Bicycle

I ride my bike around town a lot, not actually having a car, and I find Rocky is such a friendly town, drivers are often so courteous, and passengers often wind down windows to yell out helpful advice, like, 'Hey mate, yer wheels. They're going 'round!' or just an encouraging 'aaaaargh!'

Anyway, many years ago now, I drew a sketch of an Elephant on a bicycle, and I thought, what would be a nerve-wracking scenario for him, and I thought, it had to be a big car full of mice giving him a hard time. This gradually morphed into an idea for a picture book, featuring a heap of mice vs elephant scenarios, an examination of prejudice and stereotyping.

This is a rough mock-up of the bicycle page, with an early attempt of mine of paper sculpture. I'd love to re-do this properly one day, in good quality paper and really paint instead of markers and coloured pencils. Maybe I should pull out the old book and give it another shot. It's mostly written, but has lain dormant for far too long...

Journey Man

Strip off Uberdude's muscle suit and super powers, and beneath lies Journeyman, a mild mannered ordinary guy, who nevertheless does what he can with what he has to make the world a better place. No special abilities or extraordinary talents, unable to leap even reasonable short towers, less powerful that a resting locomotive, quite a bit slower than a speeding bullet and yet, through Journeyman, and people just like him, just doing the best they can, the world IS a better place, and that makes him a real hero.

Thank you Journeyman, your work here is not done, but you are not about to to fly of to your Fortress of Solicitude, or your Bat Cavern. You're here for the long run. Because, changing the world IS a journey...

Bottled...

Aye, it's hideous, I grant ye, But what I really want to know is, how did they get something that big out of the bottle?

It's all about perspective. It's been said that we don't see the world how it is, we see the world how we are. Our view is the world is coloured by our culture, our attitudes and our experiences. Mercy is the ability to see the world from someone else's perspective, to walk a mile in their shoes, to really empathise with them, not just sympathise. How many people really know how life is for you? And how many people do you know what life is really like for? That's a measure of the level of community you are currently experiencing.

So, what are you waiting for? Look at life through new lenses. Realise your viewpoint isn't the only one. Get out of your bottle and live life!

IF - Duets

Back in January I went to the fabulous Faith and the Arts week in Poatina, Tasmania to hang out with and be inspired by creative people from many disciplines including drama, music, painting, photography, creative writing (Slam Poetry!) and print making. I've never tried print making before, so I gave it a go, and really loved it. Come to Tassie next Jan to experience it for yourself, or if you can't wait that long, there's the Canada edition in a few months.

Anyway, two of the stars of the week were Eric and Spike, who, despite not having met before inspired us with their duets. Amazing jazz. Check out my Youtube video. And when Spike's wife Lea joined them, there was magic in the air.

So what better subject for Illustration Friday's Duet challenge than Eric and Spike.

It gave me a chance to play with my new Wacom Tablet (a bit easier to draw with than my laptop's scratch pad...) and play around with a demo version of Artrage software. This is a lot looser than what I normally come up with, but I liked the energy of it and had to resist the temptation to clean it up too much in GIMP! Hope you like it.

big boys toys

All these sf movies that like the idea of big mechanical walking machines, from Star Wars, District 9, The Wrong Trousers, Avatar, and many many more, it must be fun stomping around alien landscapes with big metal legs. Obviously a case of toys for big boys. But once alien lands are conquered, and you've finished stomping on the Rebel alliance, there are still chores to be done... So stop playing, and Do Some Work! Ok?

IF - Toy

a few years ago I worked at a signage company that had a lot of very cool computerised machinery that could do wondrous things. Unfortunately I couldn't do wondrous things with them very often, there was more mundane work to do. And Laser engravers and huge 3d NC routing machines apparently aren't toys... Frustrating! However, occasionally I was able to do something.

Fish on a Stick is the result of one of those times. his head is airbrushed styrofoam, scales are felt and his internal structure is laser cut acrylic. His whole body was fully articulated and he could move his tail with a flick of the wrist.

His jaw was held shut with a mouse trap spring, and opened by pulling on a piece of (ironically) fishing line which was fed down the blue handle, which Fish sat on like a rod topper.

He was a lot of fun, to play with, too, a nice, almost magical puppet. But the real toy was my laser engraver. I wish I still had access to one...

IF - Warning

This is a piece that really speaks to me. Notice the artist's use of bold colours and composition; the way that the raw meaning of the words is subsumed in the context of the dichotomy of the post-modern other as he tries to catch the zeitgeist of mundane everyday reality yet inject some whimsical, phantasy to instill in us a sense of urgency, even, impending doom. Yes, this artist has something very profound that he is trying to communicate with us, and I think has succeeded admirably.

Illustration Friday is a weekly challenge where readers are asked to come up with an illustration inspired by the word of the week. Last week's word was warning. note, I said LAST week's word... yup, I'm a few days late to post this. This week's word is stir. I might have something here in three weeks for that! Or maybe not.

Alternative idea was also a sign -

CAUTION

This Sign has SHARP EDGES!

(Also, the Bridge is out...)

Bert Spanish Rap 16

boy meets girl, a film for Michael and Vicki

Leah's World Tour

This is just to let you know that my friend Leah Robinson is touring around the world, looking at the Salvation Army's work in the field of justice where-ever she goes. And she's blogging about it!
Well, after a very good start, she's dropped off the intensity a bit... Not that I can be the first to throw stones on that score!
Anyway, check it out, leave a comment to encourage her, it is a big thing that she does, and it will help her in her quest to make Central Queensland a more just place.
leah's blog

1. Berlin, Germany


2. Dresden, Germany


3. Chengdu, China


4. Melbourne, Australia


5. Poatina, Australia


6. Adelaide, Australia


7. Hamburg, Germany


8. Launceston, Australia


9. Ostrava, Czech Republic


10. Port Antonio, Jamaica


11. Johnstown, PA, USA


12. Rockhampton, Australia


13. Prague, Czech Republic

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Travel time again

Wow. This time next week I'll be in New Delhi! I'm sure I'll have much to blog about there. But look at this photo. It's the readers picture in this week's Australian WarCry, I took it of the Great Wall of China in August 2008. I also saw Beijing and spent time in Wuhan, Cheng Du and Deyang. I also visited villages that were destroyed by the May 2008 Earthquake. Amazing stories. And yet this is the first time I've blogged on China...

Hopefully I won't be so remiss when it comes to India. That should be a memorable time, and I'm sure the extremes of the poverty there will impact on me.

In the meantime, gaze at this Wonder of the World (albeit one that cost many hundreds of lives in its construction...) and pray for our team in South Asia (as well as our Chinese Friends) as you do.