The high fences -

"In My Backyard"
digitally manipulated photograph by Mick Mather

"... donning a glove for a backyard toss,
or watching a ball game,
or just reflecting upon our baseball days,
we are players again,
forever young ..."
- John Thorn

Ancient and future feats -

"Transferring Structures from the Sphere of Chaos to an Earthly Plane"
digital drawing & collage by Mick Mather

"... the past is certain,
the future obscure ..."
- Thales

Blue water -

"Riding the Waves of A Cold, Cold Sea"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... a ship in harbor is safe,
but that is not what ships are built for ..."
- William Shedd

Illustration Friday: Surrender -

"Surrender"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... in the depths of passion
even flower shadows
surrender to the bee ..."
- Unknown

Thursday Challenge: Cold -

"Cold Wind on A Perryville Hill"
manipulated digital photograph by Mick Mather
- click image to view full size -

"... when we two parted, in silence and tears,
half broken hearted, to sever for years,
pale grew thy cheek and cold, colder thy kiss,
truly that hour foretold, sorrow to this ..."
- Lord Byron

Analog days -

"Card Punch Girl"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... foolproof systems don't take into account
the ingenuity of fools ..."
- Gene Brown

A place to hang your hat -

"The Apartments"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... I do a great deal of research,
particularly in the apartments of tall blondes ..."
- Raymond Chandler

Injection mold assembly components -

"Magnetic Tape Housing Shell"
digital collage & drawing by Mick Mather

"... all of us are born with an instinctive set of fears - of falling, of the dark, or lobsters, of falling on lobsters in the dark, or speaking before a Rotary Club, and of the words 'Some Assembly Required' ..."
- Dave Barry

Still not quite musical chairs -

"Contemporary Chairs II"
manipulated digital photograph by Mick Mather
"... nature is by and large to be found outdoors,
a location where, it cannot be argued,
there are never enough comfortable chairs ..."
- Fran Lebowitz

Not quite musical chairs -

"Contemporary Chairs I"
manipulated digital photograph by Mick Mather

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

Illustration Friday: Dusty -

"Dust Bowl Storm"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... the dust storm made it so dark
the chickens thought it was night ..."
- Herman Goertzen

Thursday Challenge: Window -

"Window"
manipulated digital photograph by Mick Mather
- click image to view full size -

"... but tomorrow, dawn will come the way I picture her
barefoot and disheveled, standing outside my window
in one of the fragile cotton dresses of the poor;
she will look in at me with her thin arms extended,
offering a handful of birdsong, and a small cup of light ..."
- William Collins

Too tall, or, not too tall?

"Fifteen Feet, Six Inches"
manipulated digital photograph by Mick Mather
- click image to view full size -

"... I can't understand what you're saying ..."
- Boxcar Bertha

What to wear -

"Her Sorority Jacket"
digital drawing & collage by Mick Mather

"... when in doubt, wear red ..."
- Bill Blass

Inane proclamations -

"More Than She Was Used To"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... drunk is feeling sophisticated when you can't say it ..."
- Unknown

Deep six -

"Flirting With the Danger of Tangled Nets"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... if you are out of trouble, watch for danger ..."
- Sophocles

Deviate from the plan -

"It Looks Different On Paper"
digital collage by Mick Mather

Muriel Blandings: I want it to be a soft green, not as blue-green as a robin's egg, but not as yellow-green as daffodil buds. Now, the only sample I could get is a little too yellow, but don't let whoever does it go to the other extreme and get it too blue. It should just be a sort of grayish-yellow-green. Now, the dining room. I'd like yellow. Not just yellow; a very gay yellow. Something bright and sunshine-y. I tell you, Mr. PeDelford, if you'll send one of your men to the grocer for a pound of their best butter, and match that exactly, you can't go wrong! Now, this is the paper we're going to use in the hall. It's flowered, but I don't want the ceiling to match any of the colors of the flowers. There's some little dots in the background, and it's these dots I want you to match. Not the little greenish dot near the hollyhock leaf, but the little bluish dot between the rosebud and the delphinium blossom. Is that clear? Now the kitchen is to be white. Not a cold, antiseptic hospital white. A little warmer, but still, not to suggest any other color but white. Now for the powder room - in here - I want you to match this thread, and don't lose it. It's the only spool I have and I had an awful time finding it! As you can see, it's practically an apple red. Somewhere between a healthy winesap and an unripened Jonathan. Oh, excuse me...
Mr. PeDelford: You got that, Charlie?
Charlie the Painter: red, green, blue, yellow, white!
- from "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House"

Illustration Friday: Chicken -

"The Fraidy Cat"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... don't be such a 'fraidy-cat' ..."
- schoolyard taunt

Thursday Challenge: Best of 2010 -

"Dance to the Music"
manipulated digital photograph by Mick Mather
- click image to view full size -

"... those who danced were considered to be quite insane
by those who could not hear the music ..."
- Angela Monet

Home décor -

"The Cross and the Candle"
manipulated digital photograph by Mick Mather
- click image to view full size -

"... excuse my scribbling,
it is late, and I have
a poor candle ..."
- Henri Rousseau

In the closet -

"Long Black Coat"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... most likely the coat was sold
for milk or bread
or helped a neighbor ..."
- Jody Williams

Bleak horizon -

"A Storm at Sea Makes Landfall"
digitally manipulated photograph by Mick Mather

"... here's to the pilot that weathered the storm ..."
- George Canning

Low slung -

"Swing Low"
digital collage by Mick Mather
- click image to view full size -

"... comin' for to carry me home ..."
- Unknown

Talk is cheap -

"The Gossip"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... whoever gossips to you will gossip about you ..."
- Unknown

Illustration Friday: Deja-Vu -

"Selfportrait of the Artist As Yesterdays Papers"
digital collage by Mick Mather
- click image to view full size -

"... have you ever had deja vu?
have you ever had deja vu? ..."
- Bumper Sticker

Off we go -

"Outbound"
manipulated digital photograph by Mick Mather

"... if God had really intended men to fly,
he'd make it easier to get to the airport ..."
- George Winters

NEW from the Mister Existence Series -

"Mister Existence Finds the Dog Handler"
digital collage by Mick Mater

"... my dog, what remedy remains,
since, teach you all I can,
I see you, after all my pains,
so much resemble man ..."
- William Cowper

Portents & premonitions -

"Something in the Air"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... there is no excellent beauty that hath not
some strangeness in the proportion ..."
- Francis Bacon, Sr.

Take me down little Susie -

"Send Me Dead Flowers"
digitally manipulated photograph by Mick Mather

"... flowers anew, returning seasons bring;
but beauty faded has no second spring ..."
- Ambrose Philips

Along the way -

"Not Far North"
manipulated digital photograph by Mick Mather
- click image to view full size -

"... I was so naive as a kid
I used to sneak behind the barn
and do nothing ..."
- Johnny Carson

A new year arrives at the loading dock -

"The Load"

digital collage by Mick Mather

New Year's Resolution:
"... to tolerate fools more gladly,
provided this does not encourage them
to take up more of my time ..."
- James Agate