Self Portrait in the style of Aaron Douglas

In high school I did a report on James Weldon Johnson, a preacher who put a bunch of his sermons in his book God's Trombones. I love Johnson's style of preaching. He was a great storyteller, and he had a way of presenting biblical narratives in a contemporary and fresh manner that held me spellbound just reading them. At the time, I was intrigued by the illustrations in the book, but as my research was on the author, I didn't look into the illustrator.

In my drawing class while I was studying design a few years later, the assignment for our final was to pick an artist from a list supplied by our teacher. Aaron Douglas was on the list. I wasn't that familiar with him, but when I started to research him, I recognized the art from God's Trombones. 

Self Portrait
Steven Sauke
Marker, Pen, Sharpie on Paper

Part of the reason I was studying design was because I was pondering what to do with my life. (I'm still figuring out what I want to do when I grow up.) I've always loved art and design. As I pondered how to go about art in Aaron Douglas' style, I decided on a self portrait as his art involved silhouetted people. The palm tree represents my past in the Philippines. The Space Needle represents my present in Seattle. For years I have dreamed of living in France someday, so I put the Eiffel Tower in the middle to represent a possible future, as well as a nod to my study in France in 1999. I'm in the foreground wondering and praying, shrugging and looking up to heaven to ask God what His will is. None of Douglas' drawings that I saw featured someone wearing glasses (as the ones in God's Trombones depict characters in the Bible), but I was pretty happy with the way I adapted it. He did eyes the way they are above, but I extended the line farther back to approximately where the ears would appear, were it not a silhouette.

This art is my Google avatar, and I have also used it as a Facebook profile picture in the past. It was not my only foray into the styles of artists of the past, as I also painted Mt. Rainier in the style of Claude Monet, as we have seen. I have also used that painting as a cover photo on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

"I'm Tired"

This was inspired by my friend Tyler as he was helping me with my workout in early April 2013. (As of April 9 of that year, it was "last week.") They had big tires in the gym, and we were doing squats and other exercises on them. It occurred to me that I was tired out, and then I was amused by the irony of being tired next to tires...and I thought of a monster truck. Those trucks have huge tires (about the size of the ones they use in the gym), and they work them so hard. If they were alive, I'm sure they'd get tired on their tires. I guess, as they say, Tyler, see you in the funny pages!

Illustration
Steven Sauke
April 9, 2013

With Tyler, later in 2013
Photo by Ton Sridi

Days of Yore: Chores

"In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. You find the fun, and SNAP! The job's a game!" 

- Mary Poppins

Growing up, I had a list of chores that I had to check off every week. It was covered in clear plastic and I used a dry erase marker to check each one off as I did it. Once we had squared everything away, I could wipe it off and start a new week on the same sheet. How many chores I had done made a difference in how much allowance I got. Chores have never been my favorite thing, but they are a fact of life, and I have learned it's best at least to try to make them somewhat fun. How we do them has changed over the years, for some chores more than others.

Photo by Tomasz on Adobe Stock

Trash

Sorry for the trash talk. (couldn't resist) In the Philippines, I took the trash out to the back and burned it. It was interesting watching it burn, but I was not a fan of smelling like smoke when I was done. After we moved to another house, a garbage truck came around, so we didn't burn as much. We hadn't had that at previous houses. This garbage truck played the same tune loudly every time, so we knew it was coming and to bring the trash out. (I could still sing the tune for you, though I don't know what it's called.) Back in the US, we have taken the trash out and set it in front of the house for the garbage truck to pick up. Toward the end of his life, that was my dad's job. I wasn't a fan when I helped out, but I was surprised after losing him that I no longer mind it so much. Funny how losing someone you love and miss terribly changes your perspective on things. Prior to that, the only time I really enjoyed it was when I was in college and we took our trash out to the big dumpster that sat open. It was huge, and there was a platform with steps leading up to it. My roommate introduced me to cool garbage bags that had a plastic drawstring to close them. The drawstring was a new concept for me. Between the cool bags and just tossing the bag over the railing of the platform into the dumpster, suddenly it was fun! (What can I say? I'm easily entertained.)

