Bede's Sparrow

I was watching Netflix the other night when the paraphrased quote of English historian, Bede (673–735), caught my attention. (I did the sketch of him below, based on an illustration from The Nuremberg Chronicle, c. 1493. Click the illustration to see the original.)

"When we compare the present life of man on Earth with that time of which we have no knowledge, it seems to me like a swift flight of a single sparrow through a banquet hall on a winter's day. After a few moments of comfort, he vanishes from sight into the wintry world from which he came. Even so, man appears on Earth for a little while, but of what went before this life or what will follow, we know nothing."

― Bede (paraphrased) Hear the original in Old English; read more about it, here.)

In a strange way, the story of 'Bede's Sparrow' reminds me of the final, understated scene from No Country for Old Men in which Tommy Lee Jones describes a dream he had about his father. A lot of people didn't care for the way that movie ended, but I thought it was brilliant, and haunting.

So, that's the parable of Bede's Sparrow. Food for thought. And a good excuse for me to draw birds…

…and the great banquet hall at the beginning of this email. By the way, I used an old illustrator's trick to make that first drawing. Can you guess what I did? See the answer at the end of this newsletter.

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"One of the illusions of life is that the present hour is not the critical, decisive one."
–Ralph Waldo Emerson

1. This artist and this artist and ALL these artists draw birds much better than I do, that's for sure! (Apparently, being a 'bird artist' is a thing, and there are lots of them.)

2. Osceola, the one-winged eagle. Ever wonder what it's like to fly like an eagle? Somebody put a GoPro on one, and it's very cool. Here's an eagle flying from a balloon and a skyscraper in Dubai. (These BASE jumping wingsuit flyers jumped off the same building.)

3. Make your own person: Monoface is a website that lets you create faces. Click on the eyes, nose, mouth or head to select different combinations. (There are over 750,000 possibilities.)

4. My son loves the song Three Little Birds by Bob Marley. (You can listen to it here or by clicking the drawing below.) The song's lyrics were adapted for the children's book Every Little Thing, by Bob Marley's oldest child Cedella Marley and illustrator Vanessa Brantley-Newton.

5. Looking for the perfect 'old paper texture' for a drawing or slide presentation? Here are 38 high-quality vintage and old paper textures for free download. (I used one each for the background of the banquet hall and 'Beda Venerabilis' drawings above.)

"Money can't buy life."
– Bob Marley's final words (spoken to his son, Ziggy.)

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“When the sun of compassion arises, darkness evaporates and the singing birds come from nowhere.”
― Amit Ray

"The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart."
–Elisabeth Foley

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“In order to see birds it is necessary to become a part of the silence.”
― Robert Lynd

Were you able to guess the old illustrator's trick I employeed to draw the banquet hall at the beginning of this email? I really only drew half of the base illustration. Then I copied the 'half' and used the mirror image to complete the drawing.

Pretty sneaky, huh?

Until next week…

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About Me

Hi. I’m D.E.Uhlig. I’m an artist, author, husband and father.

For as long as I can remember, I have loved to draw. Years ago I gave my wife a hand-drawn card for our anniversary, and she loved it so much she made me promise to ALWAYS hand-draw her cards. Then our three kids made me promise to do the same with their birthday cards. And when I posted some of my drawings online, people began asking how they could purchase my work—so I created this newsletter. I believe in something I like to call “The Happiness of Art” and I hope it makes you smile.

Official Bio

D.E.Uhlig is an award-winning illustrator whose work has appeared in numerous publications including the Kansas City Star, Christian Science Monitor, University Daily Kansan, Editorial Humor Magazine, and World Policy Journal. Commercial illustration and design clients over the years have included Samsung, Sprint, and the Los Angeles Times Syndicate, among others—and his Starbucks RedCup illustrations have been featured on the company's Pinterest and Facebook pages. In 1989, Mr. Uhlig co-founded Uhlig LLC, a leading provider of cross-media publishing and communication services in industries ranging from residential housing to book publishing to cancer care. Mr. Uhlig is married with three children and resides in Kansas City. He is currently working on children’s books, ebooks and apps.

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