Resist 2020#8
In Memoriam: RBG--a guiding light for all of us.
Q. Cassetti 09.21.2020
Resistance v2: 2020
I made an image a week for the first year Donald Trump was president. One image a week—which gave me a little space to think about the significant image/idea and make an illustration from it. It was not easy to pick sometimes, but more often than not, the idea bubbled up with a degree of clarity that I really did not have to think too hard. Those images became a show at Exhibit A Gallery in Corning and were also the fodder for my “guerilla” resistance. I printed each card and placed them in literature racks around town and made them available for free for postcard writers and others interested in protesting the obscenity that this administration represented. Here are the images for your review. A few got published in national shows—and they were a good release for me.
However, as things began to wind up, I couldn’t focus on the one crystalline idea a week. It was all too much, too fast, too overlapping—-and I was (and still am) trying to drink from the firehose of information, media, stories, web of people, past and paperwork to really stay abreast of making an image. I had to let it settle and see if the inspiration would hit again. After a prompt from a graduate school friend and the coaxing of my family, I have climbed back on and started making images starting in mid August of this year. There are some themes (need themes to give me a hook and a push)—1. Saints and Sinners; 2. 10,000 Novel Coronavirus 19. The first is what it is, Saints and Sinners…not just those who are malicious, but those people who hearten and raise our spirits, the Saints. The second is to recognize every 10,000. people killed by the virus. I started at 180,000, 190,000 and have 200,000 in the offing. The coronavirus is apolitical and is busy being the best virus it can be—and I figured instead of hating it, I would embrace it, honor it and depict it not as a threat, but something that is here and needs to be regarded in awe and frankly, wonder at it’s ability to expand it’s reach. In giving it color and texture and adding the virus to everyday things—it might help me to be less fearful but still be cautious around it.
I will be posting on Facebook, on Instagram and here—and when a new one happens, I will post here just to give it a little space before it is cojoined with the group.
Love Stamp 2014
This little tiny poster of love is coming to market this week. I have been a bit overwhelmed by the public relations by the US Postal Service along with phone calls from the local press, the regional press and sneaking around on the various stamp forums to see if anyone out there likes this little snip of cut paper to put on your envelope. Before I go any further, let me link you to some of the cool things out there.
First off, there is this sweet, sweet article by Hilary Oswald on the stamp. I have the most fun talking with Hilary about the stamp and inevitably, about a lot of stuff--and she took all of our verbal scraps and wrote this touching article that made me tear up (just a little). I was so thrilled to see her energy in the piece--which captured my thinking and emotions around getting this amazing project with such a kind >> generous art director, Antonio Alcala. I am not one to squeal, but it was close with this article (plus, look at what a bang up job they did with the layout of the article). Love all around!
Heart with a History by Hilary Oswald
There is a lovely overview on the stamp here:
Cut Paper Heart
And should you want to buy a sheet or a commemorative goody to fill those needs:
USPS Celebration of Love! Please note that they have First Day of Issue programs, Covers, sheets of stamps, big collectible sheets of stamps..it is quite impressive. All are ready to buy in advance of the 21st. and will not be shipped out until then.
The first day of issue is going to be celebrated at the Time Warner Building in NYC. For more information and the invitation>>
Advent 2013: Day Twelve: Amaryllis Twist
Beauty Business
New haircut. Rob found the perfect picture of my soon to be hair --a current picture of David Lynch--with long wavy hair on the top and short on the sides. Mr. Lynch and I have similar hair...and I have a wave too, so Emma was charged with this direction. My hope is that by Christmas, the hair will be 100% there. And, my thinking is that we go for foils to make stripes of white... just to really jazz things up. I cannot be as fabulous and gorgeous as Latrice Royale ( a contestant on "RuPaul's Drag Race" who both Kitty and I admire). We'll see. But this is the latest beauty and fashion update.
