I am just beginning to get my wits back from a master blaster weekend, week and weekend before. Saturday it was packed with life stuff, Art Trail and then a party of 130 friends who figured in our moving and living in Trumansburg. Sunday was up early to get A to the Chris Bond Run (he placed first in his age group), see the run and then another day of Trail. Sunday was by far the better day with more interesting people, chatty high school and college students who wanted to talk about studies, their work, schools, and people who were more of the "tribe". So, we finished on a positive note down to selling all the Garden of Eden pictures (framed) confirming I might not have to dump this work as they liked it. The yardsale approach ("I am emptying my portfolio concept...all prints on the dining room table $25.") worked. Those who understood it..bought 4-5 images, those who didn't, didn't. Cards sold at the new price. So, the Trail paid for our party and the frames.
I have since last year moved in my thinking. I want to have national noteriety. That is what is important to me. Being celebrated locally is more important to me as a civic moment, as a good neighbor, as a illustrator/designer for parents of artistic kids--a posterchild for the ability to make a living as a "creative". That is what makes me tick more than local illustration jobs. As art directors who visited and dangled sad carrots (free poster illustrations, or holiday cards), I found myself not psyched about that because the only art director I want to work for is me. R. and a few more...but not these simple people who will put a wingding type treatment on my work. It may sound snotty, but this is where it stands. If I am going to work for any other art director, they need to be of the highest level...not a tertiary player with little experience. I didn't understand this at the last Art Trail. I do, now. I would rather develop work for Surtex, for merchandising, for books or self driven projects. If I can sell Memento Mori illustrations on projects for wine and glass, or a not even fully fledged Garden of Eden project for a holiday card...I am at least pursuing my interest and making it pay a bit. No interlopers. Just me and the end client.
The food from the Regional for the party was perfect. I bought a case of smoked trout, an enormous pate de campagne, a jug of pitted greek olives, a wheel of Maytag Blue, a wheel of herb brie, and a big hunk of pink peppercorn chevre from our local Lively Run Dairy. We got crackers and filo crackers. Snack mix with those lovely sesame sticks, packages of dolmas (stuffed grape leaves), baba ganouche and humus. Every scrap devoured. I bought vegetables and bread Saturday morning--and I had K and M conducting the chopathon Sat a.m. I also bought some nice italian sausages, artichokes and roasted peppers to add to the general cru dites that normally show up. I bought 6 baguettes, 6 packages of pita, 3 cibattas along with 6 packages of crackers which manifested itself as an empty basket by 10 p.m. We should have had a spiral sliced hunk of meat...a "centerpiece" or sorts...or even a box of spanakopita to flesh things out. But it was all done by K, M and me. No caterer. Just cutters and stylers. The music was fabulous and I think the musicians had fun too. We had people dancing and many of my favorite people from our plumbers and electricians and contractors to professors, artists and glassmakers, to bastions of our community. All ages and sizes. We had teachers and writers, nurses and naturepaths. And they all seemed to get along together and talk and talk and talk. With the ease of how this all came together, we should do it again, soon.
Back to the Eden Story.
"First God made heaven & earth 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters. 3 And God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day. "
How does one depict the Spirit of God moving over the face of the water? What does that look like? There is a lot of abstract energy. Hmmm.
Pix up top are of my office, our hallway ready for the Art Trail, our dining room table sale and a corner about Memento Mori.