Simple Science in Everyday Life - The Adventures of Dr Pearl Lewis

NEW BOOK: Kids Journal for Writing and Drawing

1 May 2018 by Dr Lewis

MONSTER JOURNAL

Summer vacation is fast approaching. Children everywhere are having visions of endless days in the sun with no school books or homework. While many kids will be fortunate to participate in camps that keep their minds active, other children may be facing months with little reading and perhaps no writing at all. There is a way to encourage your children to keep exercising their minds, even if summer camps are not an option. The “MONSTER JOURNAL” is a small personal journal that children can fill with their thoughts, observations, poems, doodles, or whatever else flows out of the end of a pencil. Heavily illustrated with monster characters, this journal opens the door to free style writing and drawing.

CREATIVE COUPLE

I once again had the help of my creative husband, Eddie, on this project. Together, we borrowed from the theme and illustrations that we created for the 8.5″x11″ “MONSTER MUSIC JOURNAL” (created for young music students), and produced a conveniently-sized, carry-anywhere journal that all kids can squeeze into their backpacks and carry around with them all summer.

UNIQUE JOURNAL PAGES

Each page in the journal is different. Variety is the spice of life, and we like to spice it up. Layouts change from page to page, so boredom buttons are unlikely to be pushed. Pages balance opportunity to draw with space to write. Block blanks and lined areas provide ample space for jotting down ideas or observations. The line spacing was chosen to be comfortable for younger writers. We added new illustrations of monsters (cute and ugly) that you won’t see in the book’s big brother, the “MONSTER MUSIC JOURNAL“. The monster characters take the form of line images so if your child likes to color pictures, there is opportunity to do that page after page. The wide variety of characters won’t just stimulate the child’s imagination, but may also serve as a writing prompt for more reluctant writers.

HOW THE MONSTER JOURNAL GETS KIDS WRITING

The MONSTER JOURNAL itself does not provide explicit writing or drawing prompts. We prefer to let the child’s imagination be prompted by what they see and imagine themselves. However, we understand that many children are reluctant writers or artists, and may feel somewhat intimidated by open spaces that need to be filled. If this is the case, we suggest that the children be encouraged to describe what the monsters look like, to write about what the monsters are thinking or doing, or to guess what the homes of the monsters might be like.

STOCK UP FOR SUMMER

Right now, the “MONSTER JOURNAL” is available directly from Lulu Publishers, and can soon be ordered from your favorite online bookstore. Don’t let the summer slip away without giving your child the chance to exercise creative expression. Whether it is coloring, drawing, creative writing, or just practicing handwriting, the MONSTER JOURNAL is eager to become your child’s tool for exercising creativity.

MONSTER MUSIC JOURNAL Release

6 March 20186 March 2018 by Dr Lewis

MONSTER-INFESTED SPACES

The MONSTER MUSIC JOURNAL is a wildly imaginative, monster-infested space. And that space was created for YOU so you can fill it with music compositions, transcriptions of your favorite songs, music theory exercises, and other monstrous things. There are monsters everywhere – literally! Just when you were convinced that monsters lived only in closets, the game changed. The monsters relocated – to the MONSTER MUSIC JOURNAL.

BIG, BIGGER, BIGGEST MONSTERS

The MONSTER MUSIC JOURNAL is a musical playground for your pencil. The generously spaced staff lines make writing musical notes easy for beginners. But you don’t have to be a beginner to appreciate the spaciousness. If you like to live life BIG, then this book will fit right into your way of doing things. Let’s be honest: who doesn’t like to live life big? And if you are one of those people who has a lot to say, you are in luck. There is plenty of boxed-off writing space for non-musical notes, so you can include song lyrics, love letters, homework assignments, thoughts, poems, or questions to ask your teacher. Hey, there is even space for you to doodle your own family of monsters.

COLORFUL MONSTERS

The MONSTER MUSIC JOURNAL is heavily illustrated with line art monster characters that will tickle the imagination of kids and adults. Every turn of the page presents you with new monsters. Naturally, they are all trying to look grim, but rest assured – they are all very docile. And because the illustrations in the book are simple line art, you are free to add color to the manuscript or note pages. This is a music journal and not a coloring book, but there is no shortage of things (well, creatures actually) that you can color, if you so wish.

