Wooden Head

Rapunzel, Kay Nielsen, from www.artpassions.net"…It was now three mornings since they had left their father’s house. They began to walk again, but they always came deeper into the forest, and if help did not come soon, they must die of hunger and weariness. When it was mid-day, they saw a beautiful snow-white bird sitting on a bough, which sang so delightfully that they stood still and listened to it. And when its song was over, it spread its wings and flew away before them, and they followed it until they reached a little house, on the roof of which it alighted; and when they approached the little house they saw that it was built of bread and covered with cakes, but that the windows were of clear sugar. “We will set to work on that,” said Hansel, “and have a good meal. I will eat a bit of the roof, and you Gretel, can eat some of the window, it will taste sweet.” Hansel reached up above, and broke off a little of the roof to try how it tasted, and Gretel leant against the window and nibbled at the panes.

From Grimm’s Hansel and Gretel

More on Kay Nielsen and his Hansel and Gretel (1925). I was cruising around and found that I could download a pdf (for free from Logos Books in their Public Domain Hour offering). There are really nice plates and offerings from Art Passions to explore Nielsens color and extrordinary black and white line work. Wow. Gives this gal a kick in the booty to keep going, keep going, keep going. Love how patterned this Rapunzel image is...a veritable tapestry of pattern, tone and imagery. Nielsen really partied with his work.  He just keeps embellishing and designing with the black and white, white and black. And he uses color to pop the story out of his work. Nielsen's work portrays a man who leapt out of bed every morning to grab his brush and live in his work and world of decorative illustration. What joy. What happiness.

To think that he died in poverty is amazing. His influence through his fresh and exhuberant work continues today.

Wikipedia on Kay Nielsen>>

Elizabeth Nesbitt Room, University of Pittsburgh, The Illustrators Project: Kay Nielsen (1886-1957)>>

Golden Age Comic Book Stories>>

Childscapes.com>> Nielsen books for purchase>>

The Leominster Galleries>>

Today its packing and wrapping things up for our field trip to Amherst tomorrow. Alex has dinner to take to an indoor track meet potluck. We have a small present to put together for Kitty's hostess. Money for Alex for his student United Nations trip Friday/Saturday. So lots of mom work along with the general work for clients. Busy but not painfully so.

Have been interested in a job that keeps coming back and forth to redesign an iPhone app that a group in Canada is putting together. So many of the developers present themselves as the whole shooting match from architecture to creative to coding to implementation. They miss the creative bit. So, I get that as a bit of an offline/ ping pong way of driving consistency. What is growing out of this (as this is the second one we have touched for the same client) is a corporate standard, a consistent palette and type treatment, and a vocabulary for handling lists/charts/ graphics. But it's zero to sixty and then wait, then zero to sixty and then wait. But its making me think which is rare for this wooden head.

Got some creative work done on GlassLab for the Museum along with a "brand" for the up and coming Medieval Show at the Museum of Glass.

More later>>

 

Baba Marta

from Wikipedia:

Martenitsa ( is a small piece of adornment, made of white and red yarn and worn from March 1 until around the end of March (or the first time an individual sees a stork, swallow or budding tree). The name of the holiday is Baba Marta. "Baba"  is the Bulgarian word for "grandmother" and Mart (март) is the Bulgarian word for the month of March. Baba Marta is a Bulgarian tradition related to welcoming the upcoming spring. The month of March, according to Bulgarian folklore, marks the beginning of springtime. Therefore, the first day of March is a traditional holiday associated with sending off winter and welcoming spring.

Romanians also have a similar but not identical holiday on March 1, called "Mărţişor". If and how these two holidays are related is still a matter of debate between ethnologists.

Symbolism
The red and white woven threads symbolize the wish for good health. They are the heralds of the coming of spring in Bulgaria and life in general. While white as a color symbolizes purity, red is a symbol of life and passion, thus some ethnologists have proposed that in its very origins the custom might have reminded people of the constant cycle of life and death, the balance of good and evil, and of the sorrow and happiness in human life.

Tradition
On the first day of March and few days afterwards, Bulgarians exchange and wear white and red tassels or small dolls called (Pizho and Penda). In Bulgarian folklore the name Baba Marta (in Bulgarian meaning Grandma March) is related to a grumpy old lady whose mood swings change very rapidly.

