hollow

Ever since she started dating Thomas, she has been feeling hollow inside.

shaky

Nothing clever this week by the Ants. This is a sketch for a new painting I just finished for "The Dancing Otter." My sketches are always very "shaky" until I work out the problems. This sketch obviously needs work because the female otter is HUGE compared to the male otter.

Our town has a Back to the 50's Celebration each year, so I am working on some themed artwork for the Otter Gallery.

(Gouache and Pastel).

worn

Although the worn path was in plain sight, she chose to take the path less travelled.

drifting

"You're an Ant for goodness sakes! You can't keep drifting around all your life!"

unfold

Although bittersweet, the Queen realized when it came time for her daughter's wings to unfold, it would be time to say good-bye.

craving

Once she found out the truth behind Red dye #3 , she lost her craving for most confections.

In additional news here is proof that Ants have taken over the world: Today is National Donut Day.

cracked

"She was dropped on her head as a larva."

contagious

"Your enthusiasm is contagious." "Yes, and so is your sarcasm."

parade

After much contemplation, she was happy to be a worker without all of the pressures of being a Queen.

hierarchy

Annie suddenly realized she reached the pinnacle of Mantslows Hierarchy of needs.

theatre

For now-unknown reasons, the Mantagues and the Capulants, two prosperous colonies, have carried on a bitter feud for years.

The greatest love story the world has ever known.
Hope & Despair. Tragedy & Love. Romeo & Juliant.
From Age to Age One Classic Story is as Timeless as Love Itself.

impossibility

Using the yellow pages she found the perfect babysitters for her ant grubs, Armadillo Day Care, We take care of the entire brood.

The impossibility of the situation completely eluded her.

In Texas many hope that armadillos will help slow the invasive fire-ant infestation.

fleeting

For a fleeting moment she thought she saw....

oh never mind.

Happy Easter.

Poise

He was poised for action.

subtract

Hey! What a great opportunity for a new contest! Who ever figures out this subtraction problem first will win a really cool prize!

There are four separate ant colonies in my backyard. The average population of all four colonies is 210,000 ants. If the population in the North Corner is 155,000, the East Corner is 180,000 and the West Corner is 365,000, what is the population in the South Corner?

Good Luck!!!!!

intricate

Ted's hive engineering plans were intricate and well designed, however they were often behind schedule and over budget.

breezy

There is nothing he would rather do but dance on a breezy day like this.

(I just found a "First Friday Art Night" venue to show this new series of dry pigment and gouche paintings I did. 'insert happy dance here.')

instinct

She attributed her keen sense of style to her antlike instincts.

celebrate

I wrote this for my Great-Niece, Ravenna, who will be 3 years old in a couple of weeks. She is flying in from Alaska to celebrate her birthday. I am also making a Lion doll with a pocket for a chicken doll. I will be sending this story to the printer today.

Chicken and LionChicken likes to sing.

Do you like to sing?

Lion likes to dance.

Do you like to dance?

Sometimes Chicken sings for Lion.

Sometimes Lion dances for Chicken.

Can you sing for Chicken and Lion?
Can you dance for Lion and Chicken?

Sometimes Chicken and Lion will put on a show for their friends.

Can you name their friends?

Are you and Chicken and Lion's friend?

The End.

Sketch and story evolution.

time

What time is it?
Half past a Monkey's A** and quarter to his ba***.

The Ants and I are off today to work on a new "Junk Art" project. See what happens when you leave things up to the Monkeys?

flawed?

Annie felt like she was part of something bigger than herself, but she still couldn't stop thinking of herself as an individual.

(Ant Spirituality, Ant Philosophy, Superorganism)

climbing

pale

"You look pale. You went in there, didn't you?"

contained

MariAntchi knew his time on earth was short.

Many of his songs contained themes of machismo, love and loss.

resolve

Ant resolutions:

Keep a clean habitat, eat more sweets, and refuse to be pushed around.

voices

Raise your Voices for all to hear,

Even if your singing

leaves ringing

in your neighbors ear.

