Bounty!

Ball Diamond Road Sour cherries (chintz), Q. Cassetti, 2011Couldn’t resist! Kitty and I took two friends for more cherries today at Ball Diamond Road. The day has been perfect with low humidity, high blue skies, a breeze and cool. Dreamy. The cherries all looked like chintz and wallpaper patterns. The Queen Anne cream and pink cherries were in huge clumps looking like staid collections of bakelite charms ready to pin to my sweater. So, there are new cherries for our lunches if Kitty and Mandy let us share. Kitty and Mandy keep devouring the sweet cherries trying to get the firm ones to give them the pleasure of the “pop” that the skin provides when you bite into them.

Tonight its pitting the sours and sprinkling them with a bit of sugar before freezing them for either jam (later) or baked goodies when there is time.

Working away on some illustrations and learning some new things with the existing tool set. I am trying hard to simplify— Simplification is hard work, but rewarding in its own way.

We visited the Tburg Farmers Market and chatted with Stefan at Wide Awake Bakery (and took his picture) about all things local—food, food initiatives, local doings, harvest dinners and all that is fun to both of us. I was asked to possibly join the local Farmer’s Market board as a non vendor representative. I need to chat it around and see what its about. But, I feel that this is a group I can engage in and be effective.

We then watched the juggler/ musician who had every child enchanted and engaged. Then, off to dinner to hear Toivo play.

Today is more work here. Nigel, Erich, Mandy and Kitty are here—so its a bigger/fuller house than the normal day to day. I should go.

 

Cherry Season

Kitty in a cherry tree, Q. Cassetti, 2011Cherries, cherries, cherries. Today was the opener of the season at Hazlitt, with others opening tomorrow for sour and sweet cherry picking. There were red ladders with serious pickers (those who know what to do with the picking baskets clipped to their belts) and many of us late risers (getting to the orchard by 7:20 a.m.) rushing to keep up. Martha, Kitty and I picked (with Kitty’s cache going to a friend) and then picking our own sours and sweets (for our use and Martha’s mom). We picked 32 pounds of fruit. There is something sublime and spiritual about cherry picking as it is quiet and overlooking the beautiful lake…along with the breezes and color of the fruit, translucent, glowing red. It was no biggie picking this much fruit, as if one made a “day” of it…one could really go to town. We loved being on the front end of the picking as it was not so selective—but lots of fruit that one can pull off by the handful. Great clusters of these ruby fruit that come off simply,sometimes leaving the stones on the trees.

As you can see, Kitty, as usual, happily climbed the tree to get the fruit off the top of the tree…laughing and guffawing with us.

So tonight, I plan on pitting my sour cherries to put up in freezer boxes for later use. Kitty and I are thinking strawberries later this weekend to freeze and put up. It is so fun to go with these gals…as we yak and laugh and laugh. I feel so lucky to have some lovely people in my life. Maybe the other orchards tomorrow ( Ball Diamond Road opens 06/30 as does the other stand down the road from Hazlitt).

We are working on some summer related projects for our clients…so having hot dogs for lunch makes sense. Mandy has joined us…and Nigel is back with us too. I am a bit dumbfounded that its the fourth of July already….and we are fully launched into Summer. Maybe the wool sweater today is confusing me…?

last Tuesday in June.

Andy from the 1 hour portrait project, Q. Cassetti, 2011, Vector illustration using Adobe Illustrator CS5Churning away on portraits. The vector image to the left is a likeness of Andrew Cuomo, champion and Knight errant for New York State. I voted for Mr. Cuomo and am impressed by his approach, his ability to build consensus and the hard work he has to do. Being a politician is thankless work. I think  there was a lot of hard work on the phone and in person to make this vote happen to allow everyone to be married if they want to. For me, there is a feeling of optimism about being a New York State resident, versus down in the dumps over schools, taxes and services.I have never been particularly pround of being a NY Stater—but with the work and style of Mr. Cuomo, I might have to revise my thinking.