This is an old pagan tradition and remains almost unchanged today. The common belief is that by wearing the red and white colours of the martenitsa people ask Baba Marta for mercy. They hope that it will make winter pass faster and bring spring. Many people wear more than one martenitsa. They receive them as presents from relatives, close friends and colleagues. Martenitsa is usually worn pinned on the clothes, near the collar, or tied around the wrist. The tradition calls for wearing the martenitsa until the person sees a stork or a blooming tree. The stork is considered a harbinger of spring and as evidence that Baba Marta is in a good mood and is about to retire.

The ritual of finally taking off the martenitsa may be different in the different parts of Bulgaria. Some people would tie their martenitsa on a branch of a fruit tree, thus giving the tree health and luck, which the person wearing the martenitsa has enjoyed himself while wearing it. Others would put the martenitsa under a stone with the idea that the kind of the creature (usually an insect) closest to the token the next day will determine the person's health for the rest of the year. If the creature is a larva or a worm, the coming year will be healthy, and full of success. The same luck is associated with an ant, the difference being that the person will have to work hard to reach success. If the creature near the token is a spider, then the person is in trouble and may not enjoy luck, health, or personal success.

The martenitsa is also a stylized symbol of Mother Nature. At that early-spring/late-winter time of the year, Nature seems full of hopes and expectations. The white symbolizes the purity of the melting white snow and the red symbolizes the setting of the sun which becomes more and more intense as spring progresses. These two natural resources are the source of life. They are also associated with the male and female beginnings.

Wearing one or more martenitsi is a very popular Bulgarian tradition. The martenitsa symbolises new life, conception, fertility, and spring. The time during which it is worn is meant to be a joyful holiday commemorating health and long life. The colours of the martenitsa are interpreted as symbols of purity and life, as well as the need for harmony in Nature and in people's lives.

Here is another nice posting about spring evocative traditions in Bulgaris>> Many Mouths One Stomach>>

I think cranky Baba Marta with her erratic behavior might make a nice picture? Eh?

Candy House

Kay Nielsen, Hansel and Gretel, from www.nocloo.comI am reading a bit about Hansel and Gretel. Not a happy tale. There are two iterations with the first being an outgrowth of a practice during the Middle Ages of leaving a child in the forest because there was not enough for the family to eat. Thus, Hansel and Gretel left by THE MOTHER and the good, reluctant father to perish> finding the house etc. The  other was the sweeter version of mom dropping dead, dad remarrying the STEPMOTHER, who had no interest in the children and insisted her new hubby get rid of them...and so on. The happily ever after is somehow the kids and dad (maybe mom but stepmom drops dead), bringing physical riches (stones, gold, etc) to make a happily ever after for all of them. However, during my cruising around, found  the Kay Nielsen illustration from that tale (shown to the left). Just love Nielsen anyway he comes, but wow. So much Mary Blair in this (really the other way around), and look at the depth of how he pops the color in a warm shell of neurtral trees. He definitely says, look here.  I found this and other great illustrations at Nocloo.

Nocloo.com  describes itself as:

"Well, it's a typo for noclue, someone already took the noclue.com domain before it came to my head that's a good name for my project. It's a project born out of the passion for old children's books that I collect over the last 10 years. I just want to share some these amazing artworks from the great Golden Age illustrators that I love.
Sadly, many of these books are no longer in print; too expensive to acquire or totally unknown for the majority of the younger book readers. The project started as a resource for book collectors like me, but over the past few year, it has evolved into a creative source for artists, students and many others."

They have a lovely collection but have watermarked images that are common property as well as sell prints of the said images which though legal rubs me a bit the wrong way. However, if you are looking for images, its an interesting resource.  I found Nocloo from the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive website. ASIFA Hollywood is a great site for more than just animation and comic strips. They have a lot of good talk about illustration, illustration/animation practice and people etc. Worth the looksee.

