Things got INTERESTING.

Just past the kitchen entrance, our refrigerator seemed to be waiting for this precise moment, for no longer was it against the wall, neatly aligned with the kitchen counters. We saw our refrigerator a good six feet out of place, exchanging glances with my television and car clock in some sort of silent universal appliance language. Motionless, we stood at the end of the hall because sis was frightened of our refrigerator.

After a moment or two, the brigade of badly behaved electronics wheeled and bounced, rolled and trounced right through our kitchen to the basement door. Our refrigerator quickly shoved the door ajar, and in one fell swoop the clock and the television hopped onto the fridge as it proceeded to slide down the stairs. CRAAAASH!

I was certain that somebody upstairs must have heard the ruckus, but the house remained still beyond the thumping of our spirited appliances. Once again, sis was too scared to follow right away, so we waited, calculating just the right time to sneak down the stairs unnoticed. Halfway down the stairs we sat and watched. I would have thought that things couldn't have gotten any stranger than the idea of our refrigerator teaming up with my clock and television to hurry down to our basement, but I would have most definitely have been wrong....

Down the Stairs...

Still believing I was suspended in some strange dream, I pinched myself as sis and I carefully slunk down the stairs. When we reached the bottom, there was little doubt, for at the end of the hall, we could see my car clock and my television still scurrying about, heading towards the kitchen. We paused. In all my five and a half years, nothing I had ever seen prepared me for what happened next...

Here's the update. I hope you enjoy the picture. Thanks for stopping by.

Intermission

For the time being, I am taking a break from the iphone game and pursuing an iPad/iPhone e-book. The work title is, My clock, My Toaster, and the Tango, and I have already finished the story board, however rough the sketches may be. I thought that I would share the first few pages right now...so enjoy.

A Break...Please!!

I sat at his hospital bed watching him motionless, the rhythmic blip of six different machines hooked up to his head, his chest, his finges, and beyond playing a me song unlike any other. As the minutes passed into half-hours, and half-hours into hours, hours into days, I sat and watched. I watched as he was wheeled to the testing room and then back up to his quarters in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), and then back to the testing room, and then back to the PICU. I watched as he was taken into the surgery prep room, and then back to the PICU. Through all the pain of a brain surgery I watched him suffer with headaches, backaches, dizziness, depression--hoping somehow that God would give me back my little brother. Hoping somehow that I could do more than just "watch". But even as the days jumbled into one horrific lump of pain and anguish, watching was all I had to offer.

I watched, I watched, I WATCHED!!

His pain persisted.

I WATCHED!

A month later and he was back in the same place he started? Back into a state of limbo? My little brother? Three months ago, I would never have believed it.

I sat in a different room of the PICU. This one was colder than the last, and again the machines blipped their song. Blip...Blip...Blip. I began to understand words like "shunt", and "hydrocephalus", and "ventricle", and "papilloma", for they were the only words my brain could think to remember. Blip...Blip...Blip...

A week later I got my little brother back.

I thank God for seeing my family and I through these tough times, and can only pray for all those experiencing something similar. When your world feels like it is falling down around you, that you hold fast to hope and faith and love. Cling to those that love you, and do all you can do to support them, even if all you can do is watch.

Conference Drawings

While enjoying the speakers at the SCBWI Conference, I felt compelled to doodle. Here's what I got...

Fingers Crossed

Today is the day.... Today is the day.... Today is the day, I exhibit my work in the SCBWI showcase at the Grand Central Hyatt. True, it is just one among hundreds of images being showcased, and true, 2009's portfolio displayed earned a whole lot of nothing, but for whatever reason, I feel hopeful about this year. It's hard, being lumped in with seemingly every illustrator on the eastern seaboard all at once, to not feel like just one of the crowd, but an opportunity is an opportunity, and so from 5-9pm this piece is being judged by a whole lot of people in the children's publishing industry....my fingers are crossed.

Respect the Process

Story Time.

"...and that was how I bested Ole Hare Boskins," Grandpa Figgins looked off into the distance as if the room extended for miles, holding high his most prized possession.

"Are you joking?" Miles asked. "The Mr. Boskins? He was the fastest Hare on the planet!"

"No, no I'm not. He had never learned..." Grandpa's voice trailed off, gazing into his golden prize.

"What? What Grandpa?"

"The race is not always given to the swift. Here, child, you take this now. Past glories serve only as painful memories." Miles gently grasped the medal as if receiving a newborn. "Now, you should head home, your mother will be worried sick."

Miles strolled out the door, down the walkway, and through Farmer York's gate. A blue ribbon hung 'round his shell, at its crest was his Grandpa's prized medal. He stopped just inside the gate caught in its glow, lost in its shine, so much so that Miles failed to see the danger just up the path.

Okay, so I know it's kind of weird to be "writing" the story out, but I thought that it would help you further understand our plan, and what this video game we are working on is truly about. I trust that it kept your interest long enough to finish at least this post. Oh, and here's another concept art piece thing.