Monthly Archives: August 2025

Jackalope!

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So, the thing about true cryptids is that they’re all made up. Some cryptids turn out to be real animals, but most of them reside in the collective unconscious, inspired, I believe by the intersection of the natural world with the boundaries of human knowledge. The jackalope, as far as I can tell, is a 20th century cryptid, created, I’m guessing, to sell southwestern merchandise, and perhaps to share the mystique of the desert and inspire romantic thinking about the region. It may not have the same glorious history as some fantastic creatures, but it holds a place in the hearts of many.

I was asked to create banners for the seven columns in the library, and when I asked what I should depict on the banners, I was told “I don’t know. A mix of realistic and magical?” What’s a more appropriate mixture of realism and magic, than a taxidermied bunny with antlers sewn to it?

I wish I could say there was a greater meaning behind this mythology, but I just don’t think there is. I think someone just made it up for marketing purposes.

But I love it, and the kids seem to like it too. One of them told me his nickname at home is Jackalope, and he was quite touched by the homage.

More to come, of course.

A Page from “Letter from the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo”

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The author Dawn Burns asked me to create an illustration for her short story, “Letter from the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo,” which will appear in her forthcoming collection, A Green Glow on the Horizon: Tales from the National Association of Tourist Attractions Survivors (Cornerstone Press, 2026).

The book and the story are forthcoming. It’s not entirely clear whether this illustration will also be forthcoming in the actual book. But I had a little inspiration after reading it and created something I really love.

The otters are based on a photograph I took at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum in 2022. He was doing these elaborate backflips every time he passed the underwater viewing window, and I saw the golden ratio in this one. My entire conception of the illustration was centered around that memory.

The purple plastic gorilla cup gave me the most trouble. I vaguely recalled their existence but not well enough to accurately reproduce one, and I couldn’t find a single photo anywhere on the internet. Believe me, I tried. I spent as much time looking for an example of a purple plastic gorilla cup from the 20th century as I did drawing the rest of the picture. My google-fu is powerful and I usually find what I’m looking for, but these cups were instant trash the moment you finished consuming their sugary contents. I doubt anyone saved one let alone posted a photograph of it 40 years after the fact. So I kind of had to make them up. These are not the plastic purple gorilla cups that you would get at the zoo in the ’80s and ’90s, they are just a tribute to those cups.

This Bonus Board

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Threw this one together in record time. Last night I thought I would get up early and go in and do this work and finish early and leave. But then I thought, “Hey, it’s August 1. I should look at the calendar to see what I’ve got going on this month.” And I realized I had a doctor’s appointment in the morning. And then I didn’t get to sleep until almost dawn and had to get up and run to this appointment and then have breakfast afterward, around the time most people are finishing lunch.

Blah blah blah, didn’t get in until 2:30, the air conditioning still isn’t fixed so it was 90° in there, and it was “Meet the Teacher” day so it was a total madhouse with hundreds of people wandering around.

Still managed to knock this out in under 4 hours. It’s not fancy but it does the job.

I knew last night I was going full rainbow on this one. I showed the background to the librarian before I did the letters and she loved it and I said, “I’m being very subversive” and then her daughter said, “You made a Pride flag,” and then I said, “Shh, we can’t say that,” and she said, “Why not?” and I said, “Because some people are humorless.”

“Humorless” in this case is a euphemism for “bigoted asshats.”

Anyway, the office manager loved it and it really makes huge impact on the space. And also, little queer kids will know.

Back to School 2025: the Hawaiian Shirt Trio

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If you can believe it, school starts Monday.

I can’t quite believe it but I decided to act like I did and get the breezeway ready. Originally I intended to come back today (Thursday) but then in Monday I decided I didn’t want to be rushed, and good thing, too. Because it turned out that not only would I be decorating all 3 bulletin boards in the breezeway again, they also wanted me to do the one by the principal’s office.

I didn’t have any huge inspiration but I decided I wanted to make a hibiscus and then it just made sense to go along with that theme. Which is hilarious because the breezeway is, of course, in the Sonoran Desert. But it’s frankly as humid as a tropical rain forest this week. So that’s cool.

I could have made MORE FLOWERS or made the flowers fancier or added smaller leaves or other design elements, but I had to go feed the Bear’s cat and then I had to give Miss Kitty a yoga lesson and ALSO I still have a whole day of work on that fourth board tomorrow. A dragon’s gotta pace dragonself.

The lettering is based on the De Latto font. The leaves are monsteras.