Furious pie

Halloween Masks: Skulltime, Q. Casseti, 2011, Adobe Illustrator CS5I am sitting here in the kitchen with two pies in the oven to take to the annual TBXC dinner tonight to celebrate the accomplishments of this years cross country team. Apple with craisins. It should be fun, to the point and then we have the prime opportunity to take Alex up to Cornell for a concert that he and a crew from the high school are psyched to go to. We had two of Alex’s friends for the night, and I throughly enjoyed gossiping with them before Alex got home. So fun.

Last night’s performance of “A Bagful of Fables” was great. It was a series of short one acts, linked by Aesop introducing the fable, summing up the former one, and making some sort of dramatic reference or two to remind the audience that this is a performance. The cast was all in colored tee shirts and grey sweatpants with minimal props and sets. It was all very well done…and to speak as the proud mama I am, Alex stole the show. He is a big energy and personality on the stage, totally comfortable in his body and is coordinated and graceful. He has a comedic aspect which, I think if he were to do more of this, might be interesting to see what and how he would develop. I was delighted in his performances as well as his obvious happiness in the performance, the community and the work he accomplished. Win Win. So worth the time.

On November 18-9 ,w e are going to see Landmark College, a 2 yr. accredited college in Vermont, committed to teaching learning methodologies (through skills and technology) to exclusively to students with learning disabilities. They give the students tools to learn, grow and be able to keep up in a college environment and then help them move to a four year program to finalize their studies. I am, to put it mildly, very optimistic about this opportunity and giving our student the understanding, the community, the help and tools that frankly he did not get. He was the child that was left behind. There is no end to my venom around that little catch all government phrase that sums up my children’s educational experience—around testing and not around learning. It was around mainstreaming and not teaching to each child and his/her method of learning/processing. It is about ignoring the symptoms of a child struggling and not ONE teacher, aide, principal, counselor questioning if the child is truly being served, truly learning or just keeping “within the lines” (or within the sweep of Alex as a Farmer in “A Bagful of Fables, 11/04/2011, Q. Cassetti“standards”) to run them through the public k-12 offering. The school’s responsibility is to provide support in order for a student to learn. They missed that here. And, so much more. However, I am being negative and should focus on that which is good. I have a strong student, a smart student, and one who does not totally loathe himself. I have a student that can be educated to move forward postitively and we have the means to support that study (nothing like saving like a squirrel for years and years). Not withstanding, the system failed us. Unforgiveably so. I hurt inside and hurt for my child. I need to focus on the potential for the future…but anger is my middle name…

Shady Grove still stinks. I have two cats wrapped around my ipad/ ipad keyboard. All three pets grunting and moaning in their sleep. It should feel restful, but the constant heaving and squeaking is a bit disturbing.

More masks. I may start drawing a few (ink) and then either redrawing in illustrator or modifying in photoshop before coloring them as they are pretty basic, and then they would be all mine to do with what I want. Rob wants to prototype them as real masks….I just want to do illustrations.  And more illustration and more.

I was musing this morning over the opportunity to make a little cookbook for Kitty and Alex of all their favorites with of course, illustrations from me, and photos of them….I think I might make this a years project and then do it as either a lulu.com or blurb book. It would be fun to be a little Provensen with it.

New opportunitity alert! with Minted.com. Minted is one of those on demand printing sites where you can get ink on paper for cards etc. with your child’s picture so instead of sending mom and dad little baby’s picture with a Kodak card, you can get it on “real” paper. Minted has upped that game with for real paper (Mohawk Superfine is their standby with an upgrade to a pearlescent paper), and with designed “shells” that have nice typography, cute illustration and basically, good graphics with good taste. Nice fonts, tasteful illustration, clean layouts. Now, you do have to pay for this (“hello Kodak, you are looking mighty affordable these days)—but the results are really nice. I have to dig deeper to see if I can do some design for their design challenge and get a shell printed. Wouldn’t that be cool? Maybe there is a shell that could hold pix of my kids for the fam? Not everything needs to be totally custom custom? right?

We will see. Some new illustration opportunities on the horizon. I wish I could talk about them, but alas….

Coming home

Halloween Masks: Casper (the not so friendly, ghost), Q. Cassetti, 2011, Adobe illustratorFriday!

Its been quite a week. Tonight we have Alex’s performance. Rumors over Facebook have been positive about his skills and performance, so I am excited to see what he can do! I will also being doing double duty by shooting the drama for the yearbook. Better charge up the batteries!

Rob is home today to futz with slide presentations and the thises and thats he cannot address given his wild work weeks. We are plotting out our weekends in a strategic way between now and Christmas as each open weekend is another opportunity to see a school or travel in some other way. Dizzying.

