Tuesday




I was struck at how English, how civilized and how perfect aspects of Boston is. Even the rough and ready parts still are maintained, neat and tidy, no trash, no rough edges--very on the up and up. Being in Cambridge, surrounded by the walls of brick with stone accents, the 12 over 12s or the 12 over 16 panels of glass in the white mullioned windows, the grooved granite slab sidewalks, the perfectly pointed brick, and clean roofs seemed calming--but almost too calm for an atmosphere of learning and intellectual study. It seems a very straight path, very organized and orderly where people don't raise their voices too much, quietly purusing books and publications, and silently accessing the world wide web. It is not the shaggy north we inhabit where there are lots of edges, lots of loud talk and lots of people who are not tucked in, not clean and straight. I didn't see one tattoo parlour in Cambridge unlike Ithaca where you can get ritually decorated on every street corner. It was interesting walking a bit on the campus with Tom who is an HBS graduate. Tom waxed eloquently about the Harvard track--and those who are accepted are honored, but once they get into the "mill" they study hard, live quietly and move through the system until graduation. And after being through the mill, I would surmise, they look to continue this quiet, orderly existence--in panelled clubs with perfect brick and mullioned windows, perhaps moving to Washington or Philadelphia to move the world in small (and large ways) versus the wild haired, loud talking folk from Cornell where the world is your oyster and you can solve a lot of things through feeding the world (with ground peanuts)--prefereably with illustrations winding up your arms and legs and an offbeat tune in your heart. I didn't come to Boston for comparisons--but somehow it seemed obvious and necessary to do.

North Shore con style







North Shore italian bakeries and salami shops. Trays and trays of martzipan in the shapes of eggs on toast, salami on toast, loaves of bread, vegetables--all brilliantly colored and glossy. We had cups of cappuchino and lattes while we admired all the goodies, bottles of olive oil all cloudy and promising, salamis and cheese, foccacias and bread. Don't you love the Modern Pastry sign? The restaurants looked great, affordable and the scene. And the other stuff like shopping! No reason to go anywhere else.

Cambridge





We went to Harvard early this morning. We saw the Appleton Chapel (built by a way back relative--see top and second from top)-- It was beautiful--a colonial design embellished and frosted with war memorials (and a room devoted to war dead with the representative dead having his feet on the Harvard emblem). There were gold cupolas and domes galore. Lots of brick and weathervanes. Mullioned windows and shutter All sorts of terrific old details on beautifullly maintained buildings. Everyone and everything is quite civilized and staid (unlike the scene on Lake Cayuga). The building third down is the Harvard Lampoon which we all love with it's eyes, nose and mouth (and the steam coming out of it's ears).

Dogs gone wild!






The piccolo palazzo has a yard down to the beach, Singing Beach--and the dogs were on the beach! Dogs gone wild. As you can see...Singing Beach is beautiful, almost tropical in it's sparkle and blueness. All sorts of people and their dogs were on the perfect sand walking and enjoying the clear morning. There were corgis and scotties, bernese mountain dogs, shaved standard poodles, newfoundlands--the shot and our new little pal, Beeper (at top) a puggle (cross between pug and beagle). She is a little treat, chasing ice cubes and regaling us with all sorts of high pitched sounds and beeps. Imagine!

Monday a.m.

long day in the car yesterday--driving up to Albany and then across to Manchester MA. It was a day full of talk--of this of that, do you want to stop? what should we do? pretty much the chatter around men and machines, man and dreams, death and taxes. Pretty much the world of chat. We arrived to a wonderful group of people who live in a delightful house filled with happy pets and color--sometimes unexpected color--sometimes planned with images of chickens (the choker poster central) needlepointed, sculpted, formed and shaped, in photographs, paintings. Chickens galore. I need to get going on more. We can see the ocean--
and hope to now.

smell the roses


Bloggilicious times. Working with the content leaders from Hartford, and the king of Drupal,Jim Reidy to do a bit of prototyping that could evolve into our little site: 2squint.com. I would love it if we can push drupal to be prettier (both R and Erich were candid in saying that all the drupal sites they have seen seem nailed together...basic carpentry)...prettier because maybe, just maybe a designer can actually make a teensy bit of difference. I like the flexibility part, the live streams against static ones etc. Could be a cool experiment. Just comes down to request the alumni and students when talking about Hartford tag it so we can grab it. This is a very amenable group so I think this is a possiblity.

