Garden Gladiator

 Early this morning when Dawn was still dressed in her lavender nightie, I heard a "flinking" sound. Flink. Flink. My subconscious folded the noise back into a dream omelette.  The flinks got louder. Then it dawned on me that someone was throwing something at my window.

 I hauled my achin' bacon downstairs to the kitchen, instinctively reaching around for a coffee cup. Scratching my head, I wondered if this was a happy dreamwalk, or...FLINK!! It hit the window hard! "What ...?"

 A robin bobbed up and down outside on a branch and glared in the window. He looked pissed. And then he hurled himself right at the glass! FLINK!!! Again, and again, and again.

 With open mouth, I noticed a small figurine on the inside window ledge. An antique porcelain blackbird used for venting hot pies. Maybe that bird outside is a mother who is trying to rescue her poor chick. Awww... Her baby has fallen into the evil clutches of humans who bake chirrens into pies.

"I'm coming my darling!"
"I'll rescue you!" FLINK!! WAM!!
 [Or] perhaps the blackbird appears to be a threat? Nah, it's too cute.

I remember when I was four years old my mother sang, "Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie..." Sick. As I remember, the birds' relatives hired hit men, rather "hit birds" who came back and pecked off her nose. Which goes to show yah.

I was a wide-eyed child thereafter. Waiting. Watching. Expecting any moment for those bad boy birds to come calling. and so after all these years he's come for me. FLINK!! WAM!!

After a couple weeks of this hell-bent, and now beak-bent bird-brain smack down, I realized that he was fighting his reflection. I overheard the following:

"Hey you! What are you doin' here?"
"You talkin' to me? What are you doing here?"
"I own this yard!"
"Oh, yeah? I own this yard!"
"You're a stupid looking bird."
"You're the stupid one!"
"I will fight you!"
"I will fight you!"
"I'm not kidding!"
"Me neither!"
Swoop! FLINK!! WAM!!
"Owww.. That dude has a hard head."
"What? You still here?"
And so on.

"We have met the enemy. And he is us."––Walt Kelly

Chickens And Their Friends Come Home to Roost

      

Usually when one says, "The chickens have come home to roost," they mean that the chickens are not nice chickens. Or that the chickens have come for revenge. Or could be that the Fates are using them as ironical weapons in their war games against nearsighted humans. 

I guess it could also mean that a farmer's chickens were out free-ranging, and have returned to lay   eggs for the benefit of one and all~especially at breakfast.

But I am referring to the chickens of the mind. Those bawking thoughts that peck around the cerebral cortex looking for stray electrons, or juicy bugs. It might be some concept that we are trying to develop which lives in the tangled brain bushes. Don't you often find that a "great idea" will scratch all around because it's not sure where it lives. For me, most of these pithy poultry are stories that have made a nest in my brain. I can't get rid of them until they are good and ready. When they are,  they squawk like Valkyries and fly right out of my  meatus acusticus externus ( ear hole).

 

Here is one that I had a recurring dream about. It's a story that is presently hatching. 

 

Here is another. I don't know if dream tigers lay eggs. Sure, why not?

 

This guy is taking over my studio. He's everywhere! 

When these "chickens" do finally hatch, I become a busy den mother. It's now my job to keep them warm and feed them with a dropper. And lastly I need to find them all a nice home. 

Maybe some day they will come live in your bookshelf.  Do you have chickens that have come home to roost? Are they nice chickens? 

Walking On Air

 Making a book is a labor of love. When I began to illustrate The Lord's Prayer, I wondered if I would survive the process. I guess I wonder that with every book.  Never-the-less, I just received the new book in the mail. Whew. A lot of mixed emotions, because the journey is always challenging. And wonderful.

  If you ever see someone who is walking about three feet above the ground, they are probably an author or illustrator who has just seen their newly published book. I feel really privileged to be in this business.

 

 When I was trying to figure out how I would illustrate this interactive poem, I thought about family and the wonder of one generation following another. In the Magnificat, Mary sings of God's mercy
from one generation to another.

 How does one illustrate stuff like that? "Oy vey", says me. I have to be careful not to freak out at the beginning of a project. Breathe. Calm.  It's all going to come together.  Trust the process.  OK, so I set up a photo shoot with my son, Jesse, and his son. When I painted the illustration I actually combined my hand with Jesse's holding the little hand~his son, my grandson.  I found the whole experience powerfully moving.