Big J arrived last night (the big  HORSE) and was delighted by his travels and surprised by the new freedom he has  in a big pasture with a stream he can drink out of, grass he can nibble and other horses to watch and learn from. This is a horse from the desert who lived in a small pen at a public stable (nice but confining) and relyed on being ridden to get his exercise. He has come to a very beautiful farm with other horses…and if I had four legs and a mane, I would be dumbstruck. The only glitch to the whole thing is the electric fence which he is quickly learning about. Hard lessons…ow! From Gloria’s description, perhaps Justin, albeit a California horse, might have come home too. At least, that’s my whimsical way of looking at it.

Speaking of coming home, I was delighted to talk to Jacob’s dad yesterday. There is some desire that Jacob join us after Christmas to spend the time until he goes back to college with us. I posed that to the home team and the response was immediate and beyond enthusiastic. So, we are going to swell our ranks for the new year and have tons of extra friends and musicians dropping in to gather and hang out. Should make for a jolly holiday!

As you can see, the masks continue. I am still learning….and thinking about them, their iconography, the techniques and some of the stylistic tricks. Gotta pack that all in my small brain and then turn whirr on to see what comes out the other side. Should be interesting.

Just signed a pile of posters for the Ulysses Philomathic Library dinner for tomorrow night. They are selling signed prints of the Bicentennial Owl for $10. A nice way to raise a little money.

Gotta go.

Getting in the groove.

Halloween Mask: Bunny, Q. Cassetti, 2011, Adobe IllustratorStill stinky here. The black one wafts around with a little cloud of diesel inspired scent…and we always know where she is. Its a bit tedious— and its only been a day. From what I have read, the oily skunkiness can last as long as 2 years. I am bored now…imagine two years from now. Maybe we will be lucky enough that she will not be sprayed again (or at least for two years so it can wear out).

Alex’s first show was today. Unfortunately, I had a phone call that I had to make so as not to make the elementary and middle school performance. Poor dude, he is worn out and done with all of this. Next week, no play and no XC…so its from pressure to other pressures and work. It just keeps going and going. I am looking forward to his work as the wind (he is the wind in a fable…and it seems he is feeling it).

Justin, the big California Horse (Cap C, Cap H, Cap HORSE), arrives via the night train tonight (anytime after 5) to the cold weather. Gloria told me that his long coat was a problem in LA and she was constantly worrying about his electrolytes and water consumption. This big warhorse will grow a nice long coat and hopefully be able to handle the snow and cold. There is a lot of excitement around his arrival. Its been a long journey for him. A nice dry stall that is not moving will be a relief.

Ben Cooper 1980 (catalog page)

Busy with the masks as you can see. Between this bunny and the cat, the idea of developing my own character designs seem feasable. I am learning a bit about this styling, how things are handled for cute, how things are handled for scary, how things are handled for funny/cute. I am curious about the illustrators/artists who created these mask characters. Need to do some research and see what I can dig up. I was reading another internet clip, and they were referring to these halloween costumes as folk art. Hmmm. What do you think?

Check out these cool box graphics from the Ben Cooper Boxes. I love the benday dot…and the line treatment. Does this look like graphic design work? or illustration? Which side of the desk will this sit on? Neato Coolville>> I just ran into a bunch of vintage Kiss masks…Whoa. Kiss…and some of them have yucky frizzy hair attached to the vacformed face.

Stinky

Halloween Mask: Cute Cat, Q. Cassetti, 2011, Adobe Illustrator, CS5KItty and Kaitlin and Ari just left this noon with the sun bright in the sky, clutching the gigantic nutella jar I had as a backup to the one they had day one of school. They were thrilled to bits as they had already (among 8 of these students) eaten the first of the 11 lb. containers of this chocolate/ hazelnut spread. Onward! To more school, to heated living and studying spaces, to the next stretch before Thanksgiving. It was lovely to visit with them—and I hope they get back to the Shire safely.

Kitty was given two vintage Marimekko dresses which looked fabulous on her (and she knows it). One of them will have a new life on the contradance circuit (Kitty is not fond of the india print skirt ethos but wants something with plenty of fabric that will swirl and spin. The other in a lovely black and white print with a high waistline and 3/4 length sleeves she was wearing looking the peak of chic. She was positively delighted. Three generations of Cassetti ladies have worn these…with the happy dancing princess the current owner.

Shady Grove had a skunk encounter last night getting sprayed in her face…and missing most all else. So around 9 p.m. we cranked up a combination of Hydrogen Peroxide, baking soda and dish soap and then finished her in a bath. Kitty was upfront and center with this (bless her) with me providing wing support on left, Rob on right. Shady was a good girl and was very patient with us down to getting into the bath and lying as still as can be as we lathered her up with Lemon Dawn. She still has that Eau de Skunk stink…but she isnt dominant with it. Gloria and I went to the local farm store, Agway  this a.m. to get stuff for Gloria’s horse, Justin and a new collar for Shady (florescent orange hunting collar for now). Loved spending a bit of time at Agway checking out all the lovely esoterica having to do with farming and animals, the different products, harnesses, ropes, boots, and the complete Carhartt collection.

