IF: [Not to] Worry


A gulf profound as that Serbonian bog
Betwixt Damiata and Mount Casius old,
Where armies whole have sunk: the parching air
Burns frore, and cold performs th’ effect of fire.
Thither by harpy-footed Furies hal’d,
At certain revolutions all the damn’d
Are brought, and feel by turns the bitter change
Of fierce extremes,—extremes by change more fierce;
From beds of raging fire to starve in ice
Their soft ethereal warmth, and there to pine
Immovable, infix’d, and frozen round,
Periods of time; thence hurried back to fire.

John Milton(1608–1674)
Paradise Lost. Book ii. Line 592.

Its 43 degrees today


Crazy here. Three hours (1 down, 1 back and one in the chair) for the dentist, and 1.5 hrs with K at the doctor getting ready for camp. Wrote a bio today (long time since doing this)--which was interesting in the context of where I am today, the work the illustration. I am rolling on the Harpy sketches--and really feel its going to take the month to make it happen. I am thrilled to be back in the saddle. I think I will always need a project like Memento Mori and now this one to sharpen and focus the work.

I bought a pair of reading glasses so now I am officially a 6 eyed girl as makeshift bifocals as I cannot read a darned thing. Now, I look more odd than usual, but the focus is much better and I can read these books that we need to devour by mid July for Hartford.

Enormous surprise last night. While I was at the eighth grade trip meeting, R was at the High School awards ceremony. K swept the event--first, HIGH honor roll (we knew it wasnt even any placement there), second, Most improved musician in the band and third, the ONLY English award with a list of thirty superlatives to describe her. WE are all floating on clouds! Amazing. Absolutely amazing. She is such a nice person...and I have (as you know) been blowing the roof off the house on the school stuff...so. wow. I missed it to talk about the prevention of "your children" vomiting on the bus, how all the kids need "street smarts" and how cellphones are bad. Lots of talk about water bottles and whether to fill them before or during the trip. It is always pretty obtuse and in an oblique way, funny.

More later.

on the edges


I love the concept of marginalia. Wikipedia, the source I turn to when I just want a quick answer says about marginalia:

".. is the general term for notes, scribbles, and editorial comments made in the margin of a book. The term is also used to describe drawings and flourishes in medieval illuminated manuscripts. True marginalia is not to be confused with reader's signs, marks (e.g. stars, crosses, fists) or doodles in books. The formal way of adding descriptive notes to a document is called annotation.

The scholia on classical manuscripts are the earliest known form of marginalia. Fermat's last theorem is probably the most famous historical marginal note.

The term was coined by Samuel T. Coleridge who did extensive in margin notes in almost all the books that he read. Five volumes of just his marginalia have been published."

So, its not an ancient word--its one of those add alia,etta,ino, orum ville, or town, or whatever to the end to make a new jumble word that folks understand but somehow explains an approach, an eccentricity to those in the know. What I love about marginalia is this is kind of where authors or artists or illuminators really let their hair down about what reallywas going down in their thinking, or their opinion/orientation.

My life right now comprises of a lot of marginalia--Yes, there is that pedantic race of time that one addresses "A" and ends up at "J" (on a good day) by lunch and to "N" by the time it's dark and one's eyes are shut. Rarely does one get through the entire race--sometimes trying harder than others, sometimes thrown off the sequence by other things or the impinging marginalia that twists and decorates the predictable pace of the daily sequence. These flourishes, exclamations, these seemingly frilly decorations is what separates day one from day two--These are the flavorings that add depth and complication to the norm. Yes, I am a designer and an illustrator. Sometimes paying the bills or having tight deadlines all the way around takes what often is the flourish, the marginalia where I can think and cast about about "what if" and smashes into a form that can be processed through the daily mechanism of doing and finishing--that task driven,results oriented strain that is required in work.

