two sweaters looking for three

Hairhopper, Q. Cassetti, 2012 pen and inkQuiet day yesterday. Hopefully the same at the office today. I cooked a bit yesterday and did a few more pictures to add to this group of hairhoppers. Its fun…and its going someplace, so I need to keep in this linear trance to see where the lines lead me. I made a  big pot of turkey stock and cooked some tofu to begin the process of beginning to understand how to cook and work with it. I made up a small batch of pizza dough. Its sitting in the fridge developing flavor.

We all are looking for some heat. Bit freezy here…so maybe a lap blanket on my shoulders to keep things a bit more cuddly wuddly for me.

Time for coffee.

dream state

Hairhopper, Q. Cassetti, 2011, pen and inkIt snowed and snowed. We now have white stuff…and it feels like January, finally! I just finished whomping up a torta kind of thing from all the leftovers and orphans in the fridge so Alex has something to eat for lunch and supper tonight. I need to confirgure the vegetable stock I made the other day into something else we can eat. That is all exciting as the dregs go directly into the compost (not a bit of fat) and secondarily, I have room for more roots and tubers this week from Sweet Land CSA.

Rob left at 4 a.m. to drive to Elmira to catch a plane to Miami. He is going to do some work down there and be in West Palm Beach for the Norton Museum opening of the Hot Glass Road Show which will be paired with Beth Lipman’s installation. The Hot Glass Road show is staffed by a team of master glassmakers, and do demonstrations in hot glass not only to educate but given how skilled these guys are, show off a bit of their chops. I am always impressed, exhilerated and never bored by these demonstrations (and I have been seeing them since they were prototyped over about 20 years ago). I cannot even begin to imagine the response in West Palm Beach. What a treat for the Norton visitors. What a treat for the glassmakers to be in such a divine place for a few months. Should be delightful and fun for Rob. The extra bonbon is that he is staying at the Standard in Miami with it’s eternity pool and oceanfront mud baths.

I plan to read and draw today. Take a vacation, a bit of the holiday vacation today to just do what I want to do. No work…just my stuff. I am working with lines and am thinking about pictures and lines…so something has engaged. We will see where the work goes. Speaking of minds, I love the book I am reading, Haruki Murakami’s Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World. He paints these visceral, dreamy landscapes and speaks about mind and memory that articulates my thinking on that, on life, and on what this all means. Plus, he stirs in wonderful characters, compelling parallel stories and always leaves me in a state of wonder, questioning where I am, where I am going and what will be next in this magical book.

I am stunned by Random House’s Murakami site. Check it out. He is an amazing artist beyond the writer artist he is.

Gotta go. The torta beckons.

 

Hairhoppers

Hairhopper four, Q. Cassetti, 2012, pen and ink.To Marina (excerpt)

by Kenneth Koch

Let’s take a walk
Into the world
Where if our shoes get white
With snow, is it snow, Marina,
Is it snow or light?
Let’s take a walk

Every detail is everything in its place (Aristotle). Literature is a cup 
And we are the malted. The time is a glass. A June bug comes
And a carpenter spits on a plane, the flowers ruffle ear rings.
I am so dumb-looking. And you are so beautiful.

from “To Marina” by Kenneth Koch, from The Collected Poems of Kenneth Koch. © Alfred A. Knopf, 2007. from the Writers Almanac (01.12.2012)

Isnt that lovely? I was stunned this morning listening and actually hearing the poem versus Garrison Keillor’s delivery and voice. I am thinking of snow, of course, with many schools in the “2 hr. delay” area of the state, kicking into full 2 hour delays. They are talking snow for us tonight, and tomorrow though for Rob’s sake and his travels, I hope it isnt too horrendous as he has many miles to go. I am ready for the white stuff.

