Advent Calendar Day 17 (bonus): Good and Interesting News!

Run, Run, as fast as you can, you can’t catch me! I’m the Gingerbread Man!, Q. Cassetti, 2010, sharpies, from the Second Advent Calendar Project

We are in full prep, full holiday mode. Instead of ribbons and bows last night, I addresses and sealed all my holiday cards while watching junky teevee. This morning, I finished the wrapping and got two boxes in the mail, got the envelope weighed and bought the stamps for the cards. Then, down to the Regional to pick up the lovely sourdough loaves I ordered (along with some goodies from the little cantina). Then back to the house to neaten, compile, compost and recycle. Now we are into the afternoon. Kitty is decorating the tree. I am decorating wreaths and the chandeliers. Next step, the weeding and sorting of the bitsy bits in the singing room along with the great posting of paper.Two nice things happened re illustration yesterday. First off, I was noticed (via Behance) by the design blog, “OK Great”. I adore the editorial: “I love these illustrations from Q. Cassetti’s 2010 Advent Calendar. They strike a perfect balance of pretty & creepy.” PRETTY and CREEPY. Wow. I am thrilled. That is exactly the box I want to be in, and I am not even trying to be there! Yay. OKgreat seems really nice…and wide ranging. Interestingly, I have only posted these images (outside of my blog) to Behance which is nice as it confirms this simple line approach (inspired by the Lubki—and their simple lines).

The second surprise came from Charles Hively from 3x3 Magazine. He inquired if I would like to be featured in the next issue…and need to supply links to imagery, a short article and pix.  How nice! 3x3 is a gorgeous magazine—and smart…national publication.  Here’s how they describe themselves:

“3x3 is the first magazine devoted entirely to the art of contemporary illustration and the only one published in the United States. Twice a year we take an in-depth look at art and environment of three illustrators. We explore their influences. How they work with clients. How they got their first big break. Each article is written by a fellow illustrator who knows exactly what our audience wants to hear. From the U.S. to Europe, Asia, or wherever, we’ll stay tuned to what’s going on the world of illustration.

We’ll feature four or more new talents in every issue, they might be right out of school or are just now beginning to make a name for themselves or illustrators we find that have a truly unique take on the art of illustration. 

Plus we’ll showcase the recent work of as many as sixteen of the best illustrators in every issue. Selection will be by invitation only. All in all it’s eighty-plus pages of the best illustration has to offer, including guest articles by artist reps Vicki Morgan and Gail Gaynin, a feature on a living artist who has made and impact on the industry, an in-depth look at a recent advertising campaign that has successfully used illustration, a profile of a leading art director and an ongoing feature where we ask our featured artists the same twenty questions.”

I am simply thrilled. More on this as we move forward on this. Need to get going on CA…and see if there are more grants I can apply for.

 

 

Advent Calendar Day 16: Wreathed in Happiness

Holiday Wreath, Q. Cassetti,2010, sharpies, from the Second Advent Calendar ProjectSo, there are wreathes now to add to the russian dolls and nutcrackers. I am working on some new little sillies of gingerbread people> I know, I know…sappy stuff…but hey, this is how I am feeling. I am “loving the line” these days, and any opportunity to bat off something holiday is an excuse for fun. You have figured out that I am big, fat cheater, and this wreath didn’t take days to draw (it took about a half hour) as It was only a quarter. I stuck the bow in the diagonal…and there was very little cheating when I pieced it together for this. In the tradition of John Alcorn, I should print this in grey on some nice watercolor paper and see what develops. Some lovely, watery washes of soft pinks and sage green might work with some gold accents? These wreaths have a little more mileage than the holiday (imagine it stamped in a matte silver on a cream card? or a pearl on matte paper? Oooooh. Fun!

Kitty is home after a long ride. It is great to have her back. She is in good spirits albeit she is still coughing…and the three weeks of rest, food and friends is really in order. We decorated for the big sing last night (Rob put up a lovely tree) with all the mantlepieces with little holiday vignettes. One is about nutcrackers with a wreath decorated in nutcrackers and stuffed gingerbread people. Another is a pair of artificial topiaries with a green swag with lights and silver balls. I filled up some colored drinking glasses with tiny colored balls like little glass fizzy drinks. I decorated the chandeliers with mardi gras swag and ornaments. Today, I will move furniture and get the remaining packages in the mail. Holiday, what Holiday? It is WORK and has been good as we have had focus on it…

I am going to try to get out to go to the store for a few more silver balls…and fairydust.

