This is a catch-up post as it’s been a busy week and Michael had his final year dance last night. Parents were invited to a dance cocktail event, so it was a busy day.
When I was a girl, charm bracelets were the fashion. Every girl had one and the accumulation of charms for the bracelet was competitive. I was not a girly girl and my ambition at the time was to race BMX bicycles with the boys. I never asked for a charm bracelet. My mother clearly thought I should take more of an interest in the girls’ activities, and she presented me with a silver charm bracelet for my 10th birthday. Insightful woman that she was, my first charm was a small bicycle, perfect in every way. It even had tiny pedals and a bicycle stand. Having always been enchanted with light, the silver bracelet did please me and I did ask for new charms for a few years. The charm that delighted me the most was a small boot – sounds ordinary, but it wasn’t. The boot opened up and inside were the old woman and some of her children. This was my favourite charm. It still is as I still have this charm bracelet after all these years. I don’t have my BMX bicycle, however, so mom was right.
The first photograph is of sunrise over Tokyo from our hotel room. This was taken through glass.
The following photographs were all taken at Madikwe when we stayed at Thakadu Bush Camp.
Picture caption: a very muddy Cape buffalo in the early morningPicture caption: I love this picture of the muddy buffalo in the morning light. The reflection off his muddy torso is amazing. Picture caption: sunrise in the bushveld
Freya is a huge supporter of the poetry community here on WordPress and hosts a biannual haiku challenge which will be opening for submissions soon. Freya also has a marvelous collection of poetry and fantasy books which you can find here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Freya-Pickard/author/B086XFHF9L
Today, I am delighted to introduce you to Dwight Roth and his beautiful artworks. Dwight has also recently made the most marvelous electric guitar. Below he shares the significant steps of his creation process.
Thank you, Dwight, for this wonderful article.
Welcome Dwight
First of all I would like to thank Robbie for taking the time to honor me with this interview.
Tell us a bit about your art journey – when did you start drawing and painting? Is it a hobby or did you study art and use it in your working life?
I am a self-taught painter. I learned many of my painting skills from watching Bob Ross and other painters on PBS television. I did a hand full of paintings when I first got married, but did not get into painting regularly until I retired in 2012.
What is your favourite medium to work with from a painting point of view?
I started painting with oils, later using acrylics, and now I am experimenting with watercolors. Acrylics seem to work best for me, since they dry fast and I can go back and cover my mistakes or change what I don’t like. I really like watercolors, but they are very unforgiving once color touches the paper.
What are your favourite artworks – include as many as you want with any information about them and a poem if you have one.
My first major painting was done back in the 1970s in oil. It was of my mother’s home farm in central Pennsylvania. As a teenager, I worked there five summers for my uncle.
A year or two after I started painting regularly, a neighbor down the street stopped by and asked me if I would do a mural of Hobbiton Shire on their garage wall. Her husband was a big fan of Lord of the Rings so she wanted to surprise him. It was a big undertaking, but I sketched out what I thought would work and they approved it. Painting on such a big space was great fun!
I love steam trains, and so I have made an attempt to try painting them. This is one I did for an artist evening on the street in Waxhaw, NC. It is of a coal train coming through the mountains. My grandson came by and helped me get started. I have given this one to him.
I usually paint for myself, so I tend to get emotionally attached to many of my paintings. Here are a few that I really like.
Picture caption: My Grandpa Roth’s Farm
Picture caption: My wife, Ruth
Picture caption: Mountain Meadow
Picture caption: Tears of the Moon
Picture caption: The Catch
Picture caption: Ponte Alexander iii bridge in Paris – made from a small black and white found in a desk drawer at Habitat Restore. My blogging friend Lisa (li-jade) bought this one.