I am ready to settle in with my pens and focus on my new body of work (yes, I have a direction for another 30 or so pix…), “Hairhopper”. Its about hair. Its about line. Its about hair becoming other stuff. Its about hair assuming other roles. Its about hair engaging in environments. its all about line, line and line. Its quick and inspired by the Madhubani work last year around this time. I am not limiting it to be just scans but I can monkey in photoshop/illustrator to work reverses into the mix (like the piece that got into Society of Illustrators LA) but to keep the work in general linear. Rob was very insightful in suggesting I work with this a bit more as this is a technique that is made for children’s books, their stories and it is quick enough that I could really have a run at that. I used to love linear books…black and white, maybe a single color (Lorraine Fox was the queen of that approach)— and settle in to lok at the detail of the images presented.  Maybe the fast pace of the little electronokids today is different…but when you are dealing in the imaginary, time is a different thing.

The holiday break student staffing is winding down. Gotta get a few things done with them tomorrow to make sure we use up the time. Tucker did something interesting. He decided he wanted to scare off the deer and did some research to do things that are nonevasive and are without a shotgun. What he discovered is if you put Milorganite on deer pathes, they will not come back as they hate the scent of the stuff. Milorganite is a fertilizer so its not going to hurt anything…and if it works, between this stuff and the little buzzers he discovered, we might be able to keep the deer on their side of the property and not in my hosta and peonies next summer. Wouldn’t that be a gift? They were staying away today. We will see tomorrow. If the winter team could lick the deer varmit problem…how remarkable that would be.

Need to go. Night is on us.

Springlike

Braids 2, Q. Cassetti, 2011, Parker refillable pen with Itoya gel pen refill.Feels like a day in early early spring. The light is low and golden, casting shadows through the trees. As we got the buckets and barrels of recycling down to the curb, the cold air felt great, invigorating, and what with the lovely light filled sky, nothing seems impossible today.

Rob is coming back from NYC after a nice dinner with some old friends from the first renovation of the Museum project. His emails were sunny and chatty. They had a really nice time.

Good news for the Museum of Glass adding more work on Rob. It has been announced the the Museum will be undergoing a $64 million for a new wing at the Museum. They will be working with architect, Thomas Pfifer and Partners NYC. Excerpts from the Evening Tribune article:

”..the project will include a new Contemporary Glass Gallery and a new Hot Glass Stage, the amphitheater-style space where glass artists give demonstrations to tourists and also during events such as 2300 Degrees.”

“…the expansion and renovation will blend with the rest of the CMoG campus and will keep much of the historic Steuben Glass plant’s footprint intact. For example, the plant’s iconic Robertson Ventilator – the strange black structure that towers above the roof – will become part of the future Hot Glass Stage.

Also as part of the project, the area just north of Steuben Glass will add green space and a promenade. The parking lot for CMoG tour buses will be moved to the main lot just off Interstate 86, and a new drop-off area will bring tour buses right to the main entrance.

From there, new circulation flows on the museum floor will bring visitors into the new wing.”

So, you can see, there is plenty to do around these plans…and Rob is one of the players in this scenario. I am very proud of my hubby who has been dogging this for the past six years and finallly got great results and an opportunity to really boost the offering of this amazing museum for all of us who love museums and all they offer. More on this…as the world finds out.

Jacob and E. leave us today. Alex C. has another evening being a star. Alex is to be Prince Dauntless in “Once Upon a Mattress”.  He is as happy as can be. We are delighted for him. We listened to his songs last night on youTube. He has some nice pieces,with nice solos that will push his singing and push his beginning physical comedy.

I got word that I got work into the winner category of Creative Quarterly 26! When I went to the website to see where I fit in, etc. I was stunned (and excited) to see that I also got work into the winner categories for both graphic design and illustration. Feeling much better. The no show this year with the Society (NYC) was disappointing, but these other shows are affirming to keep swinging, and trying for base hits. Fellow Hartfordian, Amy DeVoogd also is in the winner illustration category (Yay!) and Fello Syracuse alum, Mark Bender, amazing Pittsburgh illustrator is in the runners-up category. Congratulations to all. I need to find out which images get in (and I will post) along with getting  a portrait shot. Ey yi yi.

