Whew! It has been a busy summer. Back in Ohio at the moment. Often when I travel, I just can’t find my creative groove and my sketchbook lies forgotten at the bottom of my suitcase for the whole trip.

This time has been different, though. My inspiration? A short little family camping trip in the Hocking Hills of Ohio. There, I got to know a family of crows while I drank my coffee each morning on the screened porch overlooking a thick stand of hemlocks and birch trees. Each morning they would call to each other back and forth, occasionally swooping like shadows through the trees. It got me thinking about how incredibly intelligent these beautiful animals are, how socially complex, and how powerful they are as symbols in many cultures.

I’ve decided that my next etching will be based on the small sketch I did in the bottom of the photo above. What do you think?