Things are settling down here. Plans are falling into place happily. I am busy drawing these masks…and thinking a bit further out for the masks I need to design myself once I have the mask chops down. Interesting. Rob thinks we should screen print and vacform them and sell them as one off art pieces…? Your thoughts about that? I am more interested in making the pix….and not product that is an outgrowth. I am busy learning and thinking about these masks—so I am on a new channel.

More later.

 

No more princesses and vampires, for this year.

Halloween Mask: Witch, Q. Cassetti, 2011 Adobe Illustrator CS5Halloween was cold outside. Down coat cold. No boots on the fairy princesses. Kitty and gang carved some gorgeous pumpkins and put 50 lumieres down the walk. We handed out a ton of candy and it was all done by 8:30 p.m. It was another clear and dry evening at least.

Kitty is wonderful. It has been nice to have a little visit with her. She is beginning to focus, to reach out, to make connections, to take more risks, to go out on the edge, to go beyond her fear. She took a hat making course which she LOOOVED. They were presented original straw hat forms, and some tools with access to ribbons and bows which Kitty transformed into a “Jane Austen bonnet”.  The teacher was an original that she cottoned to…marvelling in how creative and interesting millinary really is. Maybe more work there. Could be a fun thing. Her Rennaissance Art History Class at Mt. Holyoke she loves too. She is throughly enjoying being part of the drama community, the costumes, the shop, the people. She is a dancing girl—and a girl that goes to parties (that girl wasnt here last year). So, I couldnt be happier in her open attitude, happiness, and change. We love her friends too.

Alex is heads down with the drama production. He is so solid…and great. I hope it will be a great success. There are all sorts of XC events this weekend (along with dishes to pass)

I baked a few of the apples I got this weekend from Kingtown Apples (a half bushel (mixed) for $8). Down they went for lunch. Everyone was very happy. I had totally forgotten how easy and pleasing baked apples are. Even the most simple style, sugar and cinnamon are a treat. Low in fat…and tasty/warm.

I have done something interesting that maybe you might want to try too. There is a cool feature/offering from Google called “Google Alerts”. You can set up topics you want to be alerted to what is new…and I have put Fraktur, Trumansburg, Ben Cooper and Q. Cassetti as my alerts. From that, I get an email that tells me about what is new. I found out that my bee work was cited in Dappled Sky.com. Additionally, my work was shown on a cool urban farming blog, Brooklyn Homesteader.com, again, another grouping of bee images.

As you can see, I am happy with my masks. More to come. They are so odd…and oddly engaging.

Boo!

Halloween Mask: Frankenstein, Q. Cassetti, 2011, Adobe Illustrator CS5Funny what happens! Kitty called yesterday around noon. Hampshire had evacuated campus due to the electricity being knocked out—and she was trying to figure out what to do. Twenty four hours later, we have Kitty, and two friends here, eating, watching t.v. and hopefully carving the pumpkins and making Halloween for tonight’s activities. They all have had snuggly beds, hot tubs, cups of tea and soup and slices of quick bread. So, yesterday’s proposed afternoon of cooking became significantly bigger with a vegetarian Pizza Rustica, two cranberry recipes (one sauce made with mulled cider and lemon juice and a cold one), the gravy for bird day. Lots of prepping and cooking.

New week, new work. Trying to close down some projects as so many are opening up. Can you imagine, its almost November 1? What happened?

New masks in process. A pretty wierd witch. Then, I think Uncle Sam…

More later

Rolling

Halloween Mask: Devil, Q. Cassetti, 2011 Adobe Illustrator CS5I am off to the Shure Save to get the basics and fixings for pizza rustica for my little boy. Alex has play play play practice this week, so something that goes into the fridge that he likes and wants, and can be quickly miked up to take it off the cold is in order. I floated the idea of pizza rustica and he flipped (quietly, but that is how he rolls). Afters yesterday’s prep and chop, today seems simple with pumpkin carving and turkey gravy making.

I googled gravy to see if there was anything that I wasn’t doing…and it seems like I do it all right (no one mentioned browning the flour which is something I do— my mom always did…and I think it makes a difference). The cornbread, banana bread and stuffing awaits in the freezer. What next? I know, cranberries…but forget buying them before Halloween. As of Tuesday, we will be on it. I am thinking of doing two cranberries—one chunky and the other more of a real sauce. Ideas?

I am smitten with doing research on these odd halloween masks. Its curious, but there is a little bit of my love of old circus poster illustrations combined with the crazy palette of the sixties (I found a purple gorilla that is outstanding), combined with a sixties headset of what was good/acceptable imagery and symbols for little children to represent. The only girl costumes were fair haired princesses and raggedy ann (all with white fleshtones). If you were a girl of color, you either had to be white or a monster/witch. Twisted. Talk about a generation needing to change. Imagine your self image if you were neither statuesque and blond with perfect skin, or a white dollbaby. But then again, we didnt have a female head of the department of state or a supreme court justice. Thankfully, that has changed.