Dusting

No, I don't mean a dusting of snow. We didn't get those in the Philippines. (We did occasionally get a dusting of puns, though.) We have used a variety of items to dust. Featherdusters, fancy dusters that they sold at the fair, rags, water, Lysol, Clorox wipes, and others. I have mixed feelings about dusting. Not always the most fun thing to do, but there's something satisfying about dust just wiping away and something shiny (to varying degrees of shiny) being revealed underneath. When I get into it, sometimes it's almost exciting.

Photo by Wayhome Studio on Adobe Stock

Sweeping

Some of the most amazing brooms I have encountered were in the Philippines. They have two main kinds. One kind looks more traditional, with a handle and soft bristles. They're softer than the bristles on the average American broom, but they often work better. The other kind is much more stiff. It's like a bunch of long and thin sticks bound together. They are also very useful, as they can get things that the softer broom can't. The stiffer ones are especially helpful on cement. Like dusting, it's satisfying to see things get swept away. Probably best not to make sweeping generalities, though.

Vacuuming

Vacuuming is similarly satisfying to sweeping skillfully and safely. The biggest difference being that it's a lot louder and it sucks! But in this case it's a good thing that it sucks! As my dad's ears got more sensitive as he got older, we had to do the vacuuming when he was out, although it helps that our current vacuum is quieter than previous ones. He wore earplugs when he did the vacuuming. Some things just can't be done in a vacuum. Some people have a Roomba that they don't even need to push.

Cleaning the Bathroom

[Note to self. Let's avoid the puns here. Some things just don't need that kind of potty humor - AHHH! I had one job!] Anyway, not a lot has changed as I recall in the area of cleaning the bathroom. I have used spray in cleaning the sink, counter and tub (often using rags or toilet paper), swept the floor, scrubbed the toilet with spray and toilet bowl cleaner and a special brush... I also once cleaned a colony of angry fire ants out of our showerhead just by turning it on. That was a painful experience. Cleaning the bathroom is not my favorite job, and I think I'll leave it at that. [Don't say it.] Sometimes I just get that [Steven, I'm warning you] sinking feeling talking about it. [sigh...]

Washing Dishes

I hope I didn't dish out too many details in that last section. We washed our dishes by hand in the Philippines. One thing I liked about returning to the US was that we could use a dishwasher, which saved a lot of time. Having grown up washing dishes by hand, my dad tried to conserve as many dishes as possible. He often commented that there was no sense dirtying another plate. When we had a dishwasher, we sometimes liked pointing out sarcastically that there was no space in the dishwasher for yet another plate! Of course, not all dishes can be washed in the dishwasher, so we still have to wash pots and pans and other things by hand. Also, some things can't wait until the dishwasher is filled up. So I guess it's a wash. On the rare occasion our dishwasher is out of order, we sometimes use paper plates that we can just throw away.

Photo by dglimages on Adobe Stock

Washing the Dog

This was my brother Tim's job in the Philippines. As we haven't had a dog since moving back to the US, I'm not sure if things have changed, but when we were in the Philippines, we had special dog shampoo that Tim used. After spreading it over the dog, we had to let it set and do its thing for 15 minutes. Sadly, our dog Butch was not known for his stellar obedience skills, but he was a big fan of digging holes in the dirt, which he wasn't allowed to do—but he didn't always see the point of letting that stop him. I do not envy Tim having to re-wash the dog after he (Butch, not Tim) decided to dig up dirt while covered in shampoo! I sincerely hope dog shampoo has made improvements since then so it is no longer necessary to let it set! Otherwise, that has got to take a lot of dogged determination! Thankfully, Butch's successor was a good deal more obedient, though he also had his interesting quirks.

Walking the Dog

Though I did not generally wash the dog, I did often walk him. It was an interesting challenge keeping Butch away from cats (he was a very gentle dog, except with cats...pity the poor kitty that got in his way!) and keeping his successor Killer away from other dogs (he came with the name, and it was too late to rename him when we got him...his name was perhaps the biggest misnomer I have ever encountered, as he was a very kind dog—though pro tip: If your dog's name is Killer, it's best not to yell  his name loud enough to wake the dead when he is snarling at a cute little dog that a neighbor is walking). At times the dog walked me. I loved our dogs, but they were interesting.