Picture caption: Bringing in the Wood
Picture caption: My Harmony Guitar
Picture caption: Piercing the Darkness – my Christmas painting
Picture caption: Blue Moon Rising
Who is your favourite artist and why? Include a picture of one of their works
It is very hard to pick just one artist. I am drawn to the works of Vincent Van Gough and especially the Stary Night painting which we are all familiar with. I also like the Water Lilies of Monet as well. They both have a very impressionistic style that is fascinating to me. Their understanding of Nature came through in their work.
Tell us a bit about your handcrafts? I am especially interested in the guitar you have created. Please share a little about that project and a photograph or two.
I have always creating things with my hands. Even as a child I enjoyed DIY projects. Just before Covid-19 I became fascinated with Cigar Box Guitars that I saw on You Tube. Having played the guitar for many years, this seemed like something I wanted to try.
I always like trying something different, so I started off trying to make them using hardshell plastic cases that tools came in. I made a Sawzall two-string bass, and then moved on to guitars made with a router box and paint can lid for the resonator. I used DeWalt drill cases, a chair seat from the Restore, and even made a bass from a Satellite dish that I took off my house Roof. I used a little stick-on pick-up from amazon to help me hear the sound better.
These were all pretty crude instruments and played, but were not that great of a sound. A few weeks ago I decided to try making a solid body electric guitar. Using some wide 12-inch bed boards from the Habitat Restore, I was able to cut out one board with my jigsaw that had holes for the preloaded pick up from Amazon. Then I cut out a second piece exactly the same without the holes and glued the two together.
Using my table saw blade, I was able to carve and shape the body like many electric guitars. With the belt sander I sanded out the rough saw cuts and get it smooth. I made a neck out of the same wood and painted it with rust-oleum spray paint and some left over pearl red from my truck painting. I coated that with a can of 2K eurethane clear. It came out amazingly well.
Being homemade, it is not perfect. I worked on getting the intonation correct and it plays and picks up very well. I am happy with it.
Dwight Roth grew up in Southwestern Pennsylvania. He taught elementary school in Eastern North Carolina before retiring after 29 years. Now he lives with his wife Ruth near Monroe, NC, and spends his time painting and writing. He has self-published several books that are found on Amazon Kindle. He is also published in past Old Mountain Press Anthologies. A book of poems called Ebb and Flow and a children’s book on Alzheimer’s called Grandpa Has Holes in His Head are his latest creations. Ebb and Flow is only available in hard copy from the author at dwru27@aol.com
Picture caption: Cover of The Power of Three depicting three young men facing a house with a ghostly female figure rising from the roof with menacing yellow eyes.
What Amazon says
“Polen weaves an imaginative paranormal tale brimming with engaging characters, thrilling action, and well-crafted suspense. Perfect for fans of Supernatural and Grimm, The Power of Three will keep you on the edge of your seat until you turn the final page.” –Jane McGarry, fantasy author
Yesterday, a curse. Today, an inheritance. Tomorrow…may never come.
Beck Teller’s family bounced from one rental to another his entire life. When his father inherits an ancestral home, he and his siblings are thrilled to finally settle down, especially somewhere his family has roots. And those roots run deep—right to the on-site family cemetery where tombstone dates prove too many members met untimely fates.
When Beck and his two brothers begin experiencing inexplicable things, they grasp for practical explanations. Then their little sister gets a warning from beyond the grave, and the time for rationalizing is over. They pledge to protect their family and set out to identify the source of the danger and a means to defeat it.
They never expected to discover their house is haunted by a vengeful spirit who has vowed to destroy every descendant in the Teller line.
Centuries earlier, three Teller brothers battled the evil entity. Since then, her wrath has caused generations of suffering and untimely deaths. Now, three more Teller brothers will stand against this wicked being. But this time, the curse must be broken. If they win the final fight, they’ll banish the malevolent force forever. But if they lose, their family line ends…and they unleash hell on Earth.
My review
I really enjoyed this fast paced and interesting supernatural mystery story by Teri Polen. I have read other books by this author, all of which were terrific reads, but this one really absorbed and enthralled me.