You will find more pictures coming from this as I am learning stuff…mainly how to add detail and depth, and how to create high vis pings and flecks. I was just blabbing on the other day to my audience (Rob and Alex) on how I want to be able to think out a real live “sports” icon…and this is good training. Plus, this will morph to the clown project I have been waiting to do. So, wait long enough, something will click…the pen or the electronic pen just has to keep moving. I now do not have enough time in the day to do what I want to do. Who hoooo. However, the usual question pops up, who would want these things? And the answer always is, who cares?!

Time to roll to the store and pumpkin patch.

ready to rumba

TJ is under the stove, trying to gather all the heat into his old body. Mr. White (a cat with tapeworm or something as eating is something that he is continually doing to no real result) is languishing under a suspended lamp and Mei Mei is. There is something wonderful about cats and heat. We got Alex up for an early (7 am) bus for Marathon--and I promptly went back to bed--to arise with Rob gone (we wen to the meet), a hot dog rump (Shady curled up next to me...critter bliss) and thoughts about seating plans for Thanksgiving. We are up to 21. So, its enough to worry a girl. Food and then, who sits where...We have our sensitive folks, our strong women and family. We will see.

So, i got my lazy bones out of the cloud bliss that Shady provided and clambered downstairs. There was a stinky fridge, stuff that needed to be processed and as a part of that process, some cooking to take the food to something to eat. So, I tossed, bagged, washed and chopped. We have 3 small bags of the most elegant of my discoveries, organic celery. All about flavor. Not about ants on a log. I chopped and cleaned a massive bunch of organic leeks (love the CSA), washed them and divided them into 3 bags for soup and stew. Ready to rumba. Then I made a triple order of cornbread and a loaf of banana bread (4 rotting bananas on the counter). The turkey stock was brought in from the porch. I scraped the surface fat off and then put the pot on a low simmer to get the stock to a straining point. Stock is drained. Fat is off. Piles of tiny bones, processed and ready to go. If only I had a school project having to do with reconstructing dinosaur bones, I would be so set. Just to sum up, I cooked a bit today. And froze a bit. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving gravy day.

Gloria is here after a long trip across country with a long time spent with middle America...you know, Cracker Barrel and all that. It sounds like it was a 2011 version of Ulysses. But she is here, and Justin, the horse is now officially on his way.

We were hanging out at the Rongo last night...no end to people dressed up as zombies. The Stringbusters came dressed up as the Village People, bringing a ton of people. Make note, Stringbusters= crowd. It was fun hanging out with old and new friends--swapping gossip and tales, teasing each other and getting the low down.

I am on the whole halloween costume thing of the 60s and 70s. I have 3 images that point at that. It is fun, relatively fast, and new for me.
More later. It is a nice fusion of wood type illustration and kitch. Fun.

Masks on!

Halloween Warmup, Q. Cassetti, 2011, Adobe Illustrator CS5Cranked up some tylenol this a.m. Two days of the same blasted headache needs to STOP. Cranking up some caffeine too. Maybe that will help. It was blistering yesterday. Take off the glasses and press the palms to your eye sockets ouch. I am being positive about medication and caffeine. I can hope. I think its the change from fall to winter. A hard freeze is promised for tonight. Oy.

I have every turkey part available from the bits and pieces department at Shure Save—roasting in the oven with all the leeks and celery I chopped and froze from the Sweet Sweetland CSA a month ago. Smells delish. I am going to brew a lovely rich stock for Thanksgiving today/tomorrow (we are aiming to have a freeze tonight which will help the stock) and then gravy this weekend (to freeze).

The gorgeous bones (what an italian grandmother I have become…or a baba yaga?)  are done roasting. New bag of frozen organic celery added to the cauldron to brew the turkey stew/stock. David C. said it smelled like Thanksgiving. I guess its doing what I wanted it to do! Two down for the Festa della festa.

Speaking of fun, Annie K. posted this great link to Kate’s recipe for making your own cola. I am so all over this.  Hello vanilla beans! Right here>>

As you can see, the Halloween imagery is rolling. A pumpkin for today. I was looking through imagery of store bought masks from when I was growing up. The whole costume in a box thing was a puzzle for me as a kid…with the little cheap screenprinted jumpsuit and these neon printed, vac form masks that gave kids who didnt make their costumes something to wear. I marvelled in these costumes that came in boxes (why that was fascinating, I cannot figure) but the masks…they are scary in the mode of clown illustrations for me. They seemed like a cop out for me as a kid—and that homemade costumes of being a cowboy, or nun, witch or cat were the way to go. However, the kitchiness, the context of neon cereal boxes, Mr. Bubble commercials, Saturday a.m. cartoons recalibrate these costumes for me—and really would like to think of them as part of reach of advertising and imagery that we took for granted.

