Recently finished: 'Saturday'

I was asked to create another cover for the latest sine cera, a local literary magazine. Here's a sneak peek of the front. The background image was used with permission, copyright Ard Hesselink of the Netherlands. You can see his original photo here.

Acrylic on paper + digital collage

And here's the original:

For Sale: Sine Cera Anthology

I was recently commissioned by the SLCC Community Writing Center (CWC) to create cover art for their latest anthology and ad campaign. The anthology has been published, and these are the final results:

The CWC is the first non-academic writing center in the United States. It is a non-profit organization that offers a variety of free and low-cost programs to the public, including writing groups, writing coaching, and workshops. The Sine Cera anthology is a compilation of writing from a variety of CWC writing groups, and proceeds from sales help support the efforts of the CWC.

You can visit the Community Writing Center website here. The 2007 Sine Cera features the work of twenty-four writers, including non-fiction, creative non-fiction, and fiction. Below is an excerpt from this years anthology:

"Peg, my old terrier, walked stiffly out of the yard to greet me as I approached. I scooped her up in my arms and told her sadly, "She's gone, old girl. Sarah is gone."

Peg let out a "woof" and struggled to get down when she heard Sarah's name. I sat her back down on the sidewalk and watched as she looked for our Sarah. Finally she whined, disappointed, and followed me toward the house. I tiredly opened the door and entered the house to sit in my old recliner. Now I wept; now that no man could see me in my sorrow, the tears came in great racking sobs. Peg whimpered her sympathy as she tried to comfort me. Finally the tears slowed, then stopped.

I remembered how it had been those twenty-some years ago when I held her close and vowed, "Sarah May, I love you so much I'm going to explode."

She hugged hard and whispered, "Me too. Let's go back inside before we get foolish." We had engaged in a little petting and quit after one near mishap. We both vowed to wait for marriage, our marriage, because we wanted things done "just right".

"About now, I'm ready to get foolish as hell," I told her. She laughed and dragged me back inside so we could dance another slow dance together. It was the night of the senior prom and we guys all wore our dress suits and the girls were turned out in their formal best or party dresses. It was a magical night for the both of us--sadly, our last for all too many years."

--Tommy Bird
75 years old, contributor to the Sine Cera Anthology 2007

Purchase your copy of Sine Cera: Two Old Guys From Brooklyn, and lend your support to the Community Writing Center. It's a wonderful organization, and all contributions are extremely appreciated.



Sine Cera 2007
$8.00