This past weekend would seem have to finally announced that Spring is most definitely here. Yet like all good things, it comes at a cost: a rainy Monday. Now don't get me wrong, I love the rain.  But when you're trying to get out of bed to get to work the last thing you want to see is a gray sky and hear the pitter-patter of droplets the size of peas outside your window. On the other hand, there's nothing quite like running through the rain at night and dancing away in its cleansing glory, even in a city like New York where the rain is not quite so clean. Moreover there are whole dances and songs devoted to the power of rain. Rain is an inspiring life-giving force.

My least favorite thing about rain is all the umbrellas even though I occasionally use one myself. Those pointy tips at eye level height (for the six foot tall guy I am) are outright scary, especially in the crowded streets of the city in weather that makes everyone look at their feet. My favorite thing is the texture of rain, from the puddles in the street to the rivulets running down a window. Gregory Thielker captures the surreal world as witnessed through rain soaked car windows in a series of oils that gives this writer pause.

These works take me back to that strange and magnificent land of the road trip while searching for fun things to do in Omaha. We spend so much time in the car, alone or together, it can often feel claustrophobic. However, in the rain a car feels like the best place in the world to be: safe, warm and dry while still managing to get where you need to go. Thielker's paintings capture this space with incredible detail while using the distortion of the water on glass to evoke nuances of abstraction and surrealism.

Raindrops fall into a puddle, making ripples in the water much like how this week's site behaves upon opening the page. Vlog.it is a HTML5 animation extravaganza featuring the video choices of one Marco Rosella. This piece is full of animations up to its eyeballs and is great showcase of what is possible in the post-Flash era. The sheer amount of animation can cause less-than-fluid transitions and usability but the overall result is as progressive as it is stunning.

And lastly who do we have to thank for this life essence that magically falls upon us from the sky? Watering our yards? Filling our drains? Delaying traffic? The clouds, white and gray, puffy and thick, Cummulus and Nimbus.

The Sketching Mechanism is a series of weekly posts, published on Mondays, containing the artistic musings of Mobile Designer/Developer Ben Chirlin during our Monday morning meeting at the NY Creative Bunker as well as his inspiring artistic finds of the week.