Meanderings 3
November 3, 2017
Then the winds came and a fire that made the sun change its hue.
I could not breath… for thinking of those in the path of the firestorm.
My prayers are with those who were touched by last month’s fires… for truth, love, and renewal.
Meanderings 1 & 2
November 2, 2017
It was an uneventful summer…
Before the winds kicked up…
Nevermore in costume
November 1, 2017
Last night I saw Nevermore in his Halloween costume circling my neighborhood, he did not stop to tell me what he was trying to be, but he called out to me and I told him to send my regards to the conference of birds.
Meanwhile, I have been busy working on a writing project about the San Francisco SPCA in advance of their 150th anniversary next year and it has tapped my extra time when I would normally do my drawing. I hope to get back to my artistic explorations soon.
Pygmalion and the Wizard
May 26, 2017
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) was an Irish dramatist who transformed the Victorian theater by rejecting melodrama for social consciousness that express his radical views and philosophies in the theater. His play Pygmalion (1913) was adapted into a musical called My Fair Lady in 1956.
Drawing of Pygmalion the Parrot by Meredith Eliassen, 2017.
The Wizard was wise – but he knew nothing.
The Wizard was kind – but he cared nothing.
The Wizard did good – but he did nothing.
He was just himself.
And the Parrot, apparently, was only a dirty, stupid, squawking She-parrot; but the Wizard took her, and taught her, and turned her squawk into the most beautiful voice, and turned her into a most beautiful… but I mustn’t tell you that until the end of my story.
(This image was inspired by the designs of Phyllis A. Trery and the introductory words from a retelling of George Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalion” in Tales from Bernard Shaw told in the Jungle by Gwladys Evan Morris and illustrated by Phyllis A. Trery, London: George G. Harrap & Co., 1929.)
Armadillo symbolism…
May 25, 2017
The armadillo’s shell acts as its physical and spiritual boundary protecting the safety of its entire being. Armadillo design with words from Tecumseh: “As to Boundaries, the Great Spirit knows no boundaries,” by Meredith Eliassen, 2017.
Tecumseh was a Shawnee chief who with his brother, “The Prophet,” united Native Americans in the West to resist white expansion. Tecumseh asserted, “These lands are ours: no one has the right to remove us, because we were the first owners; the Great Spirit above has appointed this place for us, on which to light our fires, and here we will remain. As to Boundaries, the Great Spirit knows no boundaries, nor will his red people acknowledge any.”
The Sun Never Says…
May 22, 2017
“Even after all this time, the sun never says to the earth, ‘You owe me.’ Look what happens with a love like that, it lights the whole sky.” Words, “The Sun Never Says,” by Hafiz, design by Meredith Eliassen, 2017.
We all do it… Quote
May 19, 2017
“By necessity, by proclivity, and by delight, we all quote.” Words by Ralph Waldo Emerson, design by Meredith Eliassen, 2017.
Little by little does the trick…
May 16, 2017
A lesson from Aesop: “In a pinch, good use of our wits may help us out.” Design featuring pitcher with an Etruscan cat motif by Meredith Eliassen, 2017.
A crow with an unquenchable thirst happened upon a pitcher that once had been full of water. The crow tucked her beak into the pitcher only to discover that much of the water had evaporated and the pitcher was nearly empty. She could not reach down far enough to get at the water. She tried and tried until she stopped in despair.
Then a thought came to her… she took a pebble and dropped it into the pitcher, then another, then another, and another, and another, until the water slowly rose close to the rim. After casting a few more pebbles in, she learned that little by little does the trick, and she was able to quench her thirst at last.
Aesop Crow and the Pitcher Notecard
A sleeping lion was awakened by a little mouse that was running back and forth on him. With his big paw the lion lifted the little mouse by the tail and opened his big jaws to swallow him.
“Forgive me!” The mouse cried, “And I will never forget it.” He continued, “I may even be able to do you a good turn one of these days.”
The lion was so tickled at the idea that a little mouse might be able to help him that he lowered the mouse to the ground and let him go.
Aesop: Kindness is never wasted. Design by Meredith Eliassen, 2017.
Some time later, the lion was captured in a trap set by hunters who were intent on keeping him alive in captivity. As the hunters left to go in search of a cart to carry him, the little mouse happened by and saw the plight of the lion. Soon the little mouse gnawed away the netting that bound the lion, and then smiled up at the King of Beasts: “Was I not right.
The Flatterer’s Reward…
May 11, 2017
Fox design by Meredith Eliassen, 2017.
A fox observed a Crow swoop down and pick of a choice piece of cheese then take safety on a tree branch. He said to himself: “That’s for me.”
Mr. Fox sauntered to the foot of the tree and address the Crow: Madam Crow, how well you look today: how glossy your feathers are, and how sparkling your eyes are. I am sure your voice surpasses that of all other birds, just as your figure does. Please let me hear just one song from you that I may greet you as the Queen of the Birds!
The Crow lifted her head to perform her best “Caw! Caw!” But the moment she opened her beaks, the piece of cheese fell to the ground to be snapped up by Mr. Fox. Design by Meredith Eliassen, 2018.
“That will do,” he smirked. “All I wanted was your cheese.”
Then he went on his way leaving Madam Crow pondering how this Flatterer robbed her by stealth of both wit and wealth.
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