Soar

It was New Year's Day, the very first day of a brand spanking new set of 365 sunrises. Hector had no problem with Aether snagging him from the 5th cocktail party of the season for the annual soar. The winds were perfect and the company of Golden Eagles, simply glorious.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Horizon

Extracting the speed from Hermes and implanting it within the heel of Achilles would change Greek mortality forever. Dr. Smith and his assistant, Fra Angelica were not just the most innovative scientists of their time, but today they were on the horizon of something big, very, very big.

Backwards

This giant beast will surely force you into a backwards tread on your journey.

Little Things

It's the little things...there IS nothing bigger, is there?
"What we call little things are merely the causes of great things; they are the beginning, the embryo, and it is the point of departure which, generally speaking, decides the whole future of an existence. One single black speck may be the beginning of gangrene, of a storm, of a revolution."
-Henri Frederic Amiel

Excess

"In everything the middle course is best: all things in excess bring trouble to men.”

-Titus Maccius Plautus

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'Tho the humans viewed moderation in a trusted, bright light, Jacquez felt differently. He was now the top cat - the world, his oyster.

Zoo

Okay...something very different for me. Felt like making some quick , transparent vector drawing and made this icon.

Superstition

Always on the anxious side, Felix was not very fond of new and unusual experiences. Never accused of being lucky, he relied on his innate abilities to stalk through the cornfields of life.

Scale

It was a rude surprise -- the warhead barreling towards him -- as he secretly scaled the cheese castle. The last thing Gunther expected to see at such a lifeless hour was the presence of the dairy authorities. Just what were they doing in the cheese factory at this time?

Hats

At birth, this hard-shelled creature had everything he needed to traverse through what was left of the dense and extremely dangerous Philippine archipelago rainforest...everything but a "hard head". With his new hat-adaptation, this specimen would now be able to travel without vulnerability.

Trick or Treat

Don't you love those little people this time of year!?...me, me, me...I want candy...give me MORE...

Too much of a 'treat' towards them results in a 'trick' for us.

Grow

"Mortals grow swiftly in misfortune."
-Hesiod

Extreme

Sometimes the best experiences result from the worst...such extremes are what define us and bring balance to our universe.

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Fire is the test of gold; adversity, of strong men.
-Seneca

Open

Sometimes the simplest, lowliest things in life open the largest, most formidable doors. Dare to peel away the shell of things and open up new possibilities for yourself and others.

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Just love will open our eyes
Just love will put the hope back in our minds
Much more than we could ever know
Don't burn the day away...

-Dave Matthews

The Blues

It is the "blues" that truly make the oranges appear lush.

Juggle

The art of drawing requires much "juggling" in terms of the information, hand control, and execution of ideas onto a piece of paper.

Wedding

The first indication should have been her demands for a crystal-clear 5 karat diamond and her refusal to sign a pre-nuptual aggrenment. As she gripped his hand in the ceremonial cutting of the cake, he couldn't help but wonder just how long the honeymoon would really last.

Momentum

With the momentum of a speeding freight train, the furious gator kicked open the door. His scales were on edge, as what he saw inside was more than what he could have ever imagined.

Alphabet

The Italian Alphabet is a beautiful thing.

Captain

Captain of the skies...

Emergency

There is ample reason to call for an "emergency" when there is but one cup of coffee to share among a group of ten thirsty people. Here, we see our protagonist, Randy the Rhino, securing the precious liquid from the mobs of caffience-deprived vigilantes.

Missing

Not very fond of color, I reluctantly proceeded with pastels and was surprised that it gave life to the composition...something that it was otherwise missing.

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"And if you hold on tight to what you think is your thing, you may find you're missing all the rest."

-DMB Under the Table and Dreaming

Moon

Here is an excerpt form one of my favorite poems, S.T. Coleridge-style of course...

"The moving moon went up to the sky, And nowhere did abide; Softly she was going up, And a star or two beside."

Author: Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Rhyme of The Ancient Mariner

Poem

The poet takes ordinary, unrelated words, and from them, produces something extraordinary and exciting. So too a good companion is someone who can bring rhyme and reason to the meter of your otherwise mundane life.

Discovery

Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton asked why.
-Bernard Baruch

It is with our hands that we carry out the inter-workings of our mind.

Geeky

Although many described Uncle Jack as "geeky", I always considered him as an eccentric, colorful kind of guy.

Twisted

Take heed to those with whom you keep company; for many a man hath fallen to a simple twisted word shared among a duplicitous acquaintance.
-Anon.

Camouflage

'Tho you attempt to camouflage your jealousy and insecurity amidst humor and sugar-coated conversation, I can see right through you.

Camouflague

Like camouflague, I will receed into the background of the ifri world. I told myself that I would keep my posting streak alive (94 posts), in so much as I received comments. Seeing that I received a whopping "zero" on my last post, I am now relinquished from my posting duties!