There was a request from the local bed and breakfasts to have artists' studios open and available to their guests when they come to town. When poor Jay called me and kindly asked me to join in, my response was "forgetaboutit" as I am prickly about anyone telling me what to do despite its concept. However, my pitch to Jay was that we should do a local website showing local artists (hopefully not weekend watercolorists and scrapbookers)work and a link to their respective websites etc. We are using the qcassetti.com grid for the site. We sent a note to about 35 people with 10 (+/-) folks interested in addition to the initial 5. I hope this can grow as there are a ton of creative people here in Tburg, actually there is a real art community making art and money from that art that probably pulls as much as a small insurance agency or local gift shop that are recognized as businesses by the Chamber of Commerce. I like to think that by awareness, it may help others in the community to see the energy expended and national presence of these skilled people are a force to factor into the vision of the community. Erich and I are doing this gratis...and collecting small money for the URL and hosting services. Our hope is to go live around the first of May to present a new face of Tburg to the locals and to the tourists who come here for the waterfall and lake. As soon as I can send you there, I will post the address etc.

Off to Boston tomorrow for a few days with my brother and hometeam. Our hope is to eat seafood, see the Appleton Chapel and Appleton statue (a relative) in Cambridge, and maybe see the new Martin Scorese movie about the Stones at an IMax theatre. Shady dog will be with Mandy, Baby and Coia. Shady is to get her spring clip. I know she is excited about it. Back to the office on Thursday.

K has finally had a night's sleep. I hope she is having fun and recovering from the time change. That is rough business.

More later.

IF: Fail [to see that some use of mind]


There are women in middle life, whose days are crowded with practical duties, physical strain, and moral responsibility ... they fail to see that some use of the mind, in solid reading or in study, would refresh them by its contrast with carking cares, and would prepare interest and pleasure for their later years. Such women often sink into depression, as their cares fall away from them, and many even become insane. They are mentally starved to death.
Ellen Henrietta Swallow Richards (1842–1911)
U.S. chemist and educator.

Consider getting some training, doing some reading or pushing yourself beyond the full dishwasher, lunches to pack, dinners to cook. If you like dinners and lunches, read a cookbook and try to make puff pastry. And if someone told you that you couldn't do something...there's the incentive to prove to yourself that they were wrong--and that 25 years of holding a grudge can be let go. Consider yourself in control of your life and living. And with that, move forward into a life, reborn as your real self. Being mentally starved to death is not an option.

MM1


This willow head/ willow skull is the Memento Mori image that got into American Illustration 27 along with the Chicken Chokers @ Grassroots poster. I like this image is it came from left field, that blurry place to the left of my left ear--the last place in my brain to react to Platinum Blonde from Gimme Coffee first thing in the morning. This image just happened. I like it that the willow tree interpretation fused with one of the tattoo inspired skulls and like chocolate and peanut butter, this thing fused. I should take it further.

Up up and away


Well, she is off! We woke K up this morning with the packing still randomized...with polka dot piles all over her floor. I must admit, this is not my style and it makes me nuts--but it works for K. She blissfully tended to this and that, surrounded by dust and yesterday's laundry, neatly packing her bags. After two bowls of scotch oatmeal (the fine stuff), we hurried over to Palmer Pharmacy to greet her fellow travellers and teacher (and husband) who were attired in black with berets. OOOOOLa La! Then, en masse, we caravaned up to Syracuse to get them all checked in and through security with tears from our girl--and great hand waving from all of us. I am looking at the clock and thinking about her as we talk. I know she will have a great time...its the settling down and getting there that can be the trauma. We all have been there...we become deadened to the green saplings our younger selves were...and the mix of fear, excitement and the unknown which can be a frightening cocktail. Once she gets to Chicago and has settled in a bit, maybe the fun will begin. If not then, then when she gets an eyeful of the cute french guys in the aeroport! Mais Oui!

More news. One of the Memento Mori illustrations and the chokers poster got into American Illustration 27. So, that is good news. I did not, however, get into the Schweinfurth Show in Auburn New York. Declined, Declined. But CA and SOI isn't a bad second to that! I am sickly gloating over all of that. Next, I am planning other rejections--like the Made in NY Show at the Everson in Syracuse so I can feel like a loser again. (Don't tell anyone, I AM a loser).

Tomorrow is basically unscheduled! Maybe I will treat myself to a trip to Agway for grass seed along with the nascent publications I have on deck. I hope I can do a bit of illustration work tonight. Maybe a yellow rose?

