Swordwhale Walking: illustration, webcomic, stories, photojourneys, videos
  • launch here
  • art & stories
    • black horses
    • Sea Ponies of Chincoteague
    • Just Animals
    • playing with water
    • Tradigital illustration
    • environmental education >
      • Christmas Magic Mural 2020
      • animal alphabet and counting murals
      • Assateague ponies
      • the salamander room
      • more touch room ocean
      • more: touch room forest
      • wetland
      • wetland art
      • greenleaf
      • reptile week murals: Nixon Park
    • just animals: photography
    • Tales of the E.L.F. >
      • That Darn Elf, a musing or two
      • cast and crew
      • I dreamed of black horses
      • fanfiction: If Wishes Were Elves...
      • Skyfire
      • Leyover and Bardic Circle
      • Following Raven
      • The Merrow's Cap >
        • Merrows Cap credits
      • Manannan's Horses
      • Fins
      • fandom >
        • Radagast's Rabbit Ride
        • the Lone Ranger >
          • LOLs and Trolls
          • but wait, there's Moore, and Silverheels
          • Hi Yo Silver
        • black panthers and night furies
        • tales of Middle Earth >
          • Mirthwood
          • Loth-LOL-ien >
            • Im-LOL-dris
            • Smirkwood
            • well, that coulda' been worse
        • Sherlocked
        • catz and doges on fandom
        • Faithful Sidekicks
    • murals
    • scribblings
    • coloring pages
  • mermaid tales
    • Gramma Swordwhale's Mermaid Blog >
      • how to mermaid
      • merfolk on the Chesapeake
      • my life as a mermaid
    • privateers and pumpkins and ponies oh my!
    • stupid gravity (the adventures of a mermaid on Eastern Neck Is.) >
      • stupid gravity credits
    • stupid gravity: the search for sea glass >
      • stupid gravity: the search for sea glass: credits
    • Stupid Gravity: Misty Cloudy Windy Stormy Augh! >
      • Misty Stormy credits
    • Stupid Gravity: the search for mermaids
    • mermaids, Moana and Maui, beached on Christmas Eve
    • horseshoe crabs forever
    • stupid gravity: hot hot hot >
      • hot hot hot credits
  • Chincoteague
    • back to the islands 2021 >
      • Ponies 2021
    • identify that pony
    • chincoteague pony art
    • Fall Roundup Oct 2019
    • Chincoteague 2019
    • pookas pumpkins and swamp ponies
    • Chincoteague Carousel
    • Chincoteague November 2018
    • the 3rd Sea Voyage of Makenuk's Fin
    • wild horses and kayaks 2017
    • wild ponies in camp
    • North Beach
    • on island time
    • saltwater cowboys
    • Chincoteague
    • Christmas by the Sea
    • island ponies
    • Ace and Unci revolt
    • beached
    • running water in between
    • Assateague Light
    • the Haunted Lagoon
  • crafty stuff
    • photo your toys >
      • how to photograph Breyers in the wild
      • Lokigator and Throg's Epic Adventure
      • Sam and Bucky's Excellent Adventure
      • Mando and Grogu
      • paint and wet snow pants
      • Legolas and Hwin, snow
      • derps (or how not to photograph Breyers and others)
      • Wonder Horse repaint
      • wild Breyers >
        • printable prints and downloads
        • water horses
        • beach Breyers
        • Lotus Legolas and Arod
        • teeny tiny Breyers
        • backyard Breyers and Schleichs
        • vintage breyers
        • Hartland Horses
        • Black Horses
      • educational display
      • Schleich and Safari Faeries
      • North beached
      • more model horses
      • beach party
      • advenatureData
      • Finding Hank
      • Otterlock and Hedgejawn >
        • Hounded in Baskerville
      • how to photograph your dragon
    • Rich Toy hobby horse rehab
    • ModPodge rules
    • paint pours
    • flour salt clay
    • chalk paint
    • rock it: paint rocks and use or lose them
    • faerie gardens >
      • more faerie gardens
      • faerie festival at Spoutwood Farm
    • sea this tutu (and make)
    • I found Dory
    • knit me a mermaid, or chicken, or Hei Hei
    • sea treasures
    • sea glass
    • sea horses
    • rehabbing horse epic fail >
      • do you wanna build a snow pony?
      • do you wanna build a sand pony?
      • Barbie horse gets a makeover
    • mermaid saddles
    • Yule Laugh, Yule Cry... >
      • a Brandywine Christmas
    • Uncle Bob's Toys >
      • Uncle Bob's Toys 2016
      • more: Uncle Bob's Crafts
      • the Adventures of Mortimer
  • adventures
    • Go Play Outside
    • Nature Deficit Disorder
    • I heart Nature
    • autumn light
    • cats
    • mushing 101 >
      • dogs on wheels >
        • Autumn Run on Wheels
      • dogsled
      • dogsledding: running on snow! >
        • Groundhog Day