Feeding the Dog

In the Philippines, we generally fed our dogs rice, and sometimes we put other stuff in it to make it more interesting. When we had to give them medicine, we had to get creative in hiding it in their food, as they tended to eat around it. We sometimes ended up opening capsules and spreading the powder on bread. After Butch contracted heartworm, my dad ended up having to force him to take the pills because he refused otherwise. Butch wouldn't hurt a fly (though cats were another matter), but his reflexes didn't agree with my dad's hand, and let's just say my dad ended up having to get rabies shots just in case. Butch eventually had to be put to sleep...but that's another (heartbreaking) story. In feeding the dog, we would set the dish in front of him and tell him, "Wait....wait...wait...OK!" He had to sit nicely while we told him to wait, and as soon as we said OK, he could start eating, which he did with gusto.

Washing Clothes

In the Philippines, most of our houses had washing machines, but not all of them had dryers. We sometimes washed clothes by hand, but usually we were able to wash them in the machine. (Pro tips: wash light and dark colors separately, and remember to take pens out of your pockets before putting them in the wash!) We usually had to hang clothes out to dry, so we had a clothesline in the backyard. Now we usually dry things in the dryer, though I do still have a few things, such as socks and masks, that I hang to dry. Personally, I preferred hanging out with friends to hanging clothes out to dry. I have a dream that someday, we'll have a third machine where we can throw all our dried clothes in, and they will come out all folded and neatly stacked. (Come to think of it, we were promised in the '80s that we would all have robots to do that by now! I want my money back!) When the washing machine has been unavailable, we've occasionally used a laundromat, but that's very rare. (I also find that the Cleaners is a bad place to take someone on a date. Not that I've ever dated. Maybe that's why?)

Photo by Kyle Arcilla on Unsplash

Mowing the Lawn

Most of our houses in the Philippines didn't have a lawn, and if they did, it was pretty small. Cutting the grass wasn't my job in the Philippines, but the person who did it often used garden shears. In the US we have used a lawn mower. I'm not a huge fan of pushing a lawn mower around, but like with sweeping and dusting, it is satisfying to watch the tops of the grass disappear as rows of fresh-cut grass are revealed. The smell of grass was refreshing as a child. I have mixed feelings about it now. I could elaborate further, but perhaps it's best to cut this section short.

Cleaning My Room

When I was little, I had this lovely idea that it was impossible to have a messy room if you didn't have toys to mess it up, so you were always having to put them away. Sadly, I proved myself wrong as I grew older. I enjoyed toying with that notion while it lasted.

I have had other chores as well over the years, but those are the ones that come to mind. What are your favorite and least favorite chores? Do you like to try making them fun? 

Self Portrait

In one of my art classes in 2011, we received two related assignments. Our professor told us up front there was a second part of the assignment, but she purposely wouldn't explain part 2 until after we were finished with part 1. Probably just as well, as these would look very different had she explained both parts up front!

For part 1, we were to cut bits out of magazines, newspapers, or anything we found online and printed, and make a self portrait collage. We could get as creative as we wanted—in fact, the more creative, the better—and we needed to pay attention to shapes, shading, and other aspects. Having grown up in the Philippines and loving their coral reefs, I decided to go with that theme. I was very happy with the result:

Self Portrait Collage
Steven Sauke
2011

Had I known the next step, I would not have made it anywhere near as intricate and exciting.

For part 2, we were given the three primary colors of paint (red, blue, yellow) and a canvas. Now we were to paint the collage! Using only those three colors, we had to mix colors and get it as close to the collage as possible. Though it turned out to be fairly complicated, I was proud of the result:

Self Portrait
Steven Sauke
Acrylic on Canvas
2011

Days of Yore: What the Cool Kids Wore

Pro tip: When moving from the Philippines to the US, don't do it for 8th grade. Having been away from American fashion (and never having been much for being stylish anyway), I was the height of uncool. One of my fellow middle schoolers thoughtfully (read: rudely) advised that I stop wearing my parents' clothes. I quickly found out that stripes were "out", as were most other things I wore...but for some reason everyone was jealous of my Adidas shoes. At least something about me was cool!

Image by ink drop on Adobe Stock

Let's rewind a bit. In the '70s when I was born, people wore bellbottoms—that is, pants that were wider at the bottom than the top, somewhat reminiscent of a bell on each leg. I don't believe those have been popular since the '70s, but they are interesting. A lot of people had long straight hair, and headbands were fairly common. Many also liked wearing beads and necklaces. Peace signs were common.

