R.I.P.

One morning last week there was this bird laying outside my office window. The poor fellow flew into the large pane glass of my office and broke its neck. This happens every once in a while in our building. I wonder what toll windows take on birds thinking they have found an overhang or shelter they can get into.

This bird is a veery (Catharus fuscescens), a type of thrush. My friend Mike McNerney was able to identify it. Apparently, it is quite a songster. Here is an excellent video documenting their singing ability.

It’s a shame it was a veery. I wouldn’t have bothered if it was a starling or cowbird. By the way, the book to identify him is from the Peterson Field Guide series where the image above was obtained and slightly altered.

Mr. Peanut

My daughter Gwendolyn (A.K.A. Gigi) loves to get a hold of a pen and start scribbling. She is only shy of 3 years old right now but is extremely interested in crafts, trying to write and draw figures. Here is an example of her drawing in action and a finished product.

She was saying these were two men dancing and the smaller one was the number 4. They were dancing around some flowers. I cleaned up the picture and was going to color it but it kinda speaks for itself for the imaginary energy that children have.

These dudes are really cutting the rug!

Where's the beef?

I’ve collected tons of skulls while working in the field of archaeology. It is pretty easy to just go on a hike in a random trajectory and eventually find some dead animal. Deer are usually the easiest to find but also racoons are a big one. Box turtle shells as well although they’re not skulls. Man they’re everywhere in the Shawnee forest of Southern Illinois. I’ve found a few exotics I say such as a complete coyote skeleton, a couple of dog burials, beavers, etc. All fun to find.

A couple of rules exist for picking up skulls. First no human skulls of course (although I’ve come across several in this profession) and nothing still meaty or greasy. Once on a survey I popped up on a huge pile of rotting pig heads and bodies. There were at least 200 of them. Probably one of the more revolting things to run across on a 95-degree day.

Both the cow and buck came from Missouri surveys. The buck was a complete skeleton that was never tore apart by scavengers. The skeleton laid perfectly as the day the buck died. The cow was found on a field in a ravine. It was scavenged (probably coyotes) but the skull was in good shape.

The buck stops here.

A Castle Crasher by his house. Photograph of an awesome mixed media piece by my 5 year old using construction paper, marker, felt, and stickers.

Update: My one week away from two year old daughter pointed to the duck sticker and said, “Mine!”. I want to make sure to credit her contribution to the final piece.

Latest painting of a giant robot with a human pilot or a normal robot with a tiny pilot, made for my son with the title coming from my nickname for him as a toddler.

Home made twelve inch square panels (either masonite or wood) with a combination of acrylic foundation with pen and ink are my favorite medium for traditional painting. I always have a few in development with some boards taking nearly ten years to complete.

Two future projects not in the form a of a square: a princess tower and a sea monster.

Monkey in the top of the tower

I found this drawing in my five year old’s pre-K work. When I asked him what it was he said, “It is a monkey in a castle.” Really awesome depiction of the masonry and stonework. It seems to be completely his invention.

I was surprised when I found that he already keeps a “sketchbook”. Which he is quickly filling up with drawings of the Teen Titans, Astroboy, Castle Crashers, and other superheros and monsters.

Book Cover Design

Here is the final design for Rob Steiner’s Zervakan Novel – you can read it for free at the link. It was a blast to design but a challenge to conceptualize the strange mystical bands encircling the globe. I’m sure it is difficult to tell but I used quite a bit of Adobe illustrator before stacking (20+) layers in Photoshop.

French Irises...gotta love 'em!

Ahh, springtime. Nothing like checking out our modest garden after an evening shower. Our garden is a mix of perennials and vegatables we grow season after season. With really no rhyme or reason to it, we just plant it and see what happens. Here is a highlight of the garden in mid-April.

Dianthus...my favorite

Phlox, good little creeper

Mix of Spiderwort and Columbine, probably some witches brew!Basic violet Iris...still nice

Kitty inspecting the garden

Spiral rainbow kite optional...

Nothing like flying a kite with your kids. You should do it sometime.

Two Missouri hardwoods

These shagbarks were photographed in Lincoln County, Missouri. It was a cloudy cold day in the middle of nowhere (a place I really like).

“Nothing like a good piece of hickory.”

The Preacher played by Clint Eastwood from the movie Pale Rider (1985).