Shout it loud and shout it clear,

Sing with all of your heart

right into the New Year!

Happy Holidays Y'all!!!

Rambunctious

"Are you going to that FrANTernity party? I'll bet it will be rambunctious, especially with all of the underage Skittles consumption."

Balloon

Although satisfied, she did feel a bit like an over-inflated balloon.

Perhaps next year she would try out for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

opinion

"I'll admit my opinion about her changed drastically after her metamorphosis."

pretend

"Can you at least Pretend you like me?"

wise

" He's not the wisest ant on the farm."

vacant

What happend to all of the bees?

repair

"Sorry Son. This time it's beyond repair."

late

Thankfully the colony left a trail for Annie to follow.

strings

There are always strings attached.

sugary

"Eating all of this sugary nectar goes right to my abdomen."

Honeypot Ants (Myrmecocystus) are soil-nesting ants endemic to the arid regions of western North America. Some members of each colony become living storage containers and hang from the ceilings of nest chambers deep underground, their abdomens greatly swollen with food.

packed

clique

The "Ant" Breakfast Club.

island

You mean to tell me there is only one bathroom on this entire island?

clutter

memories

routine

I have given so many shots recently, you'd think by now it would be routine.

detach

Try as she might, Annie couldn't completely detach herself from her colony.

sail

ANThony couldn't wait to share his new mode of transportation with the rest of the colony.

Lycosa Hogna (Wolf Spider) was only one of the many spiders that we stalked on our last naturalist outing. Many spiderlings disperse by ballooning.

poof!

The last 7+ years have reinforced why ants prefer Queens.

canned

To the Colony's horror, a new health food craze was about to hit the Super-Market shelves.

enough

"He wants us to conquer the world? We don't have enough ants here to take over the backyard!"

foggy

Ant Horror Stories.

Dedicated to Arlene in Fairbanks.

"We were all sitting around, minding our own business, when Uncle Ernie suddenly noticed the foggy air. The mist enveloped him while the rest of us ran for our lives. We never saw or heard from Uncle Ernie again."

sour

Allison didn't care that the rest of the colony couldn't accept her love for lemons.

fierce

Ants have been retelling BeatrAnts Potter's story for many generations. It is better to be nice than to be fierce.

Here is a link to Beatrix Potter's original: The story of a Fierce Bad Rabbit
One of my favorites.

hoard

"Look Mate! It's Capt'n Jack-Jumper's Exoskeleton and his hidden hoard of gold!"

The jack jumper is the smallest of the bulldog ants, ranging from only about 10 to 12 millimeters long, but they are the most aggressive and vicious. These ants are black, with yellow or orange legs, antennae, and mandibles. Their characteristic jumping motion gave them their name. Their nests may be inconspicuously hidden under a rock, or may be formed from a 20 to 60 centimeter in diameter mound of finely granular gravel

The jack jumper ant, hopper ant or jumper ant (Myrmecia pilosula) is a species of bulldog ant that is native to Australia. The ants are recorded throughout the country, but are most often found in Tasmania, rural Victoria, New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory and the southeast area of South Australia.

punchline

Forgotten?

baby

Cutest baby pageant.

Dragonfly Nymph, Butterfly Catapillar, and Ant Grub.

Who do you think will win?

worry

Global Warming? What's to worry about?

W i d e

Electricity

I wonder what's in this hole.

Seed

Meanwhile... back on Anteries 5, Earl's wife was busy planting more bunny-flower seeds.

(Antventures of Tzarthor and Earl)

Wrinkles

We would like to present you with the flag of our colony, sorry about all of the wrinkles.

(Antventures of Tzarthor and Earl)

Primitive

It has been 168 Million Years since our last colony landed on earth. Don't be disappointed if they seem a bit primitive.

(Antventures of Tzarthor and Earl)

Fail

Ant Motivation Speaker on the Failure to Cooperate.

Save

Ants and water do not mix.

