Diversion #1 (A Flight of Fancy)

August 11, 2008

I’ve had a little time off of my book schedule this past month to enjoy the summer weather. This has been great for several reasons:

1. I get to spend some fun time with Ang and Sophia.
2. I get the time to properly upgrade from my old ’03 G5 Mac to the latest PowerPC.
3. I get to recharge my creative energy for the coming projects.

Part of that creative recharging (for me) involves taking on small, one-off, odd jobs to act as diversions where I can explore ideas I may not otherwise do in the books that I create. Of course, I am a firm believer that everything we act upon and experience effects our lives and what we do, and so I feel these exercises are good for me creatively as I continue forward on my artistic journey.

“Diversion #1” was an interview and article for PrivatAir magazine. This mag is for (you guessed it) pilots and owners of private aircraft, but they have a great little section, called “Sketchpad”, where they ask an artist to render their idea of a dream jet – Growing up with a dad who works for Pratt & Whitney aircraft (which involved going to air shows and making all sorts of model jets and fighter planes as a kid), well…how could I refuse?

So, I thought of a couple of things: If I were a person in the income bracket who could afford a private plane, well I would probably have a few fancy cars as well. In particular, antique, hard-to-get, beautifully crafted cars – you know, the kind you see on television where the gazillionaire has a fleet of these automobiles in his/her giant garage.

So, I looked at old Rolls-Royces from the 1920’s and 30’s – in particular the “New Phantom” series. The lines and the dual-color paintjob got me all giddy, so off I went to design my dream jet with all sorts of Rolls-Royce fanciness. Heck, it even has a skylight!

BTW, the latest issue of PrivateAir (Aug/Sept. ‘08), with my jet design, “The Sophia Marie”, is available now in newsstands…more summer diversions to follow…