Sugar Coated Advent 2012: Day One

Sugar Coated Advent 2012, Day One, Q. Cassetti 2012Well, its that time of year…and as I have been silent and bumbling around all year trying like hell to get a groove on, keeping on trying, keeping on reading, keeping on waiting to no result. However, after stuffing myself with Kawaii, decoden, Japanese Yokai tales, and making these tiny little  pins that have gone from little studies to outright psychodelia that are being sold now in soon to be two retail establishments— I am now ready to plunge back into the world of letting my illustration push me around a bit. I am pleased to say, that I have found my groove and it is in this candy coated advent calendar journey we will be taking together this month.

I must admit that the original intent of this project was to focus strictly on gingerbread houses—but as I have been working with this concept, I am finding it morphing into something else which I am just going to go with. We will keep the candy keep the pattern, keep the holiday themes but I am going to see where it goes.. There will be gingerbread houses and fantasy. There will be gingerbread men and ladies—but why limit it as the palette can become tedious and germanically tedious/ponderous. I hit a patch yesterday that had me silently squealing with delight and am in a race to find more time to whale on it. Lets just say, 25 days to jump start next year! Yippee!

Melon Foundation

Floral Watermelon Valentine, Q. Cassetti, 2012, vectorIts been a ginger weekend. Ginger and lemon. Ginger and carrot. Ginger and vinegar (3 different ones). I made a lemon ginger marmalade, a ginger and carrot pickle and a pickled ginger (gari). I have plans for a straight up ginger marmalade, a grapefruit/orange and ginger marmalade, and a cranberry/pear/ ginger chutney. Ginger beer is in the works too. I just need to free up a bit of fridge space to try this out. Alex and I were at the local asian grocery store and purchased an interesting asian honey ginger (for tea). Its a big clear jar filled with thick amber honey with big hunks of peeled ginger in it along with some sugar. I bought it inspired by reading about ginger in Wikipedia:

“In China, ginger is included in several traditional preparations. A drink made with sliced ginger cooked in water with brown sugar or a cola is used as a folk medicine for the common cold.^[29]”

I have discovered by working with this interesting rhyzome that there is a distinct grain to it…and that the way to cut it is to go with the grain…and surprisingly, a potato peel is a great way to shave/prepare the herb. Additionally, the gari recipe had me boiling water and essentially pulling from the fruit a bitterness or spice prior to preparation. Another recipe had me salting the fruit—and rinsing it off prior to final preparation. Thinner the fruit the better. And…not to forget that the ginger is the big flavor that doesnt need the standard mis en place that I usually go to.

This is the new path, this discovery of ginger…which hopefullly will help new friends begin to understand the lovely plants they grow and perhaps how to develop added value yummies to help pay their bills and move their farms forward. I can act as a creative director not only as a designer illustrator/ but also as a cook and foodie.

As you can see, there is a new beginning for this near spring, that of Farmers Market imagery. I did a small body of work on this last year which morphed into a series of rabbit illustrations. My head is in a different place what with the farmers market, the new Local Foods Network and with best of all, my new farmers. So, I am looking at this same topic in a new and more emotional way. The image above has popped up. New for me…and yet so part of what I do. I am excited by where this could go.

Advent Calendar Day 22: Closing in

Gingerbread Wreath, Q. Cassetti, 2010, sharpies, from the Second Advent Calendar ProjectThis illustration is inspired by this children’s book I grew up with. Unfortunately, I do not remember the title or even the story, but it was in black and white and was supposed to get little people’s juices going about the tantalizing cookies, cupcakes and candy were supposed to trigger. I was fascinated by these memorable illustrations, not drooling but oddly creeped out…and so this is a bow to that image. No, the cookies do not look luscious and amazing. They just look as odd as they do.  The neat thing about this image is that it was constructed in two parts. The wreath was drawn (in half) and I had an odd side border which frankly stunk. So the next page in the book I drew the border which was a cinch with the wreath on the page before. The Moleskine Volant pages are so thin and easy to see through, so they fit pretty perfectly.

Today its buying the turkey and the pesto (Ludgates and Regional). Kitty is home. Alex is in school doing penance. Rob is busy organizing and making sense of the house, the closets, the stuff with Mandy.

We are wrapping some stuff off. I am giving E. some time off (tomorrow/Monday) as running the clock all the way to Christmas seemed a bit inhumane…I will work a bit as a bit needs to be done…but he should have holiday time.