I just stopped by Sundrees to see that the rack of my cards are severely diminished...so I need to crank up my printer and get things going to fill those racks. I am so surprised that these cards are selling so well, but it is little business worthy of nurturing. To that, should I be considering going to the stationery show and seeing if there is more to it than this little business I have going here on our beautiful plateau? Should I just spread my wings locally a bit more to see if there is traction? How would I need to staff to make this happen? Could cards do well on Etsy? Boxed or singletons? More on the retail front: We also worked up some inexpensive little neckaces of teacups and of teapots...and it seems that these are selling as well. I have Kitty's retail intuition to thank! Maybe I can put jump rings on things as I travel out to Utah next week? I have resin gummy bears that need little hooks and jumprings as well as silver teasets and slices of cake. There may be a bit of traction re: skeletons etc. as the black and orange holiday is on us.
Four months to Christmas. Time to update my mailing list.
Preparing
I am cranking away on this slide show. I lost the first go round when Powerpoint winked out...and left me nothing. Now, Lady Savalot is doing just that, and I have 200 slides needing to be edited and tightened and by so doing, I probably will take out entire chunks of ideas (which I have already) to just tell a tighter story. Interestingly, I am talking about how last year's advent pictures happened prompted by Kitty's encouragement to look at how the process went, how my writing here influenced what happened with the work, and how the work fed the work. Then, as it happened, how this advent project influenced the few "Unicorn and Butterflies" images to then directly point at the current "My America" set. Same approach, same techniques, same established palettes with insane groups of brushes, symbols and swatches. Upside with this current set, new Creative Suite (cloud) has some sensational new patterning tools not only for background swatches, but for brushes (patterns on brushes you say? gradients on brushes?)....Yes...yes. and yes. I just wish I had more time right now to focus on the America images as there are quite a few tumbling around in my brain, particularly after the past week of country fairs and small town parades. Beauty and machinery, dog and pony acts, Freedom Festivals, and automotive heaven to inspire....but this can wait for now. Work, holiday cards, and getting die kinder all figured out, entertained and farewelled appropriately is foremost.
It is beets and kale for days from the CSA along with the most amazing eggplant I have ever had. Who would have guessed that I would rave about organic eggplant (and organic celery) as they are so significantly better from Sweetland than I have ever ever had. It is slightly crazy when there is eggplant offered as I will forego almost everything else on the side that we can pick from just to load up as fast as possible with eggplant. The way this Nightshade fruit (just like tomatoes) cooks down to loveliness on the grill...not the usual stringy glop--is sublime and with lemon juice...is transcends all vegetables in that moment. Unfortunately, there were no eggplants yesterday, so sweet red peppers, golden beets, and all sorts of leafiness were gathered--- A girl can hope for next week.
Remote me
I am waiting for the Sears repairman to come chez Luckystone. We have been doing the cha cha with the local appliance guy re: our refrigerator, and with two fruitless and expensive visits, we decided to throw in the towel and call in the big guns— Sears. The compressor seems to conk out and allow the fridge to heat up after two days. We have been nursing it with ancillary ice chests at the ready.
I worked on the happy brand yesterday. I have a bit more to do, but will break today to work on holiday card illustration/ design. Hopefully, i can wrap some Girard inspiration and wit to this work. I am intrigued in the way Girard cut his work, his patterns into rectangular shapes that he either worked within or cut out of. He developed iconic forms of birds, flowers, leaves, seed pods, berries on branches that fit together like a joyous jigsaw puzzle, humming happily together in vibrant colorways. His work is very derivative of the sublime work of Matisse’s old age, and a body of work I have held dearly, his cut paper compositions. There is also a dose of Mary Blair in his figures when Girard creates them—
The Hangar Theatre’s posters for next summer awaits. I have been given a sneak peek at the offerings which is very broad and ranging from serious to silly. Need to put a pencil to these as I would love to get these done by the end of November so as to get them on a schedule that is not so last minute as it has been in the past.
I also raised my hand to volunteer for next year’s Ithaca Triathlon. Another waterfall coming up! I think Girard may take a hand in this one.