Life has been a financial struggle for the Teller parents who have always rented a house, lived hand-to-mouth, and battled to pay the bills and keep their three sons in school. Their relationship was going through a rocky patch when Harper, a fourth late child, was born. Harper nearly died at birth and the Teller family all drew together to help her fight for survival. She is now the glue that holds the family together and her three older brothers and parents adore her.
The family’s luck appears to have changed when Mr. Teller learns that, as the last surviving Teller, he has inherited the mansion-styled ancestral Teller home. Thrilled, the family move into their new home, spirits and hope high. You never know whether an event is for the good or bad in life though and each of the three brothers quickly starts experiencing strange and unpleasant sensations and noises. After discovering the family graveyard, packed with the remains of Tellers, many of whom died very young and often within quick succession of other immediate family members, and some revealing equipment and books about the family’s history, the three brothers realise there is something very wrong with the house. They are slowly drawn into the drama of the greater Teller family’s past.
The author’s depictions of the three adolescent boys and their relationships with each other and their parents were realistic and enjoyable. The humour in day-to-day interactions, love interests, and the competitiveness between siblings is a great tool to lighten the darkness of the storyline from time to time. The devotion of the three brothers to their younger sister was heartwarming and an enjoyable addition to the book.
The introduction of the various ghosts and the supernatural elements in the novel are well done and quite believable. I had to read carefully to ensure I picked up all the scattered foreshadowing and hints at what was to come. There are a number of threads that all tie together neatly at the end in a satisfying way.
With its modern approach to romantic relationships and life for young people, this book is perfect for a young adult audience and the story is sufficiently complex and compelling to be enjoyed by a more mature and experienced reading audience too.
Picture caption: Grey heron at dawnPicture caption: Buffalo at dawn at the watering holePicture caption: watering hole at dawnPicture caption: grey heron on the lake at dawnPicture caption: Giraffe mother and baby at dawnPicture caption: A herd of buffalo at dawn
While in Bruxelles, we went on a chocolate tour and this is where I learned about a few of the chocolatiers and distributors of Belgian chocolate. These are a few of my photographs.
Picture caption: Les Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert Galerie (this is the covered mall in Bruxelles)
The chocolate tour started at the Les Galeries Royales, a covered mall in Bruxelles. It is a very upmarket mall that was originally for the royals and their friends only.
Picture caption: Another photograph of the undercover mall. It is very beautiful. You can see the many doors along the corridorPicture caption: Front window of Leonidas, the first chocolate shop we visitedPicture caption: Front window of Neuhaus which calls itself the inventors (of pralines)Picture caption: This is a doors challenge, so here is the door into NeuhausPicture caption: A chocolate bust of Jean Neuhaus Jnr and an example of Neuhaus chocolatesPicture caption: Window of Mary’s, a chocolatier started by a woman which makes it unusual as it was at a time when women did not own businessesPicture caption: TC going through the door of BS40. This chocolatier is different as it is owned by a Japanese couple and has a distinctly Japanese flavour to its productsPicture caption: This is the door to the Atelier Sainte Catherine. This is the only one of the chocolatiers we visited that makes its chocolate on the premises in a factory at the back. I liked that aspect.
By the time I was eleven years old, I had accumulated a large personal collection of books, ranging from children’s picture books to adult novels. Some of these books were birthday and Christmas gifts accumulated over my short life, others had been purchased at school and church fund raising fetes. I had quickly learned that book stalls at fetes were a fantastic place for me to acquire any book I wanted, regardless of suitability for a young girl. Volunteers barely glanced at my piles of books as they mechanically removed the price tags and totted up the total due. I always had a few bags on hand to stuff them into as quickly as possible. I managed to acquire a few gems like Lace, Princess Daisy, and various Dean R Koontz and Stephen King novels. I remember one book about a ship lost in the Bermuda Triangle that gave me nightmares for weeks.
