Parents

I was talking to my oldest girls recently and she told me that being a teen was the hardest thing she has ever had to do. I quickly responded that being a parent was the hardest thing I had to do and quickly added that it was all worth it. It got me to thinking about my own parents and what I learned from them.

My father taught me that I could do anything I wanted.
My mother taught me that I should.

Illustration Friday – Cats

In the grasp, but the joke’s on him.
It's how I want it.
It is the way of our kind.
Let them think THEY are in control.
That purring is not the song of contenment,
But a silent snicker
That even I cannot control.

I do admire his whiskers so.
≈

This is the first watercolor I ever attempted. I do hate publishing illustrations at hand, but I recently got swamped at work and it’s all I can do to keep up with what I have going. I have plans for quite a number of cats painting in the near future. When they are finished, I shall post them here.

Ellustration Friday

E is for Ernie

This is a mascot I created for one of my clients. As you can see from his name, he is an enzyme. Unfortunately, Ernie is no longer with us. Before he went, he got deposed. Silly lawyers! The company he worked for got caught up in some legal wranglings and had to go away – Ernie went along for the ride!

weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Illustration Friday – Sea

I have been doing reference drawings of fish since 1988 for New World Publications. I have drawn almost every species of reef fish from Brazil to Florida and the Galapagos to Alaska. So when I get the chance to do something fun, I jump at the chance.

The sea is a wonderous place. And we take it for granted. And we take…and take…and take…

We know so little about it, but what we do know should have us all taking heed and treating it with respect. We owe our lives to the ocean. It provides us food and water and the very air we breath.

It is a wonder.

I wonder why we don't get it?

If you want to do something, check out REEF. It is a non-profit that is committed to the preservation of the marine environment. They can be found at . It's time we gave something back.

Illustration Fiday – Flavor

Raisin Bread…

In my previous post, I mentioned that my parents were children of the Great Depression. Another story from my father's childhood revolves around my grandmother and her method of making raisin bread. Having very little money and being frugal to boot, it is said that Nana would make the bread dough and put it on the table across the room. Then she would pick up a solitary raisin and throw it across the room at the waiting dough. If it stuck, they had raisin bread that week. If she missed, she would pick up the raisin and save it for the next loaf to try again.

This week’s assignment was a bit difficult for me and as I tossed and turned in bed last night, I remembered how my Nana added a bit of flavor to her family's meal.

The Lugwah Prize

There's a post by an old cracker writer who sometimes calls himself Old Folks about a journalist who gave himself the Lugwah Prize.

The Lugwah Prize is a commemorative silver dollar showing George Drouillard, the interpreter, scout, hunter, and cartographer, hired for Lewis and Clark's Voyage of Discovery. The coin depicts him pointing to the 'lugwah'. From the French "la gloire" meaning "over that mountain yonder". So all Droulliard had to do was point west and cross the next mountain until he reached the Pacific. And he looked like a genius. All he had to do was keep focused on what was in front of him. But once he achieved his goal, what next? Turn around, retrace your steps, and head home. Old Folks and probably Art Brew himself, would tell you that glory is a foolish thing and that the way back home is more important. For me, family and friends and the experiences in life are more important, but you do have to keep your goals ahead of you and strive to reach them, so you can see what is really important to you.

I have my own Lugwah prize. My parents grew up during the Great Depression. For them, and most people, money was tight at best. My father was the youngest of six. Even then, he wanted money, and what it could provide, of his own. So, at a very young age, he crafted a shoebox from scrap lumber and shined shoes for whatever people would pay him. He was a street kid and an entrepreneur. I still have that wooden box. It may be the one thing I have left that my father made with his own hands. It reminds me that with hard work and determination, anything is possible.

The box is very worn.