I am privileged to be in control of a very flexible and more dynamic situation--but personally, as I get older, the idea of being introverted and living amongst the marginalia seems pretty sweet to me. A digital monk--with a small circle of those I love in this small town seems pretty okay. Its harder to deal with the crisis of the world, the financial pace of this recession, the shock and tragedy of this war and the stupidity of our people in embracing this "made for TV" "reality programming" that IS reality to most. The insincere world of air kisses and fabulousness without plan, strategies or work. This life of girl fights and shopping. No planning, no thinking, no pushing the boundaries as we are so content to live in our mansionettes with trips to the mall and electronics stores to expand our clean little worlds. I cannot begin to wrap my mind and arms around all that saddens me, and deadens my life and day. But marginalia is an aether I can live in, understand and know that in my detail, there are no boundaries.

here and there


I learned a lot doing my "due diligence" research on the circus idea. I learned a lot about interesting people--some with abilities to deceive, some with abilities to sell, some with great slight of hand and fakery, and some with sad physcial conditions that this was the way to have a life, to get about and to exist. I learned about Melvin Burkhart, the first human block head, who perfected this idea of pounding nails into his head (working on the concept that one's nasal cavities actually instead of going up, go back--and identifying where this cavity is...would allow him to place a nail in it). Of Dolly Dimples and Baby Ruth, two fat ladies who were always posed like little babies...with frilly, silly dresses, big bows in their hair and these simpering, coy expressions on their faces. Or of Sword Swallowers, of which there are many (as noted on a website committed to their history and for the current practitioners of this activity). I even found an xray of a sword swallower--a clear picture of how they do it. I love the analogy of sword swallowing--as its not about a freak of nature, or intelligence of any kind(maybe lack thereof?) but of a knowledge of technique/skill and how it is then rendered, not to fool--but to present a fearful thing--that is a considered feat.

This stuff could be infectious. But, it did not force me to open my notebook and start running ink all over the pages. However, my creatures already are in sketch phase with over a dozen mermaids and a few harpies to get going. I also love my list as there are earth, fire, water and air creatures...so the elements could fold into this along with my desire to do patterning in the background that could be inspired from this...moving the look and feel from Memento Mori, combined with some of the stuff that is coming on with the Carol Elizabeth work, and my adoration of medieval/manuscript (even Islamic art) detail and orientation. This is getting me jazzed. So, a swan dive into decorative illustration. Here we go.

I did find a cool manuscript online:
the Aberdeen Bestiary>> (1542)--with some nice images and content on phoenixes, basilisks, dragons and nice marginalia. They show the small paintings up big and often reference the page to see how it sits within the copy, the marginalia and detail that surround them for fun. Take a look. Its nice to go back into this stuff. Roots, you know.

Monday monday


Great success with the party. It was very Louisa May Alcott with games outside with sticks and balls, word and pantomime games inside along with someone playing the piano with everyone singing in HARMONY? They ate and drank everything. It all worked. The big surprise was the ease of fresh lemonade (reconsitituted frozen juice and simple syrup) and with the make it up as you need it...totally eliminated waste. Same goes for the pasta with pesto. We had leftovers that are in the freezer--and are eminently usable. K was delighted and delightful. There were presents and the right oohs and ahhs over the petit fours. I would be happy to have this group on a regular basis. So easy. And they all seemed to have a great time.

R is in Ft. Lauderdale. We miss him. We went to Ironman yesterday. K and I loved it with A and his friend Noah less so. It was a real treat. On the margins, I was researching my dream project-- which is derivative of the submitted requirements.

I was going down the path of 6 images of famous circus people--Blockhead (Melvin Burkhart), PT Barnum, Zippy the Pinhead or the Aztecs, Dolly Dimples or Baby Ruth (these ridiculously dressed fat ladies), The King of Albinos--Charles Price, a fireeater, Ajax the King of Sword Swallowing, A Snake Enchantress, Professor Hechler and his Flea Circus. And then some. I was looking at scary clowns and contortionists....so this thing can have legs. I could get excited about this...but to be honest, I dont know if it can be as whimsical and patterny as I would like to go. They are all portraits...which isnt the first thing I want to do...however, it might be good. So, this is option one.

