Westmoreland, New Hampshire
Much like the round clock faces, gears, and planets that often populate his artwork, Robert Seaman has come full circle.
Mr. Seaman, who is now 88 years old, has been drawing since he was a boy, and at age 60, left a real estate career to pursue his hobby professionally. But it took the coronavirus pandemic to fully return him to his passion.
“As a kid, I kept lurching between being a loner and being an extrovert,” he said. “But in my introvert 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.”
Tuesday marked one year since Seaman started churning out “daily doodles” from his small, one-room apartment at the Maplewood Assisted Living facility in Westmoreland, New Hampshire. He spends about six hours a day working on his intricate, fanciful illustrations, starting with pencil sketches and finishing 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 in to Maplewood just two weeks before the pandemic restrictions cut residents off from the outside world. For many months, they couldn’t leave their rooms. It was only last week that they were allowed to interact in hallways and other common areas without masks.
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88-year-old artist finishes year of pandemic daily doodles
Artist Robert Seaman holds up the 365th daily doodle sketch in his room at an assisted living facility Monday, May 10, 2021, in Westmoreland, N.H. Seaman, who moved into the facility weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown his outside world in 2020, recently completed his 365th daily sketch, or what he calls his Covid Doodles , since being isolated due to the virus outbreak. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
WESTMORELAND, N.H. (AP) Much like the round clock faces, gears and planets that often populate his artwork, Robert Seaman has come full circle. Seaman, 88