Illustration Friday - Expired

"Last Rites"

Colored Pencil

This little female cardinal actually died in my hand about a week ago.  I was putting the  greyhounds out in the kennels and she crash landed through the dog door and into the wall of the kennel.  Sassy (the greyhound) grabbed her before I could, but also dropped her pretty quickly when I yelled at her.  So I'm not sure if it was the crash or the greyhound mouthing that did her in, or a combination of the two.  She died about 30 seconds after I picked her up, poor thing.  But observationist that I am, I set her aside near the outside trash cans so that I could draw her later in the day.   Todd complained a little later that the gnats were getting to her so I took pictures of her instead.  It just worked out that she was the perfect subject for this weeks Illustration Friday word.

Illustration Friday - Subterranean

The Elusive Subterranean Parakeet

watercolor and pen

I had a little observational inspiration for this week's word.  My husband, son and I  went to the Tyler Zoo on Saturday.  I had it in my head to keep my eyes open for a critter that might make a good subject for "subterranean" but it turned out to be the most unlikely candidate that I could have imagined.  In the " Wild Bird Walkabout" there was a little parakeet madly excavating a good sized hole under the edge of a rock.  Parakeets are known to hollow out trees and logs for their nests, but this may be the the first to choose a subterranean abode.  I think she knows that it will be cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter, and that she won't have to worry about termite damage later on down the road. :)

Below is a short clip of video that I took of her while she was working.

Illustration Friday - Brave

Digitally Enhanced Collage

 

"The bravest battle that ever was fought, Shall I tell you where and when?

On the maps of the world you will find it not;  It was fought by the mothers of men"

I almost didn't make it this week.  It is Spring break for us and we have been taking full advantage of the free time.  Being the mother of two marines, this week's word has had me in mind of all the parents who have children in the military.  Luckily, both of my daughters are in non-combat areas, but there are many more of our sons and daughters who are in harm's way.  I pray for their speedy and safe return.

 

Illustration Friday - Perspective

"Beyond right and wrong, there is a field. I will meet you there."

(Rumi - 13th century Persian Poet)

A double meaning for this weeks word.  I have come to realize that truth (right/wrong) is almost always a matter of perspective.  It can be difficult to remember this when we become passionate about an idea or belief, but it is the basis of wisdom.  Of course as an art teacher I had to have a little perspective drawing included as well. 

Two days till spring break!  Yippee!

Illustration Friday - Propagate

 

Chia Todd

colored pencil on green paper

2.5 x 3.5 inches ATC

OK this weeks word was a tough one.  I think my resulting image betrays my usually disguised weirdo side, but here it is anyway.  This was inspired by my son's decision to allow his Ag teacher to shave his head last week with a pair of sheep sheers.  It has taken some getting used to and I think this is my subconscious way of saying that I prefer my son with at least some hair on his still young head.  I am including an image of the freshly mowed head below.

 

Illustration Friday - Adrift

 

Wilson!!!!

2.5 x 3.5 inches ATC

marker, colored pencil, and gel pen

available for trade

You know you are watching a really good actor when he makes you want to cry over the loss of a soccer ball. :)  I love Tom Hanks!  This is actually a requested image for my son Todd.  I told him what this week's Illustration Friday theme is, and he suggested this scene from the movie Cast Away.  To work up to it, we watched the movie together.   It was a nice way to spend our President's Day holiday together. 

Winter Wonderland - Friday Morning at the Taylor Farm

 

Click on any picture to enlarge

A rare event occurred in East Texas this week.  A foot of snow fell in Dallas and a more moderate but still impressive 5-6 inches fell on the little plot of ground that we call home.  Most of the snow fell on Thursday night and continued into the early hours of Friday morning.   I know that this is not exciting news to most of the rest of the country, especially with the record snowfalls the nation has been experiencing, but it is something that we almost never see here and it causes quite a stir.  The schools shut down and kids rediscover a fascination of the world around them.  Even the adults become more light-hearted and find it easy to set work aside to marvel at the change of scenery.   Artistic types like myself start waxing poetic and try to capture the moment in memory, image, and words.   Above are just a few of the pictures I took Friday morning, as soon as there was enough light to shoot in.  The last is a picture of my 14 year old son Todd with his first ever snowman.  Sadly he was knocked down and half melted by the end of the day. (the snowman...not Todd).  

The only unfortunate side of the whole event was that we lost power sometime in the middle of the night on Thursday which didn't get restored until Sunday morning.  We spent a couple of nights sleeping next to the fireplace, but I finally broke down on Saturday and got us a hotel room.  Ahhh Adventure!