Intro & outro -

"Looking Outside of Yourself"
digital collage by Mick Mather
- click on image to view full size -

"...what is interesting about self-analysis is that it leads nowhere, it is an art form in itself ..."
- Anita Brookner

A howling wind -

"Cross Sections of a Storm"
manipulated digital drawing & collage by Mick Mather

"... God moves in a mysterious way,
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
and rides upon the storm ..."
- William Cowper

Illustration Friday: Focused -

"Focused"
digital collage by Mick Mather
- thanks to studio lolo for permission to use images from her flickr set -
- click on image to view full size -

"...the first rule of focus is this: wherever you are, be there ..."
- Unknown

Thursday Challenge: Messy -

"Messy"
manipulated digital photograph by Mick Mather

"... beginnings are always messy ..."
- John Galsworthy

NEW from The Selfportrait Series -

"Selfportrait of the Artist as a Text Message"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... here we are, trapped in the amber of the moment;
there is no why ..."
- Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

Sad Day -

"Summer Memory Invaded by Cold, Blue Winter"
- for SusuPetal -
digital collage by Mick Mather

"...laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face ..."
- Victor Hugo

District 6 -

"Red Light"
manipulated digital drawing & collage by Mick Mather

"... the one red leaf, the last of its clan,
that dances as often as dance it can,
hanging so light, and hanging so high,
at the topmost twig looking up at the sky ..."
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge

The weight -

"Shortly After"
manipulated digital drawing & collage by Mick Mather

"... peace is contagious; from scattered outbreaks, it can spread throughout the world ..."
- Unknown

Tug of War -

"Minor Adjustment"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... quickly, bring me a beaker of wine, so that I may whet my mind and say something clever ..."
- Aristophanes

Illustration Friday: Clumsy -

"Clumsy"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... I'm disappointed for him that he has made such a clumsy start; he's inexperienced and got caught out; I'd like to see him do well and if he's as good as he says he is - and I'm not expecting genius - he should make it; but the signs are not good so far ..."
- Luc Longley

Thursday Challenge: Winter -

"Old Man in a Snowstorm"
digitally manipulated photograph by Mick Mather
- click image to view full size -

"... few things are as democratic as a snowstorm ..."
- Bern Williams

Inlet, New York or BUST!

"Road Trip"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... I travel not to go anywhere, but to go; I travel for travel's sake; the great affair is to move ..."
- Robert Lewis Stevenson

Off the beaten track -

"Back in the Woods"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... use what talents you possess; the woods would be silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best ..."
- Henry Van Dyke

Walking as an Arts Practice Series -

"An Outside Inside Walk"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... all walking is discovery; on foot we take the time to see things whole ..."
- Hal Borland

Fixing a hole -

"The Roofers Daughter"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... nothing's more determined than a cat on a hot tin roof ..."
- Tennessee Williams

Automatonic hire -

"The New Machinists"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... the robot is going to lose; not by much; but when the final score is tallied, flesh and blood is going to beat the damn monster ..."
- Adam Smith

Illustration Friday: Wilderness -

"Wilderness"
digitally manipulated photographs by Mick Mather
- click on image to view full size -

"... you were once wild here ..."
- Unknown

Thursday Challenge: Red -

"Red I"
digitally manipulated drawing & collage by Mick Mather
- original drawing by Leighlund Ruth Vincett -

"... just do what you do best ..."
- Red Auerbach

Utility -

"Perryville Shed"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... wandering, in unfamiliar territory,
I came upon an old shed, still intact,
bales of hay stacked 'round the perimeter;
having seen no live man in weeks
and due to the rage of the storm,
taking refuge seemed a safe option,
that thinking was my first mistake ..."
- Mick Mather

Sleep tight -

"Replacing the Box Spring"
digitally manipulated drawing by Mick Mather

"... bad habits are like a comfortable bed, easy to get into, but hard to get out of ..."

- Unknown

Low sparks -

"First Light in the Low Peaks"
manipulated digital painting & collage by Mick Mather

"... today is your day!
your mountain is waiting,
so ... get on your way ..."
- Dr. Seuss

Simple fare -

"Olive Bread"
digital collage by Mick Mather
"... art is our chief means of breaking bread with the dead ..."
- W. H. Auden

Go west young man -

"Oregon"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... if any young man is about to commence in the world, we say to him, publicly and privately, go to the west ..."
- Horace Greeley

Illustration Friday: Confined -

"Confined"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... this is the monstrosity of love, lady, that the will is infinite and the execution confined; that the desire is boundless, and the act a slave to limit ..."
- William Shakespeare

Thursday Challenge: Free-4-All #2 -

"Second Growth"
digital photograph by Mick Mather
- click on image to view full size -

"... the richness I achieve comes from Nature, the source of my inspiration ..."
- Claude Monet

Hung out to dry -

"Airing the Nets Ashore"
digital collage by Mick Mather
- thanks to studio lolo for permission to use images at her flickr set -

"... time was away and somewhere else,
there were two glasses and two chairs,
and two people with one pulse ..."
- Louis MacNeice

NEW from The Selfportrait Series -

"Selfportrait of the Artist on an Etch A Sketch"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... too bad life isn't like an Etch A Sketch. We could draw it like we wanted. If we made a mistake, we could shake it out ..."
- Unknown

NEW from Drawing With Lieghlund Series -

"A New Suit"
digitally manipulated drawing & collage by Mick Mather
- original drawing by Leighlund Ruth Vincett -

"... a silk suit, which cost memuchmoney, and I pray God to make me able to pay for it ..."
- Samuel Pepys

String theory -

"Red Flag"
digitally manipulated fractal flame & collage by Mick Mather

"... if anyone has a new idea in this country, there are twice as many people who keep putting a man with a red flag in front of it ..."
- Unknown

Day Two -

"Already She Has a Headache"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... if the headache would only precede the intoxication, alcoholism would be a virtue ..."
- Samuel Butler

Top Secret -

"Shift Change at the Decoding Room"
digital collage by Mick Mather
- click on image to view full size -

"... we will open the book,
it's pages are blank,
we will put the words on them ourselves,
the book is called 'Opportunity'
and it's first chapter is
New Years' Day ..."
- Edith Lovejoy Pierce