Alex is moving up the corporate ladder at the Rongovian Embassy, from dishwasher to expiditer to his pleasure. Kitty is busy at Silk Naturals, our Main Street makeup business in the Masonic building.
My phone battery is almost gone. Must wrap this up— William Walton’s coronation march is playing on the radio reminding me of my wedding— as Mr. Whitman played Walton for the processional and recessional— shaking the pipes and pulling out all the stops on the massive organ at Shadyside Presbyterian Church to my delight. A good way to start today.
IF: Artificial
The court of Louis XIV was known for its lavish, glittering artificiality that kept all the couriers attentive to the manners and methodologies required by their king. There was no time for anything else.
Summertime
Really going deep on a project I have wanted to resolve— and now, I see the light at the end of the tunnel. Thought out enough to show—with some ideas roughed out on a grid with black and white to color rollovers, using the standard html font I like the best (Georgia)—a website layout designed to be implemented in Drupal using the grid system that “Blueprint” offers. So, with this gridded approach, my publications background really is holding me in good stead. Not a lot of fancy schmancy, but simple is elegant. This design is a little black dress. I think I may have to be the photographer on this job with my point and shoot…but I enjoy that, so no biggie.
Fixed the Farmers Market graphic from yesterday. tweaked a few things along with adding and subtracting (digital plakat) with the eraser and blob brush. Then. did the little doodle diddle to the left just messing around with those same tools. It was fun, quick and I like how rough it is. Need to work on more rough stuff. I would love to work up a little linoleum block look for fun.
Got Alex rolling and scheduled for the PSAT prep. He is surprising all of us by willingly picking up books and The New Yorker and reading them. Happily. If you wanted to know what I wanted for my birthday, I have already gotten it. I never thought I would see the day that my dear boy would actively engage in reading willingly…and happily. Now, as his reading coach and librarian, I need to put my head around what is next? John Krakauer’s Into Thin Air? Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential? Albert Goldman’s Elvis? Need to worry this. Any suggestions? Its gotta be good and engaging. He is reading Neverland by Neil Gaiman, a very interesting, simply written, visual book about an alternative world. Love Neil Gaiman. We could try William Gibsons Idoru.
It’s 7:30 and it’s getting darker. Imagine. We are on the downside of the bright side of the year. Rolling into August is just plain shocking. Christmas design work and Christmas presents are on the list of things to do. I am def. going to do a letterpress valentine. I think the Luckystone card is going to be derivative of the Advent calendar work from last December. Likely nutcrackers.
Off to the Pourhouse to buy teeshirts!
to a "T"
Beautiful weather here. The Farmers Market Building moved yesterday from the fairgrounds to the Market Site. We got shots of Durand’s weathervane, and I asked him if I could generate a flat illustration from his work to make a shirt/graphic from. Here is my shot of the thing from his metal illustration. It was kind of cool as I took Rob’s photo of the weathervane against the sky, translated it via photoshop to a high contrast black and white image. I selected the darks and created a workpath that I imported to illustrator to work on. Cool. I think this will be converted into white on black for a teeshirt to give to the guys that worked on the creation of the bandstand during Grassroots. Need to price that one out. Alex’s shirts turned out nicely and inexpensively.
I was given next year’s Hangar’s productions (shhhh) and need to start mulling over what the images need to be for the posters/advertising etc. I would love to have this all in hand by the end of October/first of November. It would really give us the jump on getting in front of this for next year. I also committed to doing the graphics for next year’s Ithaca Triathlon. I didnt do this year as it was getting a bit tedious, so the break gives me a bit fresher look at the design/illustration problem. We will see. That too, has a near and dear expectation too.
Speaking of local projects, look what just arrived today! A tee for the Pourhouse! So, get yourself down toTburg’s very own funspot and get a shirt (guys or gals) to show your civic support. Limited edition.