Kitty and friend Martha just bounced up here filled with news from contradancing on the Commons, bra shopping and her new job at the second, really fabulous vintage clothing store on the Commons. Kitty is enchanted with the new place, Petrune and the level of making this a really solid business—so that she is learning that its more than just fashion (which she is charmed by). She loves the skus, the book work, their Petrune Etsy shop and hasnt stopped chatting about it. This foray into fashion from book keeping to steaming clothes is a lesson that one chips away to make the frothy moment to happen.

Alex called and was exhausted last night. Guess he is getting “It” thrown at him. So, so much better than vegging in t he living room waiting for BLD (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)…and making dishes dirty. I predict a change.

1 hr. portrait v.2

Liz, from the I hr. portrait series 2011,Q. Cassetti, 2011, Adobe Illustrator CS5I am becoming a disciple of the Vonster and his work methods in Vector Basic Training. He is such an organized illustrative designer, that his work is accurate, well planned and thought out, and drawn within an inch of its life. I toted the book with me on our chores yesterday and dipped into the chapters waiting for hair to be cut, rides to be coordinated.

As you can see from the left, I am working away at one hour portraits really taking 1 hour. Nix the shading, nix the complexity. Paths, blob brush and eraser are the Adobe Illustrator modes in play here. Liz truly took less than an hour. Yes, some of the curves could be a bit nicer, and more tone could have found their way into the image…but the clock was key here. More vixens and others to come. Chops building.

Alex is packing for two weeks of Ithaca College Summer Music Academy while playing the piano and the unamped bass. Kitty is off in the world of fashionable thifting. Rob is working on village things so I have a moment to say hi. After we drop Alex off, our hope is to hear Eilen Jewel play at the Sheldrake Point Winery. Eilen Jewel is a great talent that we all love—and to have her in our back yard is an extra YEAH!

The week ahead beckons. Lots to do so I will not be counting raindrops or measuring the grass as it grows. As an aside, one of my apple trees which I thought had died, is sprouting green stuff at the bottom, so my heart leaps as one is still good. The caged cherries flourish albeit the tops are eaten by those varmints (deer). There will be cherries to be picked for cherry pies (the Amish celebrate wedding breakfasts with sour cherry pies) for all of the new couples who will be married here in the most perfect spot in New York State. Time to start baking!

Homebase

Audrey, Q. Cassetti, 2011, Adobe Illustrator CS5The lightning and thunder shook the early morning. Now we have a green lit morning, damp and promising more rain. Summer is here.

Kitty is working with me on a mailing. Alex is done with his tests…and had an interview yesterday for a job. I think I will need to press them into action versus lounging and making dirty dishes all day. Teenagehood is trying…though I love them.

Don and Jason Hair, the treemen to the stars, were here yesterday to take down the really scary dead trees (scary qualifies as “can it kill someone walking down Camp Street?”) and took the enormous piles of brush away. There was lots of talk around the busted chipper shredder which made Jason and Don load up the trailer with all the detrius to take to the dump. More fun is hoped for today (unless the rain scares them away). The Brush Hog, a wonderful tractorlike piece of equipment which is a tool of great destruction and confusion may be pressed into action. Don was itching to go for broke beyond the back forty with all the privet and honeysuckle that are springing up all over.

The portrait of Audrey is the beginning of the summer portraits. I did a summer of portraits two years ago and it was so informative and fun, that I figured I needed to get back to the one hour portrait to work on my chops and get my eye in. I like the calligraphic qualities of this illo that still allows me to have nice eyes and fun hair. We will see what happens with this. I am only burdening this project with time limits only.

Cherry Picking is next week! Baskets of Sour Cherries at 6 a.m.! I cannot wait!

Onwards.

Vector Methodology

Portrait Project, Q. Cassetti, 2011 Adobe Illustrator CS5Working on a series of quick portraits. The one to the left is a work in progress (the nose needs to be quieted down) and the neck needs to just go to white and more swanny. Right now, its kind of a mess. But as this has limited time on the clock…I will amend later.  This is a good exercise as the process needs to be worked with in order to keep my eye in. I think this is it for today…and I will start another tomorrow against my friend the clock.