Some nice things have been happening. My work was highlighted again in the Featured section on Behance. I am waiting to hear from the Society of Illustrators Illustration West show. Need to get the work out to Communication Arts for January. Got my work back from Picture Salon for the Society of Illustration Show this January and February. I feel like I am making some headway on the Hangar and ideas around that.

I was searching/ researching  August Wilson’s ” The Gem of the Ocean” play to seek out something to hang the illustration/graphics on. Wilson’s plays are multilayered, multigenerational thing that I feel need something symbolic as the complexity of the play cannot truly be captured in a snapshot of an illustration. So, finding that the Gem of the Ocean is really a slave ship, I started to search out graphics for that to find that the NYPL digital library has a few really evocative maps/ functional illustrations of the layouts of the slave ships and how to fit people on this ship (much like the image above… which is spurring me to think about the slave, the person entrapped/ boxed in. I am also thinking of a style that evokes African maps…That’s where I am now on this. I need to put my head on “Ragtime” too. I would love to have a sketch for Monday (my meeting with the team). I need to let my brain relax to see what pops up. I am pleased that reseach has driven this break through.

Busy day. Hope it is busy and fun for you too.

Advent Calendar Day 15

A visit from the three kings, Q. Cassetti, 2010, sharpies, from the SEcond Advent Calendar ProjectKitty comes home today on the bus. I am manning the phones to make sure the connections are made and reassurance is there. We rehearsed where to go, where the stop is, what she needs to do, the time she has between buses. So, we will see. She is not top of her game (still ill) and needs some time off to rest and get her stuff together. I might call the doctor so she can be seen on Monday.

Tonight is prep night for the party. Hopefully, we will see Mandy today/tomorrow. We have a tree to decorate, ornaments to hang. We have things to move and store in the upstairs rooms. Its going to be a rush after 4 and tomorrow afternoon.

Lots of phone calls and busyness yesterday. I snuck in a quick illo for my meeting with the Hangar next week. It was a curious approach as I was using a picture and cut out a few layers of color and used the blob brush and eraser to do the heavy lifting. I like what is happening (see here) with the image of Tim Curry which I found to be more disturbing than the clownish tranny pix that are out there. It seems a tad bit darker…which I like.

Need to crunch on finalizing some of these projects.  Hopefully more Hangar stuff next week. Would love to get the broad images done before January 3.

Advent Calendar Day 14: sampler

Santa Nutcracker, Q. Cassetti, 2010, pen and ink, from the Second Advent CalendarColder than cold. Freezing nose. Freezing toes. Shady loves it (this is her season) and the cats have all searched out all the hotspots on the floor and are perched on top of them, soaking in the heat. Rumor is talking lots of snow today/tonight…upwards to 8” for us. There is lots of buzz around that. I walked home from Yearbook class and relished the sharp sparkle of the cold and the astringent quality of just being in the moment.

I think that Mr. Mel is coming today to sweep the stovepipe on the little cricket stove (cricket on the hearth) so we can ramp up two stoves in the kitchen/ t.v. room. Additionally, we are going to see the piano tuner, Eileen, to tune the Hermon Camp piano in the hallway for the Sing. So, we will def have our stuff in gear at the end of today.

We scaled the mountain of work yesterday…to my delight as there was a ton to do..lots of think stuff which is rough on this girl. Hate thinking. Love slothfulness. Need my teenagers to help me with the office holiday cards….and need to get the final box of stuff out in the mail. I sense everyone else is as bogged down in details as I am. There is more for today along with some fun sidebars such as entering the Communication Arts show (due 1/07), get the images to the Society of Illustrators for the opening and get the paperwork together to start thinking about refinancing the house. So, plenty to do.