Homage

Painting completed in the 16th century by the court painter HyacinthANT Rigaud. This royal portrait of LouAnt the 14th shows Homage to the fine silks and textiles of the various hives of FrAnTs during his rule.

Here is the true painting of Louis ivx of France (not FrAnts) by Hyacinth Rigaud.

Heavy

Happy pi day.

Garden

Next year we're getting a fence.

Leap

Poor Guy. He has Leaprocy. Everytime he leaps he loses a limb.

Multiple

Multiple births run in my family.

Theory

It is the "theory" of creation vs. the "theory" of evolution (big bang). Courtesy of the great artist MichelANTgelo.

Choose

Blanket

We are predicting a Blanket of snow for most of the Pacific Northwest. Check road conditions before doing any traveling, and most of all drive safely.

Tales and Legends

The Ants & The Grasshopper

One bright day in late autumn a family of Ants were bustling about in the warm sunshine, drying out the grain they had stored up during the summer, when a starving Grasshopper, his fiddle under his arm, came up and humbly begged for a bite to eat. "What!" cried the Ants in surprise, "haven't you stored anything away for the winter? What in the world were you doing all last summer?" "I didn't have time to store up any food," whined the Grasshopper; "I was so busy making music that before I knew it the summer was gone." The Ants shrugged their shoulders in disgust. "Making music, were you?" they cried. "Very well; now dance!" And they turned their backs on the Grasshopper and went on with their work.

There is a time for work and a time for play.

Plain

"No Thanks. I prefer my ice-cream plain."

Drum Roll Please....

It's Award Time!

The Thumbs-Up Award goes to Bird Anon: Awarded for Fantastic achievement in bird photography and local bird gossip!

The Cake Award goes to Studio Lolo: It is a multi-layered cake, sweet and rich, just like Lolo!

The Certificate presented here is written in binary code is awarded to Bot-A-Day : My favorite blog in the whole wide world. MjM has faithfully inspired his robots to look beyond the "Three Laws". From robot sketches to evil genius this award is for you!

The Trophy Award goes to MerlinPrincesse : She has a soft heart for kittens and blue plush rabbits and always brings a smile to my face. Besides, Prancer, Peter and Dahlia wouldn't have it any other way!

Stitch

Snow

I guess I should have trusted the weather man when he predicted a big snow.

California girl in her first "real" Southern Oregon snow.

100%

ANTony and ANTonio proved to their colony once and for all that the Monolith was 100% deadly.

Soar

In the Amazon there are ants that Soar and Glide, when knocked out of their nesting canopy tree they point their abdomens towards the tree trunk and in a J-like curve they are able to glide back to the tree from which they fell. Some appear to enjoy the process more than others. For more information please click on this link: http://www.livescience.com/animals/050209_gliding_ants.html

Moon Bunnies

On a windy day a yellow rabbit reads a book.

The book is about the magical Moon Bunnies.

Moon Bunnies love to frolic and dance and soon work up an appetite.

They love to eat flowers and their favorites are thistles, fennel and basil flowers.

Horizon

The holidays are here

and have moved into high gear

with presents and sweets

enough to make your heart beat,

but not to fast

alas, it's not to last

because on the horizon

is the New Year.

Hope your holiday's are full of love and good cheer!

Backwards

This is the most edited post ever! I just returned from traveling and the word for the week is backwards, and I am going to take Studio Lolo's suggestion and use this new painting for the word, it does fit perfect!... thank you IF for making it easy for me this week! Also, I have been awarded a true-blue blogger award by my friend Studio Lolo, wow! Thanks!

Also, I have been tagged by Shakey Mouse to reveal 5 random things about me:

1. Dreams:

I Dream in color and I use magnetic resistance in order to fly.

2. Reading:

Science Fiction is my favorite genre, and I have never read Lord of the Rings.

3. Music:

CSNY is my favorite band...followed by Young, then CN, then SY. Once in my mid-20's PBS showed one of their acoustic concerts and while watching it, I cried.

4. Entertainment:

I am terrible at video games, but, I am really good at Mario Bros. on Atari. I used to play this while in Jr. High listening to Pet Shop Boys "Actually".