      • kids and dawgs: first sled run
      • Klondike Derby
      • Sled Dogs and Pirate Ships
      • Christmas Day Run: Rail Trail
      • Horses and Huskies: when predator and prey share the trail
      • Schipperke doo dah >
        • Runnin' with the Big Dogs
        • Hobbit Husky
      • women who run with the wolves
      • Play Time
      • wubba wubba
      • New Year's Dog Day
      • Team Swordwhale
    • trains, sleddogs, and horses oh my!
    • butterscotch and sprinkles
    • horses >
      • horse reference for art
      • ponies small but mighty
      • First Horse: Saraf
      • the Wild Black Mare
      • between thunder and lightning
      • Goliath, Nevada Mustang
      • Yataalii
    • Planet Water >
      • Planet fish tank
      • planet toadpool
      • Planet Pond
      • Planet Stream
      • Planet River
      • Planet Marsh
      • Planet Ocean
      • Planet Water Bird >
        • Planet Water Bird: gulls
      • Planet turtle
      • Planet water snake
      • planet amphibian
    • kayak! >
      • blue boat home
      • kayaking 101
      • kayaking Assateague and Chincoteague
      • how to train your dragonfly
      • Chasing Raven
      • the Susquehanna River >
        • the Rock Garden >
          • return to the Rock Garden
        • Conewago Dreamin'
        • the Conejehola Flats
        • Thunderbird Island (petroglyphs on the Susquehanna)
        • to the White Lady and Beyond
      • Calvert Cliffs fossils
      • Sassafras River Lotus Paddle >
        • Return to the Sassafras
        • sassafras river 2015
        • sassafras paddle 20160814
        • Sassafras River 2017
        • Sassafras river 2018
      • Eastern Neck Island >
        • winter marsh, winter beach
        • Eastern Neck Island: under the supermoon
        • more Eastern Neck Island
      • Pinchot Park
      • Lake Marburg >
        • where are the manatees?
        • ...and the dolphins???
        • macros and SAVs
        • Lake Marburg 2018
        • how to be a kayaking Gramma
    • beached
    • dive in! (SCUBA) >
      • Gourd of the Rings
    • mid Atlantic seashells
    • longship company >
      • December sail
      • Sae Hrafn at Oakley
    • pirates and privateers >
      • Sailing 101
      • Schooner Sultana 1768
      • Capt John Smith Shallop
      • Pride of Baltimore II
      • Kalmar Nyckel
      • downrigging 2010 >
        • Chestertown autumn
        • Downrigging Weekend 2014
        • Downrigging 2015
        • Downrigging 2016
        • Downrigging 2017
        • downrigging 2018: pink tardis
        • Downrigging 2019
      • privateer weekend
    • horseshoe crabs and red knots >
      • horseshoe crab spawn 2021
      • slaughter beach
      • horseshoe crabs and semipalmated sandpipers 2019
    • surfboards and watchtowers: Cape Henlopen >
      • beached
      • Watching Whales >
        • Watching Whales...again
    • Seadogs: Newfoundland water trials
    • wind hounds
    • wild things! >
      • baltimore aquarium
      • there's a hummer in the garage...ceiling ...
      • critter cam
      • sky walking
      • leaf-fall
    • The Adventures of the Good Ship Fearaf
    • the incredibly dead blog page
  • art class
    • framing 101
    • watercolor: how to
    • sip n paints
    • acrylic painting 101
    • wildlife art class
    • Santa, You're Doomed
    • (drawing) horses 101 >
      • horse color 101
      • gaits
      • ponies in motion
      • tack
      • Draw: a horse
    • dogs and wolves
    • go ahead, draw a pirate ship
    • anthropomorphism (cartoon animals and stuff)
    • the Little Kids Page of Big Ideas
    • mural: how to >
      • Gabriel's Whale
      • stuff you need
      • drawing (mural)
      • drawing mural 2
      • painting
      • mural jungle
      • mural bat cave
      • mural cats
      • mural ocean
      • mural arctic
      • mural leaf smacking
      • watershed mural
    • crayons and colored pencils
    • palettes
  • wait wait! let me get the camera!
  • who perpetrated all this???
    • swordbroad
This header photo is Marguerite Henry's fault. That's why I am sitting in a kayak in the Chincoteague Channel trying not to drop my camera into the drink while the World Famous Saltwater Cowboys swim the wild herd to Chincoteague in the annual wild pony roundup (Pony Penning) made famous in "Misty of Chincoteague" and other Marguerite Henry books. The rest of this is because of Zorro, and Roy Rogers, and the Lone Ranger, and Mike Nelson in Sea Hunt, and Mowgli and Bagheera, Tarzan, Flipper, Trek Wars, J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, Captain Jack Sparrow and Marvel Comics and many others whose stories inspired me to go out and make a few of my own.