We are swinging into the season of the Hangar soon. We are meeting on Monday with the communications team and wonderful Peter to make plans around what needs to be done, when. I am looking forward to having some time around the holidays to get the art done for these posters….Five or six pix. Quite a bit. There is a brochure, posters, handbills. I hope we can get it organized so as not to be the insane thing it was last spring. I am pulling some of the images out of the archive…and need to do some that are big, bold and graphic…and everything does not have to be the hour upon hour of doing the vectorizing that the portrait work demands. The simpler the better. Looks so good and strong on the banners etc. I have two in the can….and am thinking that Ragtime might want to be a line drawing. Rocky Horror will be a graphic close up of a face…very Liza Minelli simple. Maybe I should give myself an hour to do that to cut to the chase? You know, that sounds like an idea.

Thinking some more about portly Mr. Penn. Noble and humble, honest and true, Mr. Penn. This could be a very silly little exercise. A colonial fantasy and fairy tale.

Advent Calendar Day 13: William Penn contemplates Christmas

A puzzled William Penn (in his skinny youth) contemplates Christmas in a very Pennsylvania Way, Q. Cassetti, 2010, sharpie on moleskine, from the Second Advent Calendar ProjectI doubled up and didnt give you a 13. So here is an odd 13 that came off the pen unbidden. The real 14 will happen after yearbook later this morning. Cheers!

Advent Calendar Day 12

Angels of Light, Q. Cassetti, 2010, sharpies, from the Second Advent Calendar ProjectHoliday fun. Rob worked on decorating yesterday (I did a little but mainly cooked and fretted). Rob was far more productive. The whole staircase has fresh swags and lights, we have two wreathes trimmed a bit more, the chandeliers are trimmed and decorated (nutty)….(I used red Mardi gras beads which surprisingly looks good despite the garishness). So, we are working against Friday being the big concert here chez Camp….with Kitty and Mandy under the roof too.

Today its work work work and get the financing on the car squared away. Its that time of the year to account for one’s accomplishments and time, so Erich and I are reviewing all the file folders we have and personally, I am seeing where all the time went. Wow. busy.

As I keep working on this advent calendar project, old nuggets seem to surface with some odd ones right out the blue. So, with this frantic drawing project, I have found two subjects I want to settle down with in January and work out. The first one you know about, the Green Man. The second, truly just slammed me in the head, was a fantasy interpretation (based on Fraktur, on colonial illustration, on the Lubok style and of course, dear dear Edward Hicks)…but a series of fantasy pictures (and stories) around Mr. William Penn. Penn was essentially, the landlord for Britain with this state filled with heathens and savages (I am sure that was the British thinking)…and Penn, the Quaker, had to manage and secure this little kingdom…which he did.  My perception of that ideal kingdom is where the imagery could go…an American Garden of Eden would be great…along the lines of Hicks’ depiction of this perfect native world.

I almost laughed out loud when I really focused on Penn in one of the many Hicks’ illustrations of Penn making Treaties with the Native Americans, to find out that he was not portrayed as a heroic, handsome man, but a lumpy, real man who honestly tried to do his best to create harmony in the New World.

 

Advent Calendar Day 11

Santa v2. colored, Q. Cassetti, 2010, pen and ink/colored digitally, from the second Advent Calendar Project.Copy to come. Lots of planning and busyness as we speak. 

Met with Alice about the concert on Friday and walked through the where and whos, how and whatnots re the details of everything from food (cider and cookies), to where the performance would happen, and where the singing would happen, to all the ootses like parking and seating. I got up making lists as did Rob, and I think we are in a better place.

I made some granola, some creamed chicken, the stuff from whence stuffing is made (everything but the bread), and picked a chicken. So, I have a pile of bones for this week with a few more feast day foods in the freeze. Rob and Alex put the swags up around the bannisters and front door. I decorated a few wreathes (from Sams). We are migrating stuff that has been just hanging around….so there is progress on that front.

