Inspiration

Illustrator Elham Kazemi. Two Winds and One Whirlwind.

Morning Warm-Up

Getting ready to finish my children's book today for Starfall. Big Beluga Hello.

IF-Shades

Stag Shades. Stag Spirits. I've been really itching to draw some deer lately. I just love the flow of their contours.

Book Meme

Back from my vacation in Florida, to the Everglades and scuba-diving in Key Largo!!

And now, a book meme:

Books I physically own.

Most Expensive:

• The Art of Audubon, The Golden Deer of Eurasia, Voyages of Discovery, Morris by Himself, all massive museum-quality books with gorgeous art.

Cheapest: 

• I buy lots of books for a penny on Amazon. Most recent: Empire of the Ants, by Bernard Werber (AWESOME); Next on my list: some Calvin and Hobbes anthologies.

Longest volume set:

• I have a lot of the Everyman’s Library essential set, Y the Last Man comic series.

Most frequent book type:

• Dark, bleak adventure stories, both fiction and non-fiction; evolutionary biology books.

Any books created by you?:

• A few that I made for my husband :)

Currently collecting:

• Lots of Age of Discovery illustration anthologies, anything I can get my hands on with Harry Clarke art; I’d love to get the Swinburne illustrated by him.

Most books by a single author:

• Cormac McCarthy and Kurt Vonnegut.

Any rare books?

• Nothing yet, but I have my eye on the complete works of Yashida Hiroshi and Hasui Kawase.

Any signed books?

• Yes! The Key by Benita Kane Jaro. A historical fiction about Clodia and Catullus. Yes. I am an Ancient Rome geek.

Book type you have the least of:

• Harlequin dime-backs. I have zippo.

Least addictive book or series:

• I don’t know. 

Most addictive book or series:

• Right now, I’m thinking of Pauline Gedge’s books set in Ancient Egypt. F-ing spectacular, like you’re there.

Thinnest book:

• Beowulf and Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.

Thickest book:

• The Complete Works of Shakespeare.

Most oddly-shaped book:

• Uh, no idea. I haven’t seen some of my books in 3 or 4 years because we’re waiting to unload all in a massive library in some house we’ll buy in the future. I’ll get back to that one.

Incomplete book sets?;

• Lots of incomplete comic book anthologies, like Sandman, Fables, etc.

Special editions?:

• I have lots of old old books I’ve bought at antique shops. Perhaps...

Least all-time favourite:

• ??

All-time favourite:

• The Mosquito Coast by Paul Theroux, Heart of Darkness by Josef Conrad, The Tiger by John Vaillant, The Immense Journey by Loren Eisley, Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood, Rilke poetry, In the Shadow of Man by Jane Goodall, Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte.

Most re-read:

• Heart of Darkness.

Largest (dimension) book?:

• The Shakespeare one.

Smallest book?:

• A tiny William Morris book.

Most attractive book cover:

• An old print of One Hundred Years of Solitude.

Most common genre in book collection:

• basically what I answered to “the most frequent book type” question

Most memorable book:

• The Road by Cormac McCarthy, Half the Sky by Kristof and WuDunn, The Good Life by the Nearing couple, Zorba the Greek by Kazantzakis

Me diving!!

IF- Intention

It was my birthday yesterday, and our intention was to go see "The Artist," but we were so full of Zahav-Israeli-food-goodness, that we didn't make it. BUT, I received probably the best gift of all-time from my husband: I'm going TO FLY A PLANE.

Sage

Lavender