Eighty-eight-year-old Robert Seaman has been drawing since he was a boy. At the age of 60, he left his job, selling houses to take up his hobby professionally. But it took COVID-19 to fully return him to what he loved to do.
Seaman said, “I would love to go up to my room where I had a drawing table and I’d spend hours up there drawing pictures. That’s what I’m doing now.”
Seaman recently has marked one year since he started drawing what he calls his daily doodles(涂鸦). He spends about six hours a day working on his doodles. “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 into the town Maplewood just two weeks before the pandemic(流行病) restraint cut people off from the outside world. For many months, they could not leave their rooms. It was only recently that they were permitted to interact in common areas.
“The first thought I had was to just do some kind of ‘dark stuff’ that reflected the restriction that we were experiencing and the difficulties that were caused by this pandemic,” he said. “Then it just started to grow, and I thought it would be interesting to do one a day.” As the days passed, Seaman’s art got brighter in both subject matter and appearance.
He sent the doodles to his daughter, Robin Hayes, and other friends and family. Hayes then shared them on Facebook. As interest grew, she began offering the drawings for sale on-line. And all the money earned was donated to causes, including a COVID-19 aid program, a homeless shelter and an organization that helps refugees.
“It keeps me occupied, and I love doing it, but it also does help some other people, which is kind of nice,” Seaman said.
4. What did Seaman start to do at the age of 60?
A.Post his drawings online. | B.Take up his drawing attentively. |
C.Take an interest in drawing. | D.Keep moving to other places. |
5. What does the underlined word “restraint” in paragraph 4 mean?
A.Rule. | B.Cure. | C.Medicine. | D.Care. |
6. What was Seaman’s daily doodles about at first?
A.The memories of his childhood. | B.The old days with his daughter. |
C.The actual situation during the pandemic. | D.The practical experience of drawing. |
7. Why did Hayes sell Seaman’s drawings online?
A.To make Seaman famous. | B.To communicate with others. |
C.To help others learn to draw. | D.To raise money for charity. |