Someone has posted a request for a Hangar Poster to frame. I am thinking that there might be something in having this stuff early to send out for prints. Also, the new thinking is the $2. gumball art thought. Which is, that people have no problem plunking down a buck or two for a button, a sticker, or a tattoo. They do not even need to think about it. NO problem whatsoever. So, what if I were to create a cool point of purchase, hippie display that gives the person a choice of buttons, stickers, postcards, tattoos…at a good price with the price getting better and better as one nears $10. and $20 a shot. This would be put in places that Q. has relationships with (Grassroots, The Hangar, a gallery, chez Camp, or any of the restaurants etc that I do gratis work for). Build the local brand in a very local way. Adding value and allowing the individual to take a little bit (bitte ein bit) of Q home with them…priming the pump (?) for an incremental build of sales. That’s today’s thinking.
Just started reading The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo. Delicious summer readling!
IF: Double
Inspired by the British portrait of two sisters married on the same day, and bearing children on the same day, The Cholmondeley Ladies (c.1600). My beekeeping sisters live here in Central New York, maintaining their hives, and keeping their world buzzing with activity.
The Cholmondeley Ladies
circa 1600-10
Oil on wood support:
886 x 1723 mm frame:
1074 x 1914 x 100 mm painting Presented anonymously 1955 T00069
Tate Britain, London
Monkeys on the Brain.
Sorry for the delay. I thought I would get to a blog posting yesterday…but, thinking is not doing. So, please forgive me.
Sunday was filled with getting people places and then having a moment to swim and in my case finish the picture to the left. Lubki inspired, three musicians on a horse riding to who knows where. That’s it, plain and simple. I have a rooster to celebrate tomorrow that takes the Lubki idea once step further which is to hand draw the main lines and then scan it into photoshop (b+w at 600 dpi). Then I exported a workpath from photoshop into illustrator and filled it…giving me nice fat objects to work into. From that I have developed (and continue to do so) a series of tapered brushes (art and pattern brushes) that I use to make up the pattern and texture I have to restrain myself from doing. However, it comes up with a very interesting and energetic effect that I think I am on to something. You can judge for yourself tomorrow.
Speaking of Lubki, hear me out on this one. Just to set the stage, Lubok or Lubki (plural) is a Russian illustration style that depicts Russian folk tales and mythology (as one of the channels of how the work is carved up). Okay. Point two, I love that wild work that the Russian artist did with Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings etc. Right?
I love popular culture, the wierder the better. And, to take that out a bit further, that becomes, to some degree, another type of current mythology storytelling that we, and the New York Post seem to glom onto. So, with that in mind, I am thinking of doing a few lubok illustrations around “The Tales of Travis, a Connecticut Monkey”. Remember Travis? The chardonnay swilling, lawnmower driving chimp who seemed to be game for anything? Xanax? Sleeping in beds? Working the television? Hot tub soaking? Plant watering? Teeth Brushing? Wearing clothes? Car Driving? Being a child to a lonely woman who needed a special friend. Travis was for me, one of the Red Rose Tea Monkeys come to life! And HE LIVED IN CONNECTICUT! Not the forests? Not the zoos? No. Suburbia. Bliss! Now, play that through the Russian Folklore lens…and you get the idea. Fun! Unfortunately the Travis story ends sadly…which I do not think I will touch…but the description of this chimp and his owner is enough to make a few pictures to test the waters.
Grassroots in in full swing. Rob and Alex have been wielding hammers while Kitty was pressganged into helping decorate the new Cabaret Hall. Surprisingly, everyone is happy and very engaged. Rob just took two of my pieces down for the Art Barn (my beehive valentine/big, and the Forever Valentine (smaller) as we think that might make someone happy. They are for sale— and we will see if anyone comes to the table on them . I doubt it as they are priced to replace the printing and a little more but the Grassrootsers are not there to buy art. They are there to buy CDs, iced tea and eat. But we will see. You never know who might be needing to decorate their tents?
Beautful clear day. Hope the trend continues.