 I enjoy the ritual of applying the gesso and meditating on the imagery to come.

 I tried several other gesso colors.

 Then experimented with silk screen inks in combo with the gessoes.

Next,  I did an under-painting of alizarin crimson with sap green. Someone told me that the Italians liked this method. Gee, that makes me hungry for spaghetti. I'm not trying to be cute or stereotypical. It's just, you know, Pavlov.
 

 Now I'm  adding some silk screened patterns.

 Alrighty, more silk screening on top of the other patterns.

 Hey, since we're here, let's add even more.  Yeah!!

 I can't stop myself.  Pull the rip cord, pull the rip cord!!

 Well, maybe just a little more. I am after all using the sun as a metaphor for the glory of God. Yes, I know, I am so in over my head. Who could ever do justice to the grandeur of the sun, let alone the glory of God? Not me, for sure. So I'll just do what I do and hope for inspiration and understanding.

 I am always amazed by the wonders shown us by astronomers, especially when they use different kinds of telescopes to see the different wave lengths of light not normally visible. I played a little with that in this painting. I could have gone on for months experimenting with layers and subtleties, but... well, you know.

"To see the world in a grain of sand and Heaven in a wild flower hold infinity in the palms of your hand and eternity in an hour"~ William Blake

Dinosaur Crashes His Way Onto Magazine Cover!

Last summer I was asked to illustrate a magazine cover. And it is finally out! Above is the 2011 Jan/Feb SCBWI Bulletin cover. YAY!! For those of you who aren't familiar with SCBWI it stands for The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. A fabulous international organization for anyone interested in publishing books or digital content for children, middle grade, and young adults.

Photos by my son, Jesse Watson

I had a lot of other ideas which I thought I might use on the cover, but a "friend" of mine convinced me otherwise. You have heard the phrase, "If you give a mouse a cookie..."
Yeah, well try, "If you give a T-Rex raw meat and teach it how to enunciate with its lips..."

There are certain rules of etiquette that simply elude a young T-Rex. I mean honestly, how rude! To go for my jugular just because I was a little late with his ground round. I guess I should be glad he's not picky whether its fresh or month-old road kill. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you.

Rexy was quite pleased with my progress on the cover art. Naturally, he wanted to put it in his mouth. You just can't turn your back on a T-Rex. Really. Trust me on this one.

The only stipulation for the cover art is that it has to have a kite somewhere in the image. Since my cover was a winter cover, I took my kite out in a blizzard and tried to fly the thing.

After throwing it up again, and again, and again it started to climb towards the heavens...

Orrrrrrrrrr not. I feel your pain, Charlie Brown.

The Free Range Tea Pot of Sanity

"...To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
An by opposing end them?..."

Alright, hold on Willy. There is another option.
Get yourself a "Venti".
A Roman Empire sized coffee.
If that doesn't quite arm you against a sea
of troubles, then
Try engaging in a "Venti-Fest".
Perhaps a creative activity
to...you know...vent.














I don't seem to be able to help myself from painting these "Venti's". It works so well for me that my subconscious sometimes shoves me over and sits in the driver's seat. As it were.


I enjoy making them because I discover so much about Color. Line. Energy. Shape. Shape~Shifting. Mood. And stickin' it right back to "outrageous fortune".
It is a way for me to slay the dragons of the mind. But also to befriend some.


Under the surface of the mind thoughts convect like magma. What surfaces may be new or ancient. The image above made me remember aboriginal art that I had seen in Australia seven or eight years hence.


After I painted this I realized that it was inspired by a hike I took a couple of weeks ago with dear friends up on Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic Mountains. I added a couple of strokes to further suggest the mountain range.

Funny how things can simmer and make a nice tea. Or build in intensity for a proper and inevitable venting. What do you do to vent? How do you cope with stress, and other bogeys.

You Can't Keep a Good Man Down

My son, Jesse, always liked to dress like a wild man, and imagined himself running through jungles in the tropics, eating weird exotic food and doing something important. Hopefully with a spear.

Jesse did indeed find himself in the tropics a couple weeks ago eating goat brains out of a goat skull. He didn't have a spear to my knowledge, but he did have a beautiful book to share which has taken on a life of its own.