Detail galore

Walled City, Q. Cassetti, 2012,pen and inkYesterday was a day of brewing vegetables. Alex went off to ski—and I started chopping. All sorts of bits and stuff from the vegetable drawer from the ends of parsley to peelings of parsnips to a small frozen bag of cherry tomatoes from the summer went into the pot after roasting with carrots, turnips, celery root, ends of leeks, scallions having frozen in the drawer and onions. It smelled great roasting…and then into the pot with tons of water to let it infuse into a lovely and majorly tasty vegetable stock. I did it! The key is in the roasting—per the boneyard, and not overdoing it with water in the infusion. Keep it less…so the broth takes on all the flavor in a more concentrated way. Fabulous.

Also in the spirit of emptying the fridge, I made a double of carrot soup (frozen already),  cooked and peeled 3 gigantic beets (ready for a salad) and a double of the wonderful King Arthur Baking Cookbook’s make now/later pizza crust for dinner. I have a double of split pea soup in the slow cooker…so we are set for soup and soup this week for lunches.

Am reading a very evocative and visual book referred to by one reviewer as a “pop culture cocktail” which it definitively is:

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World: A Novel (Vintage International) by Haruki Murakami.

I cannot even begin to describe the dreaminess, odd juxtapostions and images that Murakami introduces into this gift which transports me to this alternative space during those quiet moments when I can revv up the IPad to dive in. If you can handle science fiction/ alternative fiction ( I have friends who cannot go there) but if you can…I highly recommend this book and author. It is so exciting to have  new author I can whip through this season. Dreamy.

Okay: Resource idea of the day: Skazkodrom.com

Skazkodrom – is your one stop workshop for unique custom made plush toys. We sew customized soft toys based on your photos, images or prototypes.

For those of you scribblers who have a character or two in your pen, this is an opportunity for you. This is a Russian prototyping company that will take your sketch and develop a stuffed character toy for you to show possible  clients, to show in licensing presentations, or to honor someone for a special birthday. Think about being 7 years old and having your drawing of a favorite pet or invisible friend that you have drawn, turned into something you can hug. What we would have done 20 yrs. ago for this type of prototyping when I was at Estee Lauder. No end to fun. Its not free, but its concievable pricewise ($250.) and takes the better part of 2 weeks to sew.

Gotta get hopping.

update

from Scherenschnitte. Q. Cassetti, 2011 pen and ink.Thanks to the wonders of Facebook, I found that Communication Arts Magazine’s annual was due yesterday (though they have slacker time…) So, I got my collection of images together and hope that maybe this year, I can get something into that esteemed show/publication. There is American Illustration which I need to enter and maybe Spectrum this year. Spectrum is a show that is devoted to science fiction/ fantasy (read imaginary worlds and friends) which I have a bit of.

I am sort of charged up from the Society of Illustrators LA, Illustration West pieces…most particularly the crazy line piece (with the birds). That image (and many more) came from the work I did inspired by Ganga Devi, an Indian artist who continued the Mithali tradition of women painters/illustrators who created works for bridal chambers. This Madhubani work was specific insofar a topics, and the approach is very linear and colorful. However what Ganga Devi did was to go beyond that prescribed palette of content and started to interpret Hindu stories to finally depicting the images of her life and travels. Her illustrations of her cancer treatment and that of her visiting a city, riding in an elevator, riding on a bus and subway are sublime innocent refections of her world…and I was right there with her. Her use of line inspired me to go from images that were derived from Madhubani work to finally plying them to the crackpot stuff rattling around in my brain. So, refreshed, I think I may go back to that linear approach, switch out sketchbooks from watercolor paper to smooth and see what evolves.

