A Night of Mermaids

by | Aug 17, 2012 | Mermaids | 0 comments

A Night of Mermaids

The Mistimed Lecture

I went to a lecture at the Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa last night. I thought it started at 6 but that was the cocktail hour. The lecture actually started at 7.  So, I stood at a tall table and drank myself silly with a Sprite and watched the world go by (after I checked out the special exhibition for the second time).  A woman came to the lecture hall door, peaked in and turned around toward me asking, ‘Does the lecture start at 6:30?’.  I told her when it started and we subsequently engaged in a cool conversation about her name (same as my eldest daughter, Rebekah), architecture (the topic of the lecture), Russia (where she lived for many years), legal careers (hers), art careers (mine), Photography (both of ours) and mermaids.

I asked if I could draw her on the cocktail napkin I had at the ready and she willingly obliged. Not only that but she looked off in the distance and never moved or blinked for the entire time. She knew how to strike a pose.  I decided she was probably a mermaid in another life and so drew her as one.

Nicci’s Mermaid Poem

After the lecture I dropped by a friend’s new home to pick up some coffee table art books (Monet, Europe and Post-Impressionism) she was giving away and to see her new digs.  

It’s a totally awesome sleek modern home that fits her perfectly. I follow her blog, her Facebook page and read her writings in the local media on occasion. She is not only stylish and hip, but is a very serious seeker of knowledge and truth. She works hard to communicate that intellectual and spiritual journey she is on and I appreciate that.  We talked about a number of things but eventually got to the most important topic of the day, Mermaids. She just happened to have written a poem about her life as a mermaid and graciously sent it to me later that night. Here it is.

My Life as a Mermaid
i fell into the ocean
but found solace in the sea
so i swam amidst the coral
taking shelter in the reef.
and then i rode an ancient turtle
and challenged a great white
and short circuited an electric eel
one harsh and choppy night.
and then i sang to east bound sailors
from atop a sun drenched cliff
and with a watchful eye 
i surfed the tide
and then stormed a pirate ship.
i lassoed a violent current
and then skipped along the shelf
and fought high and low
so that i might know
the Golden Age of Sail…
Nicci Atchley
nicci

Nicci

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And there you have it, my visual ode to mermaids near and far through the past week ending with me drawing and hearing from real people who just might be mermaids.

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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman, who is not a Merman.

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Here are the other mermaids

  1. The Virgin Mermaid
  2. The Night of Mermaids 
  3. The Modest Mermaid
  4. The Arctic Mermaid
  5. The Lake Mermaid
  6. The River Mermaid
  7. The Fearful Mermaid
  8. The Influencer Mermaid

The Modest Mermaid

by | Aug 16, 2012 | Mermaids | 5 comments

It’s a well known fact that mermaids are NOT modest. However, there is one area of the seven seas where they are modest and I just happen to find a mermaid in that area this morning. Do you know where the modest mermaids live?

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Drawing by Marty Coleman, who has never been modest except for the time in high school when I got out of the shower at my house to find my friends had come over and Rusty tried to tear my towel off right in front of Mary, my new girlfriend.

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Here are the other mermaids

  1. The Virgin Mermaid
  2. The Night of Mermaids 
  3. The Modest Mermaid
  4. The Arctic Mermaid
  5. The Lake Mermaid
  6. The River Mermaid
  7. The Fearful Mermaid
  8. The Influencer Mermaid

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The Arctic Mermaid

by | Aug 15, 2012 | Mermaids | 0 comments

The Arctic Mermaid

Today is day 3 of Mermaid week, in which I illustrate Mermaids from all over the watery world, including rivers, lakes and today…The Arctic!

Her Secrets of the Deep

The arctic mermaid is very wary of strangers poking their head in her space.  They want to know her secrets and she doesn’t want to let them be known (especially the fact that the ‘rocks’ on her part of the ocean floor are actually chocolate).

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Drawing by Marty Coleman, who wonder if mermaids go on land to clean themselves.

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Here are the other mermaids

  1. The Virgin Mermaid
  2. The Night of Mermaids 
  3. The Modest Mermaid
  4. The Arctic Mermaid
  5. The Lake Mermaid
  6. The River Mermaid
  7. The Fearful Mermaid
  8. The Influencer Mermaid

 

The Lake Mermaid

by | Aug 14, 2012 | Mermaids | 2 comments

The Lake Mermaid

I liked drawing the River Mermaid so much yesterday I thought I would make a series about mermaids all over the world.  

Splash

One of my all time favorite movies is ‘Splash’ with Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah. I swam a lot in the ocean as a kid, body surfing mostly, and would have liked nothing more than to have come upon Madison, (the character Hannah plays) while frolicking in the sea.  I loved her naivete and innocence, her unadulterated joy and love.  I think more people should be like mermaids (and mermen)

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Drawing by Marty Coleman, who thinks mermaids’ hands are webbed.

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Here are the other mermaids

  1. The Virgin Mermaid
  2. The Night of Mermaids 
  3. The Modest Mermaid
  4. The Arctic Mermaid
  5. The Lake Mermaid
  6. The River Mermaid
  7. The Fearful Mermaid
  8. The Influencer Mermaid

 

The River Mermaid

by | Aug 13, 2012 | Mermaids | 1 comment

I drew a mermaid today.  Wondering why? Read below.  This drawing doesn’t exactly follow the conversation, but it started me thinking in the mermaid direction. Now I might do a whole series!  