However, I got up this a.m. with something fresh. In the tradition of going back to what you like--I have always loved mythology etc. and it would be great (I am itching to get going on this...so I think this is even better) to do a series of anthropomorphic creatures: Mermaid, Satyr, Griffin, Sphimx, Harpie, Minotaur, Chimera and a few more. These could be great and big...work em up in black and white with pen...and bring in color....So...I am going to research this today. I do like the circus idea...but not for now. This could be fun and I could really take this out a bit. And, I am feeling a bit better about all of this. I was cranky and withdrawn with the circus stuff...post the old time music thing. Old Time died after talking with Jim Reidy on Saturday--and the work was fuzzy and out there. It is hard to get hooks into a specific with Old Time Music. Too many things going on.

Gotta go. Its a good cold day with a dark sky (43 degrees). Sitting outside and swimming in the ocean in Florida is not happening here. We have layers on and have cold noses.

On the list for today


Up early to get going. Meeting with members of Toivo soon to talk about their up and coming CD and how I can help them. It may be a graphic design project, or on the off chance, an illustration job. Jim Reidy wanted me to show them the deck I did for the CD currently in the works--to show the ideation, how I walk a concept around, look at the type etc. in a more finished, more complete way than they are used to. I think its a good idea as it could be the "teaching moment" of the relationship should it go forward, and why not...it can only better the conversation anyway.

K and I picked up the little cakes to her absolute pleasure yesterday. We picked up hot pink plates, napkins and the new version of Cranium with the design and illustration done by Gary Baseman.. albeit .a clean Gary Baseman. Gary links to Sketch Theatre, a series of YouTube Clips of different artists sketching in their sketchbooks..>> Here they are on YouTube>>Interesting to see how they develop a picture...like the wonderful Brodner does with his New Yorker clips....I am puzzling over who would think this is fascinating. But hey, there is something for everyone. But Sketchtheatre is about the bad boy/ Juxtapoz school of illustrators/artists . Of course, there are teeshirts...but they are cool. Worth a click over there. Back to Cranium, we tried it out...and you can have a ton of people play it...so I think this is going to be our alternative to egg races and pinatas (its going to rain..plus, the pinatas were all spiderman busts...nothing pink).

Great platters of pesto pasta with tomatoes, asparagus, bread, fruit and little cakes are on the menu. There will be music (and I am sure with a group of 50 teens--making out). There is Cranium and conviviality. So, we need to straighten and get ready.

R is in NYC today coming back from an overnight. Tomorrow, he is off to Ft Lauderdale then to NYC (the Roadshow is at the Cooper Hewitt for any of you who live in NYC and hopefully back here on Tuesday.

Coffee awaits. More later>>

IF: Live Wide


I don’t want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.

Diane Ackerman

What we see is often not the whole picture. Take this willow. It rides above the ground, filling space with its graceful willow wands growing toward the ground to establish new plants by taking root. It's roots are wide and deep and when established can transform a swamp to dry ground. Using this beautiful tree as a model, we should try to live wide, live deep and live broad. We should try to touch the sky while grounded on earth, in our families, communities, art and culture.

Almost Friday.


I was talking to my pal, client and Pittsburger, Lynne about Isleys, chipped ham (to some chipped chop ham), a "ham barbeque" (chip chop ham in sweet Kraft's barbeque sauce, or a combo of catsup, sugar and vinegar), and of course, Lemon Blennd. Isleys was also the home and creators of the famed Klondike, which is now available nationally--but lived in all of our refrigerators growing up. We didn't go as far as the George Aiken's discussion (and their terrible, smelly chicken)--but it was hovering around the edges. Turns out, the Pittsburgh Macaroni Company (from the Strip, otherwise referred to by my mother and husband as "The Bent Can") has a website that you can buy Lemon Blennd from which i plan to today. Blennd is great in iced tea...but by itself it has a certain CitraShine lemon quality combined with a cloying sweetness that is unforgetable. Notice, I did not say delicious...but it is memorable and a good add.

