Bee Inspired!

On the wall of my studio is a pastel drawing by my friend, Francesca. It combines a quote from St. Ambrose with images of bees. Ambrose is another saint who had a bee encounter. As an infant, bees supposedly swarmed in and out of his mouth without stinging him. People took this as a good sign -- that he would have a honeyed tongue and be a great talker... which came true. He became archbishop of Milan and had the guts to threaten the Roman emperor, Theodosius, with excommunication after a massacre. Theodosius was forced to do months of public penance before Ambrose readmitted him to the Eucharist.

The words on the drawing read (capitalized as in the art):
QUANTUM PHYSICS: "it is Not possible to predict the OUTCOME of aNY situatioN."
"god is the author of NatuRe; NatuRe CaN be chaNged." AMBrOSe

When it came time to draw the bees for St. Modomnoc's story in Holy Crocodile, all I had to do was look to the left of my drawing table for inspiration.

Inspiration for Roch's Dog

Wire Fox Terriers are a relatively new breed (1800's), so they weren't around in St. Roch's time; but they have been an inspiration to me. The form, though not the coloring, of Roch's dog is modeled after Alfie. Alfie is a fine, loyal friend... but I don't know if he's saintly enough to share his food. Though he is saintly enough not to take my food away, when he sits on my lap, while I eat!

Wolf Inspiration

Years ago I purchased a tin wolf, cut out of a diet coke can, at a craft fair in Boston. I've always loved this wolf. So when I was thinking about the wolf I wanted to draw for the story The Tot and the Wolf (St. Ailbe), I turned to my tin wolf for inspiration. You can easily see the connection.

Spiders!

Saint Felix being hidden by spiders, from Roman soldiers, is the story that would have appealed to me most as a child. I was fascinated by everything about ancient Rome, and enthralled by the bravery of persecuted Christians (especially those being thrown to the lions). Add to that, spiders and spiderwebs are just cool. And spiders take on good, bad, and even god-like forms in legends from around the world. To read some interesting spider tales-- including how they were part of a Christmas miracle-- check out this website: http://www.spiderzrule.com/legends.htm

The Book is Out!

Click here to order: Holy Crocodile on Amazon!

Click on the above link to go to Holy Crocodile! on Amazon... or order it from your favorite small bookseller.