The sketchbooks of an Antarctic bus driver

Press, 23 March 1988, Page 19

The sketchbooks of an Antarctic bus driver

By

KEN COATES

I I - i On the face of it, no-one n •! ! :heir , right mind ’goes to the! j. Antarctic to drive a bus isix] days a 1 week over- the same J route. J i r ' ■ I, H But Heidi Goodwin, a 32-year-l> ipld American geologist! from!! Washington State, near the Can.a-’i 'dian border, is very much in her right mind.' f • | _• ip. She has a degree in art, and was so fascinated by the colour and scale of the Antarctic landscape that she sketched and painted.. at I) every b.us stop! !.J ! ’! H~. ’ r i !. J Since the shuttle bus she drove! went on the hour every hour between McMurdo Station and; ;the airfield, along 12 miles of dice, ! roadway, Heidi had plenty kof 'time to observe the spectacular mountain scenery.' |l | ! She even sketched her! passen-j gers by looking in the rear vision. mirror. There was usually time to sketch either from the bus |or from the window of a 'building before setting out again.] , ' | The result is a portfolio jof dozens of pastel and pen,and ink' drawings, and water colours all as a result of being! offered the driving job. I'!]' ',;■(•'f ](.'; ; For Heidi, who worked in mineral exploration “in every state except Nevada and Wyoming,” the landscape and natural environment were attractions i in applying to work jn the Antarctic. ■ : , ||| ! Besides, she -has several ; i : . i ! ■ •!.' . III'!

. : . ' | I I friends who had worked there, including! a geojogistj-moun-taineeir who had charge : of meteorites collected by scientists in I the Ji Antarctic, and who repaired snowmobiles on the side. J-' | j] ! p . Heidi Goodwin worked with this man on mineral! exploration projects in Montana]and Arizona. In Bear] Tooth, Montana, [she worked on a project that resulted ; in the first platinum; mine in] the

United 'States. One suspects that i was the artist in 1 Heidi Goodwin who appreciated! the outdc ors when she went,out on ifielh work. She studied'glaciers in Air ska under a National Science Foundation summer 'science research programme for high schoc 1 students. Fifteen! years later, a number of people! who had taken part in those programmes showed up in the Antarctic, including Heidi. 1 1 • r

-"I /JI ! S J ■;!' ■ ' J I 1 (For a ( time, she returned to ; university and took a degree in art, as well! as a teaching qualification. She 'briefly taught art at a boarding! school in Austria. ■Another break from geological work came when she spent five months in New Zealand. She took weaving ■ at Otago Polytechnic

! ' 111 I ■ ’ : ! , J and did(some oil painting round Otago Peninsula. J FromjOctober 7 last year (until February i 26 was (her second season bn the ijce driving a] bus, and drawing and painting. ( ; She (describes j the abstract nature Hof the landscape (as unique and says its! appearance

' changes dramatically, depending on (weather.: Site talks of mini--malist quality and a (huge sinilplicity —lan! imipbnse amount of ; whiteness but many different appearances, j ( 11 I [ “It is a (strange (place tb drive;’] [ she; says matter-of-factly. ,‘.‘l , found myself just] staring. There is nothing out 'there, nothing tol : relate to.ino trees, just huge ice ; deserts.” | ,p | |j ( ; > She clocked ui 100 miles a day] but gladfto be out of the base on I the ice! and seeing ■ different views of] the landscape. It was most spectacular! when the sun| was poiV in’ the sky. Mountains weye i swathed in a pink' alpenglov], like! ice] cream, and thejsky was a beautiful orange.: -k ■' .| (' Heidi became as adept with pastels as she I did with steering wheel ana gear] lever. She cap-j tured lightJblues, greens, yellow I and red. She lised water colour . more las year. ( She found the Antarctic, witq the| lowest density of motor vehicles in! the; world, a place where it is] easy to develop bad driving habits. I She found her job great for meeting I people • — there were always fight crews to be taken to I the I airfield — but found herself tirning round talking to passenge-s while driving. ( :l The icej anld snow roadway, marked with flags, is three times ■ as wide as! an [ordinary highway.]

■ i J I ■ Ik / i Apart from a cargo truck or two; or a crash crew] from the (airfield, there is no (traffic. | ; I Heidi Goodwin sees landscape art as a moment in time. She has sometimes been U to work outdoors when | there is little wind, with temper;dures around I Observation 1 kill, Mount; Erebus, the miassive Royal! Society range whip 1 Irises 13,000, ft (within 20 miles of the coast,! Mount Discovery . (|.| these! have; been some of hen subjects. I I | Clouds give ; erspective .( in. landscapes that ] have i little ! tq provide concepts] oilldistance] and size;: ' | ’('. .. j ]' I For sbme Americans working in- the Antarctic I has becorne almost a way of life, she says. |( i Living bnd food are taken care of, and it is possible to I save most of her wage] of SUS3BO a week. She has] girl friends who are in] their eighth and (tenth season? as: long-term! carpenters. | j ]| I I J 1 ( Tjliey 'work hair the year then] perhaps travel, oij build a bouse, or ho what they [ want to do. ) ([There is nowhere to spend money; lat iMcMur’c 6, apart I from a couple of stores and five bars. “Other drivers there were 12) told me I made (tie most of my time,” 'she says. ‘They read or wrote letters while,! sketched.” ! iShb is far from being the only artist to be challenged by I the spectacular, environment. The JI-ll 1?] 1 'l!’-

Hili !■ HlilHHilii first annual Ross Island art show, attended by 200 people i.and featuring, the work of 30 artists and sculptors, was held on October 13. J I] ]]!- ■ |! Heidi plans to hold (an! exhibiJtion at Several Arts gallery from March 25! and paint in' the Mount Cook | region before returning home to Bellingham, a university town of 4’0,000, 25 'miles south of the Canadian border. | J Here she will {concentrate on her art and; set up a (studio. She has many photographs which will help fhe . recall of colours and conditions for'her I finished paintings. I I: .'I 11' I’l I'l I ; |! This bus driver withj artistic flair gives theldistinct impression she will be back] bn the ice next season. But it (is uhlikiely (she will be' boaxed back into the driver’s seat again — (even the seat of a huge-wheeled ( vehicle called a Delta,] used when snoy? was (thick and road conditions poor. J] I “It was fun to drive the first few tijnes,” she says. “But it is (a bumpy vehicle and] can’t go that !fast.”;i; ;; !;!. ) |i !|T.) ' p pi' Next season, she will try for |a 'job closer ] to scientific work, perhaps at a centre where equipment (is,.checked.l ||'. '' ] ; Incidentally] those sketches she made by looking in the rear vision! mirror were of a trip she made ,at 3.15 a.m. |one Sunday after ||ai group . bound for the airfield had been partying late. Most Were sound asleep. ;• i i