Friends and my three younger sisters, regularly asked to borrow my books. This seemed like a reasonable request, but I needed to keep track of who borrowed which book. Inspiration hit and I decided to create my own library. I spent several weeks making card sleeves and cards for every book I owned. At that time, it was a few hundred as opposed to the few (three) thousand I now own in a physical form.
The day came when my library was ready, and I invited friends over to borrow books. They filled their names and the date on the beautiful blank cards and took my books away. Sadly, many came back damaged by bending or water stains and some never came back at all. This poor treatment of my most treasured possessions sadly shook my faith in humanity and I closed my library. I have never again loaned out a book that I wanted to keep. If I lend anyone a book it is technically a gift as I don’t want the post reading damaged goods returned to me. This was a life lesson I have never forgotten.
Water stained
Broken and battered
Veterans
Of neglect
And blatant indifference
Life lesson soon learned
Picture caption: This is my original copy of Tom SawyerPicture caption: This book, Tom Sawyer, still has the sleeve and card I made for my library inside it
Picture caption: WordCrafter Book Blog Tour Banner
Welcome to Day 4 of the WordCrafter Shadow Blade Book Blog Tour. We want to thank Robbie Cheadle at Roberta Writes for hosting this stop and helping to support the re-release of this wonderful fantasy adventure. First released through WordFire Press, WordCrafter Press is proud to release this second edition with a free original prequel book from the same Denari Lai series, Baiting the Hook, never before published, in the back matter when you buy the book. And on this stop , we have for you an excerpt from Baiting the Hook, read by the talented Jeff Bowels.
Give Away
If you follow the tour and leave a comment at each stop to let us know you were there or share your thoughts about the book, you can win a free copy of Shadow Blade. We’re giving away three digital copies of the book, and one lucky winner will receive a print copy of the book signed by author Chris Barili. Each stop you comment on earns you an entry into the random drawing, and the winners will be announced on Writing to be Read in the “WordCrafter News” post on July 27.
Tour Schedule
July 20-25, 2025
Monday, July 21: Writing to be Read- Book Trailer
Tuesday, July 22: Robbie’s Inspiration – Guest post
Wednesday July 23: Undawnted – Interview with Chris Barili
Thursday, July 24:Roberta Writes – Reading Excerpt from Baiting the Hook, narrated by Jeff Bowles
Friday, July 25: Writing to be Read – Live appearance by Chris Barili
About Shadow Blade
Picture caption: Book cover of Shadow Blade featuring an ornate blade in a picture frame
Ashai Larish is an assassin from the brutal Denari Lai order. Religious zealots, Denari Lai are kept loyal through an addiction to the same magic that makes them unstoppable. They have become the primary weapon for the nation of Nishi’iti, and in a hundred years, they have never failed.
Until now. Ashai must kill Pushtani King Abadas Damar and his daughter/heir, Makari. He infiltrates the king’s inner circle, putting him in the perfect place to strike, with only Captain Bauti of the Royal Guard at all suspicious of Ashai’s intent.
Except Ashai has fallen for Makari and cannot complete the hit. When a second Denari Lai kills the King, Ashai finds himself fighting for Makari’s life instead of taking it. To make matters worse, the order cuts him off from his magic, leaving him weakened and in withdrawal.
Meanwhile, far north in the Pushtani mines that border Nishi’iti, a slave named Pachat learns that his love, a hand slave to Makari, died at the hands of a Denari Lai assassin. His grief ignites a slave rebellion, and Pachat becomes the unwilling leader of the revolt. Urged on by Nishi’iti guerrillas, the rebellion sweeps across the borderlands, threatening to erupt into all-out war. Yet all Pachat wants is to avenge his beloved’s death by killing the assassin, so he walks away from the rebellion to seek when it needs him most.
As Pachat makes off for the capital of Dar Tallus, Ashai is forced to rely on that city’s organized crime gang to hide from the second assassin, and from Bauti’s guards. Despite his best efforts to hide it, Makari discovers Ashai’s true identity, and suddenly, he finds himself without her love, without his faith, and without the Denari Lai. At rock bottom, he doubts he can do anything but cause more damage.
