Rod Cockle (like the heart-shaped marine bivalve shell) Entertainment presents original uplifting family-friendly productions for a connected, global audience. Since its foundation the studio has been dedicated to sparking guests' imaginations by crafting engaging attractions with compellingly unforgettable characters brought to life through captivating stories, illustrations, animation, and more.

My work is handmade in the simplest sense of the word. From the early sky's the limit dream stage of the storytelling process drawing and writing in sketchbooks, even on napkins if need be, I love to create with multimedia which allows the material to be shared instantly and then constantly evolve into reality in this digital frontier.

In this electronic form of communication the narrative can always be built in new directions by editing and refining the text and images. It changes through time like when you walk a familiar trail's ecosystem of meandering paths and winding streams, but sunlight is cast differently from transitional weather, a tree fell because of a storm, or in the spring cottonwood fluff falls like snow... and it's a joy to see how the themes of the stories intertwine synergistically to reinforce each other.

Visitors everywhere are invited to explore the outer reaches of the cosmos, journey through time, search for hidden treasure, and embark on heroic quests in this adventurous landscape; and most of all to have a heartwarming experience that brings a smile.

RodCockle.com provides free access to visual storytelling resources for educators and students around the world. The site has been included in programs which teach and reinforce literacy skills to students with reading difficulties, a foster care program for reading comprehension, and a project that brought art to children at hospitals in the Pacific Northwest. Petals and Her Paintbrush participated in a program in which police officers give stuffed animals to comfort kids in distress.

Over time I have found the work is how I define myself in that joyful days are an inspiration to build into the stories, just as in dificult situations I still turn to the material to reflect on what is important and matters to me. It is rewarding to be able to communicate these thoughts about life sometimes fueled by an occasional late night frozen box of peanut butter Tagalongs, creating what feels like a fun conversation with this online community, village really, in a stream of consciousness as fast as inspiration strikes with fused sentences--sewn together with dashes, bolted by commas, rivets of colons... ellipses. And you never know when an unexpected moment will present itself like one time pulling a pan of puffy Dutch babies out of the oven it just seemed right to be the volcanic landscape of a comet for a starship to land and boom, that just happened.

- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

- Put 4 tablespoons butter in a 9 by 13 inch glass baking dish and place in the oven.

- Mix 6 eggs in blender for 1 minute.

- Add 1 1/2 cups milk, 1 1/2 cups flour, and 1 teaspoon salt, and mix for 30 seconds.

- Pour into heated baking dish.

- Bake for 20 minutes.

The independent digital media production studio will continue to cherish establishing this convivial entertainment destination by developing a signature style of meaningful stories that celebrate cultural diversity and inclusion with intriguing mythology for guests wherever they are of all ages, and especially those who are young at heart.

The innovative content is completely free for everyone to share again and again in hope of creating a lifetime of fond memories and inspiring dreams for the future.

Best wishes,

Rod