John Clark Matthews

John Clark Matthews was born on May 5th, 1951 in Pasadena California. During his early career, he wrote, produced and directed stop-motion children’s films seen on ABC, Disney Channel, HBO and PBS stations (The Mouse and the Motorcycle, Curious George, Frog and Toad and many more). His work received many awards including five Emmy Nominations, a Peabody Medal, Carnegie Medal, three Ace Nominations and approximately 100 other awards from around the world.

In the mid ‘90s, he started work at Sony Pictures Imageworks as a CGI character animator and supervisor. He was lead animator on the first Stuart Little movie and The Polar Express (and other productions).

Matthews is a member of SAG (Screen Actors Guild) and ASCAP (The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers). He composed and performed most of the music in his early TV shows.

The Dream

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(Copyright © 2018 by John Clark Matthews)

Not Dead Yet

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This is a self-portrait and Memento Mori: an artistic / symbolic reminder of the inevitability of death. Memento mori symbols were very poplar with the Greeks and Romans.

(Copyright © 2019 by John Clark Matthews)

Critter Mundo

(Mundo = World)

Location: 9 miles north of Lake Arrowhead, California - a day after a storm.

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Goodbye

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(Copyright © 2020 by John Clark Matthews)

Boulder Bay

A beautiful day,

In Boulder Bay,

When scales, fur & feather,

Al play together.

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(Copyright © 2020 by John Clark Matthews)

Fun Run

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(Fun Run, Copyright © 2020 by John Clark Matthews)

Hey Diddle

Hey, diddle, diddle,

The cat and the fiddle,

The cow jumped over the moon;

The little dog laughed to see such fun,

And the dish ran away with the spoon.

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(Copyright © 2020 by John Clark Matthews)

Big Jack & Son

Illustration for Anna and the Wolf

A curious spin on the Little Red Riding Hood story and the current wolf dilemma,

by John Clark Matthews

Dog Heaven

I left a space up front for people to add their pets.

Row Your Boat

This song is a metaphor for life. “Your boat” signifies your life, you are the oarsman, rowing down the river of time. Attitude is everything; according to the song we should be rowing “merrily” along, meaning we should be happy, joyous and passionate about our life journey. No need to race, just relax and enjoy the ride - but keep on rowing, constantly working at life.

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My wife, Niki, is rowing while Charlie our dog sits in the bow.

(Copyright © 2020 by John Clark Matthews)

Little Miss Muffet

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(Copyright © 2020 by John Clark Matthews)

Humpty Dumpty

(Copyright © 2021 by John Clark Matthews)

Faerie’s Nap

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(Copyright © 2020 by John Clark Matthews)

The Owl & the Pussycat

(Illustration for the poem by Edward Lear)

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(Copyright © 2018 by John Clark Matthews)

Over the Rainbow

Portrait of my wife, Niki Roseann Matthews

(Copyright © 2020 by John Clark Matthews)

Bee Nice

a flower is

the poetry of

reproduction

a bumble bee

such a strange

lover.

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(Copyright © 2018 by John Clark Matthews)

Mermaid In Trouble

Kaluga, the scourge of the Seven Seas is after Sirena, a beautiful mermaid. Many years ago her father had killed the sea monster’s son and now, relentlessly, the creature seeks revenge.

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(Copyright © 2019 by John Clark Matthews)

Secret of the Golden Flower

Inspired by “The Secret of the Golden Flower“, a Chinese Taoist classic about neidan (inner alchemy) meditation translated by Carl Jung.

[…] “Hun” [Animus] means “cloud-demon,” a higher “breath-soul” belonging to the yang principle and therefore masculine. After death, hun rises upward and becomes shen, the “expanding and self-revealing” spirit or god. […]

“P’o” [Anima] written with the characters for “white” and for “demon“, that is, “white ghost“, belongs to the lower, earth-bound, bodily soul, the yin principle, and is therefore feminine. After death, it sinks downward and becomes kuei (demon), often explained as the ‘one who returns’ (i.e. to earth), a revenant, a ghost. ~ Carl Jung

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(Secret of the Golden Flower Copyright © 2018 by John Clark Matthews)

Allie & Son

I think it fun to imagine,

99 feet down,

where no one knows the truth,

a family of prehistoric creatures,

lives and wonders,

if we exist.

(Seen in Lake Arrowhead, California, January 2019.)

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(Allie & Son, Copyright © 2019 by John Clark Matthews)

The Bike Thief

Last summer, Niki and I went for a bike ride in the mountains. Charlie dog tagged along. It was one of those magnificent days with giant cloud monsters flying through a deep blue sky.

Suddenly we came across a bear cub standing on a rock. Actually, it was more like dancing. This was too cute! Niki and were amazed. I set my bike down and quietly walked up to click a few pics. Suddenly, Niki yelped, I looked around to see a big bear ride off with my bike (I assume it was the cub‘s mother). We’d been tricked by these sneaky bears!

As it turned out, after Mama Bear got tired of her joy ride, she dumped my bike in the woods. And I had a long hike trying to find it.

Moral: “Don’t trust cute.”

(PS: We soon found out that this Mama bear was a rescue from a Russian circus that had recently escaped from a local animal refuge. Apparently she can’t give up her old ways!)

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(The Bike Thief, Copyright © 2018 by John Clark Matthews)

smol beans

want to flap my arms,

and fly away.

high up in clouds

I want to play…

(smol beans, Copyright © 2018 by John Clark Matthews)

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Elementals playing in the clouds. Boreas, the Greek God of Wind & Winter, baby-sits an elemental brat. Since no one believes in him anymore, he has shrunk to the size of a tiny cloud spirit.

Maggie and the Bubble Fish

A funny cow named Maggie, finds a magic fish that gives her 3 wishes. Through various misadventures, these wishes help Maggie discover how wonderful her life already is.

(Maggie & the Bubble Fish, Copyright © 2018 by John Clark Matthews)

Earth Song

(Gitche Manitou)

Manitou is a common Algonquian term for spirit, mystery, or deity. This spirit is seen as a person as well as a concept. Everything has its own Manitou - every plant, every stone and, since their invention, even machines. The collective is named Gitche Manitou.

(Earth Song, Copyright © 2018 by John Clark Matthews)

the bluebird - Homage to Bukowski

Illustration for Charles Bukowski's poem "the bluebird"

The poem ‘the bluebird’ by Charles Bukowski, conveys the message that despite his tough, strong male exterior, inside him, there is a persona filled with sentiment and deep vulnerability. The central theme deals with sensitive emotions residing in the deepest corners of his heart struggling to come out. He wrestles with the social norms that “Men don’t cry”, “Crying is weakness”. These and other universal conflicts are wonderfully woven in this soulful poem.

(the bluebird - Homage to Bukowski, Copyright © 2018 by John Clark Matthews)

Escape

Me, homeward bound after a hard week down the hill.

(Escape, Copyright © 2019 by John Clark Matthews)

blue puppet

(Oboedio!)

Pronounced: “O-bow-dee-o” Latin: “I Obey!”

1. be subject / obedient / responsible / a slave (to)

2. Listen / harken / submit (to) 3. Obey

(blue puppet, Copyright © 2018 by John Clark Matthews)

Big Bear Mood

(Holcomb Valley, California)

(Big Bear Mood, Copyright © 2019 by John Clark Matthews)