5. Family:

My husband and I were married in Vegas. While at dinner at my parents house my brother and his fiance were talking about all of the wedding rituals that they were so excited about, like the first dance, the garter thing, the throwing of the bouquet. During this exhausting conversation I mouthed the words, "VEGAS" to Ted. So three months before my brother's beautiful wedding, Ted and I and my parents all flew to Vegas. Also, we did get married at the little white chapel for $60, my dress cost $100 from Macy's, but no, Elvis did not marry us. The next week we had a nice catered reception in our back yard for our friends and familty to enjoy. Then Ted and took our honeymoon along the Columbia River and the Oregon Coast for a week. We are so smart.

"Little Things"

Don't neglect the "little things"....

or you might get grounded.

Excess

"You know, you would probably be happier if you got rid of that excess baggage."

The Zoo

Superstition

Yes, even the ants have a role to play in Ancient superstitions. Roman soldiers often observed ants, if they were fighting it meant the enemy was near.

...and, congratulations to Tracy at http://www.yellowkittynotebook.blogspot.com/ , she won the "bunny-flower" contest!

Scale

CONTEST:

The Ants are getting ready for winter and they need a safe place to store their food. The carpenter ant decided to base his design on a building that was 20 feet by 40 feet.

This is too big, so if the scale is 1 inch to 10 feet, what will the dimensions be for the ant sized storage unit?

One Winner will be randomly selected from all of the correct answers.

THE PRIZE:

Your very own "Bunny Flower" Ornament made by yours truely.

Good Luck!!!!

Hats

Dahlia and Peter playing their favorite game "feather". Don't they look cute in their hats?

Trick or Treat

The trick-or-treat ants have been very busy since last year. They have marched onto greeting cards, ceramics and most recently street painting! They decided they needed a break and have handed over their traditional halloween greetings to the bats...

Grow

Extreme

"I heard he can lift 50 times his own body weight! He's so extreme! "
"Yeah, extremely Gross!"

Street Painting- Grants Pass, Oregon

Yeah, so the grid thing, I pretty much ignored it. Oh well.

Gettin' some color

There were hundreds of people at the event and about 50 artists!

Now we are starting to Pop!

Finish! Nope not quite yet. Looks like a couple of ants are missing their antena.

Ohhh, my aching back.

Ta Da!

Thank you for indulging me on a non-illustration Friday post. See the previous post below for this weeks word OPEN.

Open

So, this lovely home is 14,000 square inches... Has 1027 bedrooms, 315 bathrooms, a spacious kitchen, and 1 mother-in-law unit.

The Blues

My Queen done left me
For another guy
and a hive filled with honey
Man, she left my dry

The Honey Hive Blues

Juggle

Gift

I finally tried out the moleskin booklet that was gifted to me from the talented and awesome Studio Lolo. It is an unintimidating format for free flowing drawings. I drew this today while talking to my lil' brother.

Wedding

We should really move to a smaller hive, I am not sure I can take going to another wedding...

Momentum

Just a quickie... he he he ... get it?

Movin' Along

Ted, Me and the Kids (Cats) are moving from Sunny California to the Green State of Oregon. We both Retired (Quit our Jobs in the Semi-Con industry) and decided to go back to school... So good-bye Bay Area and hello Rogue Valley!

Visitors

Turn off the game, you know we are expecting visitors! My parAnts will be here any minute!

Emergency

Missing

Too Cliche'?

poem

Camouflage

Jumping Spider is a very large family that contains the most colorful species of spiders. The Myrmarachne genus mimic ants. They mimic in body shape, color patters, and behaviors as well. Can you pick out the mimic?

Rejection

She couldn't understand why he ran away from her graceful advances.

Suit

Paper Doll Ant with a business suit, suit of armor, astronaut suit, and swim suit.

Click for larger picture to print out and cut out. Have Fun!!!

Signs

ANTS RULE

American Sign Language

Citrus

Smile!