Can Ashai kill the second assassin and win back Makari’s love? Will Pachat gain the revenge he so lustily seeks?
As I mentioned, the WordCrafter edition of Shadow Blade comes with a link in the back matter for a free copy of the prolog book, Baiting the Hook. We have a real treat for you today, with the reading of an excerpt from that story, read by Jeff Bowles.
About Author Chris Barili
Picture caption: Author photograph of Chris Barili
Currently oppressed by his day job, Chris has set sights on retiring after 42 years in the Intelligence Community and writing full-time. Chris Barili writes all kinds of stories, and has published fantasy, science fiction, horror, western, paranormal romance, and most recently crime, with a noir story in the inaugural print edition of Toe Six Magazine. He is author of the self-published, weird western Hell’s Butcher series, and also writes under the pen names B.T. Clearwater (Supernatural romance) and T.C. Barlow (western). Chris is a retired intelligence officer, having served over 45 years between active duty, contractor, and government employee roles. He lives in Colorado with his wife.
This month for my In Touch With Nature post I have considered the poaching of southern white rhinos. This post does not include any graphic details but is more a discussion about the reasons for the rapid decline in the white rhino population and steps being taken to resolve this crisis.
You have a great talent for drawing figurines and portraits. What attracts you to this particular subject matter?
This begins with my background in fashion design. The college course I took was in Design and Technology, not illustration. However, a tiny part of the course was dedicated to fashion illustration.
During my time in film, I utilized drawing to explain to directors what I was up to. The drawings were only okay, but they got the design across.
It was blog pal, Holly (House of Heart), who got me drawing fictitious characters for fun, via gagging around in comments.
It started with Boogapony Holly, a character who did a Go-Go dance in front of street art and graffiti, then became a new age Love Child.
Above: Boogapony as a Love Child by the Golden Gate Bridge.
From there, Holly and I created a Super Hero – Princess Blue Holly. Drawing had become a lot of fun at this point.
Above – First Princess Blue Holly drawing – 2019 and More recently PBH dominates an evil puppet. PBH changes outfits for each “Gowntoon” mission. Then I began drawing Art Gowns on some blog pals, to become part of the stories.
Above: Models Holly (as RR) Shey and Dale
Above Models – Holly, Gigi and Marina
Do you have a particular method you use for drawing figures? Do you start with any particular body part? Do you complete the outline of the entire figure and then add the details?
Yes!
I start with an oval for the head. Then, it’s the gesture. I do a few swooping lines to capture how the body feels as it poses.
If the feeling is cool, then I do a few lines for shoulders, bust, waist, hips and feet.
If I haven’t ruined the feeling of the gesture a this point, I continue with details. If I lose the feel, I usually stop.
You clothe many of your figures in intricate and detailed dresses, some of which are period designs. How do you go about researching clothing from particular period? I have tried to research clothing for both men and women from varying time periods and have found it quite difficult to get good details and pictures.
So, the study of Fashion Design & Technology included “Fashion History”. So, how did they get the clothes to look like that, in any era? Well, that’s where the technology comes in.
Example: The Renaissance – pattern cutting was not a thing, clothes were draped. So, we learn about “how” they made clothes fit. Lacing up a square over a flowy under piece makes something fit. A corset is laced to make you fit it. The idea of a cup to fit a breast did not come about until the early 20th century.
Many types of pleats, gathers, tucks, etc. were use to make clothes drape over/fit body shapes. With the advent of patterns in the 1800’s, came darts to make clothing fit.
Once the newly formed middle class Victorians got their hands on patterns, they used the patterns over and over. That, along with the invention of the sewing machine, gave them time to go wild with embellishments: embroidery, trapunto, ruffles, flounces, beading, dying, appliqué, etc. Sure, all that was around before, but it was for the rich, only.
