Vector Methodology

Portrait Project, Q. Cassetti, 2011 Adobe Illustrator CS5Working on a series of quick portraits. The one to the left is a work in progress (the nose needs to be quieted down) and the neck needs to just go to white and more swanny. Right now, its kind of a mess. But as this has limited time on the clock…I will amend later.  This is a good exercise as the process needs to be worked with in order to keep my eye in. I think this is it for today…and I will start another tomorrow against my friend the clock.

I am throughly enjoying Von Glitschka’s book:

 Vector Basic Training: A Systematic Creative Process for Building Precision Vector Artwork (Voices That Matter)

I generally like tech books…but this one could almost be termed as ‘Yummy!”. Glitschka is focused on good file building, using the tools, power commands, actions, and setting up your document to allow the work to flow and not to be stuck looking to click on things or pulldown. He drives the work to be more fluid, more accurate, more streamlined while recognizing the scrap that accumulates on the left and right of the final art.

AND, its not all about working on the computer. Von Glitschka is very emphatic about designers and illustrataors to keep drawing to develop designs, layouts and images.  He introduces his techniques and tools—driving the designer/illustrator to go back and thumbnail until the idea is exhausted. He uses a 2B pencil, ballpoint and mechanical pencil. I am a bit messier using verithin photoblue, ultra fine sharpie or verithin red pencil, and then ink, ink ink. But its the same layered drawing to make a final to work from.

I highly recommend this book to any student or working designer or illustrator…let alone any visual artist as his work methods are tried and true, and help you to work in an organized and efficient way. How often is methodology laid out so clearly for graphic designers and illustrators? Thanks to Von Glitschka, we have this tome to reference. I like it so much, I have it on my iPad and have a hard copy coming as I think I need both.

Vectorizer

Red Floral, Q. Cassetti, 2011, Adobe Illustrator CS5Feeling so happy that I have crashed through my creative barrier and have gotten the first blush of my project done  to see where we stand…what we hate? what we love? where we could lean a bit more…what could go away. I am always reticent to edit grandly as there may be stuff I weed out that the client loves as taste and perception is so personal and I admit, I always like the odd stuff. Always. I am always quick to apologize for liking the “wrong” solution…but maybe that has to do that I like the wrong colors, and have a skew that is not quite the same as the rest of the world.

Vector Basic Training: A Systematic Creative Process for Building Precision Vector Artwork (Voices That Matter) by Von Glitschka is front of mind for me. I am only in the second chapter but am charmed by how Mr. Glitschka peels back the mystery of the vector down to who Mr. Bezier was and how the curve was created mathematically to the delight of all of us that despair of numbers and figures. I love the author’s fearless writing style combined with his honesty on his likes and dislike/hates of the software. I hope I can get to another chapter today as he is building my confidence to try more things which are surprisingly speedy and fun. There have been some cool plugins that Glitschka recommends: Xtreme Path and Vector Scribe. Vector Scribe is something I am going to take a peek at when I have a chance.

Illustrator/ Photoshop /Ink

New Process happening…and I am liking it.

Allow me to torture you by sharing what I am doing…as I believe in full disclosure, no secrets…and if there is anything I can share to make your work go further, better, faster…I am more than happy to collaborate.

First, I am doing ink drawings (keeping the “hand” in the work). Scanning them in at high resolution (600-1000 dpi). I retouch them/clean the drawings up in Photoshop (brush/eraser/paths) to make them a bit less wiggly and “I drew this messy thing in my sketchbook”. Nice and clean. Then, I res that image up to be at least 70 MB (in “Image Size”). I make a workpath and export to paths. Photoshop is done (for now). I open the path in Illustrator and clean that up (pathfinder and paths) and then I start working into the new vector “inked” illustration.  More real drawing…feels less mechanical and moves surprisingly a bit faster. Simple. Plain. Done.

I get drawn forms and feeling, but lay in the detail with vectors. Faster, truer and really nice. I am delighted.

I am slugging away on a fun project and feel like finally, just finally, I am getting some traction.

Today, I am hoeing out my stuff…wheat from chaff. Keep versus Sals. Exciting? Right? I have a book on tape to keep me amused. Kitty is working. Alex is hanging. And, best thing of all, Rob is home (our Father’s Day present). So, a bit of spring cleaning and coffee. A bit of picture making…and then our wonderful boy is back. Hurray!

Delighted with Dribbble!