CREATIVE TEAMWORK

A product of the creative husband-and-wife team, Eddie Lewis and Pearl Lewis, this music journal has many uses. You are pretty much only restricted by your imagination. Let this journal turn dull, repetitive music theory exercises into an adventure at every turn of the page. Embrace the illustrations as prompts for improvised music. Gift the journal to your teacher or your student. Even your completely grown-up musician buddy could use a fun gift like this one. Or, take the ceiling off your expectation and use the journal to introduce young musicians to composition and transcription. (If you can read music, you can take a step towards writing it.) Tedious music homework and dull assignments just got a MAJOR upgrade with the MONSTER MUSIC JOURNAL.

FIND YOUR MONSTROUS FIT

The MONSTER MUSIC JOURNAL is currently available in three formats to suit your individual needs:

Perfect-bound

(https://goo.gl/YZw9Mp) – this is the traditional form of binding that you will find in most paperback books. This binding holds up well to being carried around in a book bag, and will sit nicely on a book shelf with your other books. Perfect-bound books need to be trained to lie fully open on a desk – some people don’t like to put that much strain on a book’s spine. If you want a book that will lie fully open on a flat surface, without introducing any creasing in the spine, consider the coil- or staple-bound versions of the book.
Coil- or Ring-bound

(https://goo.gl/XCDKuk) – this version of binding is popular with musicians as it allows the book to lie flat on the music stand without needing to be pinned in place. If you plan to lug your book in a full bag, you might want to consider the perfect- or staple-bound versions of the book. Coil-binding (it’s a plastic coil) is a little more fragile than the other forms of binding, and works best for people who store the book on a desk or shelf instead of in an over-filled, school book bag.
Staple-bound

(https://goo.gl/o7RXcn) – staple-bound books give the user the maximum access to the interior margins, so if you want a little extra white space on the pages, this one is for you. The book opens fully, and will lie flat with very little training and no damage to a spine.

MUSIC CREDITS: EDDIE LEWIS

The video in this post includes background music by Eddie Lewis (one of the MONSTER MUSIC JOURNAL’s creators). You can purchase the sheet music for this piece here: “Tackle Suite No. 3: SINKER” by Eddie Lewis ( https://goo.gl/f5qk54)

Headhunting Calendar for 2018

27 October 201721 October 2017 by Dr Lewis

Daily Headhunting

You have to check a calendar every now and again, right? You might as well derive maximum health benefit from this tedious task. Laughter is good for you, isn’t it? So a healthy calendar might throw some laughs your way. And challenging your mind is good for you, is it not? So a healthy calendar might exercise your mind from time to time with questions and puzzles that stimulate your problem-solving skills. And broadening your vocabulary is not too bad for you either, right? So a healthy calendar might get you thinking about words and idioms that you haven’t thought about in years, or which you have never heard before.

Healthy Calendars

The HEADHUNTING 2018 CALENDAR does all this and more. The wall-sized calendar is illustrated with bizarre “heads” from my HEADHUNTER Collection of line drawings. These large-sized illustrations are perfect for coloring, and will appeal to people of all ages. If you want an extra dose of healthy on top of the good stuff already mentioned, pick up some colored markers and store them near your calendar. (If you keep your calendar on your fridge, you can glue small craft magnets to your favorite colored markers and keep the markers on the fridge alongside the calendar.) Coloring is a relaxing, therapeutic activity that your body and mind can benefit from at any time. Add a bit of color to your calendar while you wait for your first cup of the coffee to brew. Add a bit more as you wait for supper to cook. Then stop by and add yet another dash when you steal into the kitchen for that midnight snack. You are free to take all month to color one head! To learn more about the health benefits of coloring, read this article about the effect of art on healing. If you don’t like color, stick with the uncolored line art, but if you want EXTRA BENEFIT from this calendar, go ahead and color like crazy.

What can you expect to find inside the HEADHUNTING 2018 CALENDAR?

