Category: Avant-Garde

A little drawing of a boy getting a nutcracker toy soldier for Christmas, you say? Carried out with characteristic verve, but in the unpromising medium of #2 pencil and crumpled yellow legal pad? No, no, no, there is much more going on here. Attend to the actual placement of the image on the page. The…

“Hello,” says the tall stick figure whose top hat is white and black. “No te entiendo,” responds the short stick figure whose top hat is black and white. His words strike the other stick figure like a sack of doorknobs, knocking him off balance. The words are jumbled and disorienting. It’s so hard to communicate…

And who wouldn’t like sheep? With a cloud for a body and nub for a tail, this ovine citizen has a distinctive strut. He throws his sloping hooves out in front of him and pulls himself along the green pasture beside the still waters – – his posture suggests he’s walking backwards, but be not…

The turkey on the table is roasted red, and Freddy age six gives a wave so exuberant that it might take as many as six fingers to get the message across. Happy Thanksgiving from the Middlebrow gang. We’ve been on the road this week at an annual conference and are giving thanks to be back…

At the top of a steep green hill, we see a momentary lull in the eternal battle for the teddy bear. The tall purple knight represents the Bearhead Clan, known for the severity of their discipline, the unornamented armor, and their total devotion to the face of the bear, whose emblem marks his shield. Over…

With this image, our accomplished 6-year old artist, fully capable of illustrating chivalrous derring-do on the grand scale, intentionally curtails his normal rendering style. He sets aside the conventions of detailed description and gestural representation, and opts for a simpler, looser style. Why, you might ask? He is following in the footsteps of the great…

The marks on the left could be read as railroad tracks converging at a distant vanishing point, but they are in fact the goal net. This young goalie has all the right moves, not even condescending to use his hands in blocking this shot. With such a kick you think to score on me? Ha!…

On a make-shift stage with a pipe-and-drape backdrop, one man plays a portable keyboard while another brandishes a mean microphone. Put your hands together, people, I can’t hear you! (I can’t prove it, but I believe this is a drawing of worship leader Walt and preacher Erik. At least that’s who was on stage when…

Mr. Bird returns from a morning of hunting and gathering, descending with a dramatic flourish and imposing wingspread. He has a wild look in his eye, and a few unkempt feathers that could use a good kemping. Though his beak remains tightly closed, he shouts a loud greeting at his dear spouse, who returns both…

This golden banner signifies that cats and birds can live together in harmony. At the world-famous cat theme park Meowsyland, the cats all promised not to eat the birds, instead hosting the first annual Bird Tuesday.

Who’s there? Knight. Knight who? Knight who’s gesturing menacingly with a sword at the wooden drawbridge of your tiny stronghold with its shield decorations flanking a smoking torch with billowing smoke that drifts off toward the banner of my approaching army. Get it? Is that funny?