Work on lots of design stuff today/tomorrow. Wednesday through Friday in Amherst with Kitty. Should be interesting and hopefully fun. This journey continues albeit in a much sweeter way than in the past. More later>>

WYSIWYG

Cold, Dark Night, Q.Cassetti, 2010, pen and ink/ digitalI love the idea of WYSIWYG. Its a very "my lifetime" phrase. They did not say WYSIWYG in blackletter in church manuscripts from the scriptori, nor did they say WYSWYG  at the advent of handset type. What you see is what you get. Pretty much from my vantage point, a very NOW statement. What you see (right now) is what you get (right now). Not what you might see if you wait. Or what you will see when you get it...or the like. Its two now statements. Pretty much speaks to our culture, our nowness, our immediacy of on-demand everything from television to movies, to printing to food. Its all on demand..and its exactly what you see. No variations, no more thought than making it JIT (just in time), and predictable. Its a problem we have culturally, as many things you cannot see or if you see them, you may not get them. Or if you see them, they may not exist (such as movies such as Lord of the Rings or Avatar or even the hyper realistic games that Alex plays with blood and guts). 

There is so much behind WYSIWYG. A whole system and structure that is invisible and rarely even approached. You buy a loaf of bread at the store and what you see is what you get. A loaf of bread. Do you see if there is local flour there? Could you see if there are preservatives in it? Can you see if the people who make this bread are satisfied with their work? their lives? How did that loaf get from their ovens to your doorstep without being damaged or aged? Do we even think about these things? What are the ramifications of buying a loaf of bread made in your village versus one made in Cinncinnati by an enormous bakery? Do we see a change in our health directly? Does it better our neighbors versus someone elses neighbors? Does it teach us anything about our area? or local culture and expectations? I know I am ranting on about something (WYSIWYG) that  is really more about computers and not really having to learn about code and the like...which is fine by me-- but WYSIWYG is ingrained in the way we think and behave such that if we just started peeling it apart, think of the thoughts, ideas, and passions we could all inspire. Enough of this rambling.

Kids are skiing. It was gorgeous at Greek Peak. Plenty of snow and happy faces all around. We came back to do house projects. I made a "Church Supper Chicken Pie" and cinnamon bread ( both from the highly recommended (I am cooking my way through) The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion: The All-Purpose Baking Cookbook I am working on some more of these Home Sweet Home pictures and thinking a lot of gingerbread houses and witches. I actually cracked open the brothers Grimm this morning and was pleased with what I saw....plenty to work on.

In the cozy forest

Inspired by papercutting, Q. Cassetti, 2010, pen and inkWe got a load of snow for the last two days. My clients did not. So,being remote only meant that the work kept coming and my employee was home also being remote...but it was less good on my end as he wasn't right here. However, buckets of work done later. Two kids still happy to be home with no reason Not to watch the Olympics and more bread raising on my radiator. I counted well over a dozen deer in the side yard nibbling away at the green stuff burdened by all the wet snow. They were wading through the snow with the little ones close by (snow well over top of them).

I posted a bunch of new SHOES to Zazzle/Artsprojekt. The big news there is that you can customize Keds High Tops and low tops (mens) so the cool factor goes up. I wish they had cooler rubber choices--but I do think some of my work looks pretty "fresh" (not my words, Alex's). It would be great if I could sell a few of these....who knows?

Speaking of cool, on demand fabric... Here is Spoonflower. They have a grid to design to, along with the general on-demand fabulousness such as no minimum order, ecofriendly textile printing, all sorts of fabric choices, weekly fabric design contests, and  $5. swatches to see your work before you get the stuff done. Talk about opportunities for comping or for just getting your illustration out, on a chair and on antiques...and selling through one offs. Am so psyched about this. Need to download this grid to see what I can do with this. Here are the specs>> Race you! There might be something here...really.

I found this other interesting thing that looks like it could be fun to try. Its called "Artisteer", not the best name but they are promoting themselves as a way to create Blogger Templates easily (Blogger is the place I started in this wild journey of blogging and a place I recommend anyone to start...not much to go wrong, easy to manipulate, the "Why not? What if" factor is high). 

Here's another one: Widgetbox. Widgetbox allows you to make personal widgets for your blog/website that is about slides, videos, youtube, Vimeo, twitter, blogfeeds...and assign images etc. Its free for to start...and they have a pro feature if you want more. Seems interesting and worth looking into.

Thats it for the geekdom now. Am surfacing all sorts of interesting things to keep from focusing on death and taxes...though what with my new found understanding of Biga, it all seems to have a different place.

