“Health nuts are going to feel pretty stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing.” – Redd Fox
In Honor of Thanksgiving tomorrow (in the USA) I thought I would make you laugh and give you permission to eat a really big, filling meal!
Drawing © 2022 Marty Coleman | napkindad.com
“It is a sin against humanity to open your doors and shut up your countenance.” English Proverb
I always try to remember that opening your door is only the first step.
One must be inviting in your heart as well. A good thing to remember during this week.
Drawing © 2022 Marty Coleman | napkindad.com
“Some People Grumble Because Roses Have Thorns. I am Thankful Thorns Have Roses.” – Alphonse Karr
This is #1 in a week long ‘thankful’ series of napkins. Some may have been posted before but they are relevant this week so they are going back up again!
Tell me, or someone, what you are thankful for this week. Don’t make stuff up, whatever you say, have it be something you really do feel the emotion of thankfulness (or gratefulness) about.
Drawing © 2022 Marty Coleman | napkindad.com
Dog with Fish Eye
Or this could be a fish swimming in a Dog Ocean.
Drawing © 2022 Marty Coleman | napkindad.com
“Sleeping girl touched by God.”
Sometimes I didn’t have a quote, just an idea for a drawing that I would put in their lunches. This one is something I have repeated in various manifestations for quite some time.
The reaching hand from above (and often from below) obviously can indicate God but it just as easily can indicate nature, the unknown, spirits, the mechanism of the universe or something else. All I mean by it when I use it is that there are influences and ideas and thoughts and experiences that are not within our control and we should be open to them, let them in and see what we can learn from them.
Drawing © 2022 Marty Coleman | napkindad.com
One of my art heroes has always been Henri Matisse because of his ability to draw expression with the minimal of line. I was attempting that with this napkin.
I am not sure why I drew it on the particular day I did long ago, but I hope I didn’t scare my daughters when they found it in their lunch later that day!
While I am not an absolute believer in the idea that ‘it’s all small stuff’ so we shouldn’t worry about anything, I do believe we worry a great deal about stuff that really doesn’t make that big a difference.
I often wonder why that is. Why do we obsess about how clean a floor is, when we know that one little bit of dust isn’t going to hurt us or anyone? Why do we worry about our sons and daughters hair or clothing style as if that is the same as character? Why are some so afraid of going somewhere or doing something we haven’t done before that they are paralyzed into inaction? Where did that fear originate? Who told us long ago to fear that? Who gave us the message that we would fail? Who told us that we should avoid failure at all cost?
I have a number of complaints about my upbringing and some of the stuff my parents did or did not do. But one thing I am very grateful for is that neither of them ever gave me the message of fear about life and what happens in it.
I guess it just comes down to faith. I don’t mean faith in God, I mean faith that it will all work out. That losing a job will mean something new and different and a new opportunity. That moving to a new location will mean new land, new friends, new nature, new buildings and new activities. That moving on from a relationship will mean new relationships, new growth, new feelings.
So, as the song says ‘Don’t worry, be happy’. It will work out as it is supposed to.
Drawing © 2022 Marty Coleman | napkindad.com
Be Merry
It must have been baseball playoff time since I drew the baseballs. I probably was giving my daughters’ carrots for lunch that day, that explains those, and the boat? Who knows, I suppose I started with that actually and then saw it as a mouth and added the carrot and balls. I don’t always understand the process that gets me to my art!
Drawing © 2022 Marty Coleman | napkindad.com
“If God Made Us In His Image, We Have Certainly Returned The Compliment.” Voltaire
Usually this quote is used as a negative statement about God and man. But read the story below and perhaps you will feel that just sometimes the image God creates of us and we create of God reflects well on us both.
I received a wonderful email yesterday from a delightful woman in Chicago. She is doing some advanced academic work in Theology and wanted permission to use 5 of my napkin drawings in her work and in presentations regarding peace building in Africa. I was happy to make the connection and give permission.
A number of wonderful things about it. She is in graduate school but offered to pay for the rights to use the images. Think of how many profit making enterprises don’t have the courtesy to ask permission to use an image much less offer to pay. I took her up on the willingness to pay since I believe they are worth the money and she will feel more freedom to use them as she sees fit in her work. She was telling me my work had value and was willing to prove it in a concrete way by paying me money that could help me in ways a mere complement could not.
The other wonderful thing is that she is using them in a serious thesis regarding peace building in the world and later in presentations regarding that same thing in Africa, where peace building is a hard road for all. It really made my day to know that.
They are just silly drawings on napkins, but good ideas well stated are powerful and transformative no matter where they are found.
Drawing © Marty Coleman | napkindad.com
“Splish Splash I Was Taking A”
I decided to let my daughters and their table mates at school finish the napkin with the word of their choice. cow home?
Drawing © 2022 Marty Coleman | napkindad.com
Not exactly a profound quote…but then again, eating is fundamental so why not a bagel!
Drawing © 2022 Marty Coleman | napkindad.com