K brought home a report card with some good grades and bad grades in classes she should excel at..but "forgot" to turn papers in. Did you hear the airhorn (me) blow the roof off the house? I am confounded. A did well in the track meet. He runs well and looks comfortable doing it...and the group on M School kids are a happy, chatty bunch. So, its fun to watch the sidelines as well as the sports.

House of Health was excellent. The inclines are increasing, the pace picking up...and I am beginning to understand what to do when I get bored. Lots of huffers and puffers today. Ran into some lovely local Tburg ladies, celebrities I am a bit hesitant to name...We had a nice jawbone in the locker room with some interesting tidbits falling about fashion, branding, local real estate and the old time music scene. It was great to see them...lots of active brains ticking with those two.

Saturday is coming up. Pasta and pesto for 50. Hello Wegmans. Bread too. And, some cut fruit? Petit Fours to be picked up on friday. Too much. We will need plates and napkins, piniatas, frisbees and of course the sound system. Perhaps projecting the Ballywood version of Pride and Prejudice. Seems like fun to me.

Am hitting a creative wall for a second. Need to change horses.
More later.

signage from "Just My Dad's" Plaza







I love handmade signs. Love them, their naivete, their directness--the paint and jigsaw saw technology. No illumination...except for the wonderful point of view that they communicate. Track meet yesterday was fun. Another today.
Gotta put the hammer down. Clocking down the work. We are revamping the Luckystone site (way too old and primordial) on the same grid as the illustration site. Should have something new in the next week or so.

Gotta go. More later.


Bright morning. Cats are sitting on the chairs outside like grandpa and grandma...and Shady is watching them. Shady making sure everything is okay...and they are safe. Its a high blue sky. K is having her last track meet today to her delight and pleasure. Not exactly what she expected, but was a good sport and tried her best...which surprisingly she was more competitive about than she thought.

Just ordered petit fours for her bday party this weekend. It is like talking to aliens on the moon. These old fashioned things get hard to find,as well as hard to find people who will make them. But as we have had no luck getting the Hot Truck to come, we will settle for petit fours and pesto pasta for 50. Probably a bit cheaper than ordering the truck at about $10 a head. I did, however, find out that the local Rotary will come and do the Upstate Cornell barbeque chicken thing (you all have heard me rave about) for about $6. a head...but they have a minimum. How bad can that be? My friend is having them do her lakeside wedding...which should be fun as her hubby to be is a Rotarian--so his buds will be there in style.

So, the picture above is the Camp House from the big satellite in the sky. I asked Mr. Reidy for his best shot on the Fingerlakes for satellite pix as an option for the Toivo sketch process. He threw this in for fun. Pretty scary what the big eye in the sky sees. There is a picture there.

Speaking of pictures. We got our homework for Hartford from Bunny Carter and Dennis Nolan. I was up at 3 a.m. running this baby through the brain processor...thinking out what I could do, angles to do it from, the zillion approaches, the zillion other options. Very exciting.

Also, a big possibility of a big big job. Huge job coming across the desk. I am not at liberty to discuss it...but it could keep us on our toes as if we aren't now. Might be a little trip in the future to see what can evolve.

More later.

maybe babblefish can help us? Live from Email.

email message from the aether (or the Kentucky countryside):

"These are ZIP files which we don't subscribe to for EPS or ai files. Standard EPS or ai files will be fine. Reduced for E mail in racial proposition. The PMS vinyl colors are not a problem and will be matched, in translucent vinyl. Do you want the cabinet to be Mill surface or Painted? If PMS match color, for the frame, there will be a additional 100.00. "

What is racial proposition? Is that racial proposition with regard to median income? Is this demographic phrasing? I googled the dickens out of this to no avail? What does this have to do with illustrator files? Is this new language around email that my oldness has kept me from understanding? I am confused.


