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The wife of a friend of ours from high school recently lost her courageous battle with cancer. In her honor I  post this piece that I was commissioned to create for a client who’s friend also died from cancer. Thank you, Mary E. for permission to share on my site. RIP Margo McCabe.

Dragonfly Pond, commissioned in the memory of Shawn Oligmeuller 2009.

I'd never realized before that swamps seem to be one of my favorite settings for paintings until I started thinking about today's Illustration Friday topic. I discovered I have a number of paintings set in the swamp, so I thought I'd cheat a little bit and drag another one out from the archives. If you've been to my website, then you've probably already seen this and if you haven't, then it'll be brand new to you!
This painting is available as a print on my Etsy shop.

This topic seems unusually appropriate to me since only just a couple weeks ago we visited the Heard Natural Museum & Wildlife Sanctuary where there's a beautiful wetlands trail:

I'm glad I found some local inspiration for future set-in-the-swamp paintings!

meet hannah and her little sister ashley! they LOVE the fish pond...and each other:) hannah used to be one of my students a couple of years ago (she is the gorgeous little blonde girl in the pic below). ironically, i also went to high school with her mom...small world! this sketch is for hannah's birthday painting, which is at the end of april. her and her sister love the fish pond as well as the yellow daylilies that can be found there as well. i love little ashley's red hair and freckles so i can't wait to start painting this!

Ever wondered why some creatures appear to be truly ‘at one’ with themselves and their environment?   Yoga has become so popular, it has even extended to the realm of animals.  These pics show the practice of yoga to indeed be universal.

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Just a little warm up.  One leg at a time.  Of course, some creatures have more legs to warm up than others.  A spot of leaf-top leg-bend yoga has become a popular way for these fellas to kick off their mornings before a busy day doing, er… beetley things.

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A candid shot taken at a mid-morning flamingo yoga class.  Now, all together, the “tree” pose.  Hold… and breathe….  Hey, you at the back.  I said “tree” not “teapot”.

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This dragonfly is carrying out a lovely elbow balance known in human yoga as the “feathered peacock pose”.  A true yogi.  Note the focus and stillness required to successfully perform this pose.  Years of practice.  Only a master could achieve this.

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Nice to see a squirrel having a good shot at the “plough” pose  Either that or he’s trying to let loose a little trapped wind.  …. Or he’s dead.

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Yes, it is ultra-sandy.  Oh you said “ustra-sana” - my mistake.  Yes, that’s yoga-ese for “camel” pose.   Although, the camel is refusing to join in  -  he’s got the hump.  (Any other hump jokes - please keep to yourselves)

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Some animals have become so proficient at meditation, they have evolved a middle eye.  This frog now sees only with his third eye, having lost the use of the first two.

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And finally, a beautiful photo captured during  this iguana’s early evening ’sun salutation’ sequence.  Let the photo speak for itself.  Namaste.  (That means “I respect the god within you that is also within me”  or words to that effect.  Yoga people say this a lot)

More things chasing things...

- John Deininger

by Patricia Lakin Illustrated by John Manders Dragonfly/Random House 2007 paperback Clarence the cat comes from a long line of proud mousers, but Clarence refuses to carry on the family business. Shamed and shunned his reputation precedes him as he is sent from restaurant and deli, rejected for failing to live up to the expectations others have of a cat with his lineage. One day Clarence