The biggest tree in the picture is down in Sheldrake as is the ancient oak(which was threatening for a while). Trees uprooted as if a leviathan simply plucked out these old trees by the roots and threw them aside. There are branches, leaves and arbordetrius everywhere.Our friends in Sheldrake weathered the storm in their basements. It truly is amazing that our windows were left intact. More later.
Tornado!
Carol Tinkleman sent me this link of an illustrator in Texas that she thought I would like:
Jose Cruz present the X-Factor
Sheldrake was hit by a tornado around five this p.m. Tburg was passed over albeit green skies and water coming down as if a cosmic firehose was pointing directly down at all of us. The inhabitants here were restless and needed mothering. I was less than cooperative that way.
Clear skies now. School is finally out.
Looking for more rain
Rained like it was Miami on Tuesday. Lowered the heat and humidity for the last two days so it is really beautiful and the grass is greening up a shade from the edgy brown that it promised to evolve to. The monarda I put in is flourishing--and the deer pests are not interested. Promising.
Plans afoot to try something new. I have a bunch of holiday illustrations (many of them rejects from client's wishes and desires)--and think that I should call up the ispot and get them up in the next week. Afterall, it is holiday time for those in retail etc. Christmas has to be done and printed by the end of August to roll into fall with all of that behind them so the addressing and stamping can be done in a timely (not a screaming rush) manner. I'll post a link when it all happens.
Gotta get a bunch of supplies and stuff for K's attending NYSSSA's visual art program. Also am curious about the edited thesis. I would love to have it in my hands before July 1. I think I better start pushing on when when when.
R back from the world travels with a memory stick filled with evocative images of simple, perfect, antique dressed stone walls, simple monastic environments as perfect environments for design work, indoor/outdoor spaces; and tales of elegant parties, interesting people, cheese shops, good design and "art" ("strings with a stone attached for three million dollars"). He is in good shape and is filled with ideas and talk. Should be fun getting more of the data dump we will get over the course of the next month or so.
Pug part of a new illo on the board.
Today
New cushions on the terrace. Picked them up from Barry at Finger Lakes Service. He had a totally beautiful, refurbished wooden Chris Craft boat (The Rocket) that he personally put over 2,000 hours into. The green and white, huge stripes look great on the terrace. Sunbrella with zippers so they are washable, fade free and have a life beyond a year or so. And, Barry stressed on the stripes and all they could do. He also worried about draining and put brass grommets in the back for drainage or if we want, to create ties to tie the cushions in place. That Barry, good brain...that he uses with every job he works on. yay. done.
Someone/thing got into the trash. Urg.
Huge rainstorm in the middle of the afteroon. Promises of some more which we love the idea of. Pretty nasty humidity. A. claims its 99% Humidity--comparing it to Miami. K adores it. I find it encouraging that this the stuff. I am with A. on the heat and humidity. I used to hate the hot end of school. We have two more half days and school is out at the MS. The HS is done. Reconfigured the chiuaua to make it bolder and simpler. Planning on another dog or two. The scarier the image the more uncomfortable folks get with the cute idea of dogs. Everyone likes this dog...but as an aside, to a man, they claim that no one will want this to grace the space over the mantlepiece. I like this dog as it reflects the scary clown heads that the local circus companies used to post in multiple panels (today, we would refer to this type of poster as "tiled output".
The MOB (Mary Ott Band) was wonderful at the Pourhouse complete with Marcus singing and drumming. Rickie was there with his pocket trumpet. Mary stopped by to tell us about her new foal she is training to put her own bridle on. We loved her story of the process to get her to do this. Mary is glowing. We are delighted for her. Musical Royalty was at the Pourhouse--sleepers amongst all of us who are regulars.
I hear the rumbles of more storms. R. is coming home tomorrow. It will be wonderful.
University of Hartford: ISDP MFA Illustration: New website
Hartford Art School (HAS) presents a new site for their new MFA ISDP Illustration program:
"The program was conceived and is directed by internationally renowned illustrator, educator and illustration historian, Murray Tinkelman. Murray has over 40 years of teaching experience including over 30 years experience in organizing and leading successful Limited Residency graduate programs. Murray was awarded the prestigious Distinguished Educator in the Arts award in 1999 by the Society of Illustrators.
According to Murray Tinkelman, Director, "Mid-career education is becoming increasingly important. It is inspiring to see successful, established illustrators who are willing to be critiqued and to learn from each other.""
Hartford Limited Residency MFA>>
It's a great site. They show faculty resumes, faculty portfolios, student portfolios along with all the nuts and bolts needed to apply for the program. Well worth taking a look a at the future for limited residency illustration programs. This is all that SU has missed by a mile. Its all grown up and very real and serious.
