Strokes of Genius 10 : Inspiring Subjects
It’s been an exciting week! I feel fortunate to have had two of my drawings, “Dance for Joy” and “Mocha”, selected for inclusion in Strokes of Genius 10: Inspiring Subjects, scheduled for release in the fall of 2018.
The first, Dance for Joy, has an interesting back story. 
I had photographed this goose just as it stepped out of a lake on a beautiful sunny summer day. It honked and shook its feathers and flapped its wings and just seemed to be enjoying the gorgeous weather! I was working on this drawing when I received the news that my first drawing ever published, “Mallard” had been chosen to be included in Strokes of Genius 6. That day, I felt just like the goose did – I wanted to dance for joy! I chose to eliminate the elaborate background that I had planned and instead just showed him dancing on cloud 9! Limited editions of “Dance for Joy” are available here.
The second one is more personal. Mocha is my cat. She has been my constant companion for the past 11 years. Mocha is a rescue and her age when I adopted her was estimated by my vet to be between 1 and 1 1/2 years old. 
It came as a surprise to me when I saw her file that the vet had arbitrarily selected the month that my Mom had passed away as Mocha’s birth date and I’ve always thought of her as a gift from my Mom. Soon after I submitted Mocha’s portrait to the Strokes of Genius 10 competition I learned that she has a form of cancer which unfortunately is terminal in cats. Learning that her portrait was selected was bittersweet, but knowing that I’ll be able to share her portrait with so many people is comforting.