Portrait of the Artist With Portrait of Toilet

Do blogs have birthdays? Sure, why not. Today marks the first anniversary of this blog. I've had a lot of fun with this over the past year and I really appreciate everyone who visits and leaves comments. Especially the comments. Those really make my day.

I've decided to mark the occasion by showing off a still-life I did of our toilet topped by a pair of my wife's shoes. She doesn't normally keep her shoes on top of the toilet, but there was some housecleaning going on and, amidst the chaos, the top of the toilet seemed as good a place as any.

Happy birthday, blog. Enjoy your cake and don't tell anyone what you wished for.

Dauphine Street, New Orleans

I headed down to French Quarter on a chilly Sunday morning to do a little ink drawing. I did this one from across the street while lots of tourists in Middle Tennessee football gear walked by and tried to pretend they weren't watching me draw. I think I might have to make myself a T shirt that says "It's OK to talk to me, I am not a famous artists producing an immortal masterpiece. Also, I can hear you whispering to your friend while you watch me draw and it's actually making me more uncomfortable than if you just walked up and said hello." The T-shirt is still kind of a work in progress, as I may have a bit more text than I can fit in a legible font size.

Village Elders in Afghanistan

These were drawn from a series of portraits of tribal elders from the area around Khan Neshin, Afghanistan that appeared in the New York Times "Week in Review" section a couple of weeks ago. These were all done in ink with a few splashes of color in watercolor pencil where it seemed to fit.

I've decided that an alternate title for this post is "People Who Really Do Not Care Who Tiger Woods Slept With." Actually, I'd like to add myself to that list, although I'm not sure that I'd have much else to talk about if I were stuck in an elevator with these guys.

Yeah, I'll Bet You Didn't Know What a Cuora Galbinifrons Was Either

I will grudgingly admit that I'm not sure exactly what "Cuora galbinifrons" means, but I suspect it translates roughly into "turtle." I drew this from a photo in a wonderful set of images posted by a herpetologist from the Tennessee Aquarium, which is available here and is well worth a look.

I Think We're Ready if General Sherman Comes Back

I was recently driving around Harahan, Louisiana - just minding my own business, thinking about dinosaurs and socialism and whether or not the new Mountain Goats album is better than the new Slayer album (the jury is still out) - and I came upon a giant cannon sitting on a concrete slab in front of the VFW hall. Of course I had to come back as soon as possible to try to capture this intimidating piece of military hardware collecting dust amidst the suburban sprawl. Drawn on my lunch break with a charcoal pencil.