Neighbor

"The only trouble with so many neighbors is figuring out which mailbox is mine."

Fortune

He knew how he would spend his new found fortune.
A Coke, A Sandwich and A Bag of Chips.

Green

Total

A Queen must have absolute and total authority over her subjects.

wired

Communication

Communication, that's what Ants do best.

This is a painting that I finished a couple of months ago. It was recently hanging in a local coffee shop/bakery along with several other ant paintings. Perfect restaurant art if you ask me. Maybe Rat art would be just as good or better.

22" x 28"

ANTi-Gravity

Crash

Yes, even ants have been known to rubber neck

Sprout

It wasn't long after I sprouted an extra antenna that I realized why the real-estate was so cheap.

Red

Super Hero

"So, Yeah. You're a Spider. Yeah, I get it."

80's

With the playoffs on, I can't help but remember the days when the 49'rs were on top...

Buzz

Phoenix

Peace

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men
(and women!) (and ants!) (and cats & dogs & birds!) (and robots!)

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of my blogger friends.
I hope this season finds you with those you love, peace in your hearts,
and energy to spare!

Help!

The original post "The Formiccidae" was too broad and.. well, I mean "The Beatles" is pretty general, so I decided to re-post as "The Ants". I listened to the Album about 3x while working on this. Please click on the picture to view larger.

New Ant Painting

This is my new big ant painting. It is biig. I just finishd it this weekend. I don't know how big because I am too lazy to measure it. The Ants go marching.........

Mask

"Golly Grandma, how did you collect all of those masks?"
"Those aren't masks dear, I lured them in from My Space."

Might

This Army Ant Might get away from the Mighty Mites, or he Might not. Army ant mites are the most specialized mites found on any social insect. You can say they are imbedded, and I do believe if viewed under a microscope the red capes are visible.

Invention

Thanksgiving

Those are some satisfied ants. Happy Thanksgiving All!

Clear

It was clear that someone had been here before him.

Smoke

Happy Halloween!!!!

Newest painting, Acrylic on Canvas.. Just in time for Halloween!
Also can be seen on http://penelopeillustration.com/projects/halloween2006/gallery.html check out the other awesome Orange and Black Artwork on this Orangiest of days!

wind

Ghost

The Platter is 1 of 5 that just came out of the kiln, they range in size from 8 x6 inches to about 14" round-ish.

The drawing is Pen/Pencil, then digital background.

Introducing the Trick or Treat Ants: Kittant, Vantpire, Ghost-Ant, Skeletant, Frankenant, Pumpkant, Witch Ant, Bant, and Fairy Princess Ant. I wonder what other halloween ants could be lurking around the corner? I suspect this is their favorite day of the year, with all of those sweets!

Smitten

Trouble

Trouble always came wearing a white t-shirt and blue-jeans.

Mushrooms courtesy of Stout Grove, along the Smith river in Northern California. We just came in from a long weekend in Oregon.

Ps. He's drinkin' Daffodil Ale

quiet

Tucked in our beds, fast asleep
the Ants of our town begin to creep.
They steal into our pantry with out a peep
and make off quietly with their bounty cheap.

Phobia!

"Snakes. I hate Snakes."
-Indianta Jones


Personally, I like snakes. A lot.

Change

"Wait here while I go change into something a little more comfortable..."

Farm

Even the Ants have scarecrows on the Ant Farm.

What do you think they are trying to scare off?

Sushi Platter, about 4 x 7.

Safe

Thank you to all of those Safety Crossing Guards that help the little ones across the street!

Run

This was a commisioned piece for a friend's daughter that had just completed the Nike Marathon in SFO last year. She had a medical issue that was supposed to limit her from participating in marathons. She overcame, and was numbered in the runners that received a Silver Tiffany necklace. She lives in the Portland area and "Portland" was her nickname during the race. The painting had to include Nike, Red T-shirt with Portland on it, blue Tiffany box and the silver necklace. Acrylic on Canvas, 24 x 12 inches.

Thanks for stopping by!

Match

Play!

