The Stork & The Rhinoceros

Say "Hello" to Mr. Stork. I found him in my studio one morning.

He wanted to cross the river one day but was afraid to get his feet wet (silly bird!)

The lily pads were very wobbly!

Fortunately, Miss Rhinoceros, who wasn't afraid of anything, offered to give Mr. Stork a ride across the river.

The water wasn't deep at all! Mr. Stork was just afraid of too many things.

They made it across and the stork thanked Miss Rhinoceros profusely.
Sometimes, depending on the nature of one's friendship, it's easier to just help someone and not make too many observations and comments! Maybe Mr. Stork will find a way to help out Miss Rhinoceros someday.

Chicken Soup

Chicken Soup

(from a can, mind you…)

Our hapless hero enjoying his predictable repast.
The End

The Small Cricket's Tall Tale

September: this is the time of year when crickets try to outdo each other telling stories of dubious validity. This little fellow: Napoleon is his name, is the loudest in the barnyard. Why is he singing from the top an old pile of cow dung when he used to sing at La Scala with the great Maria Callas? C'mon Monsieur Napoleon, we are all ears!

image © 2011 Rob Dunlavey

The skeptical Rooster

the gullible Cow

The Heron, who is nobody's fool!

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…

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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 ...

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.