I'm back!

Katya

Sorry for the long silence, folks. I've spent the last month writing instead of drawing or carving. I'm working on a children's book loosely based on my dog, Kinsey's, life. Many of you might know that I rescued Kinsey from the Bird Bazaar in Istanbul. The book tells the story of how she got to the Teleskop Pet Shop in the Bird Bazaar. "Call Me Katya" is the working title, although nobody calls her Katya in the book. It's a chapter book--six chapters so far--and it's full of drama, pathos, adventure, and discovery. Here's the first sketch I've done of the main character. I hope to get a publisher interested in it and then illustrate the book as well.

Meanwhile, I haven't had a PenPets commission for two months. I hope that's a sign that everyone's on vacation and not a dire symptom of our dismal economy.

Our poor little farmers' market in Brooksville was pretty well rained out for the whole month of June. It must have poured for at least 40 days and nights. Didn't make anyone want to come out and buy greeting cards. However, the sun is shining these days -- Hallelujah! -- and the summer folks are pouring into town -- Double Hallelujah! I'm hoping to see a big crowd at the market tomorrow morning.

I am going to get back to my poor Norwegian Fjord ponies who have been languishing -- pale and only penciled in -- on my drawing board for weeks.

Haflinger Horses, Fjord Ponies, and Organic Farms

Bill's Haflinger
8" X 10" woodcut

2009

Wew! Finally back to wood carving, print making, and blogging. I really got blogged out there for a while. Couldn't write or read a one. I think all my face-to-face time at the farmer's market filled up my quota for personal interactions.

Anyways, this handsome horse is Gus, one of a team of Haflingers from Darthia Farm in Gouldsboro, Maine. Bill and Cynthia Thayer own and run this organic farm, and they do a slew of other creative things as well--theater, music, fiber arts, fiction. Cynthia writes novels (Strong for Potatoes, A Certain Slant of Light, and A Brief Lunacy) in her spare time. I'm taking a fiction-writing workshop from her every Saturday this June.

I also had a drawing on the cover of this summer's Brooksville Breeze, our town newsletter. It shows David's Folly, another organic farm, this one right here in my town.

I've started a pencil sketch of the Norwegian Fjord ponies at Darthia Farm and I'm eager to start inking them in.

First Farmers' Market of the Season

The Brooksville Farmers’ Market opened with a flourish this morning. I think there were more vendors that customers there, but we all had fun admiring, sampling, bartering, and buying each other’s wares.

This little cutie, Dennis, a bottle-fed lamb, did double-duty attracting folks to Deborah’s Bagaduce Farm stand for a taste of her sizzling pork sausages and to my PenPets stand next door for a selection of my fresh farm animal greeting cards. Everyone had to pet him. And everywhere that Deborah went, her lamb was sure to go. Wew! He was one worn out little fellow by the end!

I came home with a pound of Deb's pork sausage, a bit of goat cheese from Sunset Acres, a set of cucumber seedlings from Fairview Farm, and my favorite Royal Bee face cream, and I still came out ahead.

Soon the Windjammers will start dropping anchor in Buck's Harbor Monday nights and all of their passengers will flock to our market the next morning. I've made enough cards to last the summer and will be happy to get back to my drawing board and carving blocks now.

A Little House for the Library

Noble House

7" X 5" pen and ink

2009

I'm on the Board of Trustees for the Brooksville Free Public Library. Every summer we host a fund raiser so that we can keep the library open two-and-a-half days and one evening a week. This year it's a house and labyrinth tour and I'm in charge of designing the invitation and publicity posters. Thus, a house drawing instead of a dog!


Here's the design of the labyrinth which is cut into a hayfield next to the house.

It's a little house this year, in keeping with tough economic times, designed by a local architect--Bob Knight--as one of his Lucia's Little Houses. Living in a little house myself, I like his philosophy: "I have been designing houses of all sizes since the late 1960’s but the house type I find most satisfying and challenging is the good small house. Here on the coast of Maine the demand has increased steadily for the little and efficient home that takes advantage of sun, site and design to reward people with modest housing needs." Here's the same house from another angle on the cover of his book. You can check out the house plans on Bob's website.

