A new coloring book to Our Lady of Victory

Once again, I have put together a collection of pages selected from the Liturgical Calendar Coloring Book according to a theme and making it available, like I did with the Titles and Apparitions of Mary Coloring Book. But this time, there is one all-new page, that I drew especially for this collection.

St. James Matamoros

I am calling the collection Coloring Pages dedicated to Our Lady of Victory, and it is a selection of saints who, with words and/or swords, fought the forces of Islam.

This heresy has always been one of Christianity's worst enemies, and I pray for the day when it no longer exists.

For me to say this is not racism; Islam is not a race. It is an ideology, and it is evil. It is true that there are Muslims who don't wish to kill non-Muslims. But they are the ones who are not really following Islamic teaching. They are better people because of it, but the fact remains, this religion proclaims death or slavery on all who do not submit to it, and brings loss of liberty, oppression of women, sexual perversion, and desolation to the lands it conquers.

So, as a small prayer and rallying cry, I offer these drawings of saints who took up the call. I will include these pages for free with any purchase of Rosary Mysteries coloring Pages, and also, anyone may have them free for the asking. Just email me at snowflakeclockwork [at] gmail [dot] com.

Aitkin Age column: When did socialism become OK?

I think my latest column for the Aitkin Independent Age is fitting for today, the feast of Christ the King.

Visiting Ireland in college, I entered a self-proclaimed socialist book store. The stock was mostly Marxist books and pictures of Che Guevera, but in a corner was a random pile of used books, including an art book of Romanian icons for €3 (then about $5). When I went to buy it, the young man at the counter stood unresponsive for a while, then said scornfully, “Three euros. Is it worth that much?” This shows a socialist mindset: he made no effort to encourage the sale or provide good service, no individual striving for profit and success. I left thinking we’d never have places in America openly call themselves socialist, but now I’m not sure. Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders does just that and many publications defend it. When and how did this become OK?

Socialism is defined as public ownership of the means of production. Supposedly the people own it, but an entire population of a country cannot manage every farm and factory. So you have government administrators who decide how goods and services are produced and distributed. Socialism promises free stuff for everyone. But history shows it delivers death.

Read the rest here.

Viva Cristo Rey.

Available again

Over the past few months I have been swamped with my day job, freelance work, and personal projects. Now my freelance docket is cleared, so I am pleased to announce I am available for hire again for illustration and design work. To help folks decide if they want to hire me, I have now put my art resume up here. If you're interested, email me at snowflakeclockwork[at]gmail[dot]com.

A New (in a sense) Coloring Book and further plans

I have just put together a new set of coloring pages, making my Titles and Apparitions of Mary Coloring Book, which is available for ten dollars.

I must point out that all of these pages are included in the Liturgical Calendar Coloring Book, so if you have that or intend to get it, don't buy this!

My eventual plan is to write companion texts for both the Liturgical Calendar Coloring Book and this Marian one. The one for the Calendar is underway. One thing is, one they're written, I'll want to get imprimaturs on them, and that might take some doing. That brings me into a subject for reflection as I, as aforementioned, undertake to write more about Catholic matters on this here blog. I'll ramble on below the cut.

Aitkin Age column: Memories of a young curmudgeon

My latest column for the Aitkin Independent Age is very local indeed, but my goal is to write such that even people who don't personally know what I'm talking about may find it interesting.

Since I’m very far under 60, my memories of Aitkin don’t go as far back as those of many folks but I still remember fondly many places that are no longer here. Thinking of these long-gone shops, I feel I’m old enough to look at kids these days and think that they don’t know what they’re missing.
My favorite place to visit in town was Ben Franklin. Since we were on vacation and there were grandparents around, we had better chances of getting toys when we asked for them there than back at home. There was also the small pet section in the back, where we would spend what seemed like hours but was probably about 10 minutes watching the fish, hamsters and birds. There were bins of candy at one cent each and the front windows were covered with suncatchers, so many so close together so as to look like one huge stained glass window.

 Read the rest here.

Doing this writing professionally for the paper has made me think more about my writing in general, and want to do more of it. I think I will start posting more essays here, maybe warranting a change in the title bar from "an art blog" to "an art and writing blog." Mostly theology and such Catholic matters and reviews of others' works of fiction, I think, but hopefully also snippets of my own works of fiction.

All Hallows' E'en

Here is our house on Halloween:

Pretty spooky, huh?

My sister Anna's blog has our pumpkins of this year glowing at night, so I show you them not glowing at day. It's like in the Horror Land board in Mario Party 2, which switches from day to night as you play, and is one of the most Halloweeny things ever!

And for our costumes, we were Wirt and Greg from Over the Garden Wall, also a Halloweeny thing and one of the best cartoons ever!

Happy Halloween, All Saints', and All Souls'!