2019

As it has been a year since my last blog update, I figured I should probably post an update. The past year has been a busy one, artistically, as well as in other ways. I had a baby, the girls started preschool, my job shifted, and I took part in the Create-a-thon again, though this time my sister from Arkansas joined me. It was great fun as usual, though challenging in other ways (the children came down with strep throat in the middle of things and my husband was out of town). I chose to use colored pencils as my medium this year and used a 19” x 24” sheet of Strathmore Bristol board, cropped down to fit a wooden frame that was given to me by a friend. We were assigned the theme of Noah’s Flood, and I decided to go the darker, grittier route by illustrating the drowning people. I wanted to remind everyone that such are we, save for the grace of God.

“Hope of the Wicked”

“Hope of the Wicked”

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I wasn’t sure how well my morbid rat-infested horror illustration would go over, but it turns out the judges really liked it, and I won first prize. It is currently hanging at the front of the church sanctuary (pig carcass and all). I am uncertain if anyone will actually buy it, however, as it is not the most pleasant image to hang in your house. XD

In other news the lemon tree broke nearly in half during the monsoon storms last August. Thankfully, our crop did not suffer too terribly, and we are now using up the last of our citrus fruits. The sweet scent of new lemon and orange blossoms fills the air and attracts butterflies as the days grow warmer and warmer.

My youngest child will be turning one in two weeks and so far we have planted a tree for each kid on their first birthday. My first received a mesquite tree and the second a lime tree. We will have to decide soon what kind of tree my boy will get. Trees that produce some sort of fruit make sense to me. If we’re gonna dump gallons and gallons of precious water on it (remember, we live in a desert), we should gain something from it, I think.

I’ve also completed three comic book pages for a charity project that my friend Bryce Morgan put together. I have added it to the “Book Illustrations” section under “Captain Sun and the Night of the Piper.” It should be available later, both digital and printed, with all proceeds benefiting “The Butterfly Project” - an organization that helps young women in the Philippines to get off the streets.

For more about the comic go here: https://itscaptainsun.com/bp/

Special thanks to everyone who helped me with poses throughout the process!

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