My life is much too busy to waste time posting in vane. No - don't think that I will stop drawing...not at all, you just will not see what I do. After all, isn't that what camouflague does?

Happy illustrating...it's been fun!

Rejection

During the upcoming holiday, take time to remember the young men and women who walked upon our soil over 200 years ago; their rejection of the subjugation of British rule gave us the freedoms that we experience today. The red stripes in our flag have been paid with a great price.

Suit

This is a quick pastel sketch done from memory of the valley below our new property. It is a view that will suit me just fine.

Your Paradise

Your paradise can be found in nature, for therein lies "lux et veritas".

Paradise

Narrow is the path...

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Midway along the road of our life,
I found myself in a darkened wood,
where the true path had been obscured.

Oh, how hard it is to speak of it,
this savage, wild and fearsome wood;
the thought of it renews my terror!

More bitter is it than is death itself;
but to reveal to you the good I found,
I must talk of the other things I saw.

From La Divina Commedia di Dante: Inferno by Dante Alighieri

Cars

Vintage.

Signs

Nature's sign to the advancement of the human race. If we can't obey a literal sign, them how will we EVER be able to read the subtle signs of nature's exploitation?

Citrus

God's gift to our taste buds.

Neighbor

You can live for years next door to a big pine tree, honored to have so venerable a neighbor, even when it sheds needles all over your flowers or wakes you, dropping big cones onto your deck at still of night. ~Denise Levertov

Remember

How suddenly we forget.

Polar

In our great efforts to become civilized, global and indistrialized, have we forgotten God's creatures that first inhabited this most precious sphere?

Deforestation and fossil fuel emission are just some of the many contributers to the problem that we call "global warming". The results of our industrialization can be seen throughout our globe, especially in the habitat of the North Pole. Does anyone really care that our advancement as a human race means putting the Polar Bear on thin ice?

Fortune

"Fortune truly helps those who are of good judgment."
Euripides

Fortuna
In Roman mythology, Fortuna (equivalent to the Greek goddess Tyche) was the personification of luck, hopefully of good luck, but she could be represented veiled and blind, as modern depictions of Justice are seen, and came to represent the capriciousness of life. She is also a goddess of fate.

Green: Part II

It isn't always the green fairy that visits those who partake of this green liquid.

Green

Absinthe: la Fée Verte

Snap

From the Hardwood Floor Wars Series:
The fight for the scraps today would be determined by the act of breaking the wishbone that lay 'neath the table. Stenzil's aggressive impatience resulted in a premature snap, thus forcing him to go hungry 'till another day. Goes to show...those who remain calm and calculated do not always end up with the short end of the stick.

I Spy

Just a figure study I made tonight for a future painting of the Greek figure Diana...

Diana (Artemis) was an ancient Italian goddess of woodland. In Capua and in Aricia, a locality near Rome, there are still shrines dedicated to the old Italian goddess. Diana was the twin sister of the god Apollo. Her father and mother were Jupiter and Latona.

Diana believed her body was very sacred, and so no man was to see her naked. One day a wandering hunter came across Diana bathing. When the hunter Actaeon accidentally came upon Diana while she was bathing, she turned him into a stag, whereupon his own hunting dogs attacked and tore him to pieces.

Goes to show -- next time you think about spying, make sure they are not a god of goddess.

Total: Part II

When your world is in total chaos, remember...it is all a matter of perspective.

I feel the dialogue in Lord of the Rings beautifully illustrates the challenges of life in a dark, dark world and 'though we cannot control what comes to us, we can control how we deal with that which does.

Frodo
"I wish the ring had never come to me . . . I wish none of this had happened."

Gandalf
"So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."

Total

Some say that they were "totally nuts", but the truth was -- they were really acorns, and well...they still hadn't lost their heads like their sunflower critics.

Wired

Definition (slang) of RAT:
A despicable person, especially one who betrays or informs upon associates.

Nobody likes a rat. Rats cannot be trusted, no matter how friendly and believable they may appear to be. Be careful of the company in which you keep and with whom you conduct business; for surely among that group, there exists a rat. Wired and tuned-in, this rat will do everything in his or her power to sell you out.

Making themselves look and feel good by corrupting your image is their game. If only everyone was secure with who they really are...

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"We are a nation of 'rats' and we all are bound by sin and suffering...so why deny anyone their identity."
Martin Scorsese / 'The Departed'

Hide (Part II)

The woods can be a scary place. This would look like a very comfortable hiding / resting place for a weary traveler in need of solace for the evening.

Hide

No other feathered creature in the great state of Pennsylvania is more elusive than the Wild Turkey. Their ability to hide from their many predators relies on their wisdom of the woods.