As the '80s went on, people went for loud colors. Not just pink, but HOT pink. Not just green, but BRIGHT green. The brighter and louder, the better. Many people had bangs over their foreheads, and women in particular (though some men as well) liked to curl their hair. Many men (and some women) had their hair in mullets, or as they say, "business in front, party in the back." They were cut short on the front and sides, but allowed to grow long in the back. In my opinion, it looked a bit odd, but hey, whatever floats their boat! Mohawks also happened - the sides shaved, and a strip of hair going from front to back in the middle. They often put stuff in them so that the mohawks stuck straight up and back, often spiked, and also sometimes dyed in multiple colors. I also thought these looked odd (and they were banned at my school in the Philippines), but again, whatever floats their boats! Hairspray, gel and mousse were fairly common to fashion the hair in the directions people wanted it to go. Personally, my biggest change in hairstyle was when I stopped combing my hair to the side and started combing it forward. Now I generally keep it short enough so I don't have to comb it. I go for low maintenance on that kind of stuff. As my dad was watching his hairline move farther and farther back, he got this bright idea to let a strip on the side grow long, and he combed that over the top. He kept the rest short. I think it was an effort to make it look like he had hair on top, but it didn't fool anyone. I think it also may have been to keep as much sun as possible off the top of his head in the tropical heat. It was a bit of a relief when he decided to cut it. :-)

The bright colors of the '80s also extended into photography. It was fairly common to have bright, multicolored, neon laser-looking lines going every which way in the background in portraits. They also had an interesting technique in which they combined two portraits into one, with the person looking forward, and then to the right or left, and usually higher, another picture of their profile.

Glasses also tended to be larger, on the whole, in the '80s. I wore aviator glasses from my first ones in 1984 to approximately when I started college. They were made of different materials. My first pair had metal frames, but as I was fairly active and it doesn't take much in the tropical heat to start sweating, they soon rusted. (I've never seen glasses rust since then, so I'm not sure if that was a fluke with that pair.) After that, I wore plastic frames that wouldn't rust. I also preferred the aviator style because with two bridges, if one bridge broke, they could still hold together with the other bridge. Like many active and bespectacled kids, I tended to go through glasses as a kid. After returning to the US in 1991, I went back to metal frames, but still aviator. Later in high school, I got half-rimmed aviators. I eventually transitioned to ones with one bridge as my tastes changed, though I've always preferred the rectangular shape over the round ones. At one point I had rimless glasses, and several pairs have been half-rim. Currently, they have thicker black rims. I am not sure my particular tastes were always indicative of the styles around me, but they were acceptable by society. I got teased as a kid for wearing them, which is normal, though that didn't make it OK. I didn't actually start enjoying them until I was maybe in my late teens. Now I'm proud to wear glasses, and I want to help remove the odd stigma many still have about them. I have a theory that if people think they don't look good in glasses, they just haven't found the right pair. They are very cool, and a great way of helping people see without having to put something in their eyes. That unfair stigma has also kept many from addressing issues with their vision.

Our family in the mid-'80s
(I forget the exact year)

I have always enjoyed wearing fun t-shirts with puns, jokes, or celebrating shows, movies and musicals that I like. When COVID hit, though I hate everything about the disease, as well as a lot of the controversy and recklessness it brought out in society, I did find a new exciting way of expressing myself: I got some fun masks! I had to do a bunch of research to figure out how to wear a mask without fogging my glasses, but I found some good options. The best is certain masks that are made to be worn with glasses. 

These days, colors are not generally as loud as in the '80s, but I feel whatever floats people's boat is generally fine. Of course, nobody needs my permission or approval. :-)

Since I know you're wondering, no, I do not get dressed using my cell phone. But I have ordered clothes and researched glasses (and ordered a few pair) on my phone. I still buy clothes at the store on occasion.

"Further Up and Further In!"

The Last Battle is the final book in CS Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia. As I mentioned here, it involves the end of the Narnia that everyone has known, as they get to know the new and grander Narnia. Jill and Eustace were in Aslan's Country, as it is also called, in The Silver Chair (the penultimate book in chronological order), and at that time, Aslan had told them next time they came it would be to stay.