I guess these costumes are collectible now (not a surprise) so it was interesting to see how this little snippet of my childhood is curated. Look at the cape and skirt of this witch is just decorated without much design. The costume holds all sorts of Halloween symbols without really messaging witch. Funny. The imagery screened on these essentially, “dry cleaner bags” decorate with ideas having to do with the holiday, or the most obvious images that reflect on the character. When did we finally decide this boxed approach to off the rack costumes change to what we have today, more distinct, “fashion-y” garments that may or may not be accompanied by masks (and not screen printed/vac form masks)? When didn’t this cheap panacea for moms work…?  And Why?  I think it might be linked to the Martha Stewartization of what a real, a “good” mom does. I think it might be Martha highlighting Halloween (with the exquisite make up and costumes that highlighted MS annually on the cover from spectacular to spooky at a very high level). Perhaps that MS shove, transformed Halloween from the simple Trick or Treat holiday of one day, to the second decorated holiday event we have today…with blow up lawn ornaments, orange Halloween trees ( like December holiday)…Wow. Did the advent of cheap Chinese manufacturing (at a high level) affect this too? I am surprisingly fascinated and nostalgic about the old Halloween…and will surf around today to see what else pops up. I know, sick.

Here are some links just to keep em coming: Goblin Haus
Ben Cooper>>
Ben Cooper on Ebay>>
Collegeville on Ebay>>
Halco on Ebay>>
Collegeville on Google Images>> (please be seated)
The Halloween Museum (check out Spock at the bottom. Heckle and Jeckel is alarmingly bad)

Just got off the phone with a list (!) of projects and branding initiatives for my big client. Should wrap it up with you to be productive.

mired in words

Halloween Warmup, Q. Cassetti, 2011, Adobe Illustrator CS5Rob coming back today. Its a dreary, rainy day with golden leaves sparkling in the grey. I am cold….freezing to be exact. I should kick the hearter on…Alex and I had a nice chat about this and that…about funny things at school and the conflict of school play and a XC race. Alarm didnt go off this a.m….so we were rushing around a bit.

I am enjoying drilling into some Halloween imagery—done quickly (new one to the left)— with a crow today…all in one color. Not the most creative, but fun and at least I am doing stuff. I think the creative jangle, the emotional push is somehow related interestingly (for me) with the seasons…and those shoulder seasons can stymie me. I need to pay better attention to this, and have some strategies (maybe working in this vector mode) around how to keep going…and not fall off the illustration train…I must keep learning and doing…so an approach is key.

I just read a wonderful young adult fiction book, Chime by Franny Billingsley. It is a very graphic book both from the storytelling, but also very visual and suggestive. Really good. A new friend is interested in my taking on making some image from this story…which I am stewing on.

I also just finished listening to a really good, really inviting book Inside Scientology by Janet Reitman. I heard a very good interview on a podcast with Janet Reitman. She was so engaging and smart, I downloaded the book from Audible and have been fascinated with all the detail and explanation of this community/ cult/ religion (?)/ tax dodge. The whole world of Scientology from cradle to grave— from their schools, to their hotels and cruise ships, their own military based organization, to Golden Era Productions, their production/film/ design operation is a contained community—with some very odd rules, lifestyle etc. that is based on the writings and thoughts of a science fiction writer. Kooky…but the book is well worth the time as it is so informative and illuminating.  It feels somehow apropos with Scientology in the news these days.

Gloria update: Leaving Lexington KY and getting to Georgetown KY for tonight.

Need to get rolling. Tons of thises and thats piling up.

Psyched to be involved

Halloween Warmup, Q. Cassetti, 2011, Adobe Illustrator CS5It was heads down yesterday. I had yearbook, files to complete, new projects to begin. I am working on a bunch of vector things just to get my hand in, my eye in, my head into the work. I am feeling stale overall, so playing the visual scales is a good thing that is challenging me, and at the same time, making some happy holiday imagery.

Rob is in NYC. Alex is in prep for his play and for upcoming XC events. The girls XC team wants me to do a shirt for them inspired by the Sausage Fest shirt. Its not my design. It’s Alex’s work…I am just the hands…and he has ideas for the girls he knows either they will not get, or better, get and not understand how inappropriate it is. I need to get him to put his brain on this for amusement (at least ours).

Gloria is on her way east. Gloria is my sister-in-law who has lived in Los Angeles since college. She has decided to move east for a change of things—bringing household and horse (big horse) to settle here with family and old friends (and new ones too). We are all looking forward to this change for her…and feel that this will be a good thing for her personally, professionally. Los Angeles, as much as its heaven, is tough going financially, travelling, making friends, engaging in community. These are factors that are sweet here. I think she is going to be pleasantly surprised once she settles in. She is driving her cute little blue car east … Memphis was last night. Tonight is Lexington KY. She will be here Friday. So things are ramping up here on campus.

