UBC #1: Radio Station Bear Welcomes the New Year

Introduction

Today I am starting the Ultimate Blog Challenge for the month of January. So, because I am hoping to have new readers for this blog, I will briefly introduce myself and my art blog. 

A million years and a lifetime ago, I went to school to become a newspaper reporter. I learned to write and to edit and to ask people lots of questions, which was OK by me because I am a very nosy person and I want to know everything about everyone.

When I was learning how to be a reporter and, thus, get paid to be a Nosy Person, I set aside my art. I decided that I would not draw and paint although I never stopped doodling. My mother, however, was not thrilled with the idea that I had stopped drawing and painting so she launched a campaign to reintroduce me to the joys of art. Over the course of time, her campaign worked, and I started taking art classes and I started getting over my insecurities about art.

As a freelance journalist, I work for a small local weekly newspaper. When you work for small publications, you don't get the luxury of writing articles and calling for a photographer to come and take the pictures. You have to do your own photography. And so, I learned how to take the pictures and write the story, which helped me to understand composition, both in photography and in other visual arts. 

Speaking about stories and pictures, one thing that I discovered in the process of becoming a writer and an artist is that stories need to be illustrated and pictures need their stories to be told.

And so, for the month of January, I will do that. Each day, I will post a drawing or a painting of a stuffed bear in a variety of locations, and I will write a short story to go with that drawing and painting. Because today is the start of a new year, I will start this series with Beartrand Bear's ringing in the year in grand style... in a radio station.

The Tale of the Radio Bear

Beartrand Bear was the sort of fellow who liked hearing other people's stories. When he was just a little cub, he wanted his mamma bear to tell him every story that she knew, over and over again. She didn't really like telling stories in the winter because she said that was when bears were supposed to hibernate and too many words could spoil a perfectly good nap. But she loved Beartrand very much, and she usually gave in when he begged her for just one more story before going to sleep for several months.
When Beartrand grew up, he decided that he wanted to be a radio announcer because what better way to get people to tell their stories than by sticking a microphone in their faces. Even if what they really wanted to do was to hibernate for the next seven months because they lived in an uncomfortably cold climate, they always managed to tell their story when they saw that lovely microphone, and they knew that they were going to have a big audience.
It was New Year's Eve. Beartrand was feeling cold and tired but he was looking forward to enjoying a party and ringing bells and singing songs and he could do all of that at the radio station.
It had been a grand day. The humans had been out and had, as usual, bought more food for their party than they could possibly eat in a month. Beartrand Bear's cousin, Bearnacle Bear, who usually stowed away on ships during the warmer months, had been busily stealing the humans' food because he was a bit of a crook and he was always hungry. Also, the bees had gone dormant so he couldn't help himself to a treat of honey.
Bearnacle Bear brought a delicious feast to the radio station, enough for Beartrand Bear's entire family. He brought cheeses and breads and peach jam and applesauce and boiled eggs and broccoli and green beans. He brought banana bread and pumpkin bread. But Beartrand Bear could not eat the meal with all of his Bearish relatives. He had a radio show to do. He announced song after song sadly because he could smell all of that luscious food and he could hear the lively conversations of Bearnacle and the rest of the family.
Beartrand's mouth was watering, yet he was very thirsty. He was almost ready to quit journalism to become a hermit bear on top of a mountain. But no one knew that Beartrand was feeling sad because he sang a song and announced Happy New Year! He thought that he heard the ball drop, even though he was far away from the actual ball dropping. When he looked down, he noticed that he had dropped a ball. But it was only a little tennis ball, not the big, glittery ball that marks the start of a new year that is supposed to be better than that old year that bit the dust at precisely midnight. Beartrand stood and was ready to make the announcement that he was retiring to a very long hibernation cycle (three years).
At that moment, Bearnacle came in with a plateful of food and a glass of the most delicious nectar known to bearkind. And Bearnacle regaled Beartrand and his audience with a very dramatic tale of the sea.
That tale begins tomorrow!!!
To Be Continued...