Kitty picking at Sweet Land CSA 06.17.2011I was just asked/invited to be part of Dribbble- a very cool visual networking site that allows creatives to show what they are working on in a very small image to be shared by the community. You enter as a rookie unable to do anything but vote and gather a little community of followers. Hopefully, one of the followers will ask you to become more than that, A Prospect (that is where I am). Being a Prospect means you can upload images, add comments etc. to others work, create folders or buckets along a theme you like. Pretty cool. New way to get the work out there to a new community. I think there are tweet buttons and facebook buttons so once again, you can link and link and link using those filaments of ideas to thread through other online communities you participate in.

And, thanks to following Von Glitschka on Twitter, I found this (and so much more as he is an amazing illustrator and a thought influencer).

Von Glitschka (aka The Vonster) is a writer, illustrator, teacher and veritable go to guy for illustrator stuff. His website refers to him as an illustrative designer (which is another way of framing up the hybrid state I find myself in). He is generous with his knowledge from his books, to his free tutorials, and now free artwork he creates on his iPad (blog, Drawsigner Blog ). He is an inspiration insofar as his work, his reach, his engagement in the online world of living, sharing and expanding his reach. His book, Vector Basic Training, is on my list of things to study to take on better process and thinking around my own vector work. He is funny and cute in his work without any sweetness. His patterns are sublime…as are the tracings he uses underneath. His work is well designed and considered before he puts his hand to the vectorizing.

More later.

Back to Fraktur

Drawing (Variety of Birds),Decorator: Anonymous [School of Johann Adam Eyer (active c. 1790-1820)] Free Library of PhiladelphiaI had a great meeting with a new company, Topography about their image/identity. Greg Kops and Danielle Klock are actively engaged in critical thinking around communications (the broad field from print, to digital media through to products and services). They come at this information in a new way, a distinctly focused on results and data along with the linguistics, and perceptions of their clients through the lense of the web. It was fascinating to hear them talk about the things that they know and practice—and particularly, they will be helping me to better understand my engagement in digital media and communications, and how best to harness and understand the power of what I am doing. Right now, its shooting in a barrel for me. Best to know at least what is in the barrel and whether it is, what I think it is. I am now more seriously engaged in gathering data from Google Analytics…and trying to push all of my tweets and blog writings to as many places as I can aggregate this information. This should be an interesting process getting to know Greg and Danielle for their company as well as the eQ. (or is it IQ?).

Reward of Merit (Belohnung),Decorator: Anonymous Decorator: ca. 1820 - ca. 1840 , Free Library of PhiladelphiaI am back at the font of inspiration, The Free Libaray of Philadelphia’s Fraktur Collection (note image posted) for a project I am working on. I keep coming back to the birds, the leaves and the iconography that these inspired people used. I love the beautiful palette of soft color combined with the lyrical line and child like story telling that is used. They are symmetry crazed like me. Hmm. There are some ideas brewing goaded on by the remarkable Fraktur artist, and itinerant calligrapher, school teacher David Kulp (1777-1834) or the rich and pure hymnal illlustrations from the Ephrata Community.

I am struggling with stripping the detail out of my imagery…but keeping something to make it less like big graphic shapes (which I have done a bunch with)…So I have changed sketchbook size (smaller) to work closer to  the sketch size which forces me to strip out detail as there just isnt space for all of the tiger teeth etc. I just need to keep at it.

I hope Kitty will work with me today. I have a mailing she can help with. Alex is busy with tests and a tryout for Jazz chorus for next year. Tomorrow is our pick up at the great CSA. Maybe Saturday will be a strawberry picking fest to freeze a bunch for now and later. We are loving the frozen raspberries from last summer. The strawberries will be a gift too. Totally worth the effort now.

Bright and Shiny

Cool,clear and beautiful today. Alex was up early to prep for his Physics examination. Kitty and Thea were up bright and early to get on the bus to get to Ithaca to watch a friend give his final presentation of a project. I got the trash and recycling to the curb—trying to make some sense of the trash room which was essentially “trashed”. Its nice to have that done.