It continues to snow. As I look at these little happy forest scenes, I thought that maybe I should morph to some little houses, candy houses that is in the forest and see if Hansel and Gretel could emerge out of this mix. Rob thinks I should do a series called Grimm: name of the story....and bring my less than happy point of view to some less than happy children's tales. Hansel and Gretel could fit? No?

We were invited to an outdoor (in the snow) cookout at a friend's blacksmith shop...I hope the snow stops...but it seems unlikely....Kitty is charged about it. Alex is sour and sardonic...but I love him nonetheless.Can't hold his being a teenager against him, can we? After all, we were teenagers too.

IF: [Winter from my] Perspective

Winter Solstice, Q. Cassetti, 2010, pen and ink/digital Winter from my perspective is a time of quiet, of introspection and study. It is the time to burrow down with ideas, my pens and books and see what happens with the rich brew of slow time, dark days and nights and the white blanket of snow that covers the landscape. From this time, summer and spring leap unbounded and unburdened as the time for fermenting has happened.

Long day today and cannot talk. Spent the morning involved with a commitment I have with the school (as a volunteer) and it took the better part of the day. So, work was backlogged and here I am. Six thirty and the forks are being shown to me. Gotta go.

Tuesday grey day

Winter Solstice, Q. Cassetti, 2010Geekin', oh girl. I have been working on more of these Home Sweet Home pictures and have begun to shorten tasks, work with the marvelous blob brush (shift + b) which fills well combined with the multiply transparency feature. I admit, they are not speedy...but quicker than in Photoshop. Working with these images forces me to think about color (I am using Kuler palettes, saving them, amending them and keeping that color biga going). And, some aspects of these illustrations work better than others as well (from a design standpoint)--so I keep learning as I go.

And then, there is the cmyk, rgb crossover which is always perplexing. When the list of all the tricky things that makes the work work...then, it will be time to hang up the boxing gloves. Ah well.

A loaf of Pain Levain is sitting on my little electric heater right by my right hand. I am going to give it one more rise than what is mentioned in the recipe. I was reading an interesting book about the Brother Juniper Bread Bakery in California, a wonderful philosophical / spiritual journey through bread...and he was talking about letting the dough have its time to grow and develop. He sprinkles in little bits of data and science (I think its all magic, to be honest) which is sticking to the inside of this head...and that you can continue to rise the bread a few times...but to watch it from going too far. The idea is to allow the yeast/sourdough to ferment to deepen the flavor. Makes sense to me.... We'll see. The proof is definitely in the pudding...or slice.

I am thrilled that I got my resume up here ( About Q.)...and that I have current shows, exhibitions etc up versus the time and trial to get my QCassetti.com amended. I am going to transfer qcassetti.com and theluckystone.com to this page to let it all coexist. I am fiddling with galleries (the 2300˚ postcards under the Luckystone is an example of treatment). I originally kept the websites separate as it was preached at Syracuse that art directors/designers did not want to know if the illustrator was a designer and could handle type. I was fearsome about that, but now, I do not care. It is best for me to show my entire work as a whole versus a little bit here and a little bit there. Plus, I find the illustration work for myself. That's where I am happiest.

A mini pile of rush jobs have just popped up in my mailbox. Yeeesh.

More later, I hope.

Love is in the Air!

Block one: I do not wash my socks for they cause me to stick to walls. Block two: I am Spider Fellow, and I have an extra pair of limbs, I am hugging your back [possibly ass] and and am pouring [the word is lovko, which is in a sense clever for a physicial action. And its true... it is very lovko..] from http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2006/07/10/the-history-of-pop-culture-bayeux-stylee/Remember my rantings on Lubok (Russian Folkloric illustration)?  To put it mildly, it rocks my world. The illustrations are funny, woodcutty and often twist the content a bit to exaggerate the idea. Very witty, very Russian and a tad perverse.

Here are the  two links: Lubok>> Sunday Doings>>

And the terrific blog, "A Journey Around My Skull" had an entry on Lubok work as well>>

Lubok-Russian inspired (Russian illustration style) basing these illustrations on current comic book/ science-fiction content. Riza.ru>>Very inspiring to this pen wielder. Brilliant.