Other news. I am possessed by coasters. Right…coasters. The lovely thick stock, letterpressed coasters. I am seriously thinking of getting some made for presents, to sell here in Itown and at Etsy, and just because, because. The world of coaster production is fascinating…and you can get anything from really cheap four color two sided coasters to the thick and chewy ones I love. So watch out. Coasters are coming on for 2012.

Here are some of the options I am looking at:

The Cranky Pressman (!)

Absorbent, Ink 

Norman’s Printery

Boxcar Press

Mercurio Brothers Printing (since 1946)

And then, there is my secret weapon, Pioneer Printing, Lodi, NY. I will price it out with him too. My guess is that he will want to involve foil stamping as well…But the Mercurio Brothers is simple in their presentation that they have not been tainted by good design. Fun fun fun.

I got my valentine off to the printer yesterday. Trying out a new online source that is affordable and happily offers all sorts of cool stock, foil stamping, die cutting and raised UV for a seriously nominal price. My programming as a designer illustrator is to stick to one or two color jobs, and never introduce anything like the aforementioned processes into a design as it is soo expensive to do. NOT NOW. Keep your pants on…things are going to get interesting (or at least, I hope).  That resource I will share …reluctantly, but we all need a new cool place to go and fantasize. DGI>> Their samples were delicious.

 

Society of Illustrators Los Angeles: Illustration West 50, Accepted!

I was delighted to see that no, I hadn’t missed this one…and that the pieces above and to the right have been accepted into the Society of Illustrators Los Angeles Illustration West 50 Show. The portrait is of Domenic Labino for the Corning Museum of Glass’ Masters of Studio Glass Exhibition for Labino. Top beehive is a personal image. The Wheatman is from my Greenman series. The image to the right is from my Ganga Devi inspired whimsical illustrations (yay!).

I am delighted with this selection as it is a push to keep going. Each of these images talk to a different hand I have been working on, and two of them representative of two of my little imaginary worlds I find myself floating in.

Thank you Society of Illustrators LA and the judges that selected these images. You make today an even sunnier one!

New Year, new day.

Sketch, Q. Cassetti, 2012We are back from a lengthened trip to take Kitty back to Hampshire for Jan Term. We swung by Mass Moca with a treat (staying at The Porches Inn) complete with a little sleep, a lot of art and some swimming in the pool and hot tubbing outside in the cold New England air. We had a great time with Kitty and Alex— lots of talking, laughing and really enjoying being in each other’s company. Alex regaled us with his impromptu interpretation of the the horrible books they read in middle school… causing us practically to wreck the car with his funny insights and focus. Kitty wanted to talk about how she is changing/growing and how that could fit into her education and what she is discovering that she may want. What an evolution from the girl we looked at colleges with.

We drove down to Hampshire on Monday on the most spectacular road…taking in the sights of the Mohawk Trail….the mountains, the valleys, the hairpin turns, the goofy souvenir stands (selling moccasins!) (the best being one with an enormous polychromed native american chief to beckon you in for a treat). It was great just getting a dose of new terrain, new places—without having a definite deadline against it. All of my “vacation time” (and Robs) have been involved in looking at colleges, going on college tours and going to and from college as part of the shuttle bus. It was nice to have this as an option (along with our mini trip to Miami) just to change the channels. Would love a week of that. Love.

I kind of hit the wall with teenaged and college aged boys late last week. It started with one of them eating all the homemade breadcrumbs for Christmas eve prep for dinner and climaxed with eight guys lurking around my kitchen all day eating anything within eyeshot and then leaving all their detrius…moving on to more and more and more. I was overwhelmed after working and confronting this wall of masticating men…I immediately became dehumorized and needed to shut down. Unfortunately, with all of this pre Christmas, post Christmas gathering of the “Bros”, it took the quiet time we normally have together and tossed it out the window. I gotta make some plans to make sure this doesnt happen at such volume next December. I can appreciate the need to gather, to eat, to bro-it-up….but starting at 11 a.m. and then finishing at 3 a.m. with heaps of sleeping men for days…is just a bit overwhelming. Yes, I did approve this all…but it then took on a momentum I didnt anticipate.