This is a 12-month calendar in the landscape 11″ x 8.5″ format. As you turn the page to each new month, you will encounter a new “head-focused” word or number activity that is integrated with a peculiar (yes, the art may seem a little odd to those who don’t use their imaginations too often) head illustration. If you want to get aHEAD, then you have to get your HEAD into top gear. This calendar is all about helping you do that in a light-hearted, low stress kind of way. This calendar involves the kind of head-scratching that the whole family can enjoy. Challenge each other to use the new words or idioms you discover. See who can solve that month’s puzzle first. And, for those who just NEED to know if they are right (you know who you are), you can find the puzzle solutions right here on this blog. The solutions will be posted in the relevant month. Just relax and take your time, else it may end up feeling like an exam.

Find Calendar Puzzle Solutions Right Here

If you are not in the habit of checking this blog regularly, do yourself a favor and subscribe. There is a SUBSCRIBE button on this very page, so its as easy as clicking a button. Subscribe and you will get the puzzle solutions delivered straight to your email inbox. Ahh… yes! Convenience!

Where to Find the HEADHUNTING CALENDAR

The HEADHUNTING 2018 CALENDAR is already available from the online Lulu Bookstore. Get your Christmas shopping completed early this year. You can scratch everyone off the list in one quick shopping trip. Want to leave your colleagues, parents, besties, neighbors, aunts, and uncles unsure whether they should scratch their noggin or laugh their nut off? HEADHUNTING is for everyone, so join the hunt!

Headhunting 2018 Coloring and Puzzle Calendar by Pearl R. Lewis

Little Mermaid in My Splash Pool

6 March 201821 July 2017 by Dr Lewis

Little Mermaid Children's Wall Art by Pearl R. Lewis

Mermaids! Seen one lately? They are easy to recognize: they are those bikini-perfect, half fish, half human creatures that always seem to pop up when you are about to be shipwrecked during some epic adventure. What’s not to love about a mermaid’s life? They are out there body surfing and sunbathing while you have to be at work, fading away under artificial lighting. And have you noticed that their hair never seems frazzled by the salt water?

FISH GIRL or MERMAID?

But not this mermaid! The model for our mermaid painting would be the average fish-girl next door if you were living some cool, underwater fairytale life. She is all about stopping to smell the roses instead of rushing home to fix her hair. She is the fish-girl you would want to take home and marry – if you were into cross-species marriage. This mermaid LOVES life, and she is happy with who she is and how she looks. No fake smiles or pretending to be who she isn’t. No “three hours in front of the mirror” episodes while she applies waterproof mascara before hitting the waves. This mermaid is wide-eyed and eager to learn and discover. Spunky and determined to enjoy life for what it is, this little mermaid would love to grace you child’s bedroom, playroom, or nursery wall, and set an example of quiet confidence.

ORIGINAL ARTWORK

This circular mermaid cartoon image is an ORIGINAL, one-of-kind acrylic painting on a circular engineered wood substrate. As with other paintings in the circular series of CHILDREN’S WALL ART (available at Zisubu Artique), the surface of the painting is lightly coated with sealant, and the artist (that would be me in this case) has signed and dated the back of the painting. The painting measures approximately 10 inches in diameter. The substrate resembles a solid wood block and has an approximate thickness of 0.625 inches. The edges of the block are painted black to serve as framing for the painting.

MERMAID STARS in VIDEO

Like moving art? This mermaid painting was featured in the “bubbles” in a music video of a trumpet duet composed by Eddie Lewis.

GIFTS for ENGINEERS

27 October 201720 July 2017 by Dr Lewis

Engineer Gifts Must Be Technically COOL

Moving parts. Equations. More moving parts. Detailed schematics. Putting the pieces together in your head before you pick up the tools. A few more moving parts to consider. More calculations on the fly. There are endless cycles in the life of the mechanical engineer. How better to capture all these critical elements of being an engineer than with unconventional (read that as cool) graphic designs that will make these rare individuals stand out? Appropriate engineer gifts and graphic designs for engineering students reflect the various facets of engineering with a balance of the serious and the complex.

Boffin Academy Introduces Engineer Gifts

Boffin Academy recently added some few new designs in various “academic subject” departments. While I am not an engineer, I can appreciate intricate schematics and detailed designs. So I am excited to share some new designs from the “engineering” section of Boffin Academy, which I think you will like. Those which I have included are particularly for mechanical engineers, engineering students, and those who appreciate what it takes to design machinery that can get the job done.

