stangy

Entangled Tentacles

2009-12-03T20:57:00.002-06:00

Though Octavia was most excellent at Cat's Cradle,
there were consequences...

Music

2009-11-25T22:49:00.004-06:00

It seems to me
that the Northern Lights
are
Mother Nature's way of
'showing' music.

It also seems that
Vivaldi wrote the 'Four Seasons'
to capture such
transcendent beauty.

Unbalanced

2009-11-19T20:39:00.005-06:00

un-balancing act

Blur

2009-11-12T21:50:00.001-06:00

2009-11-05T20:34:00.001-06:00

'nuff said...

2009-10-29T22:14:00.005-06:00

Cool as a cucumber outside...straining to race on the inside...

Strings

2008-10-16T18:55:00.004-06:00

'Strings Network' - the ORIGINAL cellular phone provider.
No time limits, no battery to die, no unwanted callers.
Universal coverage.
Perfect.

Packed

2008-10-02T21:44:00.004-06:00

Stella, inspired by her heroine Lara Croft, was ready for this year's "3rd Annual East Pippsissiwa Style Off".
Besides the usual array of curlers, scissors, combs and hair spray, she packed plenty of heat to dust the competition.

Island

2008-09-16T20:51:00.003-06:00

Clutter

2008-09-07T19:18:00.006-06:00

Hard to imagine a situation where clutter is less welcome.

Memories

2008-09-04T16:40:00.004-06:00

My sister worked as an archaeologist for a while.
The memories of not a few societies are contained
in what was cast away.
We can only hope that future scientists will think the best of us
when they unearth our garbage. It does not look promising.

Routine

2008-08-28T21:10:00.004-06:00

Every morning, the same thing...
wake to the alarm,
cup of coffee,
read the newspaper.
Oh yeah - and go to work.
Perhaps
I have more in common
with a hamster in a wheel
than I thought.

Thanks to Mattias Adolfsson for his inspiration. You'll be delighted by his work at http://mattiasa.blogspot.com/

Detach

2008-08-21T19:49:00.003-06:00

2008-08-14T20:50:00.003-06:00

"I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand,
as in what direction we are moving:
To reach the port of heaven, we must sail sometimes with the wind
and sometimes against it -
but we must sail, and not drift, nor lie at anchor."

- Oliver Wendell Holmes

Poof!

2008-08-07T21:20:00.005-06:00

Somewhat dazed, the once large wizard attempted to get his head around the fact that everything seemed so immense. His last recollection was hearing "Poof!..."

Riding the Wind

2008-05-12T20:24:00.002-06:00

I read recently that by copying a painting or attempting to emulate an artist's style you get a feel for that artist and become a better artist yourself. I admire the artist, Bonnie, for her style and compositional ability. My painting above is a copy of her piece titled 'Wind Riders'. Hers was done in pastel and very large; mine is acrylic and 3' x 4'.

Heavy

2008-03-20T20:50:00.003-06:00

Pencil sketch in moleskine,
about 2-1/4" x 5-3/4"

Garden Gate

2008-03-13T22:17:00.002-06:00

"In a coign of the cliff between lowland and
highland,

At the sea-downs edge between windward
and lee,

Walled round with rocks as an inland island,
The ghost of a garden fronts the sea."

- A Forsaken Garden (1878) - A.C.Swinburne

Leap

2008-03-04T20:55:00.002-06:00

As she sailed smoothly over the jump,
Camellia Stout felt - just for a moment - the exhilaration
her lovely little pony, Ms. Tootsie Pop, must feel
when leaping through the air...

Multiple

2008-02-28T23:47:00.005-06:00

'Twas a cold and wint'ry day,

when these skimmers I espied...

Nary a stitch...

2008-01-13T12:42:00.000-06:00

There once was a wee lad in Maine,
Who set out for fortune and fame,
When his rear had an itch,
He found not a stitch,
So ended his search for fame.

Thanks, Chris, for the inspiration - love, dad

A Taste of the Caribbean

2008-01-02T19:48:00.000-06:00

My first go at using pastels - 12x24, canvas, Nupastel. Casting out thanks to Amy, who suggested pastels might be of interest to me...you were right!

How much did I grow?!

2007-10-25T22:54:00.000-06:00

Open

2007-10-11T21:23:00.000-06:00

I've always loved rainy days. They suit my need for occasional solitude, even amongst a crowd. Somehow, open umbrellas can increase the sense of isolation - one's own little sheltered island.

It's been nearly two months since I've really drawn or painted...new jobs have a way of eroding away free time. It feels great to get back, a little, to the creative roots!

This is a problem...

2007-08-16T22:33:00.001-06:00

Admit it - you've been in this spot before...

Missing?

2007-08-07T21:40:00.000-06:00

...sometimes I just love a simple idea...
you may have to think on this,
but there's a clue if you look closely enough.

Moon Pie

2007-08-02T22:30:00.001-06:00

This is a first attempt at markers - I like the saturation compared to color pencils.

Poem

2007-07-26T21:41:00.000-06:00

"I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breasts;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with the rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree."

-by Alfred Joyce Kilmer (1886-1918)

Discovery

2007-07-14T22:29:00.001-06:00

Inspiration struck early this week!

Hot as Hell

2007-07-13T22:18:00.001-06:00

'Black as the devil,
Hot as Hell,
Pure as an Angel,
Sweet as Love.'

-a recipe for coffee, by
Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord

A Very Geeky Geek

2007-07-12T17:34:00.000-06:00

A tribute to the man who exudes "geeky"

Plot Twist

2007-07-01T21:24:00.001-06:00

Without it, reading tends to be boring, don't you agree?