Back to the Hartford Blog. Back to squint as a name. Squint and squinty are taken for URLS---however, 2squint.com is available. Maybe we will have a little call for illustration to see if people can send me pix for squint for the masthead (which could refresh on a regular basis. I think it would be fun to have little amongst ourselves virtual shows on the holidays, on politics, on ideas. I wonder if that would make sense? or if the students and alumni would be game. Need to reach out to the head of illustration alumni to see what her wish list might be...maybe even query the crowd to see if they have ideas, wants, needs? I dont need permission to ask? do I (at SU I would).

Gotta go.

Whaaaaaaaaaat!!!!!

ohmygoodness! OHMYGOODNESS! What is happening? Why all of these wonderful things? Why me? I am shocked and surprised in a lovely way. I got a call from Carol Tinkleman seconds before a scheduled phone call about branding with the big Green company. She was very guarded in her chat--asking if I had gotten the emails...had I gotten them? I looked and was shocked to see that Carol and Murray had nominated me for a Graduate Presidential Fellowship from The University of Hartford. And....they had accepted me. There were eleven nominations and eight awards. This is huge! There is some money to offset some of the tuition which is tremendous, but even better is that I was competing with other graduate students (more than the world of illustration and illustrators) for this honor. And even we weak minded art types could be recognized in this manner. I am thrilled. Thrilled. This is almost as good as winning two gold medals for the Mellon Bank Christmas illustration competition I won in fourth grade. (that was 50 silver dollars and a box, a flat black box of Prang crayons). Am a bit confused as it was cited that my experience, an MA and the schools I attended were important despite a weak UG GPA (which I need to understand as I graduated from CMU with University Honors and the SU gpa thing was good too>). Unless its linked to my bad housekeeping skills, inability to organize etc. I will need to understand that. But hey.Good news all around!

Back to the blog. Need to get with Jim Reidy to take the design further. Also, have veered away from Squint...but am back to it. I like the edgy, unbalanced, bloggy quality of the name...so I am going to chase it. Now, its a question of the URL. HASSquint.com, SquintHAS, thesquint, squinty....need to go to register.com to seek out a direction.

More later.

Patience


I work with a different schedule than my daughter. I have been on her to pack, and plan, to make lists and to work her lists. She lies on the floor and hugs the cat. She reads her book. She laughs and tries on clothes. She says funny things. She does almost everything other than the stuff I want her to do. Her reply to my pushing is that she can exist with whatever is in her suitcase. My retort is that ten days without underwear is a stretch. She had to concede that I was right on that front. And so, it continues. She is off to France tomorrow for ten days. It will be great for her (hopefully with a few undergarments and fewer costumes than I know she has stuffed into her little orange bag).

It is warm out. The plants cannot dawdle. The willows are turning that wonderful brownish, green--promising leaves. The little sedum nubbins are bigger each day. The hosta shoots are poking their heads up. Our guest gave me three, glorious asian lilies that can grow upwards to five feet (' you know, you will have to stake them!")--so I am pondering where to plant them so those vermin, the deer, do not think it's candy time.

Big doings at School tonight. Review with the middle school on eighth grade--the shadowing day, the trip to Washington DC, and the scheduling for HIGH SCHOOL on the horizon. Then the bag check (camera? passport? euros?) for Kitty and Tax review with R.

Work continues apace on the two bathrooms/laundry room/closet project. Lots of detailing and making everything fit. The wonderful electrician is here along with the carpentry team. It is closing in...and we should be operational shortly. Its all this back and forth and then you buy all the fixtures and floor>>and badabing>> it's done.

I am busy with my ink pens doing goofy drawings of rattlesnakes. I don't know where they are going, but it's fun and maybe one of my pictures for Texas can be a resolved version of one of these. I did around 5 of them yesterday--and have one in the works on top of my pile of real work. So, we will see.

More later

New week


Ron and Virginia here until mid morning. It was great seeing them--talking about the state of programming, of public television, of the thinking around media and communications. They gave us a wonderfully perfect present of a very fragrant, asian lily (4 bulbs) that grow to 5 feet tall (as tall as me!). Now all I have to do is worry about where to plant them that the damn big rodents, deer, not discovering their yummy, snackiness. What a perfect present for early spring---when the promise of 600 daffodils lurks, and the honesty of our delicate clusters of snowdrops boldly proclaim the snow and ice is done. It was shocking to pick up A from his first golf game of the season, to see the destroyed willows in the fields split in half as if a giant snapped these elegant, tall trees in half. The highlight of my trip was a large, loping, teardrop shaped, wobbling, gobbling turkey--leisurely strutting across the highway and then upon getting across the street, he opened up his stride and started scooting into the pale field across the way.