I wanted to share this interesting link with you….which you may be interested in (or not) but I think its cool, kind of a celebration of our digital age, the digital cottage from whence the digital cottage industries happen. To wheel this back a bit, I love where the world is these days. One can, if inspired, start a business, sell stuff online, and create a job, a business, create a salary without having to pander to “The Man” and all that entails. So, the paradigm of going out to “get a job” may become more staying put, and creating a niche for yourself. Etsy is a model for that…but anyone with a website can/could be in business. One step further, anyone with a computer can be a small manufacturer. What with the amazing stuff that is created for scrapbooking, one can do limited edition vinyl, paper, plastic laser cutting combined with the lovely Epson printers (large scale) that can print paper, fabric, material etc. Laser cutters like Cricut, The Silhouette, or the Klik-n-Kut (CNC cutters)  that work with standard purchases along with VECTOR Graphics (hello! this is my world!!). Companies like Spoonflower allow us the opportunity to create patterns and custom fabrics for ourselves and for sale. Klic-N Print allows you to print on ribbons, stickers. There are all sorts of inexpensive on-demand and conventional printers out there online that I cannot say enough about. And there is this new site I have discovered, Ponoko, part of the “personal factory movement”. This is what Ponoko says to explain the business they are in:

Welcome to the world’s easiest making system.

Ponoko is an online marketplace for everyone to click to make real things.

It’s where creators, digital fabricators, materials suppliers and buyers meet to make (almost) anything.

We kicked off at TechCrunch40 at the end of 2007 with a vision to reinvent how goods are designed, made and distributed worldwide.

The core of this vision is the trade in product designs – kinda like the trade in music (iTunes), photos (Flickr), movies (YouTube) and software apps (iPhone) before us.

We host tens of thousands of user generated product designs, ready to be customized and made into real things with the click of a mouse.

But hosting designs is only a part of the puzzle. Importantly, we also provide the world’s first digital making system that means these product designs can be priced instantly online and made locally, as close to the point of consumption as possible.

It means goods can be made in the greenest way. Making on demand reduces warehousing and wastage. Plus, making locally emphasizes digital transportation of goods instead of the traditional shipping of physical products.

Check it out. Isnt it great we have so much within a mouseclick away? Think of all you could do and make.

Joyful Journey

From the British Museum, Q. Cassetti, 2009Raining and cold here. Loving it. Its that lovely rain that makes your skin feel fabulous….light and misty. The plants love it too. More great grass growing mist.

I have a happy elephant for you today…gleefully carrying his riders bedecked in bells, tassels and decorations. I think he is a good reason to get out of bed and think good thoughts today. If only we all could bring such happiness to our journey everyday. May this fellow inspire and encourage us all!

Today is “John Hancock” day at the  High School. John Hancock refers to one’s signature (as in Yearbook)— so the day is celebrated with Yearbooks, special lunches, music and fun. This is the day long funday before the tests begin. Oy. The end is near. I am hoping Alex can get some focus and hit his stride in the next week or so. Never compare. Each child is different and the puzzle I find, is getting into each child’s motivations and strengths to push and shove to get the best, get the happiness for each person. This is the true work…beyond potty training but part of the process with these gifts we are presented with. I know Alex struggles with me too, but recently we have had some very nice, very soft and meaningful times together. I would love to have more of that. He is such a sweet and tender person.

I am revelling in my Behance Prosite. I do not think its a stand alone, but is a nice extra to all the other visual networking out there, and is easy to link to all the other network “fingers” I have out there (Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Blog, portfolio). The smooth thing is that the projects that I post to Behance then streams over to the Prosite, where they are organized along with other pages you can post, links etc.that takes the work out further, looking more like a portfolio. Plus, with the easy to use tools, its a snap to put up with customizable features (posting headers, adding spaces and rules) along with the ease of posting visual work makes the $99. a year an easy choice to make. Take a look if you are website free…as this is a simple and inexpensive way to get a web presence that is immediately linked not only to a big audience through Behance but also  to your personal online communities.

Meeting starting in 12 minutes. Need to get my act in gear.

New tools: Behance's Prosite

I just wanted to mention this new opportunity for those of you that are code impaired but want to get as much of your work “out there” in an easy to use, networked, product. As you know, I use Squarespace for this blog which suits my needs well. No need to know code. Easy to use. Back up systems. Nice gallery features etc.

I have been placing my work in other visual networking areas with my favorite being Behance. Behance’s Gallery organizes your project work in a simple to use, plain field to showcase the art and not someone else’s graphic design. Now Behance has taken it a step further by offering their Prosite which repurposes these portfolio and links these projects to LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, along with offering buttons for iPhone and a “favicon” for the URL at the top. For $99. a year, it is easy to use and has great reach with relatively low input. Take a look. I plan on a more graceful header when I have time. However, the simple template is not obnoxious. Take a look>>

 

Think pink

My favorite model, Q. Cassetti, 2011My little spring flower! This is the Disney Princess Dress that we finally settled on for Kitty’s multiple needs to get dressed up. It is the pink dress that we have always admired during prom pictures and as she was so non high school prom with her selections (here and here) with the respective names of the dresses being “Motown” and “Grecian”. Now we have a little sompin sompin that is far from discrete and the all girl, first grade fantasy when the entire world is swathed in unicorns, Lisa Frank, rainbows and pink. Kitty and I had a little photoshoot (with thinking around what the real headpiece will be when the dress becomes “Barbie”). Perhaps a Ken Fascinator? Or a dream house in a wagon —the ultimate of Barbie Mobile Home? Very fun.