Simply Loco T-shirt Design

SIMPLY LOCO is a simple line art design especially for the heavy duty mechanical engineering fans (and the train lovers, of course). It’s also an apt description of how you will feel after studying for (and preferably acing) your next engineering exam. The locomotives in this design are vintage classics – perfect for those who appreciate the engineering genius of yesteryear.

Simply Loco Baseball Jersey
Find more at
Boffin Academy

Uber Engineer T-shirt Design

UBER Engineer is perfect for that UBER engineer in your life. Doesn’t everyone have at least one of those characters in their life? They know it all, and can fix it ALL. And they will turn you into an engineer if you give them half a chance and your spare screwdriver. What would life be without an uber engineer who knows exactly how to remedy everything YOU broke?

Uber Engineer White Dark T-Shirt
Find more at
Boffin Academy

Engenius T-shirt Design

ENGENIUS remains a best seller amongst the more serious designs. You can read more about this design here.

Engenius Black Junior’s Cap Sleeve T-ShirtFind more at
Boffin Academy

Locomotion T-shirt Design

LOCOMOTION – it all about old trains… and detail, detail, detail. Vintage schematics meld with vintage newspaper adverts to create a unique design that will appeal to people who are machinery-minded. Get Grandpa, Dad, and even Junior the t-shirt, the baseball cap, the throw blanket, and the perfect train cushion next time you go gift shopping.

Locomotion Square Canvas Pillow
Find more products with this design at
Boffin Academy

Dragons Chasing Their Tails

19 July 2017 by Dr Lewis

No Dragon Art by Pearl R. Lewis t all dragons are fire-breathing lunatics determined to turn you to ash. Some are puppy-cute, fun-loving, tail-chasing dragons that want to lick you in the face and then go home with you. It’s the fun-loving kind of dragon that posed for this children’s painting. And he promises that he will NOT turn into a blood-chilling, nightmare-inducing maniac when you turn off the lights. This chubby, green dragon is focused on turning around the bad reputation that dragons everywhere inherited – thanks to a few cold-blooded, iron-hearted, completely insensitive ancestors. Notice the claws? That’s right – there are no claws. This dragon took the time for a manicure, and he is flaunting the new gecko digit look.

The “dragon chewing on his tail” painting is the first in a selection of children’s wall art that I will be releasing this year. The themes for these paintings are not drawn strictly from the fairytale genre, but they do borrow from the more light-hearted side of the classics. If you are looking for imaginative, detailed, ORIGINAL wall art for a child’s playroom, bedroom or a nursery, this series will probably have at least one theme that appeals to you. And, while these paintings are advertised as “children’s art”, no-one will tell if you (the respectable adult) choose to display one in your office, studio, garage, or craft room.

Why did I start the series with a circular painting? Everyone knows that the windows to the world of the imagination are circular. You knew that, right? (Don’t admit it out aloud if you didn’t know.) On top of being a portal for the imagination, there is something particularly calming about circular structures. If you are designing for a child’s environment, it makes sense to deliberately introduce calming structural elements into the décor. Circular structures can help to balance the vitality and energy of the bold colors often chosen for decorating children’s rooms. You can expect to see a few circular paintings in this series, as I explore the world of the imagination through the circular window.

The “DRAGON TAIL CHASER” is an ORIGINAL acrylic painting on a circular engineered wood substrate. The surface of the painting is lightly coated with sealant, and it is signed and dated on back of the painting. The painting measures approximately 10 inches in diameter. The substrate resembles a solid wood block in density and has an approximate thickness of 0.625 inches. The edges of the block are painted black to serve as framing for the painting.

Block paintings should be mounted or hung flush with the wall. There are various ways to achieve this, but I prefer the use of a small d-ring hanger which attaches to a small nail in your wall. When you purchase “DRAGON TAIL CHASER” (or one of the other paintings from this series) from Zisubu Artique (an ETSY store), your order will include a triangular d-ring mount and screw for quick and easy mounting. (If you prefer, you can also mount a block painting directly against the wall using heavy-duty mirror tape, but that can prove messy if you want to move the painting to a different spot.)

