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Summer at the Loup is a very slow time.
As a French bistro style restaurant, we specialize in comfort food. Huge helpings of mashed potatoes to go with your half a duckling. Escargots drenched in hollandaise sauce. Steak. Brains. Cassoulet. Most of these things don't translate well to the summer months. And so, summer is very spacious. We have a lot of time on our hands to draw pictures. This is the upside of not making any money. I used to leave in the summer and they wouldn't replace me. I would return in the fall and pick up all of my old shifts. Once I came back to find that I had been replaced, but it turned out to be temporary; for one year. I could go into that story, but I would rather not. It brings up bad memories of a strange time at the Loup. A time that I have mostly forgotten about not unlike a person with post trauma syndrome forgetting a part of their past. No, let's stick with summer. This drawing almost has a summer feel to it. There is a kiddy pool and a beach ball. Both sure signs of summer. There is a unicorn, too! Nothing says "summer" like a unicorn. I remember starting this one off with the head of the waiter/insect. Next came the unicorn and the rest filled itself in. I really liked this one at the time, and I still do. It kind of reminds me of this children's book I had when I was young. The illustrations have stuck with me all these years although I couldn't for the life of me remember who the illustrator was. The book was a collection of fairy tales as well, so there is little to no chance of me ever finding it unless my parents still have it somewhere in their house. Anyway, the troll in the Three Billy Goats Gruff had this incredible hat, where he kept little tiny people. They all lived in the hat. There were windows and everything. I'm not saying that I was thinking about that image when we made this, but I'm sure I was somewhere in my mind when I started putting in the windows. I like the idea of living things co-existing in and around each other. Like the fact that right now, each one of us is covered in mites and microscopic organisms. There is a whole population of things living on you right now! That's something you never really think about. When you do think about it, you usually get itchy. It's kind of sad that the unicorn is being stabbed in the neck, but maybe that's the circle of life. Maybe the meat that is being served to the customer on the left is a Unicorn steak, perfectly cooked at medium rare. That could explain the customers enthusiasm. Either that, or he's really happy he got the coveted table 31 since everyone else is away on summer vacation at The Hamptons.
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