It is cool today. In the sixties with promise of a cool week. We are all so much happier with the cooler clime. I have a mint syrup simmering on the stove with a few clean bottles ready to store it. There are calls to be made, thumbnails rattling around this thin skull, trips to the postoffice. Wow. The week is getting ahead of me and I dont want to be left behind.

Spring Bouquet

Weekend flowers, Q. Cassetti, 2011Nice weekend. We started the time with  our inaugural fun at Sweet Land CSA’s first pick up. It was so fun, so much more than I expected…from the lovely food you could pick from to the amazing farmers with wit, wisdom and insight…to the offerings from luscious yellow beets, to leeks, to mint and basil along with all you can pick batchlor buttons and 2 pink peonies. There were tons of different greens, mint, oregano and basil by the long stalk. I have seen the summer and I am delighted. Today made pesto, mint lemon syrup, a leek and carrot soup, sauteed kale and prepped the lettuce for salad tomorrow. I will post pictures to inspire you of the CSA barn, with friendly chalk board instructions, clean blue totes holding all he produce offerings, from the limited selections to the “have at it”. There is an egg share (which we are doing) as well as Stefan Senders Wide Awake Bakery share too.

There were all sorts of my favorite Tburgers there with children milling about or in the sandbox/playground. It is the best. I am so psyched.

Friday night and Saturday night Kitty danced. We had friends of Kitty and Alex at the lake—with all sorts of hanging out. Fun and very restful. I read a trashy book and “chilled” with Alex and Kitty. Saturday afternoon after dropping Alex and friend off to practice music, Kitty and I went to Trader K’s to have her try on evening dresses for a formal event. It was tons of fun with Kitty finally picking a bubblegum pink, barbie number complete with a boned corset style bodice. She looks remarkable (pictures to come). Lotsa laughs along with visiting Petrune for glamour and inspiration.

Alex is off singing tonight with the Community Chorus. We had some pretty enlightening conversation about music, jazz, his enjoyment of the singing lessons he is taking, chord progression and the things he is discovering and loving. He is an adorable guy that I cherish spending time with. I am so lucky. His insights and solid grasp on those things he loves never ceases to inspire and please me.

Need to log off. Drawing ahead.

Steam Bath

Roses Past, Q. Cassetti, 2009HOT yesterday. In the nineties. Feels like the same today. David and John got the doors affixed. Today, there will be rock moving. OUCH. Poor Alex absoutely cannot handle it…so he lounged and groused. Kitty is better. Today we have trips to the doctor. Kitty has her job. Alex will melt at school. Shady is parked right in front of my cyclone fan. As long as the fan moves the air, I am good.

Rob is off on his travelling adventure. Kitty and Alex and I have each other…and the regime is changing where i am going to start bossing people around and making them get off their teenaged thing…and helping. I do not know what the psychology is, but when its one parent, they oblige so happily. They are more easily delighted (ie. we had salad for dinner last night and they were thrilled)…So, there may be a bit less lounging for the Teen Girl and Boy Squad.

I am busy with a new project using art that goes very small in final. So, I am finding that if I develop and ink the drawing on trace, and then build the illo on the computer, the work goes faster and much tighter/better work. I need to relook at the vector approach and simplify. I think that will come with drawing the forms on trace, scanning it in and then redoing it. Now that I have the how in process, I need to work on the what. Feeling dumb today. Ah well.

My calendar is buzzing me, telling me to wake Kitty up. And so. I shall.

Greater

Grate Face, Q. Cassetti, 2011I am always looking and seeing faces surrounding me. I am sure this is something everyone does—but it is such fun. And its always great to see a good one when you have a point and shoot in your hand. I bought a brand new grater at Maines on Saturday and in the great unpacking of the bags, put it down on our stainless prep table…voila. And now you can have him smile at you this morning.

I am inking on trace today. OOOOH. Love it. Thick trace, the really meaty stuff with layers of india ink is pretty much the max. I was working with photoblue and light vermillion prismas on trace last night with the blue being the preliminary sketch and the vermillion being the firm up. Now the inking.  I am cranking out a stack of these babies for a fun sketch project I am working on. Thus, the photo a day program right now.

