Out to the Edge and Back, 5 Days a Week...

Happy summer to you! I have no new artwork to share because I haven't had the time to work on new stuff lately because I've started a new job that takes me out to the watery edge of this city and back every workday. It takes me a long time to get out there, a three segmented journey but one of peaceful travel across the many colorful neighborhoods of New York City. Best of all, I ain't driving. So I just sit back and chill, read or meditate, as the faces change around me and sometimes there are folks who are riding the same route almost all the whole way with me for nearly the same distance. Where are those people going? What brings them there? My theory is that where there is public transportation between point to point, there will be travelers. And now that it's beach season, my rides are accompanied with excited youngsters wrapped in beach towels and finely dusted with sand and salt water.

My work is focused on the environs, flora and fauna of Jamaica Bay. Jamaica Bay is the watery oasis that stretches beyond the hustle and bustle of New York City. On my way there, I exit Queens, traverse down Manhattan and cross through Brooklyn. On my way back, I loop through the Rockaways and hook up through Queens back to Astoria. It's a far journey, but out there is where I want to work, by the sea and out of the city, while still being in the city per se. My perspective on the city is changed from being on the water, plying across the bay, stopping at various uninhabited salt marsh islands to study various critters. Pretty cool job, really.

What I have to share with you is my latest illustration piece on Pierre the penguin, published in the current issue of Wildlife Conservation magazine, the publication of Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). I don't know if it's on stands now because I think it's a membership publication, meaning that you must be a member of WCS to receive it. But here is the illustration nonetheless. Some exciting upcoming projects include another piece for WCS' magazine and illustrations for a birds of prey environmental education booklet for the city. Will write more later...Peace!