While waiting for Alex (midnight) Rob and I watched “White Christmas”. I was struck by the graphic quality of the visuals and the insultingly dumb roles that everyone had, but most particularly, the women. Only job was to have a trim little figure, a head of blonde hair, a willingness to break into song at any moment or be swept off her feet in dance. These gals were a “laugh a minute” but smart ( “Smith Girls” were cited)…and would make one of the gents a great person to bear and rear the next generation. These women were not thought of beyond arm candy…even the smart ones….who were, not the slutty ones, but the ones you married. I was also struck that this type of film was something one went to theatre to see…not in the living room, but the real theatre…and probably got dressed up to see it. A time within our reach, but beyond most peoples comprehension. All very curious…and odd. I mean the premise was to drive traffic to an old friend’s ski resort in Vermont through putting on a “show” in a barn bigger than the Hangar Theatre. Of course the other reason for the men to go through these hoops was to hang out with the smart babes, drink buttermilk and discuss sandwiches (with picks and olives on the top), and woo them (maybe with a song or two). it was rife with emotion around the war, and the gathering of the old group to celebrate Christmas as they all had projected when they were in the Army together. Again, beyond our understanding….

Wow.

Time machine…and I am in it.

Advent Calendar Day 10

Holiday wreath, Q. Cassetti, 2010, sharpie, from t he Second Advent Calendar ProjectChit chat later. Just wanted to get our picture up.

2:51 p.m Back from a productive trip to Ithaca:

We went to the dump and had a truly enlightening and simple experience taking care of the tons of recycling we had tout suite! It was great.  A happy maker. Then, Rob dropped me off at Maine Source and he got his haircut. I got granola fixings, some cheese, some stuff to cook to prep the Christmas Turkey event on the early side and freeze. All in all, good shop complete with two bags of salt for the snow and the annual windshield ice scraper.

We headed to Lowes and bought a new dishwasher (current one has failed)—a floor model that we got an extra 10% on top of. Loaded it into the Wonderbus and rumor has it that Dave and Rob will install tomorrow.

Swinging by Lowes, Rob suggested we look at cars (remember the year end car thing…we always look at cars at year end…and its torture as it is car shopping with a deadline of December 31. Also, remember our searching for cars last spring summer? And Rob was shopping for “my” car. Well, this girl got a bit huffy about someone picking out her car (that she was going to pay for) and said that I would make that decision…which I did…today! We are getting a 2011 Jetta TD wagon. Cute and fun to drive. Snappy…good ergonomics, all that great german styling and engineering. Couldnt be happier. Love Maguire and their non negiotiation/best price deal…the price is the price. So, now all I need to do is figure out how  I will structure the money! And,  no more car torture whatsoever! Might need to get some snow tires for this thing! (oh, its grey with a black interior for those who care). And the sunroof!!

Enough retail. I think we single handedly jump started the economy today. It is so curious…we always do these master blasts on one day ( one occasion was a big sofa and a car and something else)… So, the car and dishwasher totally fits.

We are off to a track meet (SUNY Cortland) later this p.m. as Alex is running the first heat and we will go and cheer him on. He has been twitchy (poor guy) and nervous.

Advent Day 8: Santa Too

Santa Doll 2, Q. Cassetti, 2010, pen and ink from the second Advent Calendar project.Working on some aircraft graphics that just doesnt seem to want to go away. Also have some retouching to do around the  work that needs to be printed for the Society of Illustrators Show. That has to happen today. 

Looking at Edward Hicks pix for some lions, some peaceable kingdom ideas. Love his work. Odd, but love. Am also reading a bit on the spiritual illustrations/ pictures from the Shakers. Simple line illustrations. Very symbolic and lyrical line work. I have a new book from a show put on by the Drawing Institute and the Hammer Museum in LA. The Hammer always surprises… and really puts on shows that delight me….and I am sure others. The show catalog is lovely, well written and has a pile of these very rare documents—

I have to go. Am coughing up a storm and need to get some stuff out.

Advent Day 7: Santa Box

Santa Doll, Q. Cassetti,2010, sharpies from the second Advent calendar projectNice little Yearbook class today. There was editing, cover designing and we planned a fun event for the last day of school prior to vacation. We are having the tacky Holiday sweater/ hat contest with a prize (a free yearbook). Lots of energy there. Plus, we just got the link to get into the Entourage site so we can get the templates, the training, the tools to do the book.

