Haha!

This one was a lot of fun to do, and I chose a flexible-tip ink pen for the lines.

The illustration is for Dan Mulhollen's poem, "The Man With Red Tights."

Gazpacho, The Dish

So delicious, so nutritious -- Gazpacho.

I modified the recipe a little from the one I received from my friend Melissa 30-some years ago.

Surly Kid

Cover image for Matthew Dexter's story, "Summer School."

I have no idea why the sky ended up looking banded. I didn't try to do that, and Photoshop gave no indication it would happen.

Different Dragonfly!

Then there was this animal, who allowed me to take multiple photos.

Never saw any dragonfly like this in my life. A dragonfly with granny-panties!

This species isn't even supposed to be in this area, according to Bernie's research on the web. I haven't seen it since July 5, but I'll watch for his relatives from now on.

Blue Jay

Okay, get ready for a few posts.

This one was the cover for Mark Lyon's beautifully written, "He Sure Do Want To Fly."

What a story! When I first read it as a submission, I was so moved I couldn't be sure of my opinion. I sent it to Cheryl, our Poetry Editor and Voice of Reason. She, too, was impressed, and I sent Mark an acceptance letter. In the mean time, Bernie took my printed-out copy with him to work to read, and after he read it, one of his co-workers snitched it from him, becoming so engrossed she hid the manuscript in a bin of parts so that she could read it while she worked!

Yeah, it was a good one.

Writing, and stuff

Then there was the short story, "Pecking Order, " which took days to scratch out.

And many evenings and afternoons cleaning up the continuity gaffe in the serial novel "Transitions."

Plus a number of days when I was riding the horse to keep him from colicking, and working on formatting Press articles and fiddling with OPGraphics (Other People's Graphics) to make them Pressworthy ... Time just gets away, and there's never enough of it, and why the hell have I never in my life been able to say, "I'm bored, I have nothing to do"?

There is a preliminary sketch on a canvas in the studio. I can FEEL the blueness of the sky that is going to appear there. This week is supposed to be one of clement temperatures, so I hope to get out there and obsess over color and shape. I'll take photos, for sure.

Playing Catch Up As Usual

It's just wrong how time gets away from me ... some say it's because I'm of an age approaching the speed of light, and others say it's because I'm a spacey, lazy old cow who would rather sit in the shade and sip wine with her husband rather than work.

Maybe it's both.

Nevertheless (don't I always say that?) I have been trying to keep busy. This image is from Lydia Manx's story "Dawn's Early Light".