BLESSED: New Videos

27 October 201726 June 2017 by Dr Lewis

Blessed Coloring for the Soul Coloring Book for Adults and Teens by Pearl R. Lewis — Blessed: Coloring for the Soul by Pearl R. Lewis

BLESSED Coloring for the Soul Goes to Video

BLESSED videos evolved naturally from the color-filled pages of the scripture-rich coloring book. Pages from BLESSED: Coloring for the Soul have been featured in TWO new YouTube videos. (If you have posted your own videos that feature or include any of my coloring pages, I would love to hear from you.) In case you have not yet acquired a copy of this book, you may be unaware that “BLESSED: Coloring for the Soul” is an adult-friendly, abstract-styled Christian coloring book that uses scripture as its foundation. All the scriptures in this book revolve around blessing and the word “blessed”. This book can be used exclusively as a teen or adult coloring book, but is also especially useful as a Bible study aid for those who prefer a more creative approach to their meditation or study time.

Believe without Seeing Graphics

Believe Without Seeing is the first BLESSED video posted by Epsiwel. It focuses on one of the scriptures used in the book: John 20:29 – “Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; BLESSED are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (NIV) This video uses two of the images from section three of the book – there are ten sections. The background image is presented in different colors throughout the video, while the framed scripture image remains uncolored for contrast.

Believe Without Seeing Soundtrack

The music for this video (Duet 91 from the Celebrations CD) was written and recorded by Eddie Lewis. The track is available as a single from CD Baby.

FRUIT of the SPIRIT Kindness Video

6 March 201810 June 2017 by Dr Lewis

The FRUIT of the SPIRIT Colouring Book is featured in a new video. The video showcases a single page – the page entitled KINDNESS. In the video, you will see multiple variations of the coloring of this KINDNESS page. All of the colored pages used for this video are the result of digitally coloring the KINDNESS e-page (available from this website’s store). The physical paperback (with its easy to color 11″ x 8.5″ sized pages) is available from Lulu.

BOOK ILLUSTRATIONS

The illustrations for FRUIT of the SPIRIT COLOURING BOOK are largely hand-drawn. If you look closely at the magnified images in the video, you may notice small variations in the line density and width of the black outlines in the illustration. These inconsistencies are consistent with the use of a real ink pen on physical paper for the original drawings.

Computer-generated coloring book pages tend to show perfectly formed lines. You will not see thickness variations. There will be no wiggles and squiggles that typically come from moving a real pen across real paper. Even high quality paper that appears smooth to the naked eye offers the rough terrain of tiny furrows and hillocks for a pen tip to traverse. No paper (unless it is virtual) is perfectly smooth.

The human hand does not exert perfectly uniform pressure as it moves a pen across a surface. As the pressure we apply to the pen and the paper changes, so the line quality. The result is a flow of ink that narrows and widens ever so slightly in response to the pressure changes. While computers can be set to mimic hand-drawing (with all its inherent quirkiness), many coloring book illustrators who design digitally opt for the computer’s default: PERFECT lines with no apparent human flaws.

COLLECT ALL THE FRUIT of the SPIRIT

If you are interested in any of the other individual FRUIT of the SPIRIT page packages, you can find them in this website’s store or use the links on the spiritual fruit below:

PEACE

SELF-CONTROL

LOVE

LONGSUFFERING

KINDNESS

JOY

GOODNESS

GENTLENESS

FAITHFULNESS

GALATIONS 5:22-23

The FRUIT of the SPIRT Colouring Book is a creative interpretation of the FRUIT of the SPIRIT mentioned in Galations 5:22-23. Each characteristic (e.g. goodness, joy, etc.) is associated with a unique, imaginative piece of fruit shown in cross-section (i.e. imagine a strange fruit sliced open just as you might cut an orange in half). What might this new fruit look like inside? This INSIDE VIEW of each fruit is what is captured in the almost abstract line illustrations that invite a relaxing, meditative colouring experience. There is detail galore for those who like it. While this book was created for adults, it is suitable for colouring enthusiasts of all ages. With it’s almost “retro-abstract” feel, the book is a great way for teens and older children to explore this scripture passage in a creative and colorful way.

