus.  I’ve heard people say that the Claremont Colleges have more fountains per capita than any other campus – and they’re all gorgeous.  Water is more about the movement of light than anything else, so fountains are challenging.  I started another sketch of a fountain in Seal Court  on Scripps campus, still working on that one.

And on the plane and in the hotel, I played with a vintage portrait from Artist’s magazine – another example of how many colors go into red hair! –  and a slightly absurd moose photo from the airline magazine that provided another water challenge.

All in alll, a good trip, and I hardly cried at all during the ceremonies!

Scripps: The Last First Day of School

sketch of Scripps College

Scripps College, watercolor, ink & colored pencil

Last Saturday we navigated what’s left of the California freeway system from Sacramento to Claremont in a car crammed to bursting with Corey’s posessions and our travel gear, Corey continually reminding me that holding on to the car door does not make a bit of difference as to whether or not the idiots in the next lane will stop careening along so crazily.  At one point it reached 113 degrees fahrenheit as we crept along in 7 lanes of traffic at 20 mph.  Evidently, a paper bag over my head and a bottle of wine are the only way for us to survive those freeways.

Griff and Corey unpacked her things and schlepped them upstairs to her room, while I spent a hot hour under a white tent on the lawn, my feet and ankles being nibbled by unseen insects, sketching the outside of her dorm and drinking in the scent of oranges ripening on the nearby trees.  The outside looks like a Mexican villa, the inside looks like Harry and Ron and Hermione should be arriving at any moment down the chimney of the Common Room.   A glorious place for what Corey termed her Last First Day of School as she begins her senior year.