I am throughly enjoying Von Glitschka’s book:

 Vector Basic Training: A Systematic Creative Process for Building Precision Vector Artwork (Voices That Matter)

I generally like tech books…but this one could almost be termed as ‘Yummy!”. Glitschka is focused on good file building, using the tools, power commands, actions, and setting up your document to allow the work to flow and not to be stuck looking to click on things or pulldown. He drives the work to be more fluid, more accurate, more streamlined while recognizing the scrap that accumulates on the left and right of the final art.

AND, its not all about working on the computer. Von Glitschka is very emphatic about designers and illustrataors to keep drawing to develop designs, layouts and images.  He introduces his techniques and tools—driving the designer/illustrator to go back and thumbnail until the idea is exhausted. He uses a 2B pencil, ballpoint and mechanical pencil. I am a bit messier using verithin photoblue, ultra fine sharpie or verithin red pencil, and then ink, ink ink. But its the same layered drawing to make a final to work from.

I highly recommend this book to any student or working designer or illustrator…let alone any visual artist as his work methods are tried and true, and help you to work in an organized and efficient way. How often is methodology laid out so clearly for graphic designers and illustrators? Thanks to Von Glitschka, we have this tome to reference. I like it so much, I have it on my iPad and have a hard copy coming as I think I need both.

Vectorizer

Red Floral, Q. Cassetti, 2011, Adobe Illustrator CS5Feeling so happy that I have crashed through my creative barrier and have gotten the first blush of my project done  to see where we stand…what we hate? what we love? where we could lean a bit more…what could go away. I am always reticent to edit grandly as there may be stuff I weed out that the client loves as taste and perception is so personal and I admit, I always like the odd stuff. Always. I am always quick to apologize for liking the “wrong” solution…but maybe that has to do that I like the wrong colors, and have a skew that is not quite the same as the rest of the world.

Vector Basic Training: A Systematic Creative Process for Building Precision Vector Artwork (Voices That Matter) by Von Glitschka is front of mind for me. I am only in the second chapter but am charmed by how Mr. Glitschka peels back the mystery of the vector down to who Mr. Bezier was and how the curve was created mathematically to the delight of all of us that despair of numbers and figures. I love the author’s fearless writing style combined with his honesty on his likes and dislike/hates of the software. I hope I can get to another chapter today as he is building my confidence to try more things which are surprisingly speedy and fun. There have been some cool plugins that Glitschka recommends: Xtreme Path and Vector Scribe. Vector Scribe is something I am going to take a peek at when I have a chance.

Illustrator/ Photoshop /Ink

New Process happening…and I am liking it.

Allow me to torture you by sharing what I am doing…as I believe in full disclosure, no secrets…and if there is anything I can share to make your work go further, better, faster…I am more than happy to collaborate.

First, I am doing ink drawings (keeping the “hand” in the work). Scanning them in at high resolution (600-1000 dpi). I retouch them/clean the drawings up in Photoshop (brush/eraser/paths) to make them a bit less wiggly and “I drew this messy thing in my sketchbook”. Nice and clean. Then, I res that image up to be at least 70 MB (in “Image Size”). I make a workpath and export to paths. Photoshop is done (for now). I open the path in Illustrator and clean that up (pathfinder and paths) and then I start working into the new vector “inked” illustration.  More real drawing…feels less mechanical and moves surprisingly a bit faster. Simple. Plain. Done.

I get drawn forms and feeling, but lay in the detail with vectors. Faster, truer and really nice. I am delighted.

I am slugging away on a fun project and feel like finally, just finally, I am getting some traction.

Today, I am hoeing out my stuff…wheat from chaff. Keep versus Sals. Exciting? Right? I have a book on tape to keep me amused. Kitty is working. Alex is hanging. And, best thing of all, Rob is home (our Father’s Day present). So, a bit of spring cleaning and coffee. A bit of picture making…and then our wonderful boy is back. Hurray!