Kinsey & Kids

Bear Hunter Extraordinaire!

Kinsey sounded off a boisterous alarm at about 5:00 yesterday morning and insisted that SOMETHING was outside our bedroom window MESSING with our bird feeders. Sure enough, we found the sunflower seed feeder and the thistle sock on the ground, the squirrel-proof wire that supports them broken. The sunflower seed feeder was empty. The thistle sock was untouched. The suet feeder was nowhere to be found. Kinsey was right! A BEAR has been MESSING with our bird feeders!

Needless to say, I did not let Kinsey out to become a tasty dessert for our early morning visitor, even though she insisted—all 12 tiny pounds of her aquiver with righteous indignation—that SHE IS IN CHARGE OF HOMELAND SECURITY. Later that morning, when the sun came up and we all ventured outside into bear territory, I suggested to Kinsey that she could go find the suet feeder. Lo and behold, she did! There it was, under a hemlock tree, still full of its fat cake of suet. Obviously, Kinsey’s ferocious bark attack had terrorized the bear so much that he didn't have the time or the temerity to devour his high-fat treat. Atta girl, Kinsey! She got an extra treat that morning and is still basking in the glory of her heroic acts today. All in the line of duty, thank you!

Later yesterday morning I spent a happy hour photographing kids at a neighbor’s farm. That’s baby goats, not children. Becky had nine kids this spring and they are a bunch of cuties. Here are a few shots. I feel a woodblock print coming on!

Trio

Sappho

Lily & Daisy

8" X 10" pen and ink

2009

Wew! What a challenge this trio posed for me--each dog with her distinctive physical properties and her definitive personality. I've spent days on this drawing and have suffered all sorts of doubts as to whether I chose the right photographs, whether I arranged them in the best grouping, whether I should have moved one dog a smidgeon to the right or to the left, a tad up or down. I could have spent many more days fussing over it, but I've decided that it's done. I've got to stop some time! Enjoy!

A PenPets Puzzle

Here’s a fascinating puzzle for me to put together in the next few days. I have a PenPets commission for three dogs—Sappho, the Bloodhound, Daisy, the Yorkie/Terrier mix, and Lily the little Dachshund—all in one 8” X 10” frame. Here’s a photo of the three of them together to give me an indication of their respective sizes. Sappho dwarfs her little sisters. She’s a benevolent giant, I suspect. Note that Daisy stands a tad taller than Lily.

It’s not a bad shot of Sappho, but I’ll choose different shots of Daisy and Lily. These choices are easy.

Here’s the shot of Daisy that I like. She's wide-eyed, tress-tossed, and shows a hint of terrier assertion in the set of her mouth.

And here’s Lily, the little imp! Who can’t imagine her getting her way with her bigger siblings? I think she must have her whole household wrapped around her paw!

Sappho is the tough one. She’s so photogenic! I love every shot in her portfolio. If I were drawing her alone I’d choose this side view. It’s so Bloodhoundish—the doleful eye, the drooping jowl, the glistening lip, the folded ear.


But I can’t figure out how to include Daisy and Lily in this pose. So I start playing with my options. I print out all the photos in black and white, I size them, I cut them out, and then I start piecing the puzzle together. Here’s Sappho from the group shot above with the two little cut-outs inserted. Notice that I've reversed Daisy's picture.

I don’t think the three dogs are integrated in this combination, perhaps because both Lily and Daisy are looking at the camera while Sappho is looking off to the side. There’s a disconnect between the big and the little dogs.

Here’s another go at it.

I like this one, but the picture of Sappho is pretty fuzzy. I’m afraid I won't find the telling details I need to draw it well enough.

Here’s another combination.

This one works for me. There are a lot of connections between the three radically different dogs. All three sets of eyes are looking directly at the camera, all three sets of ears are doing their thing—drooping, cocking, pricking—all three girls have their dog tags on, and all three personalities shine forth. Finally, their combined shapes form a nice triangle on the page. I’m going to go with this one. I’ve already completed a rough sketch and will spend another hour or two penciling in the details before I take up my pen. Wish me luck, a clear eye, and a steady hand!