Back in the seat after time at the House of Health watching the rowers, the flying ducks, the fish jump. Overcast, so the water was a remarkable color of green with jade green highlights. Looking over the list of what to do, who to call, what to email etc. and it seems like today isnt going to be a pull your hair out kind of day. Need to call Mr. Hair, our tree guy...as there is work for a man with a chainsaw (and a rotorooter for the roots of the felled trees).

K presented me a beautiful scratchboard illustration of a baby monkey (not cute...intentionally) that she knocked out (gorgeous job---I know, I am her mom--but really remarkable and quite mature). A presented me a drawing of his new favorite technology, which seems to be his mode. One birthday he drew me a picture of his ipod. For Mother's day, he drew me this very Paul Klee-ish picture of his new turntable (to come). R and A got our old reciever and speakers (bought the year we got married...and bought with the intent that these babies were going to last us our entire marriage> and they have and are morphing into hippdom for our boy). They linked A's cd player and his shuffle to the set up...and they were rocking. R scrounged a bookcase for A--and A was methodically putting his CDs, videos and DVDs nicely away. That was a nice thing for a mother to see! Nice that our Boy is getting some passion in his life...I would have loved it to happen earlier--but I will take what I can get...So this is terrific. K. has tons of passions...so we don't worry about her.

Getting rev'ed about the Toivo graphics. Love the idea of going decorative on this. Different from the Choker look...and different from where the Carol Elizabeth work is going (direction shown above)--So in the margins of time, I will need to get this ramped up. I quote from the Marshall Arisman and Steven Heller book, "Inside the Business of Illustration":

From pp.73 "Trend Spotter"
Black and white.
Long a mainstay of illustration, black and white is on the decline as the ability to print unlimited full color has increased in most outlets. The computer has made it easy to transmit color with a level of quality that surpasses black and whtite reproduction. So, for now, black and white, while usually the sina qua non of illustration is on the decline."

Comic Book
Illustrations done with drawn black line are an emerging style. Flat color is added in the computer. Unlike the comic book, subject matter is not superhero-based...."

Something to chew on. Black and White is out. Color is cheap and easy to get....therefore to my thinking...color is not special...Oh, and if it is black and white, try the comic book approach (I have)--and see what happens. And oh, by the way..what are they talking about--just editorial work? or is there any other place that is using illustration? Sorry, I am getting pissy..

blah blah blah

There is a lot of talk about how an illustration needs to be part of the narrative...is that true? or can it support the story with an image that is a snapshot of a moment, an artist's interpretation of an aspect of the story, a portrait of a character--or is this talk based on the model of illustration driving to fill an editorial need in magazines, magazine covers versus logotypes,product illustration, character design and rendering, murals etc. Is the old model of expectation, the projects, the art director still here but in the way of the typesetter, is a dying breed that will be supplemented with another demand that those illustrators who are watching and learning from their world, will pick up and exploit? When stock photography came on board, the ASMP and photographers I worked with in general,wrung their hands and declared their businesses were over etc. Now, ten year later, the same weeping ones still have businesses--maybe not the same if they were overpaid as the ones ten years earlier, but jobs none the less. They are not as lavishly paid as they used to--which for me as an art director, was a bit shocking that I did the think work, the layout, the drawing out of each photograph, the hiring and contract making with the "talent", fulfilled the POs and paying--and the photographer who was in the large part until the prep for the shoot and the shoot itself was waited on hand and foot. And I was paid a fraction to the photography for the job. My layouts and art direction and imagine, concept--was what pulled the job through. And did I say client wrangling was part of the deal too? Now, there are not gigantic Annual Report budgets (because there are not gigantic budgets anyway, and Annual Reports have finally morphed to 401K wrap-arounds which I have been advocating for well on 12 years). So the priorities are no longer in a printed annual report. Stock art is populating the web. Where is the money going? Who is paying? What are they paying for? Who is their artistic celebrity? How can I go there? or can I? Is there a niche that is not owned yet? Is there a corner in this market for me? Or is it trending towards fine art...and just forget the known editorial audience...and go for broke. Maybe I have something to say. Maybe?