Get Psyched.
Obey the Purebreed.com
Obey the Purebreedis a Shepard Fairey knock-off if ever I saw one. I first thought had was that this was pure Fairey, but 
the Fairey clues were not there...ie. good typography, lots of texture and pattern, his singular palette (turquoise and magenta are not in the mix) and the reference to the A/star shape with Andre the Giant's simplified head adorning the shape are not part of this designer's reference. He is using the Obey brand...very conspiciously--but his goofy humor doesnt match up with Fairey's wit and consciousness. Plus, Shepard Fairey did not go to Rudgers. He went to RISD. I wonder if S.Fairey knows about this knock-off guy. It hurts his image with the confusion.
Thoughts anyone?
First Two Innings: 18-0
We won. 18-9/ And we didnt complete the job.We got through all but 2 of the innings. All the points happened in the magical first 2 innings. Truly field of dreams. Our guys were true, good sportsmen and nailing it unlike last Friday with the same team. 'Bout time. Today was the last full day of middle school. K actually studied for the regents--she was remarkable in her focus and ability with the regents studies today.
Please notice sharp new Tburg tops.>>
Sunday and today
AliBob was 9-6 going flat out with his pal, Marcus. Boating, swimming, mowing lawns etc. So much so, while waiting for dinner to happen with his grandparents, he stretched out on a chair and totally conked. Unshakeable sleeping.
Kitty spent time on her room, sorting her clothes, putting some in the wash etc. We took a break to have lunch out as a treat to find that the Falls was closed at one on Sunday, so we went to the Paradise Cafe on 96. They were closed too. So, off to Wegmans. You know the lunch drill there...Nice. easy. On the way home, we had another, "why not" moment and stopped at Early Bird Farms for deer resistant plants. It was fun looking at plants and grasses with Kitty and her new interest thanks to Rose at the Gothic Eves. They had a nice selection and we had an informative conversation with a lady who worked there about those pesky deer. Rule of thumb, she related, was to stick with things that have a smell or taste and or "blue" plants. Artemesia, veronica, nasturtium and more. New deer strategy brewing here. Give up. Plant deer resistant plants and make lemonade with these lemons. Why shouldnt we have a nice series of plantings grouped together that is nasty to these pests? Instead of fantasizing about plantings with flora that I love....love the plants that will work. Another idea is to do plantings with "weeds", cultivated "weeds" that deer won't touch.
We saw a huge hawk on the way home. We pulled off the road to watch 2 big turkeys and their 5 babies cross the road. Turkeys are really primordial.
We had a nice dinner with the senior members of the tribe. We celebrated fathers day with our grandfather--and encouraged stories about our great grandfathers.
Today, we get work to our clients. We are having lunch with our dog client...which should be tons of fun. We have a ballgame tonight--an away game I need more specifics insofar as where and what time. K. needs to push against the Science regents test...and study a bit. I worry she is too relaxed. She hashorseback riding this evening...which may create a little push/pull with the baseball driving etc. I will figure it out.
No rain as promised yesterday. Projections for tomorrow. The grass is sharp and brown.
image is a cropped part of a dog I am working on (a sneering chiuaua).
Psyche-d
Just did the paperwork to apply to the University of Hartford's ISDP MFA program (Hartford Art School). The check is in the mail (along with a little chat about this and that...and the basics on who you are, where you live and what have you done with your life). This is pretty exciting business. I will start summer 2008, graduate 2009 with another thesis and more focused time on all this illustration stuff complete with the Tinkelmans and team. Am pretty psyched.**
I guess this means my head is moving elsewhere. Syracuse feels almost done. The work is completed, the paper is coming back marked up...All we need is to finish the two hot weeks and the "defense"--and we can get a transcript and go. No need to worry about the alumni association chasing us down.
**- If you are considering Hartford and want to get more information than the website provides, contact Carol Tinkelman directly (her phone ## is on the MFA site). She will be able to flesh out the program more than the existing web stuff will provide.
Psyche was the gal Cupid fell in love with. She became the goddess represented by butterflies...
Saturday
K was off frenchifying (or is that frenchfrying?) at Ecovillage with swimming and crepemaking at her chic teacher's house. So, I got AliBob to myself. We had lunch chez Falls and then Work!. We went through his closet and drawers, piece by piece with my raising each piece and asking "stay or go". We made short order of his stuff and bagged it. We organized his dresser by identifying what goes where. He seemed to like it. He is organized. He knows what he has, fits. And all the things that he hates and has been giving house room to, are gone.