Delighted with Dribbble!

Kitty picking at Sweet Land CSA 06.17.2011I was just asked/invited to be part of Dribbble- a very cool visual networking site that allows creatives to show what they are working on in a very small image to be shared by the community. You enter as a rookie unable to do anything but vote and gather a little community of followers. Hopefully, one of the followers will ask you to become more than that, A Prospect (that is where I am). Being a Prospect means you can upload images, add comments etc. to others work, create folders or buckets along a theme you like. Pretty cool. New way to get the work out there to a new community. I think there are tweet buttons and facebook buttons so once again, you can link and link and link using those filaments of ideas to thread through other online communities you participate in.

And, thanks to following Von Glitschka on Twitter, I found this (and so much more as he is an amazing illustrator and a thought influencer).

Von Glitschka (aka The Vonster) is a writer, illustrator, teacher and veritable go to guy for illustrator stuff. His website refers to him as an illustrative designer (which is another way of framing up the hybrid state I find myself in). He is generous with his knowledge from his books, to his free tutorials, and now free artwork he creates on his iPad (blog, Drawsigner Blog ). He is an inspiration insofar as his work, his reach, his engagement in the online world of living, sharing and expanding his reach. His book, Vector Basic Training, is on my list of things to study to take on better process and thinking around my own vector work. He is funny and cute in his work without any sweetness. His patterns are sublime…as are the tracings he uses underneath. His work is well designed and considered before he puts his hand to the vectorizing.

More later.

Back to Fraktur

Drawing (Variety of Birds),Decorator: Anonymous [School of Johann Adam Eyer (active c. 1790-1820)] Free Library of PhiladelphiaI had a great meeting with a new company, Topography about their image/identity. Greg Kops and Danielle Klock are actively engaged in critical thinking around communications (the broad field from print, to digital media through to products and services). They come at this information in a new way, a distinctly focused on results and data along with the linguistics, and perceptions of their clients through the lense of the web. It was fascinating to hear them talk about the things that they know and practice—and particularly, they will be helping me to better understand my engagement in digital media and communications, and how best to harness and understand the power of what I am doing. Right now, its shooting in a barrel for me. Best to know at least what is in the barrel and whether it is, what I think it is. I am now more seriously engaged in gathering data from Google Analytics…and trying to push all of my tweets and blog writings to as many places as I can aggregate this information. This should be an interesting process getting to know Greg and Danielle for their company as well as the eQ. (or is it IQ?).

Reward of Merit (Belohnung),Decorator: Anonymous Decorator: ca. 1820 - ca. 1840 , Free Library of PhiladelphiaI am back at the font of inspiration, The Free Libaray of Philadelphia’s Fraktur Collection (note image posted) for a project I am working on. I keep coming back to the birds, the leaves and the iconography that these inspired people used. I love the beautiful palette of soft color combined with the lyrical line and child like story telling that is used. They are symmetry crazed like me. Hmm. There are some ideas brewing goaded on by the remarkable Fraktur artist, and itinerant calligrapher, school teacher David Kulp (1777-1834) or the rich and pure hymnal illlustrations from the Ephrata Community.

I am struggling with stripping the detail out of my imagery…but keeping something to make it less like big graphic shapes (which I have done a bunch with)…So I have changed sketchbook size (smaller) to work closer to  the sketch size which forces me to strip out detail as there just isnt space for all of the tiger teeth etc. I just need to keep at it.

I hope Kitty will work with me today. I have a mailing she can help with. Alex is busy with tests and a tryout for Jazz chorus for next year. Tomorrow is our pick up at the great CSA. Maybe Saturday will be a strawberry picking fest to freeze a bunch for now and later. We are loving the frozen raspberries from last summer. The strawberries will be a gift too. Totally worth the effort now.

