Carefree Artist: August 2020

8/17/20

Monsoon Beetle

Palo Verde Root Borer (Derobrachus hovorei)
From my Little Things of Nature Portfolio -- Sketches Afield.
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Know nature. Learn to be still.

It looks scary, but the sight of this beetle is a welcome sight to many of us Arizona natives because it usually means that the summer monsoon and the chance for a thunderstorm or two has finally arrived. When summer moisture makes its way to the desert, this clumsy flier — usually about 3 to 3.5 inches long — takes wing after spending three or more years in its larval or grub stage to find a mate.

They are harmless to people and pets in spite of their frightening appearance.

More from my Little Things of Nature Portfolio:

8/1/20

Scrappy Desert Rabbit

Taking a break in the shade of a brittlebush.
From my Little Things of Nature Portfolio -- Sketches Afield.

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Know nature. Learn to be still.

Meet Scrappy, a frequent visitor to our desert backyard and mother of a couple of recent additions to the neighborhood. The rumpled and pierced ear make her easily identifiable.

Update: 1/24/23, I created a coloring page and wrote a short piece about how Scrappy became sort of a mascot for my late wife while she was undergoing cancer treatment.

A Small, Inspiring Bushy-Tailed Visitor as a Distraction From Cancer

More from my Little Things of Nature Portfolio:

About this blog/art journal...

The Carefree Artist is about my artistic endeavors and adventures as a professional freelance creative. Posts might feature a cartoon, or a recently published illustration from a book or magazine assignment, or an original piece of art that I might be selling to try and raise funds for my art supply donation project. All with an emphasis on originality.

Why did I name this journal the Carefree Artist*? Actually, it’s really just a wishful sentiment. A professional life in the arts, mine included, is usually anything but carefree. But oh, how wonderful it would be to really be a carefree artist! Living the simple life in a quiet and inspiring location and creating a ton of art just for art's sake!

The name was also inspired by the Carefree Highway. A road that played an important role in my life... More about this journal's name at the bottom of this page.

Please see my website, MARKiX.net, for more info and more samples of my work.

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A Note from the Artist...

As you look around this blog you can’t help but notice a distinct change in the artwork and the tone of the content over the past few years. There’s a good reason for this -- being a cancer caregiver and then the death of my wife due to hereditary cancer. A cancer that was preventable.

I never wanted this blog to be a place where I unloaded anger and sadness because of cancer and grief. I had other plans, more lighthearted and whimsical. But when you have the love of your life take their last breath in your arms because vital genetic info was not shared, it changes everything.

So, I have chosen to use my humble little corner of the world to speak up about hereditary cancer awareness and the unbearable heartache of the untimely loss of a loved one.


	Art, Desert Beginnings, and Someday


	Delicate Sounds of Nature


	First (and Last) Contact


	Drawing Science


	Award-winning Junior Ranger Book


	La Fiesta, NOT Tijuana


	Depressed Post-Impressionist Not Impressed


	A Bad Head Day


	Meet Dusty Pack

8/26/20

Pabulum for Thought Repost

8/17/20

Monsoon Beetle

8/1/20

Scrappy Desert Rabbit

And no, I do not live in Carefree, Arizona. I live in Phoenix. Land values in Carefree are, unfortunately, not particularly friendly for those pursuing freelance artistic endeavors.