More lacy line drawings this week for the Advent Calendar. I am spurred on by Russian Nesting Dolls and the chops from the Lubok looksee that I have been studying. Santa to the left is a nesting doll too… decorative and happy. I have another one in the works and then maybe some shining baby pix along with something having to do with the bad hats.

A week and counting to the Holiday choral event. Kitty and Mandy will be home to help decorate…so we need to get the trees up this weekend and plan what goes where. Its all got to be done before next Friday as the gig starts at 7 so we will need to be prepared to roll into it. Piano tuner coming on Tuesday. Maybe I should get some candycanes?

I found that Ludgates is selling the perfect turkeys…so I will make a call for one today. So, that has been figured out (yeah!). Now its time to make the cakes, freeze the side dishes, make some gravy and have a holiday in the freezer before the day. It is so easy to make a feast that way. I think chocolate layer cake? and maybe a derby pie? Stuffing just like Thanksgiving with sausage, mushrooms and parsley. What about cocktail food?

Communication Arts is due January 7th (the illustration show…I am going to enter the design one too). Need to call Picture Salon to find out what is doing re the Society of Illustrators output….need it as the first show for Illustration 53 opens January 7th. So, I gotta book.

Advent Day 7: Holiday Greens

Green Man, Leaf Man, Q. Cassetti, 2010, pen and ink, from second advent calendar projecThis is a green man, the beginning of my next series after this advent calendar project. It has been done as part of the advent calendar and will sit in that group, but it is a spur to more work. This green man was inspired by my friend who got the back of his head tattooed with another image of the Green Man which inspired me to do a little reading…which surfaced a deep body of work to reference, inspire and push me further.

Wikipedia nicely sums up why it works:

“Found in many cultures around the world, the Green Man is often related to natural vegetative deities springing up in different cultures throughout the ages. Primarily it is interpreted as a symbol of rebirth, or “renaissance,” representing the cycle of growth each spring. Some speculate that the mythology of the Green Man developed independently in the traditions of separate ancient cultures and evolved into the wide variety of examples found throughout history.”

This is spurring me on. I have some more lacy angels, a new nesting doll and plan on some santas, Zweit Piet and others to keep this 25 day celebration of the holidays interesting. I have been looking at the lubki inspired work done recently, and discovered that those clues are peeking out of the new line work (no crosshatching just pattern on pattern) and feel that the line work is tighter and more along the lines of some of the Murray encouragement. So, I think there will be some more simple line work in addition to the more intense ink/brushy stuff.  To see other images that havent reached this spot, please click> and, for last year’s advent calendar>>

The weatherman is predicting snow. And some inches for us in Tompkins county…between 4-8”—so I am hunking down (with my cough) and Rob has the wonderbus. I have some stuff in the oven to roast (and turn into something with the marvelous pressure cooker). I want to start some sourdough starter/biga today..so as to be able to start throwing down some bread in the next week or so.

We are knocking down a bunch of projects and got some big steps yesterday. Gotta get stuff in the mail soon.

Cool article on an animator/microbiologist, Janet Iwasa, featured on EarthSky. Iwasa decided that scientists were communicating in a very primitive way about cells so she created these films. Here’s a link>> I love the idea of scientists being animators…and what about animators who are scientists…? What a great world we live in…that people that were previously siloed can cross over and use the arts to explain science. The two disciplines are so close…but in the academic world, kept separately…There is a place for the fusion that can happen given the new acceptance of polyglots(thinking Kitty).  Kitty has gotten her papers done and now has a day or so to finish up her film/animation s he is working on. Feels like there might be a late night or two in that. I miss Kitty…but we had a nice chat to catch up…and it was reassuring for her old mom.

Advent Day 6: Full Swing Holiday

Lacy Angel v.1, Q. Cassetti, 2010, sharpie from the second advent projectThe Studio sale was great. I picked up a bunch of drinking glasses and goblets on the dollar table and then went to the high priced, cooler stuff. I got a few lattecino patterned vases, a bracelet, and a few cool little bowls (for me). So, there is cool stuff to give to local friends, and a few great things for us. It was nice to see a bunch of old Corning friends and to see the Museum bursting with their holiday open house.