I then bagged the low hanging fruit in my collection. We moved all the bags to the front porch, brought the now summer tired Wonderbus around and loaded 7 bags. Big 'uns. Why wait? I thought--So off we went to make a delivery to Sals. Sal's has a pullup in the back (new news for us as I have always dragged the stuff through the front door). And it was short work. Refreshing!
On the way back, I thought again, "why not, its here"--and stopped at Hillendale Golf Course and dragged ole Bob with me (he didnt kick up too much of a fuss), to find out about lessons and meet the nice pro. Hillendale is really nice--not too upscale--but humble with a restaurant that recalls the old days at the Elmira Country Club (on a smaller scale), and a proshop in that same vein. It seems tangible and friendly. I can see a fit. All lessons are given after 5, so i am going to call the pro and pencil in a few prior to school getting out.
We went to the Village Greenhouse to discover that Rose has the same deer issues (though she has a fence). They ate all the sunflower seedlings. I have noticed, they do not eat iris...read between the lines... Those pains have started eating (not nibbling) all the hosta on the quadrangle side of the house...leaving the stems in some cases. Same with the sedum. So I got some spraycomprised of various "oils of" (cloves, cinnamon etc) in a base of egg whites and magic. If this nice stuff doesnt work, then it's the sprinkle type called "Critter Ridder"(love the name) to ratchet it up a bit. If that doesnt work, A and I have ideas from watching the Luca Brazzi scene in The Godfather. There are options to being nice with these beasts.
Sprayed everything. Also bought 4 Monarda plants (deer resistant, I have read) and weeded.Socked them in.Its a little tidier. A little.
K. attended the "YouthFest" at the HS with all the high school bands playing. The scene was fun. She seemed to have had a good time. Yesterday was her off day.
A. off to be with Marcus at his lake place in Geneva. K is getting the same clothing "stay or go" treatment and regents review with me today. She is not such a willing participant. However, I am dragging her out of bed around 10:30 so she doesnt blow the day with her beauty sleep.
Shady Grove "ate K's homework" by ripping pages out of her open bookbag--looking for snacks. She found some Celebrity Cruise candies, a bag of frosted flakes (she neatly punctured the corner and in her ladylike way strewed them everywhere). Tea at midnight?
More later>>
close, but no cigar.
We lost--close, but lost. Lots of good spirit. Alex G. hit a triple...These guys are really out of the babyhood league and are connecting in a great way these days. Lots of little errors-- The parent contingency were riled up as the ump, on his way out of the field, declared that the Tburg team were unsportsmanlike. One father chased after the ump and questioned that. There was lots of talk about the next steps and who they were going to talk to. Urg. I thought it was a game.
Trucktown is in Tburg this weekend. Jeff, the wonderful, my mainstay at Maguire said they were actively moving cars (which is good) and rehabbing the trade-ins as fast as possible. No more snowtires...amazing how quiet the ride is.
A and I had dinner around 9 at Carls. Driving through our village at 9 was amazing. There were a ton of people out and about. Our new Aceto/Stiles Gallery was open with a real crowd milling around with people sitting at tables, congregating on our new sidewalks etc. Even the silent A. remarked on the buzz. It was great.
Stayed up late. Finished the Papillon piece and started the grinning dog. Have Christmas by the tail--did a nice rendering (albeit it is almost logo like) of a deer, also a stack of presents with one of them being the globe. I think the client has a nice selection to choose from. It was interesting to use red and blue (instead of red and green as it immediately neutralized it...but without a strong white element, it did not even read as "patriotic". Stole the a bow from the dachshund project for the present piece for the comp. Created a mail piece for a thing Darren, otherwise known as the Ape, from Little Chimp Society. Made up two pieces wallpaper with my new kit of butterflies (what a nice resource!! new parts!) and sandwiched the Papillon piece in between. Slid the whole magilla into a clear envelope and made a handcut butterfly label with Requiem type. Tres elegant. I made a few more after I saw how good they looked. I might offer them to a client as a special thank you to send to key donors. I love having parts and pieces that can morph over into other layouts...even if its for a sketch to move the work forward. Maybe some month will be parts month...might really be worth it to create a bunch of stuff I love and need. What do you think?
Started work on a simple illustration website with Erich. We are thinking about how and what as it needs to happen soon (I am making August 1 the deadline as it would be right and tight to finish the SU program with some more serious marketing going on).The other approach doesnt seem to have any energy behind it. I have bought www.qcassetti.com for the illustration work--nothing there yet.