Don't be confused, Princess Pepper Cloud and the Ants are taking a week off due to being so tired from the weekend "Art in the Park" (See Quasi Pepper blog for pictures). The spiders are stepping in this week to illustrate play. Aren't they cute on their spider swing?

Tapas/Sushi Plater, cone 5 ceramic

CAPTURED

Clean

Opposite

Alive Dead

Nice Mean



Happy Sad

Let's give a big hand to my Ant Actors! Good job guys!

Sacrifice

Sacrifice of Oranges to Buddah-Ant

Ant in Skyline

Better viewed bigger- enjoy

Sticky

Oh no! That xtreme sticky web works too good!

Rain

You can't rain on my parade!

Drawn using my new Wacom tablet that my husband gave me for our 5th anniversary... how nice!

Dance

Dedicated to my friend Francis who is a ballet teacher.

Jungle 2

Inspired by all of your witty comments
To accompany Tarzant, I present Jant, Cheetant, and Cimpantzee

Jungle

Pen, Colored Pencil and Digital background.


Thanks all for the encouraging comments over the past two weeks. We just wrapped up our very busy vacation with a visit to Yosemite. Such Splendor! I will be visiting each and every one of your blogs.
Listening to Neil Young's Prarie Wind and War... they were waiting for me in the mail, how nice

Portrait

Pen on Grey Construction paper, digitally colored

Cake

Pen, Colored Pencil, Digitally colored background

Sorry, no Ants

Sorry, no Ants this week.
This was a hectic week with work (40 hrs), Finals, and getting ready for Open Studios. Then, the gardners at work found these two little ones in the bushes. My very own bottle babies. We are on a very rigid 3 hour schedule for feeding, peeing and pooping. Oh the Poop. So much Poop. Luckily their cuteness factor is still outweighing the pooping factor. I get the middle of the night post, since I was the one who brought them home. Baby Jaws is silver and Lil' Sis is golden. Wish us luck!

Devils

Fat

Fat and Happy

Under the Sea

Sea-Ants, Sea-Monkeys, and Brine Shrimp

Robot

Spotted!

Spotted Stalker Ant,
Spotted some females
getting Spotless

Speed

Kawasaki Ant

Yipee for Spring!

Monster

She's a real Monster that time of month.

Feet: I can't see my feet!!!

Keep that Jelly coming!

Tattoo Ant

Insect #2, Pirate Queen Ant

Now for something completely different.
I typically use colored pencils, I tried photoshop this time.

Insects: Barn Yard Ants

Pig Ant, Chicken Ant, Long Horn Ant

Oh, too easy of a subject. Don't worry, I will not post my whole portfolio. I am working on Pirate-bugs right now. The pirate queen is a very sexy Ant.

Tea

tea


BYOT (bring your own tea)... leaf cutter ants on their way to a tea party

Song

Simple 2

Simple

Cats 2

Cayuga Court Cats:

Tiger: Brown Tabby personality equivelent to a 82 year old. Mostly sits around and complains

Clancy AKA "Dirt Cat" : Orange Tabby, bad hygeine, sprays everything

Ebony: Tiger's "little" sister. Delta Burke of the Court

Prancer: New Cat on the court, still trying to prove himself.
Tiger and Prancer on their spring-time massacre. Bad Cats!

We couldn't figure out how Clancy the Dirt Cat and Tiger were able to catch the baby squirrels. Just then a baby squirrel fell out of the top of the palm tree right in front of the cats. (The squirrel was saved by my husband, he was guided back up the tree.)

Dirt Cat and Baby Squirrel






Oh no, I can hear Ebony coming.










Prancer after a long snuggling session

Cats 1

I never knew the power of cats until one came into my life.
Then you realize, that it will never be just one... I have one house cat, Prancer... who is the star of the neighbor hood and goes for his evening walk on a leash, he is depicted on the beer label from our late summer brew... I also claim loyalty to 4 ferral cats that I helped fix and release in the field next to my work. Milk Kitten, Darth, Pixie and Cleo.

Cat

e