I started Thanksgiving on Sunday making the filler for the stuffing (I make a combo of sausage, mushrooms, leeks, parsley (sauteed)) that I blend with cornbread, and parmesean cheese. Tonight I start making stock so I can make the gravy in advance. I want to make pumpkin bread and cornbread in the next week or so. Same with the cranberries. All this prework makes the 25th of Nov. a pleasant day. I love this. Totally. I should be doing dupes so that xmas is the same. That would be genius. I am not that genius…but if one is prepping feasts, prep big. I am thankful I am living in the day of the freezer and not the middle ages so this sort of prework can happily be done.

Postcard, Wide Awake Bakery, illustration/design, Q. Cassetti, 2011, Adobe Illustrator CS5In the spirit of giving, I was thrilled to read about my friend, Stefan Senders championing a local food delivery to the Occupy Wall Street folks>> Ithaca is filled with protesting old hippies who love local food. We are all over being part of the 99% and want to share our goods to keep cheer for those who are doing the occupying. Stefan, as you remember, is the baker/owner of Wide Awake Bakery (a wood fired, artisan bakery who uses flour that is grown and ground here in Tburg. Here is a bit from the Ithaca Journal article by Rachel Stern:

“A van, running on biodiesel and chock-full of goodies made in the Ithaca area, traveled to New York City to feed protesters with the Occupy Wall Street movement last week.

Organized by Stefan Senders of Wide Awake Bakery of Trumansburg, the van was packed with bread, pancake mix, cheese, scones, cabbage, bulgur and whole wheat pasta, to name a few items. Eager to find a way to contribute to the movement, Senders decided to enlist the help of local farmers and restaurant owners.

“Our bakery has a mission to bake the best bread in the world, but we also have a social mission to do good things we believe in,” he said. “We really wanted to contribute in some way to the movement because it is very much in line with what we think.”“…

“This is part of our mission — it is part of the mission of many of us in the area — to do all we can to help what we see as an important movement,” he said. “We feel like we are doing the right thing. We are totally psyched to be involved.”“

back

Penn Pizza, Bethlehem PA, Q. Cassetti 2011Wow. It was quite a few days. We are all running a bit ragged. Thursday, we drove down to Westminster, MD with a few side trips (which included a tour of Susquehanna University in Selingsgrove, PA). Susquehanna is a nice school…beautiful campus, nice facilities, nice students, wonderful music facilities. Standard fare liberal arts program (a math, a science, a this, a that to graduate)…but we were charmed by a music teacher who spoke with us (and her string instrument students) which made Alex feel good and wanted. Plus, they have a remarkable series of luxe practice rooms alone with one complete with a pipe organ. Susquehanna wasnt planned for, but it was a good thing as a point counterpoint for the other schools we saw. As an aside, the graphics and graphics program that Susquehanna were extrordinary. They really have their stuff in gear insofar as marketing their institution and parsing that information. Kudos.

We drove around and through Elizabethtown College (Elizabethtown PA) and it felt like Susquehanna to a lesser degree. It was 6 p.m. and we were all anxious to get to Westminster MD to spend the night as we had a day with McDaniel (formerly Western Maryland College), and one of the 40 Schools that Change Lives . I have become a real believer in the 40 Colleges ideals and it hasn’t disappointed me. 

We did our usual drive about to get the lay of the land, see the campus before we officially see the campus and do a little walk about to see what was happening. Alex was electric. He loved the school even before we dropped into a gospel choir rehearsal or  walked through the arts building.  He felt that this place felt right…and this might be a place he could grow.

The next day was a perfect fall day (so things couldnt help but be good). Rob and I had a separate experience than Alex (he attended a class) and we all met up in their nice cafeteria (we were offered lunch) and had a chance to meet Alex’s contact, ask some more direct questions, and generally feel at ease. I loved hearing from the President of the school as well as the Provost. Their amazing, friendly and direct way was philosophically in line with our thinking on education followed up with some very straight talking from the Dean of Student Life and the Admissions Director who were charming but pointedly candid. So refreshing from the standard bubble that most schools wrap around the talk around funding, lifestyle and living, and the world outside the classroom.

We toured the music building on our own, but he Gospel Choir, the people and the bright students we had a chance to talk to  and see on campus really said great things about McDaniel. Put it on the list.

We got back on the road to get to Bethlehem as we had a tour at Moravian College the next morning. It was dark when we got into Bethlehem, driving down the “wrong side” of town by Lehigh, laughing at the old train bridge that held the Sands Casino logotype, and then finding our way to see Moravian by night (before dinner). The campus is beautiful and historic (6th oldest school in the nation)— all stone buildings and everything we love. Rob left Alex and me off at the student center where they were having the most lacklustre pep rally I have ever seen. Pathetic. It was punch and cookies and balloons. No college mojo. It was students sitting in chairs around the perimeter of the room shaking foam #1 fingers at each other. Wooo hooo. Alex looked worried.

