Angels of Light, Q. Cassetti, 2010, sharpies, from the Second Advent Calendar ProjectHoliday fun. Rob worked on decorating yesterday (I did a little but mainly cooked and fretted). Rob was far more productive. The whole staircase has fresh swags and lights, we have two wreathes trimmed a bit more, the chandeliers are trimmed and decorated (nutty)….(I used red Mardi gras beads which surprisingly looks good despite the garishness). So, we are working against Friday being the big concert here chez Camp….with Kitty and Mandy under the roof too.

Today its work work work and get the financing on the car squared away. Its that time of the year to account for one’s accomplishments and time, so Erich and I are reviewing all the file folders we have and personally, I am seeing where all the time went. Wow. busy.

As I keep working on this advent calendar project, old nuggets seem to surface with some odd ones right out the blue. So, with this frantic drawing project, I have found two subjects I want to settle down with in January and work out. The first one you know about, the Green Man. The second, truly just slammed me in the head, was a fantasy interpretation (based on Fraktur, on colonial illustration, on the Lubok style and of course, dear dear Edward Hicks)…but a series of fantasy pictures (and stories) around Mr. William Penn. Penn was essentially, the landlord for Britain with this state filled with heathens and savages (I am sure that was the British thinking)…and Penn, the Quaker, had to manage and secure this little kingdom…which he did. My perception of that ideal kingdom is where the imagery could go…an American Garden of Eden would be great…along the lines of Hicks’ depiction of this perfect native world.

I almost laughed out loud when I really focused on Penn in one of the many Hicks’ illustrations of Penn making Treaties with the Native Americans, to find out that he was not portrayed as a heroic, handsome man, but a lumpy, real man who honestly tried to do his best to create harmony in the New World.