Northern Lights v.4, Q. Cassetti, 2010, pen and ink/ digital
Northern Lights v.3, Q. Cassetti, 2010, pen and ink/ digital

Sunday Funday

Northern Lights,v.2, Q. Cassetti, 2010, pen and ink/ digitalTweaking the color...things were itchy last night with yesterday's coloration, so I decided to brighten it up to see where it could go....and I think that this might be better. Learn as I go...and see what happens. Happier is better here. The sobriety of the other one is a bit of a downer. So, I got rid of the subtle/ multiply shadows at the top of the dark area, and in the burst at the top. This is a bit better. I was thinking of recoloring a bit more wildly just to see how it could go. I am, however, obsessed to continue onward with these for a while as they remind me of Chinese papercutting and folk art in general (Ukrainian/Hungarian).

There is some backwards forwards insideout, up down, and layers in the thinking around these images which is thrilling as the back and forth keeps the gears spinning.

This week the Etsy adventure begins. Wikipedia says the following about Etsy:

 

"Etsy is a website that provides the general public with a way to buy and sell handmade items as well as vintage items and craft supplies. Handmade items cover a wide range including art, photography, clothing, jewelry, edibles, bath & beauty products, and toys. The site follows in the tradition of open craft fairs, giving sellers personal storefronts where they list their goods for a fee. It has been compared to "a crafty cross between Amazon and eBay", and to "your grandma's basement"." 
"Etsy makes money by charging a listing fee of 20 cents for each item and getting 3.5 percent of every sale, with the average sale about $15 or $20 and mostly sold by women, who tend to be college-educated and in their twenties and thirties. Along with handmade products, people on Etsy sell vintage items, homemade sweets, and craft supplies. Etsy offers multiple options for paying for items, including credit card, money order, and PayPal (which is part of eBay); international sellers prefer PayPal.
Etsy has a permanent office called the "Etsy Labs" in Brooklyn, New York. The site's customer support, marketing/PR, business and communications teams operate out of this office. Additionally, Etsy Labs has a community workspace that provides equipment and donated materials where Labs members gather to make items, take and teach workshops, and attend special events.
Etsy is one of the main members of the Handmade Consortium, a 2007 effort to encourage buying handmade holiday gifts."


My launch into Etsy will be with all the cards I already have printed and boxed, Valentines and envelopes, tattoos and postcards. We will sell the felt balls I buy from Nepal and maybe a wreath  or two as well. I will post Gliclees as well as copies of Memento Mori books which surprisingly folks like and send checks to buy. I have the stuff. There is interest among those that know me and the idea of consolidating and marketing these things in the evolving marketplace is perfect. I have teenage help for the mail and packaging...so why shouldnt we jump in and figure it out before everyone goes to college. Seems like a prime opportunity.

Etsy has a nice (read seemingly easy) interface to set up a shop...and their fees are fair. The grassroots beat sez that Etsy is "coming on strong" which I totally believe. I bought a bunch of nice holiday presents from Etsy--things that were cherished and immediately worn upon opening.

Wonderful Don Kilpatrick (MA, Syracuse 2006) markets his screenprints and lovely sketchbooks through Etsy as Little Buffalo Press  and cleverly uses Facebook to talk to all of us who adore his work and his books. It seems that he clears out his offerings pretty quickly among his friends of FB. And friends, you know, have friends....so the network evolves.

Time for studyhall. More pictures...and the great rising of Whole Wheat Sourdough. This bread is a new one...that needs to actually ferment (read more science less Magic (which is what I believe happens in the Pain Levain)) and takes longer to rise and work with. So the long and slow time...is perfect for this coloration fun. Believe me, I need the time...This is work!

 

Slow Saturday

Northern Lights, Q. Cassetti, 2010, pen and ink/ digitalJust back from Sauders, the Mennonite grocery store in Seneca Falls. It was a beautiful drive with clouds and little peeks of blue sky with gold light casting shadows on the snowy fields and painting the trees dark purple and brown. Beautiful. We bought a cartful of groceries with a lot of flour, butter and the basics. I picked up a package of John Martin Scrapple for my mother-in-law who loves it along with frozen blackberries, dried parsley, teensy potatoes (called creamers) and much more.