Then, it was off to Sams Club (I thought they might have swags and wreaths which they did). It has been years since I have been in a warehouse club, and it was great…particularly as Rob didn’t let me go full bore into the thises and thats. We got the swags and wreaths (making the wonderbus particularly fabulously deliciously scented), some new sharpie brand pens (ultra thin), some printable postcards and some cheese for pasta. I also got a huge box of oatmeal for granola making. Thinking of granola, I think that might be my version of the Christmas cookie this year. It looks good in the container; I have the wintery stickers; and folks tend to love it…and its a tad bit healthier than cookies. I think I will be doing some dog biscuits though. Really fun and the poochitas love them.

Collection of Holiday headwear from the web.A note: Going to Corning is a bit like going to another universe. People just do things a bit differently than we do here on our plateau. The general populace’s sense of public humor, their favorite restaurants and stores, what they do in their spare time, what they value is a bit different and to me, interesting. Where is she going with this one? Well, I was horrified and at the same time amused by the passigiata of people at the Studio sale (particularly) casually strolling about with their holiday Santa Hats. First it was a middle aged mom type with fuzzy boots on and a big, pink, fluffy santa hat with a big embroidered patch in the front saying “Princess”. After her was a little girl wearing the same pink hat with a crown sewn into the fluffy white band. It was also branded as “Princess”. Then a rather sloppy man, calmly sported a Vikings Santa hat (purple and white and big graphics just like the Eagles one above). Another nonchalant man had the traditional Santa hat with Mickey Mouse ears (a holiday classic). While we were prepping to exit Sams, I looked across to the car facing us in the lot, and there was a skinny, runty guy with his gold and black Steelers hat!. I think there is a market there. How about some really deviant ones? Like Masonic Santa Hats with an all seeing eye on the top? Krampus Santa hats? Or Santa hats with cool words like “Stupid” or the novel word, “Dank”? Need to work on that. Big money potential. Very funny to me.

There were holiday sweaters galore. Everyone had something with holly or candycanes printed on them from belts to shirts. It all was very “festive” and it frightened me to death. Need to do some more scary illustrations.

Onward to more Advent calendar images. I am vascillating between all sorts of things..and am getting charged up for a new body of work inspired by my friend Peter suggesting I work on a green man image. I am loving what I am learning. Could be the bees for the winter for me. I knew something would pop up if I just kept at it…yay.

Advent Day 5: Krampus' visiting day!

Krampus v2. colored, Q. Cassetti, 2010, pen and ink/ digital color, from the second advent projectToday is the day. The big jingly monster will come to your house to either take you away or whip you. Kind of your choice, I guess.

Off to Corning to the Studio Sale. Last day of great stuff (the dollar table awaits) and then maybe a trip to Sams for some styling stuff for the house for the Xmas Xtravaganza (ie, the choral event). 

Yesterday was very peaceful. Alex went off with his team to do another Pinesburger Challenge (he ate 6). And Rob and I stayed home. I made more stock—but more elegantly, it was simmered on the wood fired stove we have (most excellent). And, I am on the last round of Xmas and may be able to get the boxes in the mail this week. Only snag was that the envelopes I got for my corporate card are too small. So a trip to Staples is in order too.

I love having the retail part of xmas out of the way. Now I can bake dog biscuits and people cookies. I can prep for the holiday cooking which would be excellent and buckle down on the work that comes at this time of the year.

We do have snow. And, it is sticking. Not quite Buffalo (I think they got a foot) but enough to count and sit heavily on the bushes.

 

Advent Day 4 : Pre Krampusnacht activities

Krampus v.1, Q. Cassetti, 2010, pen and ink, From the second advent projectOh yeah. Tomorrow is the evening that that jolly old demon visits all the frightened little children and beautiful young women in Austria and Hungary…shaking his chains, and brandishing his birch twigs to beat the children for their misdeeds all year. Oh, and if that isnt enough, Krampus also doubles as the boogie man, and will take those bad children away from their warm hearths and loving parents if the badness cannot be assuaged by beatings and fear. What fun! Another rollicking add to the Holidays! A tidbit from Wikipedia fleshes this out:

Krampus is a mythical creature. In various regions of the world – especially Austria and Hungary – it is believed that Krampus accompanies St. Nicholas during the Christmas season, warning and punishing bad children, in contrast to St. Nicholas, who gives gifts to good children. Due to German and Austrian influence, the myth of Krampus is also prevalent in Croatia, Slovakia, Slovenia and northern Italy.