We then went into town to have a nice dinner at the Bethlehem Brew Works which for Rob and me felt very “Pittsburgh” in the tone and feeling of the place. I guess its the steel heritage that both towns have…and it has communicated to the culture which is interesting.  Honest, hard working people drinking beer. We had hope about the next day…and those hopes were sadly dashed by the worst tour we have ever ever had… from literally the tour of every hallway on campus (we saw no dorm rooms, no studios, no practice rooms, no concert halls, nothing), the dining rooms and  witticisms from an untrained tour guide. Did I mention no information session….so it was all pretty unformed combined with it being Homecoming…so we felt we were in the way. The most brilliant thing was the tourguide (who couldnt show us dorm rooms, proudly walked us by these student apartments which were highlighted with crowds of students smoking and drinking at 10:30 am—the right message for a school that has a Theological Seminary that is part of it’s institution. We were so looking forward to being blown out of our chairs with Moravian…and those hopes were dashed.

We packed up and came home after lunch on Main St in Bethlehem and the walk down the street to see the dogs in halloween costumes and walk through the Sun Inn.

We are back.

We are off to see some schools tomorrow through Sunday. It should be fun…and I will try to weigh in from the road. Too much going on today to get a blog entry. Will try from the car tomorrow!

Mental tryptophan

Vector Sketch, Q. Cassetti, 2011, Adobe Illustrator CS5Working on a portrait. Fun. Tough going with the eyes. I find that recently, I need to construct more of the eyes than what is in the picture which is a bit of a puzzle, but when I focus on them, it really snaps the image up. My guy has a cape and a high necked, dark shirt. Very dashing…with a very goth hairdo.

More little projects on the desk to correct, to add to, to develop, to change. I met with my new farmers today. They took me on the most lyrical and philosophical walks over their property to see the elegant black chickens, their groomed, snuffling and happy pigs (searching for apples) filled in with their thinking on planting, on cycling crops and livestock, on teaching, on food and then on their beautiful barn (complete with a slate roof) and the architectural plans around this. The property spans the most glorious gorge…with a lovely stream and the trees sheer perfection and tall, reaching up to the sky. No hanging branches, no need to limb up or change anything. With the sparking leaves…it was breathtaking. We shared maroon apples from a tree by their driveway and talked about planting in hexagons with plants that complement each other for their seasons, for the creatures they attract or repell….Just take a gander at their poetic blog. Love reading it: Tree Gate Farm>>

Nice meeting with the Distillery. We are on a direction that is great…and beginning to refine an approach to the labels, the logotype, the color palette. Next step, comping the range of products they are going to lead with, think about the secondary packaging, and the marketing materials…and how the spirit and language go with it. As this operation is on the wine trail, the need to drive the location as a destination is key to their success. How to do that? What are the key vehicles? How to position this operation as part of your Cayuga Lake tour etc. Plenty to think about during winter days.

Have started thinking about Thanksgiving and the food around that. I so loved cooking much of the feast in advance so that Thanksgiving day was about setting the table, and cooking the bird and any last minute stuff (icing cakes, potatoes etc). Making stock in advance is the first place to go, so, I will need to get some turkey parts to make the stock to make the stuffing, gravy, and all else that is stock derived. I found a wonderful italian cake I would like to make this year along with a pear ginger claflouti (King Arthur Flour Cookbook). The cake I can make and freeze, but the claflouti is a now thing…so that will happen on the 25th. Right now we have around 17 coming. I project those numbers will be growing. Our big table can seat 12-14…so we are probably looking at 11 at the big table and 6 at a satellite table. Placecards will be in order…hmmm. (such good sleep inducing thinking versus my wanting to bury a hatchet somewhere)….Mental trytophan.

I am still not sleeping well. Coulda shoulda woulda. Then, the brick wall of can’t, won’t, maybe, shouldn’t. They are making me mad. Unfortunately, they do not know that when I am mad, I get feisty…and this will not be the placid, nice me that they think they know. I click into lists, confirmations, dating, reports, verbatim quotes (dated.time) and then finding out my rights and referencing their responsibilities. The land of carbon copied lawyers, and everyone else and their mother is just about to begin. The boil is slow…and as this bear was poked this morning…the heat is building.

golden trees

Vector Pic of the day, Q. Casseti, 2011, Adobe Illustrator CS5I got a brand new project with the Thomas Cole Historic Site I have been asked to create a portrait of Thomas Cole . Thomas Cole (1801—1848) was an English born American artist who is regarded as the founder of the Hudson River School. Such a wonderful romantic….and he has a very compelling visage (though his hairdo is my favorite!). And, how can you not love a guy in a cape?  more about Mr. Cole here>> Should be fun!

Am in process of finishing up the Distillery brand/look on my desk. Additionally, the Hanford Mills Ice Harvest signature is finishing up. The holiday card for my old friend client is in review. There is a ton of thises and thats on the desk, but some new fresh projects waiting to be started. Some good ones in the lineup.

It is a brilliant fall day. No rain as predicted. The leaves have fallen a bit, so the golden and light green leaves really twinkle in the trees. The grass is really remarkable and lush, the fall carpet that reduces my rain resentment. Just glorious.

