Herbal Pet Cures

Here's a piece for Organic Gardening, about herbal pet cures. The article highlights various remedies for treating your pet's ailments - all made with herbs from your garden. My dog Lily could certainly benefit from treatments in this story. I'll post a link soon. Below are ideas I submitted...

Healthy Pets prance through herb garden...

Healthy pets surrounded by healing herbs...

Cozy pets surrounded by potted herbs...

Thanks to art director, Susan Eugster for a really fun assignment.
Those of you who are gardeners or foodies may also enjoy this post about garlic.

10% Challenge

These lawn signs can be seen throughout my town. Homeowners displaying them are participating in a local program designed to reduce their energy-use by 10 % over the next year. Partners in this project include the town of Red Hook, Bard College, and Central Hudson Power. Homeowners like myself learn great tips about saving energy - and money. A few years back, I contributed illustrations for this worthy endeavor. Here's a little retrospective...

Carpools are cool...

Trees can keep your home warmer in the winter, and cooler in the summer.

biking is great exercise, and it saves money...

Laundry lines help you save on your bottom-line...

Walking is cool...

You can learn more about Red Hook 10 % Challenge here.

Government Shutdown

This drawing accompanies an About Town article about one group of people who felt the weight of the government shutdown - single mothers. The author highlights the plight of one mother of four - who's ex-husband could not pay child support because he was a furloughed government worker. This piece was greatly influenced by one of my favorite illustrators, David Suter - who's a master of transformational images.

A few ideas I submitted...

Thanks to Paul De Angelis for another compelling assignment. 

You can see another example of transformational art here.

War on Christmas?

Yesterday I took in many moving tributes to our brave veterans, who've sacrificed so much to protect America. On the same day, I heard an interview with Sarah Palin - who was promoting her book about a different kind of battle,  the War on Christmas.  She believes this holiday is under assault by "angry atheists". All this stimulus inspired the absurd drawing above - based on the famous photo of our soldiers raising the flag on Iwo Jima...

Night Train to Rhinecliff...

A cold wind whips off the mighty Hudson. Fingers freeze, waiting for the night train to emerge out of darkness...

You can see more sketchbook excerpts here. 

Update: You can see new drawing inspired by this train station here.

Collaborative Cultivation

These drawings for American Educator accompany a study advocating a more collaborative approach to education by local school districts, administrators, unions and teachers. In recent years, our federal and state governments have had great influence on public education. They stress the use of standardized testing to improve the quality of education. Many educators believe this top-down approach is ineffective; the focus is more on test scores than on students' well-being. This study showcases specific examples of local parties who came together and collaborated effectively - improving the quality of their schools.  These partnerships ultimately benefit students the most.

Apple picking teamwork...

Garden negotiating table...?

Putting students front and center...

Building bridges...

Entire community collaborates on school garden...

Thanks for viewing. 

You can view my new illustration website here!

Dia de los Muertos

Happy Day of the Dead to all my Mexican friends!

You can view my entire collection of map drawings here.