The word Krampus originates from the Old High German word for claw (Krampen). In the Alpine regions, Krampus is represented by a demon-like creature. Traditionally, young men dress up as the Krampus in the first two weeks of December, particularly on the evening of 5 December, and roam the streets frightening children and women with rusty chains and bells.[1] In some rural areas the tradition also includes birching – corporal punishment with a birch rod – by Krampus, especially of young girls. Images of Krampus usually show him with a basket on his back used to carry away bad children and dump them into the pits of Hell.

Modern Krampus costumes consist of Larve (wooden masks), sheep’s skin, and horns. Considerable effort goes into the manufacture of the hand-crafted masks, and many younger adults in rural communities compete in the Krampus events.

In Oberstdorf, in the alpine southwestern part of Bavaria, the tradition of der Wilde Mann (“the wild man”) is kept alive. He is like Krampus in that he is dressed in fur and frightens children (and adults) with rusty chains and bells, but has no horns, and is not an assistant of Saint Nicholas.

In the aftermath of the Austrian Civil War the Krampus tradition was a target of Austrian Fascists allied with Nazi Germany.[2]

Second Day of Advent: Variation on a Theme

Winter Russian Nesting Doll 2, Q; Cassetti, 2010, Advent Calendar 2010, pen and inkSnowed. Really snonwed yesterday and now we have some sticking to the trees and ground cooling the ground which was very mobile and warm last weekend. Cooling it and cooling it so that when the real snow happens, it will build and accumulate, reversing the efforts of the summer sun and spring breezes. I just finished taking Shady out (she was so happy having a roll in the snow, her absolute favorite) and reveled in the peachy gold light filtering through our gigantic pine trees, the sparkle of the ground and the still, delicate deer—watching and waiting.

It has been a few days of sheer buckle down and do it. Revised a presskit in a half a day. Aircraft graphics revised/ entirely relooked at. Two publications in the works. Pancake and Muffin graphics almost finalized (I will post and link later today). Today, its finishing up what we can on the two annual reports. There is packaging of stuff and some meaningful listmaking in the works too.

Spoke to Kitty. She too, is working hard as all of her papers are due this Friday….and her bill (ouch) is due January 1. After this Friday, she can get back on the animation she is delighting in. I caught her at dinner, tucking into a rather exotic sounding pizza (we were having leftovers) and the chatter of friends and aside conversations with her abounded. Alex and I worked on his student resume (needed today) and then kicked back and listened and talked about a musical piece he is working on. He is loving being a producer…working with his very skilled and bushytailed new music friends who can play anything and do not worry about being directed. My boy is blooming.

Need to take a little time before the office officially opens to do a bit of research for these advent pix. I am thinking up all sorts of stuff and need some reference so that the drawings look like “something” versus the blob and squiggle that it could.  More later.

First Day of Advent

Russian Nesting Doll 1, Q. Cassetti, 2010, Advent Calendar 2010, pen and inkFirst day of advent! Its raining buckets with the promise of ice and colder weather. Today is the beginning of the second year of my advent calendar project. Last year, I went wild and discovered all sorts of interesting characters (framed around companions of St. Nicholas)…and who knows where it will go this year. To see last year’s calendar pix: This year, I have begun by working smaller and faster. I am going to keep it to black and white. I am starting with a little collection of nesting dolls which may evolve to Mother and child stuff…and there are nutcrackers (both wooden and squirrels) in the mix. Maybe some references to the Peaceable Kingdom by the ever wonderful, Edward Hicks. So, stay tuned… New work made daily.

Rob is off to NYC early. I need to get the amazing pressure cooker stoked for soup for the team (they are laying a floor in the garage/carriage house. and will want some hot stuff for lunch).

More later.