In The Last Battle, the Friends of Narnia have watched everything go down (quite literally) in the old Narnia through a door, and at Aslan's command, Peter locked it. After that, Aslan told them to "Come further up! Come further in!" They all began running faster than they knew they could.

This painting is inspired by their joyous run (and swim) through the new Narnia, as they came to Caldron Pool, jumped in, and much to everyone's surprise, found themselves swimming up the waterfall!

"Further Up and Further In!"
Steven Sauke
Acrylic on canvas
2012

If one could run without getting tired, I don't think one would often want to do anything else. But there might be special reasons for stopping, and it was a special reason which made Eustace presently shout:

"I say! Steady! Look what we're coming to!"

And well he might. For now they saw before them Caldron Pool and beyond the Pool the high unclimbable cliffs and, pouring down the cliffs, thousands of tons of water every second, flashing like diamonds in some places and dark, glassy green in others, the Great Waterfall; and already the thunder of it was in their ears.

"Don't stop! Further up and further in," called Farsight, tilting his flight a little upward.

"It's all very well for him," said Eustace, but Jewel also cried out:

"Don't stop. Further up and further in! Take it in your stride."

His voice could only just be heard above the roar of the water but next moment everyone saw that he had plunged into the Pool. And helter-skelter behind him, with splash after splash, all the others did the same. The water was not bitingly cold as all of them (and especially Puzzle) expected, but of a delicious foamy coolness. They all found they were swimming straight for the Waterfall itself.

"This is absolutely crazy," said Eustace to Edmund.

"I know. And yet --" said Edmund.

"Isn't it wonderful?" said Lucy. "Have you noticed one can't feel afraid, even if one wants to? Try it."

"By Jove, neither one can," said Eustace after he had tried.

Jewel reached the foot of the waterfall first, but Tirian was only just behind him. Jill was last, so she could see the whole thing better than the others. She saw something white moving steadily up the face of the Waterfall. That white thing was the Unicorn. You couldn't tell whether he was swimming or climbing, but he moved on, higher and higher. The point of his horn divided the water just above his head, and it cascaded out in two rainbow-colored streams all round his shoulders. Just behind him came King Tirian. He moved his legs and arms as if he were swimming, but he moved straight upward: as if one could swim up the wall of a house.

What looked funniest was the Dogs. During the gallop they had not been at all out of breath, but now, as they swarmed and wriggled upwards, there was plenty of spluttering and sneezing among them; that was because they would keep on barking, and every time they barked they got their mouths and noses full of water. But before Jill had time to notice all these things fully, she was going up the Waterfall herself. It was the sort of thing that would have been quite impossible in our world. Even if you hadn't drowned, you would have been smashed to pieces by the terrible weight of water against the countless jags of rock. But in that world you could do it. You went on, up and up, with all kinds of reflected lights flashing at you from the water and all manner of colored stones flashing through it, till it seemed as if you were climbing up light itself--and always higher and higher till the sense of height would have terrified you if you could be terrified, but later it was only gloriously exciting. And then at last one came to the lovely, smooth green curve in which the water poured over the top and found that one was on the level river above the Waterfall. The current was racing away behind you, but you were such a wonderful swimmer that you could make headway against it. Soon they were all on the bank, dripping but happy.

I based the waterfall on a picture I took of Snoqualmie Falls:

I also had points of reference for Jewel the Unicorn (in the water at the top), Farsight the Eagle (in the sky) and Puzzle the Donkey (in the water in the pool at the bottom). I used a sponge to paint the spray. I thought it was a interesting that I was using something inspired by a sea creature to paint water. This painting was also larger than the others, as it was my final painting in that class in 2012. In the painting, King Tirian is at the top with Jewel and Farsight. From top to bottom on the waterfall are King Peter, Emeth Tarkaan, King Edmund, Digory Kirke (left, wearing red), Polly Plummer (right, wearing green), and talking Dogs. In the pool are (left to right) a talking Dog, Poggin the Dwarf, another talking Dog, Eustace Scrubb, Queen Lucy and Puzzle, and Jill Pole in the back watching the whole thing as she swims. (I don't think Lewis specifies what kind of Eagle Farsight is, but I have a feeling he was probably a Brown Eagle. I thought a Bald Eagle would be a bit more majestic, and it would be easier for the head and tail to be noticeable.)