R. thought that today was a certified day off. His assistant called about something and he curiously asked why she was there...no day off. Whoops! The cranky slob I call my boss (aka me) didn't give us the time off.
We have spent the past few days working on the moving of our house renters, the sorting and moving of my office and the prep for Ithaca Art Trail. I have been picking though all the excess prints that I have, the random picture frames I have lying around, and the cards and miscellany I want to sell...and in the tradition of Estee Lauder, creating little collections and stories to frame groupings of this work around. I am anxious to get my lulu book as I want to see the proof prior to selling. Its been less than a week but its hard to wait. It would be a nice thing to offer. I had my sketchbook at the Pourhouse and the proprietress whisked it off to look at the work. I was flattered. And others who saw the work wanted more than one copy of the Lulu book to give for xmas etc. Imagine?! Independant publishing could yield a little turn in profits?
The State of the Art Gallery review show of the Artists on the Art Trail was very positive. A person called asking if I did freelance work? Would I consider a portrait of their pet...? and then they went about telling me all the things they like about my boston terrier image I posted for the show. Hum.... This is the second time. As Long as I own the image, I might be able to do it affordably...and part of the bigger body of dogs for the possible dog cookbook etc. All good.
Did a very quick job for Steuben. My pal needed a little ground for a piece he was working on...bringing me a tremendously high bar to match or be inspired by, the ever wonderful Rockwell Kent. Man. Can that guy work in black and white. He totally owns it. And his grounds and textures!! It would take decades to get close. I plan on scanning some images just for reference to even trace just to learn what he was doing. As I learned in the time spent with the MA, tracing is legit, honest and okay to do. Bring it on. And with this Steuben job, a few hours will yield money in the bank of goodwill, and a little in the bank proper to pay for the 5 Montval all media Field sketchbooks whisking their way here to the Academy.
It has been summer here. The grass is lush, the leaves finally turning. We haven't had a frost yet. Pumpkins are plentiful and cheap. Need to buy a load for the Wonderbus to put on the front steps of the Academy to jazz things up for the trail.
More later>>