Bright and Shiny

Cool,clear and beautiful today. Alex was up early to prep for his Physics examination. Kitty and Thea were up bright and early to get on the bus to get to Ithaca to watch a friend give his final presentation of a project. I got the trash and recycling to the curb—trying to make some sense of the trash room which was essentially “trashed”. Its nice to have that done.

I wanted to share this interesting link with you….which you may be interested in (or not) but I think its cool, kind of a celebration of our digital age, the digital cottage from whence the digital cottage industries happen. To wheel this back a bit, I love where the world is these days. One can, if inspired, start a business, sell stuff online, and create a job, a business, create a salary without having to pander to “The Man” and all that entails. So, the paradigm of going out to “get a job” may become more staying put, and creating a niche for yourself. Etsy is a model for that…but anyone with a website can/could be in business. One step further, anyone with a computer can be a small manufacturer. What with the amazing stuff that is created for scrapbooking, one can do limited edition vinyl, paper, plastic laser cutting combined with the lovely Epson printers (large scale) that can print paper, fabric, material etc. Laser cutters like Cricut, The Silhouette, or the Klik-n-Kut (CNC cutters)  that work with standard purchases along with VECTOR Graphics (hello! this is my world!!). Companies like Spoonflower allow us the opportunity to create patterns and custom fabrics for ourselves and for sale. Klic-N Print allows you to print on ribbons, stickers. There are all sorts of inexpensive on-demand and conventional printers out there online that I cannot say enough about. And there is this new site I have discovered, Ponoko, part of the “personal factory movement”. This is what Ponoko says to explain the business they are in:

Welcome to the world’s easiest making system.

Ponoko is an online marketplace for everyone to click to make real things.

It’s where creators, digital fabricators, materials suppliers and buyers meet to make (almost) anything.

We kicked off at TechCrunch40 at the end of 2007 with a vision to reinvent how goods are designed, made and distributed worldwide.

The core of this vision is the trade in product designs – kinda like the trade in music (iTunes), photos (Flickr), movies (YouTube) and software apps (iPhone) before us.

We host tens of thousands of user generated product designs, ready to be customized and made into real things with the click of a mouse.

But hosting designs is only a part of the puzzle. Importantly, we also provide the world’s first digital making system that means these product designs can be priced instantly online and made locally, as close to the point of consumption as possible.

It means goods can be made in the greenest way. Making on demand reduces warehousing and wastage. Plus, making locally emphasizes digital transportation of goods instead of the traditional shipping of physical products.

Check it out. Isnt it great we have so much within a mouseclick away? Think of all you could do and make.

Joyful Journey

From the British Museum, Q. Cassetti, 2009Raining and cold here. Loving it. Its that lovely rain that makes your skin feel fabulous….light and misty. The plants love it too. More great grass growing mist.

I have a happy elephant for you today…gleefully carrying his riders bedecked in bells, tassels and decorations. I think he is a good reason to get out of bed and think good thoughts today. If only we all could bring such happiness to our journey everyday. May this fellow inspire and encourage us all!

Today is “John Hancock” day at the  High School. John Hancock refers to one’s signature (as in Yearbook)— so the day is celebrated with Yearbooks, special lunches, music and fun. This is the day long funday before the tests begin. Oy. The end is near. I am hoping Alex can get some focus and hit his stride in the next week or so. Never compare. Each child is different and the puzzle I find, is getting into each child’s motivations and strengths to push and shove to get the best, get the happiness for each person. This is the true work…beyond potty training but part of the process with these gifts we are presented with. I know Alex struggles with me too, but recently we have had some very nice, very soft and meaningful times together. I would love to have more of that. He is such a sweet and tender person.

I am revelling in my Behance Prosite. I do not think its a stand alone, but is a nice extra to all the other visual networking out there, and is easy to link to all the other network “fingers” I have out there (Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Blog, portfolio). The smooth thing is that the projects that I post to Behance then streams over to the Prosite, where they are organized along with other pages you can post, links etc.that takes the work out further, looking more like a portfolio. Plus, with the easy to use tools, its a snap to put up with customizable features (posting headers, adding spaces and rules) along with the ease of posting visual work makes the $99. a year an easy choice to make. Take a look if you are website free…as this is a simple and inexpensive way to get a web presence that is immediately linked not only to a big audience through Behance but also  to your personal online communities.

