View the Saguaro poster in detail. This 6 foot tall poster, illustrated by Paul Mirocha and designed by Campana Design for the National Park System, is a height chart for kids. However, it also makes a great design statement for almost any decor. I can’t define that design statement except to say that the saguaro definitely … Read More
Author: Paul
Toss Your Cookies
Paul’s llustrations for “Toss Your Cookies”, a new award-winning game by Gamewright. At TheDiceTower.com, where “real men play board games,” game industry reviewer Tom Vasel had this to say about “Toss Your Cookies”: With wonderful drawings and terrific, sturdy components, Toss Your Cookies is a nice variant on the game idea introduced in the public domain “spoons”. Players are … Read More
Tucson Origins: Cultural Heritage Tourism
Tucson in 1810: an imaginary view from Sentinel Peak (click image for detail) This project was an illustrated interpretive guide for the San Agustín Mission Garden reconstruction in the Tucson Origins Heritage Park. The challenge was this: nothing exists of the former buildings and garden–the area has been a landfill for decades. My painting of … Read More
Malaysia Trip Journal 2007
Two sisters selling JAMBU AIR, or water apples, Malaysia (photo:Paul Mirocha) After 8 years of working on The Bee Tree, a children’s book publishedin April 2007 by Cinco Puntos Press, co-author Steve Buchmann and I, Paul Mirocha,the illustrator, returned triumphantly to Malaysia with printed copies of thebook to hand out to our Malaysian friends, hosts, … Read More
The Bee Tree
For almost a decade, Tucson desert dwellers Paul Mirocha and Steve Buchmann, along with co-author, Diana Cohn from Sausalito, CA, have been traveling to the Malaysian rain forest, half a world away, to work on The Bee Tree, a new children’s picture book, featuring paintings by Paul Mirocha, published by Cinco Puntos Press in April … Read More
The Art of Business Thinking
A slide presentation given by Paul Mirocha for the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators International meetingin Ithaca, New York, July, 2008. …. Introduction: Why think about business? If you’ve ever sold a piece of your art, you’re in the Art Business. That may be a little uncomfortable at first, even represent a fundamental paradigm shift, … Read More
One Bee Tree: $1,483.44
In a new article today in The Star, my question, “What is the bee tree worth in Malaysian ringgits?” that I asked in my previous blog entry is answered. A bee tree is worth about 5,600RM. That’s 1,483.44 US dollars. ___________________________ NationThursday March 29, 2007 Dept. probes illegal logging in Pedu rainforest Story and picture … Read More
Steve’s letter to The Star
Steve Buchmann and I both wrote letters to the editor after reading The Star’s article “Honeyman feels the sting” of March 22. Steve’s letter was printed in the Opinion page of The Star, largest English newspaper in Malaysia, last Wednesday, March 28, 2007. I’ll quote it here: The buzz about Kedah’s bee trees IN FEBRUARY, … Read More
The saga continues: more news from Pedu Lake
Emails from Steve and I to Tunku Shahariah, the reporter who wrote the Star article “Honeyman feels the sting” about the endangered bee trees of Pedu Lake produced a gratifying response. She had already gone personally to Pedu Lake with the local forestry director, Kasim Osman, and Pak Teh to inspect the damage and this … Read More
Further Conversations with Makhdzir
The day after our meeting with the Sultan of Kedah, Makhdzir and I were driving together to Alor Star. We dropped “The Steves” off in the forest to do whatever scientist guys do out there. As you might guess by now, Makhdzir and I had another interesting talk. We were on our way to pick … Read More
The bee tree: should we cut it down?
JUST A FEW WEEKS after our trip to Malaysia to hand out printed copies of The Bee Tree, I received an email from my friend Prof. Makhdzir Mardan in Malaysia saying that he had gotten a worried and upset call from Salleh Mohammed Noor, our friend, the hero of “The Bee Tree” affectionately nicknamed Pak … Read More
Going Solo
I USUALLY WRITE “HOLIDAY” on my immigration card in the blank that asks for the purpose of my trip. It’s not a lie, but it is not really true. I have a secret mission. I’m not necessarily laying on the beach or sitting in bars sipping margaritas. Although I might be. I am there to … Read More
The Honey Hunt
[Note: you can enlarge the photographs by clicking on them. Then use your browser’s back button to return to the blog] Tuesday, February 13, 2007, SunsetThe bee tree: somewhere in the forest near Pedu Lake, Kedah SELAGI ADA HUTANSELAGI ITU ADA PEMBUREAN TUALANG“As long as there is a forest, there will be honey hunters”–Pak Teh … Read More
Malaysia and Thailand Journal 2004
or Mr. Paul Meets Hitam Manis These notes are excerpted from my travel journal. My observations about Thailand are completely naive. I know a little more about Malaysia, since this was my fourth trip there. I don’t guarantee either the accuracy of my reports nor their value to anyone besides myself. _______________________________________________________________________________________ If you come … Read More