Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Fruits of My Artistic Labors


Here are the "fruits of my labors" as an Artist-In-Action over at the art show. I sat outside under a canopy, smelling the salty air of the Puget Sound, hearing the occasional blast of the ferry's horn, and chatted with customers and the other artists. A clementine is a cross of a sweet orange and a Chinese mandarin. I always loved that old song, and I couldn't resist adding it in!

In a cavern, in a canyon,
Excavating for a mine,
Dwelt a miner, forty-niner,
And his daughter Clementine.

Refrain:
Oh my darling, oh my darling,
Oh my darling Clementine
You are lost and gone forever,
Dreadful sorry, Clementine.

Light she was, and like a fairy,
And her shoes were number nine,
Herring boxes without topses,
Sandals were for Clementine.

Walking lightly as a fairy,
Though her shoes were number nine,
Sometimes tripping, lightly skipping,
Lovely girl, my Clementine.

Drove she ducklings to the water
Ev'ry morning just at nine,
Hit her foot against a splinter,
Fell into the foaming brine.

Ruby lips above the water,
Blowing bubbles soft and fine,
But alas, I was no swimmer,
Neither was my Clementine.

In a churchyard near the canyon,
Where the myrtle doth entwine,
There grow rosies and some posies,
Fertilized by Clementine.

Then, the miner, forty-niner,
Soon began to fret and pine,
Thought he oughter join his daughter,
So he's now with Clementine.

I'm so lonely, lost without her,
Wish I'd had a fishing line,
Which I might have cast about her,
Might have saved my Clementine.

In my dreams she still doth haunt me,
Robed in garments soaked with brine,
Then she rises from the waters,
And I kiss my Clementine.

Listen fellers, heed the warning
Of this tragic tale of mine,
Artificial respiration
Could have saved my Clementine.

How I missed her, how I missed her,
How I missed my Clementine,
Til I kissed her little sister,
And forgot my Clementine.

Drawn with black Micron pen, Prismacolor markers, & colored pencils. Lemon picture has stickers and collage paper too.

6 comments:

Ali said...

I never heared the whole song - didn't know it was so subversive!! Lovely art (as usual) - I like your pictures with writing style very much.

Anastasia said...

You draw so beautifully - wonderful fruit and segments!
thanks for the lyrics too!
I hope you are having fun - sounds like it!

S'mee said...

Absolutely my vote for best post of the day!

Love the illustrations, both, yummy!

Anonymous said...

Wonderful drawings! I love the added text.

nuttnbunny said...

Sublime clementine!!!

Amy Zaleski said...

I absolutely love the fruit!! Including that gorgeous pineapple. The white accents give the fruit lots of dimension and the lettering is such a fun addition. Great work!!