Saturday, May 3, 2008

Bean Museum III

I went to the Bean Museum with Stephanie again yesterday. We spent the whole time in the basement, the scary part. Most of the museum is very well-kept and comfortable, with the animals carefully arranged and plenty of seating much appreciated by us sketching types. But the basement is very different. It's a cavernous sort of hallway that loops around the base of the building in a wide square. Its poorly lit white walls are covered with glass cases full of very blatantly dead animals. While some are stuffed and posed to look more natural, many of them have not yet reached that stage. The majority of the shelves are covered with birds lying on their backs, their feet tied, and stuffing in their eyes. It's like something out of a horror movie or what you'd expect to see in a witch's pantry. Bats laying flat with their wings spread out, rats with their limbs tied up, snakes and toads floating in glass jars... It's certainly not the most welcoming place. But they do have a lot of really cool birds and stuff, so we just stuck to drawing the ones that looked at least somewhat living.

1 comment:

Rachel B said...

Chelsea, I love how all of your drawings are more than just copies. They all have personalities and look like they belong in a Disney movie. I love how your sketches become actual characters. Cute is not a strong enough word to describe them, but they all look loveable and multi-dimensional. Much more than just animal drawings.

And I have never seen that part of the Bean Museum. I'm not sure if I want to...