We went to see Alex run in Bingamton at the Ely Golf Course which is on the top of a large hill, thrusting out and over the valley which was gorgeous and inspiring. The running course was relentless with all sorts of severe uphills, and downhills, with switchbacks and tight curves. A. did quite well as did the team with the parents and peanut gallery chasing the runners—skittling from here to there and then over and up. Shady Grove was as happy as could be, dewclaws deep in the mud.

Then we stopped on the way home at Chenango Bridge (love the name) for spiedies at the reknowned (to Rob) Spiedies and Rib Pit. Spiedies are a local (Bingampton) specialty. They are tidbits of marinated meat (vinegar based) that are cooked or grilled, and served either with stuff, on a skewer or in bread. Speidies are chicken, beef or lamb. The Spiedie and Rib Pit is stand up only…with everyone rushing with their paper sacks to their cars to devour these hot sandwiches as quickly as they can chew. We were all in heaven after all that fresh air and gadding about. We got home and the boys crashed. I did a bit of cooking and reading. Sunday was working with Alex on college stuff and assisting Rob in the solving the freezer issues. Amanda stopped by to say hi. It was great seeing her.

I am making a bunch of quicky vector pix. Its been fun, fast and pretty.

The week is short as we are taking Alex on the road to see some colleges this week. Lots to pack into 3 days. I need to call the exterminator as the groundhog hillock under our big front porch has been opened up…and we need to get rid of em. All. I was left with a have a heart trap with the notation from our contractor to just put a bunch of lettuce into the trap and wait for the groundhogs to come. Big question is then what? My contractor shot the one that was eating his garden and then out of guilt, skinned the groundhog and prepped him for the roasting pan that evening….which he then ate. I am not that responsible. I want my groundhogs decapitated with the heads displayed on the corners of our property to warn off the deer and other varmints to stay away. But that is brave talk. I need to call our exterminator, Pat the Bugman, to have his focus his tractor beam of brilliance on capturing these rascals. Maybe Pat can wrangle them while we are away.

Gotta go.

A charmer

Jean Tuttle is a charmer, an inspiration. She is a lovely person inside and out and an illustrator—and her grace and wit spills into the work happily. I love her professional work. Hope Katz Gibbs writes about her on her “Truly Amazing Women who are changing the world and how you can, too!” site, here> but just getting to know her and see how she brings her sense of fun, imagination and thinking of others into her life with images —weaving them into her day to day. Jean has done the most thoughtful thing and is sharing it with all  of her fans (moi included)—which is that she leaves her dad a picture at the breakfast table every morning featuring their three cats engaged in some cute thing having to do with current family life. The cats raising an alarm that there wasn’t much to eat in the kitchen and that Jean should get to the store is here>> The cats and mice going on vacation>>  Every detail is smart and fun—from the personalities of the individual cats (Charlotte in her Ralph Lauren coat—all fashion forward) to Blackie taking charge), to the little greek chorus of mice who fill in the story, add flourishes to the story (the way Jean does visually) and little cute quips and sidebars. Such loving, sweet images that just make my day (and I am sure Jean’s dad)—that burst with cleverness. It would be great if this impromptu work could suggest a book (which I would be first in line for). I thought you would enjoy Jean, her imagination and how she shares her talent with all of us.

Fatline Experiments, Q .Cassetti, 2011 pen and inkI am still on the fatline project. The notebooks are too small for the line width, so the sketchbook is going up in size to see how this evolves. I spent some time this weekend reading one of my great Fraktur books, Bucks County Fraktur from the Pennsylvania German Society, edited by Cory M. Amsler (1999). I love how the neighborhood, the itinerant schoolmasters, the religious and musical culture were so prescribed, and yet drove this remarkable body of original work. Many of the bookplates and hymnbook covers were done essentially as Pennsylvania German “atta boys” for students that performed or who helped tutor the less strong students. The Birth, Marriage and Death Certificates were a way for these artist teachers to make a little extra money on the side— Many of these itinerant artists were first or second generation German (with German being their main language), bringing over German/Bavarian inspiration and visual language, combined with visual reference being woodcuts (many very primitive). Throw all of that in an active mind in the countryside…churn and see what evolves. Many of these works on paper were created with blank spaces designed into the piece so they could be filled out on the fly as they were peddled from door to door.

Am busy with interesting work on my desktop.  The art folks have their deck. I need to get on the Museum for their projects. There were some nice name progression projects. I am close on a few…the horizon is something I can see.

There is some nice traction around the Library poster (to the right)  and the nice event planned for this Saturday. Heather H. has worked her magic and pulled her props (candy store, lemonade stand), ordered cakes, called musicians. There was talk of theatricals (which I think didn’t make it) but perhaps an impromptu tableau vivant? Two hundred years of books is quite an accomplishment for our little village. There is a lot to toast!

It is dreary and raining though the trees are gold. Gold and grey. The trees are beginning to dump their leaves a bit so that wonderful fall light can dapple and change our environment as the season begins to move into full fledged autumn.