I am curious about the trendy, color projections. Do you know if they project out one/two years so that the fabric companies and fashion companies can develop product/collections using these predicted colors?

Nidhi Saxena has a blog on color, patterns and designs>>

Fall and Winter 2011-2012 Color Trends in Fashion>>

Pantone View Color Planner Fall/Winter 2012/2013

“Refocus also examines Colour Movements - tones that are becoming more important, less important or shifting in hue and intensity:

- Lighter blues and navy increase in importance.
- Leathery brown becomes more important as a basic.
- Oxblood grows in popularity as browns, in general, adopt a redder hue.
- Olive becomes stronger.
- Purple and purple hues are still evident.
- Brights have a singular status for winter.
- Camel evolves into cappuccino and creamy hues.
- Yellows become softer and less sporty.
- Reds are becoming more orange.
- Traditional winter darks and berry colors are more mid-toned and less blackened.

So, I guess if we have a color magic ball, this may be able to be interpreted a bit. Yay for Olive becoming stronger. And a redder Oxblood is nice too. Is black out? and Navy in? All ideas are welcome!

 
Rob and Kitty had a great trip to Utica and then to get the doors at Croghan Mills. The millwork is great and David and John are here installing them today!

a beautiful Monday in June

Lake blooming Peony, Q . Cassetti, 2011Kitty and Rob blew out of here early for a meeting in Utica and a “quick swing” to Croghan Island Mills to pick up a pair of doors we have had made for the back breezeway. Croghan Mills is a water powered mill that does beautiful millwork albeit not the closest…its an enterprise worthy of supporting.North Country Public Radio did a story on this mill>>

We had a busy day yesterday with lawnmowing and trumpet vine/tree pruning at the lake. My single peony of the season uneaten by the deer was there, waxy and lovely…bidding me to take its likeness. The lake was beautiful and balmy.  The trees are all filling out. The tulip poplar blossoms are there all cream and orange…such a striking and primordial flower. It was great just doing chores in such a blissful surround.

Then off to buy shoes for Rob as he is getting ready for a trip to NYC for work and then off for a longer engagement. His shoes were shot, so we had great results at Fontanas!  He is ready to start counting the underwear and socks, lining up the teeshirts and getting his phone charger.

Alex’s Concert at the Presbyterian Church with the Community Chorus along with the Swamp College Brass Quartet was very nice and nicely crowded. The voice lessons are paying off. Alex is finally opening his mouth and doing a bit more projection. He is coming on strong with all of his music enterprises and interest. It is wonderful to see him opening up and the happiness that surround it.

Our Sweet Land CSA starts this Friday! How exciting!

 

 

On the Fringes

Fringe Tree in Bloom, Q. Cassetti, 2011Another beautiful spring summer day. Today we prep for Rob travelling, Alex for a concert and Kitty for Kitty. I am talking to you before getting whisked off to be number one companion. We have shoes to buy, laundry to do, and a community chorus concert at the Presbyterian Church at 7:30 p.m.

I have a feeling we may have a lot of music in the house this summer with Alex getting all charged up about playing jazz from a very positive music session with a very calm, smart and together friend yesterday. He came home ON FIRE.

LOVED seeing that.

As you can see, the allium is going to seed. Our fragrant Fringe Tree (which is always a second from dying…as the older part of the tree is open and the woodpeckers have started in on it) is renewed, with a new tree springing from the base. Our neighbors all have glorious herbacious peonies. We have none. Guess why! The damned DEER. Target practice starts today. I am having a hard time deciding which weapon we will be practicing with…but lethal is the watchword. The Deerisaurus hate monarda…and that plant is flourishing. Guess that is my choice. All else they eat despite the “deer proof” designation. Stupid us.

We saw the MacGillicuddies who were great with Farmer Thor vocalizing to tunes such as “80 Dead Chickens”, and I think, “Kill the Possum”. Thor was very cute and having fun, spreading the energy to all of us. Rumor has it that the rub board player was his brother who had the same beamishness…loving being up front with the happy crowd. High energy. Lots of dancers. The bar was pleasantly crowded. A good night was had by all (even me!). I actually met some new people (fun!) and had a nice exchange. Did I say I love Trumansburg enough today?

I am busy drawing away, smudging ink all over pages to some success…not a ton. But as you know, I am warming up. Not everything can rock the house as much as I try.