They had dried mushrooms (my new add to the mise en place) but Greenstars are better and believe it, cheaper. Mushrooms add so much to any saucy thing--adding so much weight and dimension to the flavor of a sauce. It is amazing, much like the leek, the shift/or add of an ingredient can make so much of a difference.

We have eggplants for Kitty and Alex's favorite eggplant along with all sorts of spices, nuts and add ins. What with the time I have at home, the bottles and cans for cooking have been replaced by single pieces of paper and plastic bags. The whole quantity of our household trash has reduced to a trickle...and the composting and recyclables a bit more weighted.

I have flour for the week. I am making a new recipe in The King Arthur Book--not the Pain Levain, but the Whole Wheat Sourdough which is a bit more complicated (but thats not saying a lot).

I am thinking of calling the Society of Illustrators in New York to find out what it would take to create a digital (maybe even taking it to vector) award for the Student's Show. I would like to do a $1000 prize (max $1500) as this is the place to encourage growth and staying on track. It would have meant the world to me when I was in school, but prizes were not given. I am also thinking of prizes for the first years and a single prize for the second years at Hartford Art School's MFA in illustration. Illustration keeps giving and giving to me, I would like to encourage this small community of lovely people through giving to students who may need applause and praise for excellence and effort. Put this on the list of things to do.

Must go for now. There is some reference to search....for more of these home sweet home pictures. I am developing things and feel I am on the front end of this...

Off to Target later this afternoon for shopping with Alex. Maybe dinner at The Nines...!

Quiet Day

Rabbit Run, Q. Cassetti, 2010, pen and ink/ digitalI am trying out new things with this illustrator coloring of a reverse out of these pen and ink drawings. I have an egg started with another planned for tonight's Olympic watching. I like what's happening...and need to look more at the silhouette portraits and landscapes that are out there in cyberworld. I have had some really lovely insights from friends through Facebook and here on this page. My friends really seem to have responded to yesterday's "Quiet Night" by putting themselves in the picture or themselves as woodland animals in the scene. I do not know there this is going...but its happy making--for me, and comfort for my friends and viewers. Also, I like the back and forth between hands, photoshop and illustrator, and illustration and photoshop back again. I am showing you two looksees of the color... I think I prefer the one on the left-- seems brighter, snappier. Plus, I am trying to use the 80/20 per my mentor/ Murray Tinkelman re color and the balance of the image. Yesterday's was more successful I think-- but we are rolling and see what happens.

Made a big boule yesterday afternoon. Its great to be able to make bread--particularly this King Arthur Pain Levain, as its one big mix and then a series of risings and foldings which takes no me time, just sitting time. i discovered I was not allowing my poor boules to rise in a warm enough place. So, yesterday I fired up the Fridgidaire ( my 1940 electric stove that came with the house complete with the "Thermonizer") and had a nice hot top to allow real like rising. And dang, it did. The loaf turned out well along with the requisite texture in the bread along with holes(!) --- And, it was delicious. R. said it was equal to Le Pain Quotidien bread we had in NYC. There's a huge complement! So, the bread journey continues. I am going to keep doing this one recipe until I really understand it, and nail it. The home team continues to eat it...and I can cut the big boule into two pieces to take to the neighbors--so we all benefit. Only trouble is that I broke my pizza stone... and need to order a new one. My brother sent me a nice link that will be perfect. Breadtopia carries that same stone.

Alex has a track meet tomorrow with hopes that we shop for a suit on Saturday. Kitty is charged about our visit to Hampshire soon. School play practices abound.

New ideas

Quiet Night, Q.Cassetti, 2010, pen and ink/digitalI was thrilled to discover this interesting, thought provoking tool, Visual Thesaurus, which for $19. you can access all sorts of ways to connect words with words, which then connects ideas with ideas that one might not have on your own. I found it when looking up names for a company that is just being started and found the more I used this tool, the more ideas sparked about illustration, relationships that are interesting and odd. I cannot recommend this highly enough as it is a wonderful tool for naming, for language and writing as well as a prompt for ideas when one is feeling stale and stupid.