When the devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti this January, Jesse wanted to help. There has been a tremendous outpouring of support from around the world, but Jesse said, " As I sat at my easel and thought about the future of Haiti, I was sure of only one thing: we will forget".

He wrote and illustrated this remarkable picture book, HOPE FOR HAITI. The story is set in the tent city which was erected inside Port Au Prince soccer stadium. I am so proud of Jesse for creating a book that is beautiful and full of compassion.

Jesse is working with We Give Books, and his publisher, Putnam/Penguin through book sales is giving a generous donation to Save the Children's Haiti Earthquake~Children in Emergency Fund.

The earthquake killed over two hundred thousand people, and left thousands injured. Here's Jesse gettin' down with his pals at a health care and education compound. These are kids at risk, many of whom are orphaned. Jesse brought over loads of deflated soccer balls and pumps for the children. Needless to say, they were stoked.

Haiti was already the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere before the earthquake. Now the battle against chaos, violence, sickness and despair is intensified in ways most of us can't even imagine.

Jesse is also working with the World Vision ADP center in Hinche, and Artists for Peace and Justice, NPH, and St. Damiene's Hospital in Port Au Prince.

Here they are distributing food and supplies spearheaded by Bryn Mooser who has put his life on the line to help the Haitian people. Check out his inspiring and heart-breaking blog, City of Dust.

Here Jess is reading his book to the youngest orphans.

Jesse said that in spite of the crushing poverty, he sees hope for Haiti in these children. You can't keep a good man/woman/boy/girl down.

"You see, love is my foundation"--Jimmy Cliff

Left Brain/Right Brain~The Odd Couple

My friend and fellow illustrator, David Hohn is teaching a class at the Art Institute of Portland. He asked me to share with him and his class, my method of design using overlays on a few of my illustrations. Okay Left Brain, try to make some sense of Right Brain...on three, two, one...

Here goes: For this painting from The Magic Rabbit, I took the Golden Mean and shot it like an arrow from my Golden Bow. The blue splots indicate where I used numbers and the pink doinks show where I scattered playing cards. In this book I was playing with concepts of time, space, magic, The Big Bang, and The Big Bang in reverse.

This illustration from One Wintry Night was intimidating to even begin. We had gone to the Middle East to do research for this book, and I had so much reference material that I was short-circuiting. I didn't want to drown in a terribly difficult painting--every concept sketch felt too complex. My son, Jesse, saw my frustration and doodled a rough sketch for me showing the two heads in opposition. "Isn't it a power struggle?" he asked.


Yes, it was. Big time. So the "stand off" solved my design dilemma. Thanks, Jess.

In this illustration from Bronwen The Traw and the Shape~Shifter, the girl hears a tapping at her window. Her world is about to be turned upside-down.

The picture pulls in two directions--the top half flashes a play of light between the girl, the flying squirrel, and her gardening "traw". The bottom half reveals her toys falling away from her secure embrace, tumbling out of the picture itself.

In The Legend of Saint Christopher, I painted this illustration of The Dark Knight by first painting a "Rorschalk test" type pattern with black on red and red on black.

Since the Dark Knight was a metaphor for the Devil, I attempted to show his turmoil and chaos by a tearing and push/pull against the otherwise centered composition. His sword forms an "X".

In The Boy Who Went Ape, written by my son, Ben, Ms. Thunderbum is a teacher who doesn't like little boys, especially when they act like apes! I patterned her after my second grade teacher and my piano teacher, both of whom hated me, or so it seemed at the time. No they actually did hate me. And all boys. And life.


DDDZZZzzzzz≠–¡!¡!¡!¡! See the negative energy zapping the poor chimp who acts like an ape because he is an ape? Ape, boy, ape, boy, same difference. Agree? Her presence bows out the room itself.


Here is Her Royal Significance ordering the little lambs to obey her every command.

I had so much fun developing her character. She is a force to be reckoned with. Notice the black broken glass jewelry.

In the same book there is a bank robber. I first used Jesse as a model, wearing a hoody, shorts, and flip flops, and carrying an Al Capone style tommy gun. The book was at the printer, when the Virginia Tech shootings happened. The book was postponed. We decided to do a more comical bank robber. A nut-job with a plunger and bunny slippers might give one pause, but is not so much of a threat.

I used DaVinci's Golden Belly Ratio as my design format.