A three part illustration job came in from Steuben. I had a lovely time talking with my client about the "ismus of was", cool retail ideas, the fantasies of what could happen should the stars align. I love this sort of fantasy talk because sometimes, just sometimes an aspect of this thinking can happen. They need ideas in two weeks---which is cool-- but the concept they have is pretty abstract---and I will need to make it pretty, decorative and yet representative of the idea that it all falls off of.

Our wonderful electrician was here running wires--an art experience--neat and tidy-- using old chases, dropping lines from existing lines etc. We are two steps closer to the cluster of 2 bathrooms, a laundry room and closet to reality. Mandy painted. David C. coming later to manage the high dust level.

K is busy worrying about clothes for France. We worked through all the combinations-- adding and changing one piece for another. We have talked about the various phases of the "little matchgirl" personna and whether it plays in Paris. So, we got into the details, and K was very patient and attentive. I think we are close. She wants to be noticed, but my fear is that she doesn't want to be noticed as the silly little clown-- but more the elegant and stylish girl. She understands the delineation. K. also got into the NYSSSA (Summer Arts program through the NYState Dept of Education). This year the visual arts program is at SUNY Fredonia versus Brockport (last year). I think as K is doing photography/psychology next year at school versus visual art--it might be great for her to keep her hand in by participating this year.

R is late at CMoG with a crisis. He is deftly handling it with his intrepid staff and the ever responsive, Steve. What a bore. But, the moment they open the doors tomorrow, it will not even be an issue. So, we will eat, take the poochita out and shut down early. I have an interesting CPSE/ CPE meeting first thing tomorrow at school. Big, scary project on the table. I hope we can find the student and her family some help and attention.

More later>>

moo.


They came. They ate. They threw pinecones for Shady. There were stories and notes, issues and nonissues, a general catching up and going someplace. We are lucky to have the cousins from truly afar stay with us for two nights so we get a dose. It is great to see them, to hear about their issues, their aging, their lives and living, and what concerns surround them. It is confirming and affirming.

Another perfect cloudless day with temperatures in the mid to high fifties. A. is playing golf at the Hillendale Golf course with his friend Ben (on the eighth grade golf team...so maybe A can pick up some pointers). K will be back from a sleepover with our needing to find current translators and getting her packed for her 10 days in France with the French Club.

I am researching yellow roses...roses in general to design around the portrait of a buffalo for one of my Texas pictures. I have decided to work with the Chicken Choker reduction technique (one or two color only for heads) to see where to go. I will, however, give myself permission to do the roses in yellow and black and white as the key is the yellow. Plus, with as stylized as roses can go, maybe I will use my drawn approach and try to merge it with the more formalized thesis style. There will be a few images in this group.

Gotta go.

gotta go


Rushing about to the store and back to get ready for a gathering of the clan chez Camp today. There will be food (cornell chicken not withstanding), there will be a limitation of dust, and there will be the great pushing of dirty clothes into closets and under beds. There will great chewing and talking. There will be the smaller members of the clan that the buckets of legos, and boxes of long haired ponies will be presesnted to. There will be more eating, and talking (and maybe wine drinking) and there hopefully, will be some fun!. But, we need to gird our loins.

Had a great chat with Jim Reidy, musician extrodinaire, about Drupal and what it can do. My engines are revving and there will be a Drupal blog for Hartford Art School that I think may be called "Squint"--which is Murray Tinkleman saying that if you just squint (I know he will correct me on exactly how he says it..and I will give you a ps) you can essentially earn a MFA (and forget about the three summers). We will have RSS streams of anyone who talks about Hartford's Illos program, a list of students and alumni (offering a small portfolio page for the students), an open forum page for students to share sketches, A blog, a place where the Carol Tinkleman epistles are posted, Alumni news and so on. As Drupal is very flexible, if we find we do not like some thing or we want some other type of content, we essentially change the frame or the"theme" and away we go. So, next week the sketch to Jim and we move forward.

Gotta go.

IF: Save


"I have no connections here; only gusty collisions,
rootless seedlings forced into bloom, that collapse.
...
I am the Visiting Poet: a real unicorn,
a wind-up plush dodo, a wax museum of the Movement.
People want to push the buttons and see me glow."

Marge Piercy
(b. 1936),
U.S. poet, novelist, and political activist.
“Three Weeks in a State of Loneliness,”