This illustration is the first part of the coloration of the silhouette series (see in The Atelier section above). I did something new (imagine) that produced some interesting results (this piece is not quite done). I took a pen and ink illustration and flopped it in photoshop. Then, I reversed the illustration (what is white is black and black/white. I saved this as a high res jpg (at 600 dpi). I brought this image into illustrator, and started laying shapes of color on top of this original, reversed image. I used the Multiply filter (via transparency) which allowed me to work very quickly to lay in the color/change the color/and then use opaque shapes on top/behind these multiplied colors. FAST. and allowed one to make changes really quickly. I am intrigued by this--possibly moving to single color illustrations (beyond black and white) and laying the color in  on other pieces. I may do one more today just for kicks.

Today begins the egg drawings. You shouldnt see anything for a week or so, and then, Annie bar the door!.

More bread rising this afternoon. Sourdough waffles for dinner to kick off lent. No one wanted them for Fat Tuesday...so we will qualify this as meatless...and take this approach.

We are off to Hampshire (Amherst MA) from March 4-7 for Kitty to have a sleepover and chance to get a full measure of the whole college thing. We will probably talk to the financial aid people and have a chance to visit a bakery that has been used as an example by my agriculture friend that I would like to see.

More later.

Yikes!

Viewmistress!, Q. Cassetti, 2009, collage I'm on a phone call talking with people about a sign in process and we are busy over embellshing embellishment. "Now, where should we move this comma?" All totally worth talking about...just not fifteen minutes before a dinner. Next time, I am going to be too busy...thought I must admit, I learned a bit about how novices think...and what a crabby old bitch I am becoming (am>?)

Entered the Logolounge show today and with that entry, have a place to post my logotypes as they are in process. If you want to see the logos, feel free to go here (and put Q.Cassetti in the search box). Busy day today. No time to talk. We are having a group for dinner. Alex is with a friend overnight. Kitty had two friends last night. Rob is taking a few days off to feel better and do some work on the homefront but also on work related stuff.

I am definitely going to do the egg project starting Wednesday. Just need a little time to figure out some of the symbolism as well as do some research for reference. I am getting charged up about this. Plus, plans are in place to color some of the Hungarian ladies (inspired by the German toys...the flower spinners) working in pastels...That would be a change. Color! Imagine! and sickeningly sweet pastels....! a doubletake? or is it?

The guests are here...

I Love Fu

I Love Fu, Q. Cassetti, 2009, pen and ink/ digitalLife is good when you have a ten pound bag of flour in it. The possibilities are endless. I have two loaves in their new rising baskets on the second rise. A banana bread in the oven with a cake in the offing. We are having friends of K's for dinner, so we have happy gals with metabolisms coming over giving me the opportunity to crank out more recipes from the new "go to", the King Arthur Flour Baking Book. Nary a bum recipe yet.

Am drawing away. It was fun to have a pen in my hand as we watched the Olympics on tv. I am making more pine trees and houses. I came to the conclusion that I am doing these pictures as a way of exploring borders and frames around a central image. I am kind of done with that and am thinking about either getting back into the Garden of Eden work, or work on some egg-inspired art as it is such a huge symbol imbued with all sorts of imagery, meaning etc. Plus, it would be a fun lenten body of work with Easter being the end date. I enjoyed the whole process of the advent images as it had a start and end date-- a real live start and end date, that puts a bit of pressure on me...so I chase things a bit faster and not get hung up on some thing.

I also want to make some pictures around the the Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat, a poem by Eugene Field. I was inspired by two amazingly whimsical and large ceramic renderings of these creatures (my the deep past, a friend had them in his NYC apartment...very Hilary Knight- esque). I have been inspired by them since--and will need to do something about that. Here's the poem:

The Duel
(The Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat
 by Eugene Field
The gingham dog and the calico cat  
Side by side on the table sat;
'Twas half-past twelve, and (what do you think!)
Nor one nor t'other had slept a wink!
 The old Dutch clock and the Chinese plate
 Appeared to know as sure as fate
There was going to be a terrible spat.
 (I wasn't there; I simply state
 What was told to me by the Chinese plate!)

The gingham dog went " Bow-wow-wow!"
And the calico cat replied "Me-ow!"
The air was littered,an hour or so,
With bits of gingham and calico,
 While the old Dutch clock in the chimney place
 Up with it hands before its face,
For it always dreaded a family row!
 (Now mind: I'm only telling you
 What the old Dutch clock declares is true!)

