What do you do on a rainy day in the desert?  Get out your drawing pencils, of course.  During a recent Southwest stay I did just that and the result is pictured above.  Illustrated is a javelina.  Sightings are common where we stay and their skunk-like scent will give their presence away even when not seen.  Javelina are peccary which are native to the Americas--they are not pigs.  The pig family originated in Afro-Eurasia.  So called "razorback" hogs found wild in parts of the US are descendants of escaped domestic pigs brought by European settlers.  If you are interested in learning more about javelina, click here.

Photos have been tough for me to acquire. Most javelina sightings occur at night when they are most active. When I do happen upon a daytime encounter my phone is usually zippered away. The photos I have managed to capture are blurred due to my haste. While not aggressive, javelina are best kept at a distance.

Wildlife encounters are one of the joys of desert living. Other recent sightings include coyote and mule deer. Ravens also have a special appeal with their gurgling croaks and whooshing wing flaps on the wind.  But I'll save ravens for another post.

Until then.

2016 Holiday Card Quality Control Inspection

The holiday cards have been distributed.  This year's illustration features a 1910 Harley Davidson and was inspired by the 2016 Motorcycle Cannonball which crossed the state of Missouri in September.  Ninety riders left on September 10 from Atlantic City, N.J., each riding a motorcycle that is at least one hundred years old.  The cross-country race honors American Motorcycle Association Hall of Famer Erwin "Cannonball" Baker's record-setting 11-day coast to coast ride in 1914.  The entire trip this year was 3,304 miles.  On September 25, fifty-two of the 90 riders who started rolled into Carlsbad, Ca. after competing 16 days, with only one day for rest.  This race was a true test of riders, men and women, and their century old machines.

2016 Card Illustration Detail

Happy Holidays, everyone!

SCBWI Postcard Competition Design Entry

Pretend it is November.  The month just got away from me before I could post anything.  To recap, several projects were due at the end of the month yet I was lucky enough to be able to spend the Thanksgiving weekend immersed in the red rocks of the Southwest.  Deadlines were met despite the glorious distractions.

Holiday Hike with Companions (far right)

My design for 2015 postcard competition promoting writers and illustrators.

The last couple of weeks have been fun.  Book fun. Within days of one another I heard favorite authors Emma Donoghue (Room) and Ann Patchett (State of Wonder) speak.  Emma, with her purple hair and delightful Irish brogue, made everyone want to be her friend.  (If you haven't read Room, I encourage you to do so.  It is about love more than anything else.) Ann Patchett is a witty encyclopedia of all things books.  A shameless promoter of other authors, she left our brains swimming with book titles of every genre. Her enthusiasm for the written word is contagious.

Other events highlighted artists. Mutts creator, Patrick McDonnell, stopped by the library to promote a new children's book. Arthur creator Marc Brown and local illustrator extraordinaire Mary Engelbreit were part of the Lit in the Lou event. And they keep coming. Authors and artists sharing their touching/humorous/encouraging stories with those that want to listen.  I hope you get a chance to hear a favorite or, better yet, discover a new one.

Ann Patchett

"Mutts" creator Patrick McDonnell

I have been designing t-shirts for a long time.  In July of this year I entered the Pacific Whale Foundation's Whale Day T-Shirt Design Contest.  Their World Whale Day celebration is February 18, 2017 in Maui, Hawaii.  The winning design announcement has not been made as I post this.   No news is most likely not good news at this late date.  As I am particularly fond of whales, it was a delight to create the design so nothing is lost. 

I am taking this opportunity to share a few of the t-shirt designs I have created over the years.  Aloha!

2002 AMA Women in Motorcycling Conference Event T-shirt Design

2000 Private Event Rally T-Shirt

2012 Gateway Pet Guardians Dog Rescue T-shirt Design

Doggone it!  It has been nothing but dogs, dogs, dogs, of late around my studio.  Even this past Friday, August 26, was National Dog Day.  Founded by animal advocate Colleen Paige, it is meant to encourage rescue adoptions and acknowledge the services canines provide.  She picked that date because it was the day her family adopted her first dog when she was 10 years old.

While it is no longer officially the dog days of summer, it feels like it.  As I type this the heat index for the area is over 100 F with 57% humidity.  Step outside and your glasses fog up.  The dog days refers to the sultry part of the Northern hemisphere Summer from July 3 through August 11. The name alludes to the time when Sirius, the dog star, rises at the same time as the sun.  Definitions of the period state that it is often marked by lethargy or inactivity, but I wouldn't know about that.

I have been doggedly pursuing the look of a canine character for an upcoming children's book.  I have been drawing nothing but dogs, dogs, and more dogs. I am dog-tired.  Can you really tire of dogs?  Since someone recently coughed up something onto the carpeting, perhaps. 

It has been raining cats and dogs around here too.  I never liked the explanation of animals sliding off a thatched roof in a rainstorm for the origin of the saying. Instead, the Library of Congress offers this explanation: "Odin, the Norse god of storms, was often pictured with dogs and wolves, which were symbols of wind. Witches, who supposedly rode their brooms during storms, were often pictured with black cats, which became signs of heavy rain for sailors.  Therefore, “raining cats and dogs” may refer to a storm with wind (dogs) and heavy rain (cats)."  Let's stick with that.

I am often asked if I use a computer to draw.  The answer is yes and no.  I use a combination but I am doing all the drawing. The illustration above may help show the different styles.  Most of my illustrations are the combination shown in the middle.

It can be a dog-eat-dog world in freelancing and sometimes I feel like I am dog paddling the distance.  Then, after a late night work session, I turn my chair around to find a pile of treats and stuffed toys left for me by a four-legged fairy.  Shakespeare used the word dog-hearted to mean cruel.   He got that so wrong.