what does the fox say?

My response to the lyrics of that Norwegian music video that went viral not long ago.

illustration friday (fragile)

What power and resiliency our planet has! And how teeming with life. And yet, that life can be so fragile. When the honey bees recover (as I believe they will), I will watch them with even greater fascination and affection. I share a name with them, you see. Deborah comes from the Hebrew word for bee, and in spite of my nervousness around insects in general, I've felt a kinship with bees since childhood.

sniffing dog and cloud-gazing cat

These images will be going into my new Etegami Cats and Etegami Doggies desk calendars for 2015.

sunbeams

Inspired by the Showa era goldfish vending stalls. These were most often set up along the approaches to local shrines and temples with dozens of other specialty stalls that enlivened summer festivals in Japan (and still do). Back then, the glass globes (miniature goldfish bowls) hung from bamboo slats under the eaves of the stall-- a prop to make customers feel cooler in the sultry evenings of high summer, I think.

Other goldfish are sold from tanks set on the ground, and children pay for a chance to scoop them up with plastic-framed paper scoops that usually get soggy and tear before they can catch any fish. So they pay for another scoop. And another. As long as the coins that are clutched in their sweaty little palms last.

more etegami uchiwa (handheld flat fans)

the bird, the bell, and me (misuzu kaneko series #5)

The Bird, The Bell, And Me
by Misuzu Kaneko
translated and illustrated by dosankodebbie

Though I hold out my arms as wide as I can,
I can never soar the skies;
A little bird can do just that,
yet not run as fast as I can.

Though I jiggle my body from head to toe,
I can't make pretty sounds;
A tinkling bell can do just that,
yet not know as many songs as I do.

The bell, the bird, and then there's me;
each of us different, and each of us good.

more etegami uchiwa (bamboo flat fans)

I'm almost ready for summer! (ps: I fixed the misspelling on the clover fan after I took this photo. embarrassed.)