The Chinese plate looked very blue,
And wailed,"Oh dear! What shall we do!"
But the gingham dog and the calico cat
Wallowed this way and tumbled that,
 Employing every tooth and claw
 In the awfullest way you ever saw-
And oh! how the gingham and calico flew!
 (Don't fancy I exaggerate!
 I got my news from the Chinese plate!)

Next morning where the two had sat
They found no trace of dog or cat;
And some folks think unto this day
That burglars stole the pair away!
 But the truth about the cat and pup
 Is this: they ate each other up!
Now what do you really think of that!
 (The old Dutch clock, it told me so,
 And that is how I came to know.)

Good stuff, eh?

And now for the greetings of the day.

I heart Fu, I love You. Be my virtual valentines!

xoxo

 

Love Lock, Q. Cassetti, 2009, pen and ink

Groovin' with Squarespace

As you know, I migrated my blog (1750 entries) from Blogspot to this new place via SquareSpace. What is cool about Squarespace is that it is a very flexible tool for creating a web presence whether it be a blog or a site ...in a very straight forward way. They are continually evolving the tool...so its nice to get into looking at the parts to see how one can modify/change an existing site.

I took on the University of Hartford's  Hartford Art School Limited Residency MFA Illustration site back from a friend who took on the task for a while. I had started this blog in Wordpress thinking that it would be easier and more customizable than Blogspot (which, I will say again and again, is a great place to start to see if you or your content is well suited for the blogisphere). It was more customizable...but it just didn't feel as fluid or as intuitive as I would have liked. What that means is, it wasn't fun; it was always something you had to "work" with versus just getting in there and boogying with the content. So, when Erich heard mentions of Squarespace on the the tech podcast he listens to, I stored it in the back of my head.

Then, coming back from Thanksgiving, the thought became a plan and I put in motion migrating my blog to newer quarters which could accomodate all of my web presences from my illustration page, to the sleeping luckystone page... and the day to day mutterings on my blog. Why not drive traffic to one place? Why be ashamed of being an illustrator (and a designer) which to art directors is despised? I yam what I yam....and that's all what I yam. No big news, but big news for me. I planned the migration for before December and would run both blogs until January 1 when I would focus on the SS. site.

My happiness abounds. Squarespace works (though I am struggling with carriage returns and need to see what the code is to just hand sock them in. Squarespace gives me galleries (like the Atelier) which allows me to post bodies of work immediately. Squarespace also, in less than 10 minutes sucked all my Blogspot content and imagery over to the new home and allows me to back up a copy to my desktop. Only thing I was having an issue with was links and the patchwork of small information that I am recreating.

I did the same with Squint (not ready for prime time but here is the work in progress> I plan to bring over my other pages to merge with the Rongovian Academy, creating a homepage that sits on top of the whole magilla...and doing a page for graphics, work in progress, and illustration.

I am spending time on the Agricultural Entrepeneur work. I am working exclusively with type but trying to put my illustration hat on while working with the fonts to a little success (hopefully more). There are some kernels worth exploring. I think we may be able to do something standout, affordable and memorable. That works for me.

Made another loaf of Pain Levain yesterday. Better and Better. The misty oven is key. And the Biga keeps growing and growing like illustration, graphic design, ideas, thoughts, connections. I started a bitty biga which overflowed it's crock yesterday and have transferred it to a bigger biga jar. I need to double the biga to make two loaves of bread on Sunday...so biga development is happening. I ordered two bread rising baskets (cheapest price) from Breadtopia. I am keeping my fingers crossed that maybe today I might get them!

Was pursuing debossed Moleskines for a client giveaway. Pretty sweet. A bit costly but sweet nonetheless.

Mandy is going back to Hartwick College today loaded down with two boxes of little containers of soup, stews, spaghetti sauce and the like. Its seriously two /three weeks worth of lunches and dinners. We will miss her and her herding pup, Sonata (otherwise known by her Cat On A Hot Tin Roof name, Baby). But, she is back to pick up where she left off in the world of plants, biology and geology. Sounds pretty blissful. I love school.

Snow is not to high here. Enough for the kinder to ski on...

I am hoping that Sunday may be an official study hall!

More later>>