Meeting starting in 12 minutes. Need to get my act in gear.

New tools: Behance's Prosite

I just wanted to mention this new opportunity for those of you that are code impaired but want to get as much of your work “out there” in an easy to use, networked, product. As you know, I use Squarespace for this blog which suits my needs well. No need to know code. Easy to use. Back up systems. Nice gallery features etc.

I have been placing my work in other visual networking areas with my favorite being Behance. Behance’s Gallery organizes your project work in a simple to use, plain field to showcase the art and not someone else’s graphic design. Now Behance has taken it a step further by offering their Prosite which repurposes these portfolio and links these projects to LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, along with offering buttons for iPhone and a “favicon” for the URL at the top. For $99. a year, it is easy to use and has great reach with relatively low input. Take a look. I plan on a more graceful header when I have time. However, the simple template is not obnoxious. Take a look>>

 

Think pink

My favorite model, Q. Cassetti, 2011My little spring flower! This is the Disney Princess Dress that we finally settled on for Kitty’s multiple needs to get dressed up. It is the pink dress that we have always admired during prom pictures and as she was so non high school prom with her selections (here and here) with the respective names of the dresses being “Motown” and “Grecian”. Now we have a little sompin sompin that is far from discrete and the all girl, first grade fantasy when the entire world is swathed in unicorns, Lisa Frank, rainbows and pink. Kitty and I had a little photoshoot (with thinking around what the real headpiece will be when the dress becomes “Barbie”). Perhaps a Ken Fascinator? Or a dream house in a wagon —the ultimate of Barbie Mobile Home? Very fun.

It is cool today. In the sixties with promise of a cool week. We are all so much happier with the cooler clime. I have a mint syrup simmering on the stove with a few clean bottles ready to store it. There are calls to be made, thumbnails rattling around this thin skull, trips to the postoffice. Wow. The week is getting ahead of me and I dont want to be left behind.

Spring Bouquet

Weekend flowers, Q. Cassetti, 2011Nice weekend. We started the time with  our inaugural fun at Sweet Land CSA’s first pick up. It was so fun, so much more than I expected…from the lovely food you could pick from to the amazing farmers with wit, wisdom and insight…to the offerings from luscious yellow beets, to leeks, to mint and basil along with all you can pick batchlor buttons and 2 pink peonies. There were tons of different greens, mint, oregano and basil by the long stalk. I have seen the summer and I am delighted. Today made pesto, mint lemon syrup, a leek and carrot soup, sauteed kale and prepped the lettuce for salad tomorrow. I will post pictures to inspire you of the CSA barn, with friendly chalk board instructions, clean blue totes holding all he produce offerings, from the limited selections to the “have at it”. There is an egg share (which we are doing) as well as Stefan Senders Wide Awake Bakery share too.

There were all sorts of my favorite Tburgers there with children milling about or in the sandbox/playground. It is the best. I am so psyched.

Friday night and Saturday night Kitty danced. We had friends of Kitty and Alex at the lake—with all sorts of hanging out. Fun and very restful. I read a trashy book and “chilled” with Alex and Kitty. Saturday afternoon after dropping Alex and friend off to practice music, Kitty and I went to Trader K’s to have her try on evening dresses for a formal event. It was tons of fun with Kitty finally picking a bubblegum pink, barbie number complete with a boned corset style bodice. She looks remarkable (pictures to come). Lotsa laughs along with visiting Petrune for glamour and inspiration.

Alex is off singing tonight with the Community Chorus. We had some pretty enlightening conversation about music, jazz, his enjoyment of the singing lessons he is taking, chord progression and the things he is discovering and loving. He is an adorable guy that I cherish spending time with. I am so lucky. His insights and solid grasp on those things he loves never ceases to inspire and please me.

Need to log off. Drawing ahead.