​Go make some yourself.
artworks from days of yore...
A moment to remember the awesome art of Robin Wood (1953 - April 19, 2021)

Long ago in the 80s, I was a regular at local science fiction conventions. One of our circle of nerds was a fabulous artist named Robin Wood. At least a few times I sat, or jumped off picnic tables (Dragon Magazine Cover below) as a model for fantastic characters... click here: (Watcher in the Hills)


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Wood_(artist)​
Dragon Magazine cover #105 the aforementioned picnic table epic... ROBIN WOOD, ARTIST
Picture

​Pics from random adventures

click here for more bio info (and some fun tales from Middle Earth)

I draw from experience: in writing or illustrating, it helps to have felt the wind in your hair, the thunder of flying hooves of the whisper of running dog feet on snow, or the roll of the sea (or at least, the choppy waves of The Chesapeake) under your hull. I am a voracious reader (especially fantasy, and non-fiction: nature, biology, history). I love movies (epic adventure, sci-fi, fantasy, animation) and well done TV. 

I live with some feline voids, ponies and one old sled dog. I have trained actual wild mustangs, small teams of huskies, paddled my kayaks from creeks to river to marsh to sea, volunteered with wildlife rehabbers, and won an underwater tricycle race.

I hope my own stories, fiction or fact, illustrated or written, might inspire someone to have their own adventure, their own learning experience, and to reconnect with the world of wind, water, earth, and fire and other living things. That's why we're here.

Special thanks to Dave Tristan, Steve Carey, Becky Zinn, the Pride II crewmember who shot the pic of me at the helm, and others who committed these memories to film and digital.



Pics from the Dark Ages
(historical recreation in the 80s)

In Native North America it is said that orca and wolf are the same spirit wearing different shapes for land and sea...

In any place where there are seals, there are legends of the Seal Folk who take off their skins to walk on land in human form...

Storyteller/psychologist Clarrissa Pinkola Estes Ph.D.., in "Women Who Run With the Wolves" talks about the problem of losing your "sealskin/soulskin", and how faerie and folk tales teach us the answers...

Orca ("swordwhale" in parts of the world) looms large in the myths of the Northwest Coast, and there are stories of the whale folk who take off their fins to walk on land in human form. The fin becomes a boat...

 

blue boat home

Me in Mak-eh-nuk's Fin, St. Clements Bay, off the Potomac in MD.
That's Mak-eh-nuk's Fin, named for the legend you just read. This big blue boat has been my guide to various adventures, mostly in my own backyard. In a kayak, you can creep up quiet backwaters, or leap the waves where the water stretches to the horizon. Click on the pic for more on the song: Blue Boat Home. (pic by buddy Dave Tristan, shot from Sae Hrafn, Viking Longship of The Longship Company longshipco.org).

Some other names for orca: mak-eh-nuk (Kwakiutl), keet, skana, zvaardwalvis, swordwhale, (used in various places in Europe), agliuk (Aleut), niss'onkhgessyak, pictwhale, epaulard, kosatka drava, vaghund (hunting together like dogs), akan, grampus, svinka, innuatu, sadshi, repun kamui (master of the open sea)...and in Australia & New Zealand, just orcs. 

J.R.R. Tolkien got his name for the mutated villains of his tales from a completely different etymological source.

In the tales of J.R.R. Tolkien, the Elves, in the end, sail west to the Blessed Realm, leaving humans to their world of Middle Earth. In my tales, and illustrations, they are still here, disguised perhaps, but very much involved in teaching, making connections between humans and the rest of the Natural World. Bringing us back our sealskins, soulskins, our lost fins.


The various "fins":
  • big blue boat: Perception Sea Lion, 17.5'
  • blue: Wilderness Systems Cape Horn 15' aka The Tardis (sticker on bow)
  • bright green: 10' Lifetime Tahoma SOT (sit on top), good little pony boat
  • yellow: Ocean Kayaks Scupper Pro SOT 15' best SOT ever
  • turquoise: Necky Esky 16'
  • red: Eddyline Merlin 14'
  • ​mermaid fins by Fin Fun


A Brief history of My Time....

Environmental Educational Art: Displays for Nixon County Park...and others 

(all can be seen under the environmental Education section here on this site) 
​
https://www.swordwhale.com/environmental-education.html​

Trees: Leaf mural: oversized leaves of local species on wall with ID guide. Large size engages audience and draws them into appreciating and understanding the different shapes of leaves.

Salamanders: "Soil, It's not just dirt". Concept by NP naturalist, illustrations by me; cartoon salamanders to make concrete certain concepts of soil conservation.