We have the ACT done. We have the Hampshire application done. We have interviews at Hampshire and Landmark scheduled. We will have the Landmark application done this week. Alex is commited to change with Landmark and wants to sharpen up his skills to let him succeed in a four year program and is articulating why he is looing forward to Landmark and then the next chapter once he has gotten his chops sharpened up. He is a remarkable person…so self aware. He is a solid, centered person that I adore and want the best for.

The New Year has clicked into that of 2012. So much happening from a few graduations, a few weddings, a prom(!), travel for us and the kids (together and separate), and change galore. I do not feel that happy anticipation of the year ahead…and need to get my head there. I want a creative shot…and something I can run with… I hope the New Year will inspire that. 

and now the day begins. Work waits.

Back in the Saddle.

Kitty and Tucker, Q. Cassetti, 2011It was full tilt through Christmas. We had a nice day together with everyone loving their presents and loving being together. It was food food and food. The best, to my thinking, was the smoked salmon I opened for lunch…but the cooking and food for dinner was good. I would have changed some things but that is past tense. We had a delightful time with our friends with lots of laughs, ideas, and even Alex and a guest playing music together.

Yesterday, we had lunch at Moosewood (the famous vegetarian restaurant) which we have not graced for a decade at least. They had the BEST ginger tea concoction that Kitty and I happily had. I swapped a book for the Mark Bittman 

How to Cook Everything Vegetarian: Simple Meatless Recipes for Great Food— so thematically we had a vegetarian date with Kitty, Alex and Elly.  We were at the wonderful, handpicked and edited selection of books at Buffalo Street Books. I bought Kitty a pocket moleskine calendar and a wall calendar featuring treehouses that she was squealing about. I splurged and bought an inspiring, Provensen zone illustrator/ artist, Charley Harper: An Illustrated Life  I got to see a ton of his work at the Lab of Ornithology at Cornell (his birds) and was struck by his simplicity and graphic quality of his illustration. A kick in the pants for this chick. Here is a google search on his work>> I mean…look at Harper’s work and compare it to the ever famous, ever visible Eric Carle. Similar? (I would go so far as to be better..better design, better style though I love Carle).

Bassett, Charley Harper“I don’t think there was much resistance to the way I simplified things. I think everybody understood that. Some people liked it and others didn’t care for it. There’s some who want to count all the feathers in the wings and then others who never think about counting the feathers, like me.” Charley Harper

Don’t you love him? Check out his site>>

We picked up Kitty’s Christmas ring (resized). And then, on our way home, Elly invited us to see Tucker, her hawk…which we did along with seeing how she works with him to fly and return to her. Kitty gave it a shot (picture above). It was a real treat with this brilliant bird swooping down out of the tall trees to land gracefully on Elly’s glove (for fun and a big meaty treat).

Today, I am back in the saddle at the office. I am hoping to get on the small farm brand I have committed to. I have knocked down several ouchies on my list that kept sliding off…so there is hope.  Tonight we hear the Stringbusters at Maxis with hopefully movies afterward (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo).

More later.

Finish line time.

From the early encyclopedia, Liber Floridus, around 1121, Ghent University LibraryIts all coming up. Coming to fruition. The potatoes are peeled. The presents wrapped. The stream of young men and women coming to gather (we had a crew until 2 a.m. of around 10) with roaring laughter, shouting stories and great hilarity in general —so the stream of snacks and dinners keep coming. Once again, thank goodness for the big hunks of pork I cooked down to make barbeque a few days ago. Breakfast this morning for the troops had Kitty and Laura cooking up banana pancakes and pillsbury cinnamon rolls that were devoured within seconds of being pulled out the the oven.

