As I mentioned in my last post my book Alphapets by Clancy has been such a hit at Storyberries.com that they want a sequel – and my fans do also! So this week I’ve begun Alphapets Too.

For several days I looked for popular house pets that are not cats or dogs. I made a list of over 26 kinds of pets: parakeets, hedgehogs, hamsters, gerbils, rabbits, turtles, lizards…and so forth. I didn’t realize there were so many house pet options! Here’s a photo of me doing some of this research work – with the help of my dachshund.

As I saw images of hedgehogs, turtles, newts, frogs, gerbils and such I practiced drawing the animals in my sketchbook. I just drew the animals and had fun with them in my sketchbook – merging the animal drawing practice with whatever thoughts I was having at the moment. I regularly post my sketchbook pages on my Instagram page (@artistclancy).

Also in short bursts over several days I wrote a new poem for Alphapets Too. I write in longhand on a legal pad with a fountain pen. Typically I sit in my dining room near a collection of books on writing and several dictionaries. I view this as play-time and since I’m just writing drafts I take nothing seriously. It’s all play. So I make sure to have a fun beverage at hand. Milk and cookies. Coffee or tea. Or as in one of the photos below a yummy steaming hot mug of “lemony lucious luck”.

To make “Lemony Lucious Luck” heat water in a tea kettle, cut 2 to 3 generous slices of a fresh lemon and remove the seeds. Put the lemon slices in a mug. Put a bit of honey onto the lemon. Pour hot water over all. Let it steep a bit and enjoy!

That’s my creative process in a 12 ounce mug-size description.

Also this week I varnished all of the original artwork for Alphapets and delivered the art to the Aurora Gallery for framing and exhibition. Since the coronavirus pandemic is what it is, the delivery-to-the-gallery process was very different. In addition to wearing a mask it was arranged that I would leave the art just inside the gallery door, holler that I was there and then go home. Details about the framing and exhibition were arranged via phone and text.

Since all of the Alphapets artwork is small – 3.5 x 2.5 inches – all 26 pieces fit into a box that fit into a gallon size zip bag. It was rainy the day I delivered the art so I put the box in the plastic. Having everything in one box made the art delivery easy.

Due to the novel coronavirus the exhibit will likely be online only and will be on the Aurora Gallery social media pages – https://auroragalleryonline.com – All of this is very different – but quite doable! Here’s some photos of me spray varnishing and then, days later after the varnish was dry, delivering the Alphapets…

Its been a busy week. As mentioned in my last post I hoped to start creating the new artwork for Alphapets Too. That didn’t get as far along as I’d hoped. Ah well. Something to look forward to posting about next Monday!

Hope to see you then!

Here’s the link to both print and ebook forms of “Alphapets by Clancy”

Thanks again for reading and riding this ride with me!