Category: Illustration

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Lycanthrope

“Lycanthrope” composed, performed, and recorded with voice singing original poem and accompaniment on guitar, and banjo by S.R. Bender on December 24, 2015
“Werewolf” painted with gouache by S.R. Bender

Lycanthrope

Darting furtively through the mist

Cursed under lunar brightness

The valiancy of my heart

Slashed by razor teeth

Became my darkest side

Evil enclosing

My nocturnal lair

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Mud tracked prints

Find me sprawled

In the dawn of twisted sheets

Like tormented trees

Gnarled from remembering

What blackened life

Is forever gone

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

But only the music

Of wind and owls

And the crackling rain

Had abided my incessant howls

Until yet another night

When gliding clouds

Reveal another full newness of moon

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

S.R. Bender, January 8, 2011

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She runs through my mind like an apparition

“She runs through my mind like an apparition” composed, played, and recorded with guitar, mandolin, and concertina by Sanford R. Bender 081521
“Piazza San Marco in Venice, Italy” drawn with pen in sketchbook by Sanford R. Bender in July, 1992.

“Bees. diamonds, and other flying creatures” drawn with pen and colored pencil on cardboard cutout by Sanford R. Bender in September, 2002.
“Arizona buttes, pinnacles, and canyons” drawn with pen in sketchbook by Sanford R. Bender in April, 1995.
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Shells

“After a hard day’s work” composed , performed and recorded with guitar on two tracks by Sanford R. Bender.
“Scallops” drawn with colored pencil by Sanford R. Bender in June 2015.
“Scallops and Conches” drawn with colored pencil by Sanford R. Bender in June, 2015.

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A brief passion

“A brief passion” (Trunk Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands) drawn by Sanford R. Bender a while ago.

“A brief passion” composed, played and recorded by Sanford R. Bender with guitar on two tracks a while ago.

“A Brief Passion”

A passion can pass,

In a twinkle of an eye,

A leeward glance,

A breath and a sigh,

Inhaled fragrance,

With luster of jade,

Horizons of memories,

That never fade.

Sanford R. Bender April 19, 2021

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A lull in the battle

“A lull in the battle” was composed and performed with guitar by Sanford R. Bender on July 17, 2016
“Amiens Cathedral Interior Elevation” drawn with pencil by Sanford R. Bender in 1991
“Amiens Cathedral Exterior Elevation” drawn with pencil by Sanford R. Bender in 1991

My drawings of Cathedrale Notre-Dame d’Amiens from the thirteenth century were drawn while researching Gothic architecture, and how cathedrals in France were being constructed with arches, vaulted ceilings, flying buttresses, and stained glass windows. After drawing the horizontal and vertical lines of the structure with straight edge and triangle, I soon became entranced and astonished by how consecutive arcs drawn with a compass established a rhythm that appeared to dance gracefully across the page. The visual motion of the arcade struck me deeply as being musical, my other passion. The original guitar composition, “A lull in the battle”, inspired by medieval music, is what I imagined as being evocative of an exhausted knight pausing from battle, only to reflect and mourn a bygone romance.

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Elephant Concert

“You give something away” composed, performed, and recorded on two tracks for guitar and clarinet by Sanford Bender
“Elephant Concert: Performance” Brush, pen and ink painted storyboard by Sanford Bender

“Elephant Concert” originated during an animation course that I participated in in the early 1980’s. The original film was created with colored paints on celluloid. The story was about an elephant man who plays his cello while sounding the clarinet-like melody through his trunk. The unappreciative audience soon becomes unruly and resorts to heckling as an expression of their ignorance.

The original music was played on violin and clarinet. The current music composed for clarinet and guitar heartily welcomes an improvised or composed violoncello part to play along with the guitar and clarinet.

“Elephant Concert: Escape” Brush, pen and ink painted storyboard by Sanford Bender

The emotionally upset performers quickly make their exit from the intolerant city. The elephant man leaps upon his bicycle and pedals furiously as his companion, the violoncello skips alongside.

“Elephant Concert: Consolation” Brush, pen, watercolor and ink painted storyboard by Sanford Bender

The duo finally finds consolation after a well deserved rest in the countryside. Their appetites will soon be appeased as they gaze into the aromatic delicatessen that will soon be opening for business.

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The Soul of an Elephant

The “Soul of an Elephant” drawn with pencil in a travel sketchbook by Sanford Bender in the summer of 2017.

This gestural sketch of an elephant was one of a series that I drew during a trip to an elephant resort in Thailand. After learning about Asian elephants and their symbiotic relationship with humans, our small group was led to an athletic field where the elephants would play soccer. Not only could I ride atop an elephant beforehand and feel its lumbering but graceful rhythms; I could even experience its earnest attempt to perform successfully for human entertainment, and then even perceive its ultimate humiliation. Otherwise, the elephants were treated well, and when left to roam in the jungle at night, could retain their integrity and be wild.

The “Soul of an Elephant” composed and played with two guitar tracks by Sanford Bender in May 10, 2020.

This improvised instrumental for two guitars with its changing rhythms, recurring melodies, pause, and cascading cadence to a major seventh chordal resolution reached perfection in its understatement and brevity. It seemed appropriate to accompany the sketch delineating an elephant’s triumph over any perceived fallibility in a game devised by humans.