Above: Rebeca Budd (Art Gowns’ Gowntoons Art Director & Holly as RR, in Victorian outfits.
Also, Victorian times saw the advent of synthetic dyes, creating eras of popular colours going forth. Until then dyes were naturally derived from mollusk shells, beets, onion skins and various other plants and lifeforms.
Point is when you understand all of this, you can look at a painting from any era and know how they constructed that garment, therefore you can draw it. You can also design and draw whatever you want, from any era.
Portraits
Above: Jim Morrison
I start with a photo of the person, and crop off the head to what I want. I print that out on 8 x10 paper. I draw crosshairs through the photo of the face. I do the same on a page of 11 x 14 drawing paper.
I begin where the crosshairs meet. That is usually where an eye, between the eyes or top of the bridge of the nose is, and rough that in. From there I rough in the rest of the eyes, brows, nose, top of head, lips and chin. I tried using a grid, but that never works for me. I lose the feel of the face, the expression. Without feel the portrait does not become the person.
Then it’s a series of refinements.
Above: Gloria Steinem pencil drawing, photographed with & without & a warm filter. Most of my portraits are all lead pencil. I use a full range of leads, smudging sticks, facial tissue and various erasers. I did Janis Joplin with water colour pencils, as her days in pop music were a colourful period.
Below is my first full figure portrait. Tina Turner – Pencil sketch photographed & then edited on basic Mac Photos that comes with the laptop.
Does a particular subject matter call to you when you get an idea or see something you want to draw? I find that certain pictures really attract me as an artist and I really want to draw and paint them. Not all ideas attract me as strongly and I only proceed with the projects that call the loudest.
Definitely, I am inspired by various things. The Art Gowns Models or Boogapony drawings are inspired by ideas Holly and I toss around. IE: What would they wear in Miami? Or if they were movie stars in the 1940’s.
When I saw the Tissot exhibit at the AGO, I was wildly inspired to do faux Tissot style Victorian gowns.
Pop culture figures inspire me. Imagining characters from books inspires me.
Above from left to right: Sam from John W. Howell’s Eternal Road series — Lady Kara from Shehanne Moore’s book His Judas Bride — Estelle from Roberta Eaton Cheadle’s book A Ghost and his Gold — Catling (as a teen & with her tattoos) from D. Wallace Peach’s book Catling’s Bane (the Rose Shield series).
Right now I’m working on some drawings inspired by a series of poems Holly writes called – The Sad Café. This will be the second collection. In this collection I expand into full scene drawing.
Melissa’s d’Verse prompt is to write a poem about sharks. I just happen to have come across sharks twice on my recent travels. Once in the Dubai Mall where Michael and I visited the wonderful aquarium and one the plane when I re-watched Jaws. The movie that put me off swimming alone for ever and ever. You can join in here: https://dversepoets.com/2025/07/15/ode-to-a-shark/
Jaws, the movie
Out of the corner
of my eye
I saw it
The great shark
stealthily approaching
a spray of blood
dismembered leg floating
down, down, towards the ocean bed
I swung my head
toward Mike’s small screen
He was watching Jaws
Jaws! The movie that scared
a whole generation
the reason I won’t swim at night
not alone, not in a crowd
The movie that traumatised me
and changed my view of the ocean
So, of course, I had to watch it
and now, I am retraumatised
for the rest of my life
Thursday Doors
These are a few pictures of doors from my visit to Dubai. It was only for one day, so we only visited Dubai Mall and the aquarium, which was very nice. You can join in Thursday Doors here: https://nofacilities.com/2025/07/17/shop-doors-part-1
Picture caption: Entrance to the hotel in Dubai City. It was a lovely hotel and well priced compared to Europe.Picture caption: Entrance to the Rocky Shore exhibit in the Dubai Mall aquariumPicture caption: Sea anenomePicture caption: Jelly fish tank
The following three photographs are of the sharks in the tank. Sometimes they attack and eat the other fish. That’s sharks for you.
roberta-writes.com 