All the prep is almost done. I baked and iced a carrot cake. Lovely. The fishes are purchased (salmon, oysters and crabmeat) which will be: a broiled salmon with parsley and white wine, oysters are baked with breadcrumbs and garlic (will make two ways), and a crabmeat casserole that is my sister’s recipe. There is a torta (potato leek tart). There will be green beans and another green. No one wants a fancy breakfast, so I have some stock thawing to make a nice soup for lunch. Celeriac soup?

We are soooo lucky that it is cold out now so I can use the garage as my prep space for tomorrow. The cake is setting up, and I plan on making a few more things that just will need to be baked off tomorrow a.m./ early p.m. There is something to feasting in the cold weather months with the add of the back porch and garage storage. Makes everything so much easier. Maybe Santa could put a walk in freezer in my stocking?

Lou Jacobs, Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey CircusMy friend Amy Brill stopped by unexpectedly last night and we had such a nice visit—catching up on her world of family, fashion and friends.  Her fashion site is here>> Her fun blog is here>> She is doing very well with her clothing lines and is in a ton of stores with an online presence at Artful Home. Amy is always full of energy and enthusiasm—inspiring me to pickup my morose self and try to see the good out there and be grateful. She has had some big life challenges in the last few years and she has been a model for how to hit the tough spots with grace and energy. Now, with all that behind her, she seems poised to launch into 2012 with so much to look forward to.  We talked about present things, about past things, about local things, and about world things. All provocative and very entertaining. And beyond the gift of her time, Amy brought me amazing presents…so sensitive and thoughtful of her. She brought me three totally rocking vintage circus posters (you have heard me rave ) from her collection. Two were amazing type and the last was a prized clown poster accompanied by a photo of the famous clown, Lou Jacobs, who Amy worked along with in her past. If that wasnt enough, she brought this totally hilarious little book of line art with very curious and funny captions. I plan on scanning and sharing with you soon as it will, I am sure, delight you as much as it did me! I am so lucky to have  had such a nice visit with such a remarkable woman. I have a lot to learn from her which she gives so generously. She made my day!

It is nice to have a moment of reflection. A year has passed. Kitty and Alex keep growing and changing. I love what is happening with them, their lives, their friends and the problems that pop up and how they solve them.They are such nice people and I am blessed to have them as part of my life.  Rob is wonderful and keeps doing remarkable things that change people’s way of thinking, living and learning. He has been so additive in his job at the museum, his role on the village board and the various small projects he is engaging in in Trumansburg. It keeps getting better for him. My life would be an empty shell without him.

Jacob K. joined us this summer and now this winter. We now have another member of the tribe along with E. his friend and another team member.

Gloria has moved along with Justin and they seem to be not just liking it, but loving it here. Ron and Mary are healthy and still are able to do what they have to do. I am the same though I must admit, I find myself a bit stale with my work and the sluggish content my illustration has been taking. Lesson from this year’s advent calendar, is that I cannot just work on a style independant of content…if the content of my pictures is nominal, they really don’t  sing visually nor spiritually for me. I missed the toothiness of Christmas by pursuing a cut paper tradition and trying to be more responsible to that style. Onward to the kitchen to keep plugging away at “it”. If I have a chance, maybe a bit of drawing too? Styling exercises need content too…as does the illustrator need time away from her desk to have her brain relax to get into this sort of thing. I need more me time…in the next year.

Speaking of me time…time to mash some potatoes. Have a jolly Christmas Eve and Christmas.

Advent Day Twenty Two, 2011

Advent Day Twenty Two, Q. Cassetti, 2011, pen and ink.Kitty is back with us to our happiness. She looks great, acts great and has her wits and act together. She has had the flu, so hopefully the time during her break will get her back to full steam ahead. She is all about costume design and vacillates between talking about the historical accuracy and that of sketchbooks and the work involved to make these dreams reality.