Interestingly, I was considering dumping one of the portfolio sites I have had for the past year. I had a very engaging and informative conversation with a guy who I respect for his web savvy and understanding of the illlustration market. Any new discovery I make about illustration--he has beaten me to it--has engaged and added value). He advised that it takes easily three years to get traction...(this doesnt surprise me...as I preach it takes 5 years to my newbie clients who want to be in a profit mode immediately), and that the things I have been doing with multiple portfolio sites make sense (along with a few communitities I participate in). He said, rightfully, that if someone is looking for an illustrator, and they go to one site(and you are there) and then go to another site (and you are there) and so on...its good. You are remembered. You are available. You are there. Building brand recognition is what I tell my clients--so listen up (I say to myself).
I told him my gaff about telling future illustration clients that I was a graphic designer. He confirmed that telling art directors that stuff is sudden death. Seems simple, but not for this numbnut. Stay in your role as an illustrator. Don't be helpful that way. All good information. I am sticking with my representation there and doing foliooplanet too. More is better with this sort of marketing. I guess a good way to look at it...is if you buy a list, mail some postcards (just one time through you are spending $3,000). Take the same $3,000 and put it towards 5 portfolio sites. I betcha touch more people. I betcha it yields that same amount of work (to dat $0). My clients are the place that I am getting work/paid for illustration.... Maybe there is something there.
Later>>
IF: (public) Rejection: Avian Flu
Remember last summer when the news was all about the Avian Flu? It hasn't gone away. Somehow, the public or is it the news media have decided that this is not fun stuff to talk about and have rejected opportunities to surface this very real, and very present danger to all of us, our health, our economy, our families, and the quiet lives we live today. Yes, we all sleep better at night without this tugging the corners of our minds, prompting us to focus and plan--but is it the right thing to do?
Ulysses Swallowtail
No. I have not seen this butterfly. Just love the name. Holiday cards coming along. May have a dozen approaches to ship out tomorrow. Just have been looking at the digital watermarking feature of photoshop and discovered this cool almost Carbonite-y product for the MacNation. BlackJack is "a Macintosh Online Backup Service". Need to find out more about this tomorrow.
Pioneer Printing
Pioneer Printing
8466 Main Street
PO Box 210Lodi, NY 14860
K summed it up by likening the Pioneer Press to Willie Wonka's factory. Nailed it. Pioneeer Printing is in two small, wooden buildings in the one block long Main Street Lodi. Lodi is essentially a four way stop. This place is a marvel...one of those dream candy shop, laboratories for old graphic designers. They do letterpress, diecutting, foil stamping and multilevel stamping. Many jobs are too big, most never too small (an invitation of 10 is not out of the ordinary). The place is chock a block equipment from platen presses backing onto platen presses. Old cutting equipment. Four color work run a color at a time, dry trapping the color. Letterpress jobs--they have metal and wood type. Hand bindery stuff. Certificate holders that are perfect bound with ribbons and faux watered silk papers under them. Padding. Custom playing cards with handmade boxes...Joe Seppi, the owner, calmly walked us through his shop talking with passion about the tails of sheets, humidity and the machine projects he has to complete so as to offer other services. The work is sweet, the owner engaged and inspired. Nearby and neighborly. My head is spinning.
Cheryl Schaffer is selling her iris now. Lots there. We stopped on the way out..I was tempted, but my patches need to be split--they are just too happy.
No win yet
Game was close...but we lost. Everyone looking very strong and confident in their skills-It just all needs to be knit together a little better. A. very frustrated as he was struck out. Was a field of dreams kind of evening--yellow orange light, long shadows, and Maxfield Parrish clouds which towered and glowed, promising rain. We heard rumbles and roars coming up the lake...but didnt touch us. K lay in the freshly cut grass with Shady Grove and laughed and laughed with our gal pal, Bongo. It was a very rich slice of time...slowed down just enough to see it tick tick tick.
remind me to tell you about the bumblebees. Picture is of holly for one of the holiday cards.
Wednesday
No rain yet. Chet the Lawnmower man is here. My big monitor is up and running. I've got the wacom plugged in --and I am using the wacom wireless mouse which really is nice (I don't understand why I haven't tried it up until now). K. has tests...but it was the last day of classes yesterday, which she was delighted with. She read me her yearbook autographs while I grilled last night...which was sweet and very warm. We walked the dog and talked further. K was commanding with Shady Grove--which is impressive as she has no training in dog handling...but it works with our poochita. A. and I stayed up late to watch the Spurs/Cavaliers game last night...so he was a little weary this morning. Big game tonight. Starts at 6. Coach Nick and the Prep Team...Big Blue.