Completely absorbed...

2007-06-24T18:29:00.000-06:00

This was another thought on camouflage.
"Weber concealed his fear of class participation, becoming so lost in stories he was unable to hear the teacher call his name..."

Camouflage

2007-06-23T23:11:00.000-06:00

[Sigh]...to have had the ability to cloak one's self when called upon to recite "Beowulf" before the whole class. Difficult to believe I'm an extrovert now, but at the time I would have done anything to melt into obscurity - something I suspect students still yearn for.

Suit Squared

2007-06-13T14:32:00.001-06:00

Once upon a time, I wore bow ties and had a mustache at the same time...my poor, poor wife. Anyway, I thought perhaps it's time to give a card suit a contemporary touch by power-dressing the ol' king.

Your Paradise

2007-06-07T20:48:00.001-06:00

Whew - running late this week and just have time to get a quick concept sketch in. My paradise is wherever a sailboat will carry me...and I'd like to be on it right now!

First Car

2007-05-31T11:25:00.000-06:00

Who can't remember their first car?
Thanks! - to all the appliance and moving companies who gave kids the chance to drive the hottest car they could dream up!

"signs" a la Escher

2007-05-22T08:35:00.001-06:00

I love signing my artwork...my sister says it looks like a spider!

Summertime Citrus

2007-05-15T16:46:00.000-06:00

Ahhhh...summer is here, the heat is on, and kids everywhere have begun their annual business startups - the respectable lemonade stand. Given global warming, this could be a banner year for their product.

Neighbor...

2007-05-10T14:48:00.000-06:00

"My apple tree will never get across
And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.
He only says, "Good fences make good neighbors."
Mending Wall (1914) - Robert Frost

Attic Cleaning

2007-05-03T08:43:00.000-06:00

Much to her delight, Mrs. Dentrimple discovered a quick blowing out of the cobwebs helped her students remember things better after being away for the summer.

Polar Ice Cube

2007-04-25T14:44:00.000-06:00

Another thought on global warming and the possible costs of our lifestyles...

Life's Fortune

2007-04-19T13:09:00.000-06:00

Fortune can refer to wealth or possessions. It also, however, relates to fate or one's lot in life. I lived for some years on a remote, New England island that had no drinkable water - it had to be pumped off a boat three times a week. Water was very valuable to us. "Life's Fortune" was ispired by American's attitude - by and large - of everything being disposable, and British photographer Don McCullin's pictures of Darfur refugees - many of whom have died of thirst. "Chiefly", stated Francis Bacon, "the mold of a man's fortune is in his own hands." Perhaps we need to rethink this, and use our hands to mold another man's fortune in life.

Enviable Colour...

2007-04-08T11:18:00.000-06:00

Green vies with blue for my attention - they have leapfrogged each other as my favorite colors throughout life. In a departure from my usual single drawing for IF, here is a page from my sketchbook showing several quick reactions to green - the start of an endless list!

I Spy: Walter-style

2007-03-29T16:54:00.000-06:00

Walter, the parrot, is a yellow-fronted Amazon who shares our home. His passionate loves include our grown daughter, peanut butter sandwiches, peanuts and pistachios - not necessarily in that order. Under his ever-watchful eye, it is fairly impossible to eat his favorite foods without him spying you out. Hence, "I Spy".

"Hide"-school dance

2007-03-06T21:28:00.000-06:00

Ahh, those awkward teenage years of the 70s. My mom wouldn't let me buy jeans and the only thing I had to wear to a school dance were these awful rust and gold, vertical striped pants and this brownish sweater - ugh. I tried my best to blend into the walls, but that blasted outfit clashed in a loud, terrfying way. The only cool thing I had going were my red Connies. It was the last dance I ever went to.

New School-Old School Communications

2007-02-27T22:03:00.000-06:00

As I thought about this week's topic, Communication, it occurred to me that people - with their cell phones and wireless headsets - have nothing on the original wireless communicators. I imagine the old school dolphins above are having a good laugh!

2007-02-20T18:23:00.000-06:00

Gravity-driven

- and kids ask when they'll ever use the physics they're taught.

2007-02-15T10:34:00.000-06:00

Crash

My immediate response to IF's weekly topic was Dorothea Lange's photograph of Florence Owens Thompson. It was taken in the winter of 1936, during The Great Depression resulting from the stock market crash of 1929. The "Migrant Mother's" eyes have always evoked strong emotions in me...

2007-02-08T20:35:00.000-06:00

"Sprout"

I seem to be on an environmental roll lately... My first thoughts when I saw the IF topic this week were about babies and growing up. It happens I'm also working on a logo submission for a sea turtle center. This drawing developed, aptly enough, from that process.

2007-01-28T22:47:00.000-06:00

The Red Tear

This sketch was done in response to the alarm fisheries biologists have expressed at the imminent collapse of tuna populations. Tuna is just one resource of many that is at great risk of being drained. I believe the industrial nations of the world - including Japan, the largest consumer of tuna - have a responsibility to manage Earth's resources, not only for themselves but also for those countries whose people rely on the same resources but do not have the capabilities or need to harvest in such vast quantities. The weight of that responsibility starts at the onset of a resource's use...not when it is sapped.

Perhaps the greatest opposition to responsible management occurs when the environment is one of a state of denial. It is my hope that the peoples of these countries will open their eyes to see they cannot sustain the current yields, and then raise their voices until their governments listen and act responsibly.