Salamanders again: Illustrations for salamander display in new amphibian and reptile room. Life-sized Hellbender with "what makes it an amphibian" elements. Oversized cartoon salamander pointing the way into the "salamander burrow" (and kids can take their pics with "Sal"). Close to the ground mural, four amphibian environments, puzzle pieces of amphibians from those environments: smaller kids place frogs and salamanders and toads in correct places.

More Trees: Touch Room mural: Forest, with fox, owl, oriole and nest and other denizens of the deep green.

Ocean! Touch Room mural Ocean. Includes life-sized blue whale on 20' wall... perspective is my friend.
 
Watershed
project (under WREN Grant): mural of East Codorus Creek Watershed on wall above new water fountain.Educational display replacing old, purely decorative mural. Aerial landscape/map interpreted in a way that show's the water cycle and our impact on it. Maps and Photoshop roughs (and projecting the rough on the wall to paint) are useful.

Chipmunks: researched, written and illustrated on eleven feet of brown paper (laminated) to show (in particular children) the secret underground life of a chipmunk burrow.

The Bear facts: "How Does Your Paw Measure Up?" Concept by NP naturalist, bear paw illo on display glass barrier in main display room.
 
Raptor Red: full sized portable mural ("standee" of painted plywood) of a Utahraptor for Dinosaur Weekend. (Utahraptors are about the size of a horse). 

Wetland Mural: for touch room, various plants and creatures in a scene from a Pennsylvania wetland

Wetland Art: watercolors for a local watershed alliance

Christmas Magic Mural: 2020, 8 foot by 16 foot latex exterior house paint on plywood, woodland Santa with PA animals

Counting and Alphabet murals: Boetcher House in Lancaster PA has a nature based daycare, and needed some murals of an alphabet and one to ten counting with animals.

Art classes: wildlife sketching, watercolor for all ages.
 
Aaaaaand... 
Passport for 4000 (acres of) Hikes series. Identifying signs for native plants. Interpretive sign at Rocky Ridge Park. Illustrations of New Freedom Train Station and other points of interest. Props for Reptile Week and Dinosaur Weekend (lifesized portable murals). Wetlands posters for Envirothon.

Assateague Ponies: Photography and design (with input from other Pony Ladies) for educational signs



Random...

Cover art for Winterdance Dogsled Tours' "Iditarod Dreamer, A Rookie Team's Journey".

Art for local Siberian rescue

Art for non-profit website promoting animal welfare.

Photography for local educational farm.

Sketches (storyboards) for local screenwriter for use promoting her screenplay (privateers, War of 1812).

2009: Holiday card for Pride of Baltimore II, Baltimore's iconic tallship, a reproduction of the wicked swift and agile privateers of 1812. 

Life sized, portable, arctic animal murals for bibleschool program.

Scrivenings (fanfiction category: based on the works of JRR Tolkien): www.fanfiction.net and others. Nine stories posted to good reviews. several pickier websites asking to post stories. Nomination for several awards. I consider this practice for writing my own original story cycle.

Cover and interior illustrations for "Stardark Songs": a collection of poetry by well-published author Nancy Springer.

Illustrations for short story in Humpty Dumpty Magazine: "Where Do the Animals Go in the Winter?"

T-shirt designs for Dreams From Home, a cottage industry: consortium of artists based in Cranbury NJ.

Sales to Pendragon Gallery, Annapolis MD.

Paintings in the collections of several authors and artists: Nancy Springer, Real Musgrave, Gil Fitzgerald, Joan Vinge.



Gaming Art in the Dark Ages...

Cover illustration for "Dragon" Magazine (TSR: the gaming company who made the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons famous). Full color painting for magazine cover.

Illustration for Bill Fawcett of Mayfair Games. PO Box 48539 Niles IL 60648-0539. Gaming Company doing modules for fantasy role-playing games, did interior illos for the following: Shipwrecker, Deadly Power, Throne of Evil, Ice Elves, Elven Banner, Fantastic Treasures II, Monsters of Myth and Legend. Interior illustrations for "Quest for the Dragon's Eye" and "Quest for the Unicorn's Horn" by Bill Fawcett, choose your own adventure style books for young readers, published by Berkeley Books. 

Conventions
EveCon, Aberdeen MD. Artist Guest of Honor.
Novacon, Lancaster PA. Artist Guest of Honor.
Unicon, Silver Spring MD. Artist Guest of Honor.
Archon 7, Overland MO, Best Display, Best Original Concept (fan category).
Chicon IV, Chicago IL. World Science Fiction Convention. Art Show awards:Best Humor, Best Color (fan category).
Philcon 82, Berta
Philcon 81, science fiction convention honors: Berta Award (Best Exhibit, fan category.

 
York Academy of Arts, York PA.
​Majored in commercial art with illustration, photography,
fine art minors. 1974-1977



 







Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.