Carefree Artist: January 2026

Image of kids of all colors holding up signs with a section of DNA on the signs. Text: Did you know that you share a lot of the same DNA with everybody else? Over 99% of the base pairs in your DNA are the same as every other human on this planet. Learn more with Mendel G. Cat’s book about DNA. Available at most online bookstores. See www.MendelCat.com for more info. For ages 6 and up. © copyright Mark A. Hicks. All rights reserved.

There’s a tiny thin thread that connects us all.

Mendel G. Cat’s DNA book has more info. For ages 6 and up. www.MendelCat.com

About this blog/art journal...

The Carefree Artist is about my artistic endeavors and adventures as a professional freelance creative. Posts might feature a cartoon, or a recently published illustration from a book or magazine assignment, or an original piece of art that I might be selling to try and raise funds for my art supply donation project. All with an emphasis on originality.

Why did I name this journal the Carefree Artist*? Actually, it’s really just a wishful sentiment. A professional life in the arts, mine included, is usually anything but carefree. But oh, how wonderful it would be to really be a carefree artist! Living the simple life in a quiet and inspiring location and creating a ton of art just for art's sake!

The name was also inspired by the Carefree Highway. A road that played an important role in my life... More about this journal's name at the bottom of this page.

Please see my website, MARKiX.net, for more info and more samples of my work.

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A Note from the Artist...

As you look around this blog you can’t help but notice a distinct change in the artwork and the tone of the content over the past few years. There’s a good reason for this -- being a cancer caregiver and then the death of my wife due to hereditary cancer. A cancer that was preventable.

I never wanted this blog to be a place where I unloaded anger and sadness because of cancer and grief. I had other plans, more lighthearted and whimsical. But when you have the love of your life take their last breath in your arms because vital genetic info was not shared, it changes everything.

So, I have chosen to use my humble little corner of the world to speak up about hereditary cancer awareness and the unbearable heartache of the untimely loss of a loved one.


	Art, Desert Beginnings, and Someday


	Delicate Sounds of Nature


	First (and Last) Contact


	Drawing Science


	Award-winning Junior Ranger Book


	La Fiesta, NOT Tijuana


	Depressed Post-Impressionist Not Impressed


	A Bad Head Day


	Meet Dusty Pack

1/1/26

Your DNA and the World

And no, I do not live in Carefree, Arizona. I live in Phoenix. Land values in Carefree are, unfortunately, not particularly friendly for those pursuing freelance artistic endeavors.