Add your own splash of colour to full page, abstract illustrations focused on LOVE, JOY, PEACE, LONGSUFFERING, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS, GENTLENESS, and SELF-CONTROL. Each of the nine characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit also has a dedicated Bible study page (which comes free with the individual e-page package) where you can add colour while you explore scriptures that will deepen your understanding of the fruit of the Spirit. Turn your personal, family, or church group Bible study into a colourful, creative adventure with this FRUIT of the SPIRIT Colouring Book.

CAPE TOWN Video

6 March 20188 June 2017 by Dr Lewis

The “Cape Town: Colour the Rainbow Nation” coloring book has a new promo video. This is a short video focusing on only two themes from the book: the Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden and the Kaapse Klopse Street Parade.

CAPE TOWN: the Mother City

Cape Town, the Mother City of South Africa, has roots that extend back to the seventeenth century. While its history is preserved in centuries-old architecture, the city continues to grow, evolve, and make new history with each passing year. As a culturally diverse city, Cape Town has much to offer its visitors and locals. Consider the majestic mountains, pristine beaches, vibrant music scene, art galleries, theaters, shopping, and opportunities to indulge in exotic foods, and it quickly becomes obvious why Cape Town is the most popular tourist destination in Africa.

CAPE TOWN: the Coloring Book

“Cape Town: Colour the Rainbow Nation” is a colouring adventure for those who love to explore. Whether you are a proud Capetonian or have yet to visit the city, “Cape Town: Colour the Rainbow Nation” is your opportunity to explore and make memories in the most colourful of ways. In addition to a few factual titbits and the odd urban legend, you will find a variety of themed colouring pages. Cape Town has so much to offer that this book only captures a few of the city’s many highlights:

Table Mountain

Lion’s Head

Devil’s Peak

Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden (see VIDEO)

Cape Town City Hall

Castle of Good Hope

Cape Town’s Suburbs

Table Mountain’s Aerial Cableway

Ethnic Art

Mountain Baboons

Cape Peninsula

Cape Town on the Map

The Kaapse Klopse Street Parade (see VIDEO)

COLOUR the RAINBOW NATION

“Colour the Rainbow Nation” (#ColorTheRainbowNation) is a celebration of all things South African: the people, the places, and the experiences that help us remember the past while we continue to plant seeds of hope for the future. Nelson Mandela once described South Africans as being as intimately attached to the soil of this beautiful country as the famous jacaranda trees of Pretoria and the mimosa trees of the bushveld. Whether you are rooted in this beautiful country or just wish you were, “Colour the Rainbow Nation” invites you to celebrate South Africa with your own splash of colour.

The paperback and the e-book (PDF) versions of CAPE TOWN: Colour the Rainbow Nation are available from Lulu and a variety of other online book sellers.

ENGENIUS: Inventive, engineering minds exist across gender boundaries

6 March 20183 April 2017 by Dr Lewis

BEST SELLING DESIGN

One of Boffin Academy’s best selling designs of all time is the EnGenius I design. This simple, monotone design blends the definition of engenius with line drawings of vintage locomotives. EnGenius 1 is part of a series of EnGenius designs that you can find in the ENGINEERING section of the store.

While many people associate terms such as engineering, invention, and locomotion with males, it is interesting to note that this design doesn’t only sell to adult males. It’s a hot favorite for children’s t-shirts (and not only for the boys’ market), and is a top selection for teen and adult female shirts.

DEFINITION of ENGENIUS

In case you are unfamiliar with the term, an engenius (a term coined by Pearl R. Lewis for this design series) is simply defined as: a clever, original, inventive thinker focused on using moving parts to covert power into motion. The word is derived from the fusion of “engineer” and “genius”, and is used to describe individuals with a strong leaning towards creativity and innovation in the context of a mechanical environment.

EnGenius I

EnGenius II

BOFFIN ACADEMY UPDATES

If you are interested in being alerted when new designs are added to Boffin Academy, please subscribe to this blog. You will find a “subscribe” button alongside this post. By subscribing, you will automatically receive notification of new posts in your email inbox. If you want to learn more about what Boffin Academy is and who it is intended to serve, I recommend reading this post.