Snakes

Snakes can be very calligraphic as I discovered the other night while I watched a baseball game. I used a fat black crayon on the back of some old postcards. I hope you're not a herpetophobiac! :-)

Urbs in Horto

You never know what you might find underneath those big green leaves.
"Crystal City" May 22, 2011 (conté, crayon, colored pencil and watercolor)

Perhaps a mouse lived in that fancy house…

Our other cat looking out from his jungle lair.

"urbs in horto": The motto of my home town Chicago "City in a Garden"

Prince Armand & The Tigers

Prince Armand's Tiger Conservatory
(16 May 2011: mixed media)

This is Prince Armand's fancy new tiger cage: A Conservatory for Cats! He will train them to sing and serve him tea. And where is Prince Armand? Well, he is out hunting for his tigers. Actually, they're not exactly "his" …yet. You see, he has big plans. He's not afraid of tigers… at least the ones he's seen in books (and he has many many books!).


Okay, Prince Armand has never seen a real tiger but real tigers have seen him.


Here he comes now…

---

En Français (par Google): 

C'est Prince Armand cage de fantaisie nouveau tigre: Un conservatoire pour les chats!   Il leur train de chanter et de lui servir du thé. Et où est le prince Armand? Eh bien, ilest à la chasse pour ses tigres. En fait, ils ne sont pas exactement "son" ... pour le moment. Vous voyez, il a de grands projets. Il n'a pas peur des tigres ... du moins ceux qu'il a vu dans les livres (et il a beaucoup beaucoup de livres!).

D'accord, le prince Armand n'a jamais vu un vrai tigre, mais de vrais tigres ont vu.

Ici, il est maintenant ...

A Box of Paper

A bear moved in to a scrap of paper in my studio. Maybe he thought it was an Arctic ice floe (but really, they were just squares of paper). I have so many in my studio. Too many. I save them because I am sentimental. Others are saved because they have character and artistic potential. Admittedly, some are also saved because I am lazy and miss when I throw them in the recycling bin. Instead, they end up in a big box of paper under a table patiently waiting to be used. Or not.

So, it's no wonder that now and then, an animal makes them its home. This bear for example. I've been drawing many bears in the last few months. They are starting to take over. I thinks it's a good thing.  Here's a link to a gallery of bear drawings.

When other animals move in, should I be worried? Well, that depends on the type of animal. Sometimes, my cat takes a nap in the box.  He's very discriminating so it must be a good box to have… Hmmm?

Is he holding an igloo-cake?

Snorri atop the paper pile

The Blackbirds & The Rover

from my sketchbook (5/10/11)

Once upon a time (maybe it was only yesterday!) a family of strange black birds lived in a desolate rock-strewn desert. The wind blew constantly and the desert froze at night and baked all day. It was like living on the planet Mercury!
Into this desolate place came an explorer searching for curious and shiny things. The bird family was suspicious. However, they became fascinated by the man's fantastic machine. Round wheels hung down and swayed in the wind like ornaments. When they twisted this way and that, they sounded like wind chimes. The wheels softly rumbled and occasionally clanked as it steadily rolled along. It made a music that seemed like a good omen.  They helped him make a map and he played his roving mechanical music box for them.
They traveled together until one day the explorer disappeared into a tall metal thing, clanged a door shut  and exploded. The blackbird family were sad but somehow felt that it would be ok. After all, the explorer had left behind the magical music box car!
The End.

The Very Tiny Dragon

This pencil and collage illustration is from my sketchbook: April 22, 2011

Once upon a time there was a dragon the size of an beetle! He lived in and loved a toy castle made from carefully folded candy wrappers in the Librarie Polonaise on Boulevard St Germain. One day, a rich tourist saw the castle and wanted to buy it. The shopkeeper refused because the castle was priceless. The dragon repaid him by guarding the candy wrapper castles and the rare books from the mice who lived in the walls of the old building. In the cold Parisian winter, visitors often remarked on how warm the shop was and how radiant the castle looked. There was not a speck of dust and a Chopin Impromptu could sometimes be heard coming from a tiny upstairs room! The End.

Digging!

04-30-11b

Digging and delving and Delivering! The Pointy People are at work as I speak on a book all about them. The web version of this book is almost done and will be available in a limited showing. Print-on-demand version soon thereafter. Stay tuned!
More Pointies for you:

Color Crazy

Here's a little color for a gray day. I love overcast weather (in moderation mind you). I think it makes colors sing just that much more. Don't you feel like a bear emerging blinking from his cave absolutely crazy for color!
It's nice to bring it inside!

 

My daughter is very creative and crafty. She made this "button bouquet"

all tangled up!