Growth Chart

I selected an illustration from my book Maya Monkey for the www.illustrationfriday.com theme grow. This one's pretty obvious, as she's being measured for growth by her friend the sloth. 

Just another day in paradise!

Suspense...

The story...

It had been exactly six
days, ten hours and forty-five
minutes since the two
toed sloth had answered
nature's call.  She needed a
jungle potty break.  The 
sloth had been grazing and
sleeping in the razor tipped
pochote tree for the whole
week.  But there was no 
way she could climb down
the tree's sharp skin.
So she pointed her head 
towards the sky and inched
through the nasty tree's upper  
branches.  Then she
s...l...o...w...l...y climbed 
over the top and onto a 
neighboring velvet tree.  
Now all she needed to do
was gingerly climb down to 
the forest floor.
The velvet tree sighed and
stated, "I could grow a new ring
in the time it takes her to reach 
the ground." 


Well, my illustration selection ends Costa Rica week. (for now!) It loosely fulfills the bill for illustration fried egg day or what ever it's called.  The suspense is wrapped up in the question of whether the sloth ever reaches the ground. I'm on pins and needles.  Actually, if I had to do this illustration over I would pick the cute faced three-toed sloth.  Oh well.  I know that this is a boring pick for my frequent blog visitors since it lives in my side bar eternally.  Beware the copyright!   

If you don't watch out I'll cut you with my tree.

This is the 6th (of 7) illustrated story from my fiction project journal. You may recognize it from my side bar. To learn more about the fiction project visit http://arthousecoop.com/users/sharonrwagner You can enlarge my art to s...l...o...w...l...y read it. Poor sloths. I do have photos of some sloths we encountered during our Costa Rica travels. But I thought I would highlight some of the more unusual trees we encountered instead.

At Hacienda Baru http://www.haciendabaru.com/ we encountered the Pochote tree. Does it look sharp or what? Hacienda Baru is a wonderful wildlife refuge. It's jungle habitat inspired many of the stories in my journal.

This tree has been strangled.

This is a view from the hollow bottom looking all the way up to the top. The strangler fig is all that remains.

I don't know what this tree is. But I dare you to lean against it. We photographed it on our 1st Costa Rica trip inside the park called Manuel Antonio. Have you hugged a tree today?

This is where the wild things are.

I illustrated the painted moose art for the Minnesota SCBWI's Summer field trip to the Zoo. To see the flyer visit http://www.minnesotascbwi.org/ I like to think that after the beaver finishes painting the patient moose, the moose decides to kick the beaver sharply in the be-hind. The paint and the beaver fly into the shallow water. Unfortunately the poor beaver is forced to swim away through a swirl of paint clutching the paintbrush tightly between his two front teeth. The End. In honor of Zoo Day (which I missed, darn it all) I decided to create a HUGE post of animal photos. Have fun at my Zoo!

Corn chips.

This fawn was photographed in Hatfield, WI.

A Howler monkey at Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica.

Standing tough.

Baby

My pet bat...not.

Owl butterfly.

I'm talk'in turkey at Fort Snelling.

Akua

White faced monkey.

Monster Hummer.

It's a Kinkajou raiding the hummingbird feeder. At Monteverde.

This behind belongs to a Coati.

We like to think that we saved this frog from the volcanically heated pool. He didn't say thank you.

This sloth dared to cross a busy highway. Luckily a local gentleman stopped his vehicle and escorted him safely across. Near Fortuna, Costa Rica.

A Red-lored Parrot perhaps?

This is the extremely rare White-throated Magpie-Jay. Ha!

This is a beloved house cat. Hana! To see more beloved house cats visit http://www.gattinamycats.blogspot.com/