It is curious to me as this aspect of people working really really hard, and no one (meaning teachers) giving the student praise for the work is dumbfounding to Kitty. No one praises the student for doing the work—or not doing the work— Its the end result— right? When the character is on stage, in costume, performing…one doesnt think about the hours, the budget, the planning. One thinks of the reality of the moment, the aspect of time suspended—-the believablity of the story and character. That is true with what we do. It is not the hours of study, residencies and practice that we go to the doctor for, but his excellence, his knowledge base, his expertise, his assurance. When we get a carrot from a farmer, we do not think about the hours of planning, preparing, plowing, sowing and cleaning that goes into his job. We focus on the perfection, the tastiness of the carrot assuming (if we even think about it) that all of that effort and time went into the preparing and growing of this vegetable. I think this whole shock of the value of time and effort is a good part of Kitty’s second education, the one beyond the books, tests and projects. The reality part of her education which it seems she is getting a good dose of. Hard work is only recognized by those working hard…and not those who just see the end of the process. It is the journey that is the hard part…not the final goal. That is the shining part that the world remembers while we focus on the path, the work, the time—and the continual education and skill building along that route.

Speaking of skill building, I am feeling pretty smart as I did some technical problem-solving this morning and have the things that were driving me nuts yesterday solved and moving forward. As one faux techie to another, I do not know what I would do without the web and the amazing resources there to help us solve these maddening issues with bits and bytes, electricity and usb ports. If you just peck away you can really find your answer or ten out the in the wild cyberworld.

The day is racing away. I have grabbed some wonderful details from the Liber Floridus (per my last entry) just to share with you the wonder of this book.

 

Advent Day Twenty

Advent Day Twenty, Q. Cassetti, 2011, pen and inkKitty and Rob come home from New York City today. I had a nice chat with Kitty about her relief in gettting the semester done and the fever done. She has had a flubug. We are looking forward to her time here.

Alex, Elly and I had a little time yesterday evening with Alex playing music from his computer featuring an artist Boniver…and dancing in a very cute and funny way. We are nosing the applications along…with hopefully some closure in the next week. Wouldnt that be amazing?

Tucker is here trying to make a little money for the next semester. He is stacking wood, raking etc. with such happiness bringing lots of chit chat and a big appetite (so going to the store is going to be central to the holidays). Mandy just poked her head in…to say hi. She will be here tomorrow—so there will have to be a big, inexpensive lunch (like pancakes?).

I bought a bunch of synthetic, cheap round brushes this Sunday at AC Moore. I was beginning to do some fill work with ink (not the wonderful Pentel Pocket Brush Pen) and found that the watercolor, sable brushes I have were way too wiggly, too long, too fluid…and what I wanted was something a bit stiffer, bit shorter and in a few sizes to do the big stuff and try to do the pointy stuff too. So, I bought these brushes and discovered (at least with these “Majestic” Royal and Langnickel)  there is a range of play/ stiffness in acrylic brushes. And you know, I think I can work it out from here. I tried two of them out this morning to pretty good success with my most favorite, rich carbon inks, Dr Marten’s Black Star matte ink. However, this is not the most fluid…so I may try using Noodlers this evening just to see what the difference might be. Either way, ink on Moleskine watercolor paper is divine. Love how the ink just works with this lovely rich paper.

Another nice thing to muse over is this remarkable book I discovered, The Liber Floridus. What is the Liber Floridus? The site says: “The Liber Floridus (”Book of Flowers”) is an encyclopedia compiled in the early twelfth century by Lambert, canon of the Church of Our Lady in St Omer. The Ghent University Library possesses the autograph of this work, i.e. the actual copy scribed by the author himself. Illustrated autographs of twelfth-century encyclopedias are so rare that this manuscript is now protected by the Flemish Community’s Decree on the acquisition and protection of rare or exceptional movable patrimony.”

A medieval encylopedia! There are some great architecture pix that I plan on learning from, in addition to some insane lettering (above). I am taken with a few styling things…the way the line is handled…So  you probably will hear more about this Belgian book, The Liber Floridus.