More later.
work in progress
Live from Valencia
My brother, Tom, is crewing on an older America's Cup, The Valiant, in Valencia. He speaks of the spinnaker custom made for this wonderful boat for Freerange:
"We flew the FreeRange spinnaker today at practice (out with th Alinghi a*nd Team New Zealand, the America's Cup contestants, who were also out practicing, and it was awesome. We attracted a great deal of attention. I think when this regatta starts on Thursday, the big buzzard (as my crewmates refer to it) will be the talk of Valencia.
We also had dinner...the at head of the sailmaking operation for Team Oracle/BMW Racing (who has been living in Valencia for the past 3 years, and he had on a FreeRange hat when we walked in!"
>>More later>>
Brush-hoggin'
Back behind the back 40, they are brush hoggin' old Mrs. Dean's seven acres. Shady Grove and I crept back to the property line to check out the happenings. They are making that lot look like a suburban heaven. Peonies are blowing out.
As an aside, the folks at The Believer are having a sale because they have hit some rough times. From their note:
As you may know, it's been tough going for many independent publishers, McSweeney's included, since our distributor filed for bankruptcy last December 29. We lost about $130,000 -- actual earnings that were simply erased. Due to the intricacies of the settlement, the real hurt didn't hit right away, but it's hitting now. Like most small publishers, our business is basically a break-even proposition in the best of times, so there's really no way to absorb a loss that big.
We are committed to getting through and past this difficult time, and we're hoping you, the readers who have from the start made McSweeney's possible, will help us.
Over the next week or so, we'll be holding an inventory sell-off and rare-item auction, which we hope will make a dent in the losses we sustained. A few years ago, the indispensible comics publisher Fantagraphics, in similarly dire straits, held a similar sale, and it helped them greatly. We're hoping to do the same.
So if you've had your eye on anything we've produced, now would be a great time to take the plunge. For the next week or so, subscriptions are $5 off, new books are 30 percent off, and all backlist is 50 percent off. Please check out the store and enjoy the astounding savings, while knowing every purchase will help dig us out of a big hole.
So check them out. Help them out. The teeshirts are cool and the back issues fun for the summer.
Sugar cube
I couldn't resist giving you a peek. Cute? Right?
Had a nice exchange with a fellow SU ISDP student--someone who will graduate with our group of 3 (we have 2 adds who dropped out and will finish this summer). He is a good graphic designer who took an approach to his thesis doing a digital woodcut look. I sent him my sketch thesis to find out we are listing some of the same inspirations--his more direct than mine...so it should be interesting to see the work together this summer. His work is very blocked out and far more graphic than mine. Makes me want to try going that bold...and beefing up the tigerteeth to see where it goes. To compare them, my work is more "painterly"(?) using a range of colors and shading and his is more linework with a very limited palette.
The Papillon integrates the shiny learning from the dachshund--letting two tones of grey (or can be purple) to pick out the highlights to render the form. The eyes are really simple but still work. I laid in a single color for the eyebrow and cheek color and it got too flat( which, now as I say it...maybe I should take the black forms with the grey shadows and do a really flat one too...)so I added 3 orange to brown colors to give it some shape.
These dogs are cute and showstoppers strictly as the content is so winning. I think if I have 8-10 of these...They could be really merchandised and sold. I wonder if there is some type of little specialty kids store (maybe online) that there could be a fit? Need to think. Maybe that is selling "down"?
Finally, the "card" came. I found this rare and necessary technical component by digging around on the web which will allow my power tower to work properly with my new tool, a 30" Apple Cinema Display, sweetness personified. I have had the whole world of wires and technology plugged into my powerbook for about a week to take advantage of the monitor--and having the big box back in play is now welcome. I now am bitten by the bug to be like Al Gore (saw this confirming picture of Al in his office...as messy as mine--with Al, upfront and center in front of his computer--flanked by three 30" cinema displays all with newpapers etc on them). Way to go AL. There is never enough wonderfulness when it comes to this stuff.
There is a tiny deer baby--the size of a small dog--gamboling outside my window. Too bad they are such pests. Speaking of pests, while Shady Grove and I were looking up at the trees (Shady for squirrels, rabbits and groundhogs (she thinks they might live in trees as well as holes)) I noted the meat-headed turkey vultures sitting on the tippy top of the tall pine trees that surround the quadrangle. They are still here. And then I heard a tap tap tapping to see a damned woodpecking pecking the margin board of the house. What does this bird think the house is? A square tree? So like a crazy person, I ran around clapping my hands and shouting at the woodpecker. It is moments like this that I am thankful our neighbors are at a bit of a distance from us...