In the meanwhile, my wife says Mermaids don’t have vaginas.  But I think mermaids have the right to reproduce just like any other fish/person so I gave her one.  What do you think, Do mermaids have vaginas?

My Facebook status this morning:

“I had a great idea for a quote for today’s napkin. I went to take a shower, now can’t remember what it was. grrr…”
The comments went as follows: 

Jessica: i write blog posts like that entirely in my head and then they disappear.

Hanna: Glad I’m not the only one with short term memory probs! 🙂

Margaret: Maybe ‘dirty hair equals great ideas’ or ‘write it down before you wash it away’, 😉 you could have one of your illustrations with great thoughts coming out out of its grimy head. By the way, I haven’t showered yet.

Me: Margaret, at least you wrote it down before you showered! LOL

Thomas: Go back to your shower, make it cold, and your thought will come back to you from Neverland;)Ryan: You are supposed to have good ideas in the shower, not lose them.

Me: yea, I reversed that truism, didn’t I!


Kathi: I think you now have a new idea for today’s napkin!!! “When brilliant ideas get washed down the drain!” 🙂Deborah: ACTUALLY …. I think THAT would make a GREAT QUOTE for the napkin … ” I had a great idea …went to the shower …” …. not only is it a GREAT visual (PG-13 Lots of soap bubbles LOL ) but I can see several trajectories it could take …. our overly busy lives/brains…aging… OR?Me: I might have to do that Deb and Kathi! I might use a photo I took of you Deb as my starting point, you ok with that? LOL (not going to use me in the shower, bad visual!)

Deborah: LOL !!! ~~~ Marty you in the shower with YOUR HAT ON is AWESOMENESS !!! … LOTTTTTTTS of BUBBLES !!!! …. If you make me into a mermaid …..then ……….perhaps !! Laughing so hard !
Me: I wonder if I could do a series on forgetful mermaids…
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Drawing by Marty Coleman, who is not now, nor has ever been, a Merman (though he can hold his breath for an admirable length of time).
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The Opportunity to Play the Game – Olympics #3

by | Aug 8, 2012 | Olympics - 2012 | 5 comments

Olympics Series – #3

The Opportunity to play

Heartbreak

I watched a lot of the American Olympic trials that were broadcast about a month before the games.  They are really more heartbreaking to me than the Olympics.  If you are at the Olympics, the heartbreak is falling short there.  But if you fall short at the trials, you watch the Olympics at home on TV like the rest of us.  For some, it’s disappointing, but they have been to the Olympics in years past and won something.  But for those who don’t get there the first time, and perhaps will now never get there, it is not just disappointing, it’s depressing.  

What they need, even more than some of the Olympians, is Olympic size courage. Courage to lay down one dream gently and pick up a new one, one for which they might not even know where to start looking. 

I admire greatly those who don’t make it after trying with all their might.  I always feel for them but I also always root them on to find a new dream.

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Drawing by Marty Coleman, who has never been to the Olympics.

Quote by Mike Singletary

The King and the Pawn – Olympics #2

by | Aug 7, 2012 | Italian Proverbs, Olympics - 2012 | 0 comments

It’s day #2 of Olympics week at the NDD.  Notice anything different about the drawing today? It’s a ‘not a napkin’ napkin (because I ran out of napkins).
Guess what I drew it on.

olympics 2

FAME and GLORY

So much fame, so many endorsements, so much attention, money, glory, adulation, hype and talk for the winners. So much obscurity for the losers. But answer me this. Who won what 100 years ago in the Olympics?  I don’t know, I am sure you don’t either, unless you look it up or are related to a winner from back then.  We all go back in the same box. Most of us, famous or not, eventually forgotten.  Is that depressing? In some ways, yes. One of the things I like most about being an artist is leaving something behind. But art is corruptible (especially when drawn on a napkin) and it too will not last forever most likely.

What Remains?

What remains then?  Kindness remains.  That is it. That is what I want to get my gold medal in when the time comes.  That is what I want to hand down to my daughters and grand kids (come on daughters, times a’ wasting).  I want to be good at what I do of course. I want to work with those who strive for excellence. But I really don’t have much tolerance for excellence that is covered with anger and vitriol. I don’t want to be around a winner who is mean and hurtful.  I don’t want to be in a business relationship (though it is unavoidable at times) with someone who is scheming, manipulative, insensitive and negative.

I want to be, and I want to surround myself with, one who is both excellent and kind,  who achieves great things and does it with love in my heart.  

That lasts.

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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman, who has a lot to learn.

Quote is an Italian proverb

How Borderless is Your Love? – Olympics #1

by | Aug 6, 2012 | Olympics - 2012 | 4 comments

 

olympics 1

Where?

Who would you root for if you didn’t know where the athletes were from?  So far I have wanted a Mexican, a Canadian, a Nigerian, a Chinese, a Japanese, an Australian, a Brit, an American, a Swede, a Russian, a Jamaican, a South African and a Romanian to excel and win in their efforts. And that is just who I can think of off the top of my head sitting at my computer.

I love when those in my country wins, its exciting and it makes me proud.  But in the end it is an individual who wins, or a team of individuals, not an entire country. There are bragging rights for sure, but the medals go to individuals.  I am proud of them, no matter the geography of their birth and raising.  I am proud of their effort and their diligence, perseverance and determination.  That is what I am in awe of.

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Drawing by Marty Coleman

Quote by Pablo Casals, Cellist 

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