 

Not necessarily going to seed

Allium Gigantium going to seed by the pumpphouse, Q. Cassetti, 2011We heard the Chicken Tractor at Felicias last night to our delight. So much so, we are going to hear them again tonight at the Rongo. It was a bright and breezy summer night last night with the crowd being at the Ithaca Festival, so the Atomic Lounge was not insanely crushing…and the music was brilliant and fun. Kitty was the dancing princess at the contra dance at the Bethel Grove Community Center. Alex was doing the festival, movies and then more bro time. So all were engaged…albeit not as a tribe. But, everyone is growing up and need their own groups, their own communities to flourish and identify with. I know this…thanks to being a member of my own community of artists, musicians, localvores and the fine IthaTrumansburgers.

I am working on a new body of work that I am not going too public on as it is a warm up for a project that hopefully start soon. Alex was asking my why I needed to do this warm up, this sharpening up— and I likened my process to that of a musician doing the scales, or singers doing trills—I love getting my eye “in” and sharpening my sensitivity to the work through practice works. I guess it comes from the calligraphic work with the esteemed professor, Arnold Bank.

    “Calligraphy is the autographics of alphabetics… . Calligraphy is simply the art of writing,or of sketching and drawing transferred to the use of letter design, on the beautiful blank of a fine sheet of paper… . Now in doing it, it has to be clear and it has to be beautiful.”
    Arnold Bank (1908-1986)

I might have mentioned this before, but Arnold Bank was my first real art/ design teacher. Quite honestly, there have only been two significant teachers in my visual career—those being Arnold Bank and Murray Tinkelman. Arnold Bank was a self taught calligrapher who had studied at the Arts Students League—perfecting his thinking and teaching. His course was a disciplined self study to learn a letterform from drawing the forms with different pens from a pair of flair pens taped together to simulate the thick/thin to ink and pens. From music pens to metal brushes to flat brushes. We worked from big to small producing a poster/placard, a poem and then a small book to explore text sizes. This work to learn a “hand” led the student to fully understand and build fluidity in the letterforms, leading, spacing and design in the most granular way. There were pen warm ups that needed to be done prior to picking up the pen to start the work….and these warmups are the source of inspiration for these pre illustration, illustrations…to get the eye in, to tune the design sensitivity, and think about the black and white, designing the negative and positive as the pen hits the paper. I really havent given it much thought, but I do not think other illustrators do warmups…but for me, it is imperative to do the warmups along with thumbnails as it is the physical and spirit aligning….in preparation for the trance that can happen with the work.

Forgive me for not sharing right now, it just is important that it stays with me. So, I will share photos and other things for while until I am ready. You will get snippets of my concerts, my friends, whats growing…the color, forms and shapes in my world.

Must go. I have Kitty and 4 friends, Bruce, Rob and soon Alex who will be anxious to eat. Now, what to cook?

And now, ladies and gentlemen, back to Spring!

Billy Eli at the Rongo 05/28/2011. Q. Cassetti, 2011From last Saturday’s Billy Eli concert. Wild Billy….who puts on an amazing show…a real pro. He is a Texas original complete with his own case of Lone Star beer we saw him pull out of his car an hour or so prior to his set. However, he has dear Trumansburg friends, particularly that of Eric Aceto, who is a very adaptable and remarkable musician who plays with Eli keeping up with his driving Texas drawl and guitar, his “honky tonk twang”. The best of the North and south.

More on Billy Eli>>
More on Eric Aceto>>

I thought I had lost the pictures as my memory card is a bit sticky, but hey…no problems. I really should get a slightly better point and shoot as I cannot get these distance shots too sharp..But, hey! pixels are free and I take such happiness from taking the shots. I like what the show lighting is doing to him…a split font approach to color from a red elbow to a purple face to the dark blue shirt that Eli is wearing…. Maybe a picture from this?

Thank goodness the heat spell has swept away to brisker, cooler, and less humid climes. The sky is blue and the haziness gone. After yesterday’s day centered between the fans, it is nice to have the sun and green, the cool breeze through my window and the floral scent of young ferns and wild purple phlox that are popping. The hot weather was a bit premature for this year. I am happy we are back to a more expected clime.

Rob has a late one tonight. Kitty starts her job at Funky Finds Thrift Company (our Main Street, fashionable second hand—“thrifting” clothing shop), to her delight and pleasure. Kitty is busy anticipating window design and merchandising. Its great to see her fired up to work! Alex is struggling to get the studying done for all the up and coming regents tests. I have to get the camp stuff for him done soon.

More alterations to do. New projects to start!