Happy birthday, Becky "Badger"

#jenrareyart

Bugging out

   Went outside just now, and there is a ridiculous number of insects enjoying my porch light. And a ginormous spider setting up a trap for them across my porch. In this photo, it appears that the giant spider is going down my neighbor's chimney. Thanks for the nightmares, Mr. Spider!
   In slightly less horrifying news, a leaf with legs--or perhaps a leafy-looking grasshopper--is hanging out above my mailbox. Actually, Maria just said it's a katydid.

Random Hallmark Moments: Experiment

   My friends Dan and Kelly were telling me about an experiment held in the humor department, in which each artist was asked to create some works that no one would suspect were theirs. This is tough, because most humor artists have such a recognizable style. But they said it was a success, and it sounded like fun to me, so here's my entry: The Taming of the Wolf, inspired by (and created with) the neon orange nail polish that Madeline loaned to me. Whatcha think?

The Possum's Paw

   This morning I went downstairs to let the dogs out, and noticed something sitting on the rug—just a couple of feet from the door. I stepped closer, then immediately recoiled from the pungent odor. Someone left a desiccated foot on my deck! At first I wasn't sure whose foot it was, but upon looking closer at the appearance of the toes and claws, decided it must be from a possum. (This was later confirmed when I found a patch of black, dried skin with telltale-colored hair on it. Taylor had found it first, and rolled on it. Are you shivering from sheer grossness? Good. Me too.)

   The paw reminded me of that short story "The Monkey's Paw" by W.W. Jacobs—so I made sure not to make any wishes on it. It's funny how a surprise event can trigger a distant memory. (There are plenty of useful things I can't seem to remember... but old short stories I read in middle school? No problem.)

"It's just an ordinary little paw, dried to a mummy."

   The moral to the story is "Be careful what you wish for, you may receive it"; in other words, our lives are ruled by fate, and there is a penalty to be paid for trying to overcome it. I'll definitely be careful about what I wish for after this not-so-subtle reminder!

Angry Squirrel is Angry!

   Somehow at lunchtime yesterday, we got on the topic of critters, and Ali M mentioned that her boyfriend shoots squirrels... Which, as you might correctly imagine from the delicate ladies of Hallmark, was met with shock and horror (including from Ali herself, a self-proclaimed squirrel fan). It seemed only fitting to present Ali with a pissed-off squirrel drawing. Maybe this will make Evan think twice...

More Team Birthdays...

I've enjoyed making these mini standee characters for my coworkers:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BESS!

This is her dog, Penny. I couldn't decide so I gave her two.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, OLIVIA!

She's a pet lover, and has 2 gorgeous black kitties.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CARLY!

Carly has kitties too... which happen to be fun to draw...

I still draw occasionally

   Too occasionally. Hoping to amp up the art in 2012. Be more creative & inspired, have more fun, experiment, draw up a storm! A good resolution for the new year, no?

Starting today. I quickly sketched up this welcome note for a brand-new team member. (I was so excited about her coming in today that I could hardly sleep last night!)

LOLwls

Some funnies courtesy of icanhascheezburger...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who you callin' turkey?

   The turkey vulture was especially proud and showy, changing poses frequently. Much more charming than you might expect a vulture to be!

Her beak curves up like a huge, menacing smile

"Hey, kid—you want some candy?"

A Great, Great Blue Heron

   After stalking the snowy owl by the boat ramp for a while, Joni instructed me how to effectively approach a great blue heron at the end of the dock. These guys are quite shy if approached too quickly. We were able to get some decent shots before he swiftly flew across the water:

At Last, the Owl!

   Okay, it wasn't the super-mega-closeup I was hoping for, but the female over at the boat launch in Little Platte Park was much closer than the other owls were... I wished I'd had a camera with more than 20x zoom, but was surprised that my photos turned out better than I expected: she's more than a little white blob! HOORAY!!!

The marina and boat ramp

Joni spots the owl

YAWWWW~N!

Suddenly she becomes more alert, puffs up, then starts preening:

bars on the owl, bars on the water