Just got back from back to back Home Despot (intentional) and Lowies...purchase included a Cimmeron Toilet, faucet set, off white brick shaped tile, grout, pipes and tubes,a dehumidifier for the basement, an a wall sconce. It feels like the downstairs under the stairs gabinetto is almost ready to plugged in. Sink from Rennovators Supply is here...waiting silently.

More later.

harumph.


I started reading the Marshall Arisman and Steve Heller book, The Business of Illustration last night--and to be honest, this book makes me itch. And with itchiness comes that building anger and rants that you are all used to. So, get ready! As soon as I can take his whirling red fog and sew words and feeling to it...you will get it full bore. I now know why it's been a year between programs. More to get some space, new calibration, clear out the brain and get it prepped for another go round as a more formed illustrator/graphic designer. I am looking to grow some legs--not trying to be a painter, not trying to be one of the four classmates I studied with at Syracuse. I am a hybrid--and I need to better understand what that means broadly and more importantly, what that means to me. Where does illustration lead? Where doesn't it? How do I have illustration lead strongly...but be able to marry it to text, to headlines, to copy.

More later>>


Vases brimming over with tight lilac blooms--fragrant and room consuming. The white and purple trees at the lake have lots of promise from now until Memorial Day with the cool weather we have had. Now, if we get a little 80 degree burst early on, then there is the oppty that the lilacs will burst sooner. But, to be honest, we are more likely to have it happen in it's own time.

More later>>

Finnish Tex-Mex


Beautiful day today. Cool verging on cold. A. at a CNY track meet in Syracuse. Missed the Cow Plop. Episcopals didnt have anything worth diving on...and I was with the mix at a quarter to 8...circling the stuff. K riding horses with friends at their house. R is moving stones, raking and moving and grooving to prep for the next round of contractor fun. I am working on the black bird image (sketch yesterday). Doing another go round with Carol Elizabeth. Thinking about Toivo (a possible CD package) who describe themselves as:

"Toivo is a six piece band from Trumansburg, N.Y. playing Finnish, Tex-Mex, and original music suited to the traditional dances of the Finger Lakes Region - waltzes, schottisches, polkas, mazurkas, two-steps, hambos and reels."

Hmm.TexMex, Finnish, traditional dances? I am thinking folklorica? And what about the Finnish Folk art? Should do a bit of digging before I start... Here is a cool site on the rise and renewal of Finnish folk music>>. Here is the Finnish Institute>> Finnish Folk art blog, "Looky". Now, here is a fabulous decorative, Finnish illustrator, Sanna Annukka which, matches my thinking around a Jim Flora inspired illustration.>>

I can groove on this.
More later

more later.


more from the land of sketchmania. So, I was sitting here, minding my own business, watching my Acrobat distiller reject all the postscript files that I fired it's way and the phone rang. It was Don Ivan Punchatz from Dallas. I had sent Don a short thank you for the hard work he did in putting together the panel of artists and illustrators to share their work, impressions and life with us during the week in Fort Worth. I also included the first Memento Mori books which he LIKED and was very encouraging to continue with this. He went on to tell me about a series of illustrations he created as a direct outflow from being diagnosed with stomach cancer and the entire, intense treatment program he went through to come out the other end to health. So, my plan is to send him another go round (book two) and he was going to share with me those cancer driven images. He told me about a former student, a fast burning star,who has made a career of these basic, black and white images with skeletons as a central image...that is an inspiration, a Jean Michel Basquiat type of star. Don is very interesting, supportive and truly a nuturing teacher who shares, and shares and shares. His reach is wide and his kindness and arts headset is distinct and uncommon. He is a delight...and I hope we can continue the conversation. I love it that both of us drew our way out of confusion...and fear....

We took a marshy walk on the adjacent property...filled with water, mud, birds and lots of wild privet hedges. A bit of an eye opener relative to what this piece of land looks like, functions like. More later>>