Such happy energy.

Pear Wreath 2, Q. Cassetti, 2012Oh my goodness.

The Great Local Foods Network event was unbelievable. Beyond awesome, beyond marvellous. It was what this blissful area is the best at…gathering like people and giving them the environment to enjoy each other, the art and music of the area and valuing everyone in the room. I met a ton of new and exciting people, caught up with others and the time flew by. It took a good day to really come off the amazing energy that was in that space on Saturday.

We arrived around 4 to find a packed house with cars parked all over the place. We were greeted at the door with an energetic group of people making woodfired pizza and another grilling loads of chicken. Inside, there was a long white, table stretched from one end of the warehouse to the next, with bouquets of forsythia and people sitting, eating , chock a block, talking and laughing, welcoming those they knew and engaging in the activities of the afternoon. By the time we had reached the back of the Regional Access warehouse, we hit this oasis of amazingly delicious, and beautifully presented food…salads, enormous wheels of cheese, bread by the basketload, pasta, spreads, dips and dessert representing every color and flavor on the color and taste wheel. There was the silent auction room filled with things to bid on from jewelry to accupuncture, from bags of beans to cases of wine…even some of my prints (as singletons) were to be auctioned. A set of 8 of the fruit and veggie pix were auctioned off at a nice price with the owner delightfully telling me how happy she was (that is payment alone! right!).

So, it was perfection and we all cannot wait until the  next one (if there will be one)…to raise more money for our friends the new farmers and their activities—and have a chance on a dreary day to be transported to another place with friends and the energy they bring.

For some traditional Q. out of focus snapshots to get the jist of the event: here>>

I am off to a meeting (for the Farmers Market) to talk about the Community Yard Sale. So, I have to book…but just wanted to let you  know that I am still drawing breath…and am on a pink cloud.

Water cooler

Peach tile, Q. Cassetti, Adboe Illustrator CS5I am taking a little break as the big machine is getting an Adobe Creative Suite upgrade (5.5) and as the computer whirrs and rattles, the blue band advances, I can chat a bit with you…an electronic coffee break.

I sit here in my tower, looking out over the back forty with brilliant green grass, forsythia and frosty daffodils. The stinky allium were horizontal and frozen the other day, and this morning, they were standing tall and back in order. We can only hope for moderate cold. How crazy is this weather? The deer are back in force.

Its been busy here with work work, Farmers Market work and my farmers work. I am always reluctant to talk about work/
work as its not right…but the other two, I am happy to chat a bit about.

The Trumansburg Farmers Market. We need to boost awareness, build excitement and get more people coming to the market. That is the “this year” challenge (and ongoing). Granted, we have limited funds, but I am the queen of getting a ton for your money. So, in that spirit, we are going to start to advertise in local journals and summertime rags Thank you Amelia (she found the typo!)(advertising is really inexpensive). Additionally, we are going to have a rack card that hopefully we will put in backpacks prior to school letting out ($110 for 5M pieces from BargainBasementPrinting.com). This rack card is going to promote the market along with the free live music that is offered for a fun summer night out on the town for the family. For a wider distribution, we are going to work with an artist who is very affordable and does distribution of her own rack cards, and for a fee will take ours around to wineries etc. where our summer visitors might be. Then there is the local distribution that I think we can, as board members, put out the cards. I am ordering PET recycled tote bags from Bulletin Bag (and, she says proudly, got a community/ non profit price on them) with our summertime slogan (yes, created by M. E….”Omnivore, Herbivore, Carnivore, Localvore! More for ‘Vors at the Trumansburg Farmers Market” Big/brassy and bold. We plan on selling the price with a bit of a markup, but also giving a bunch away (a drawing every farmers market, a drawing at the local foods lectures at the Library etc.). I am looking into small banners for Main Street. And then, we might be having a few Saturday Markets (to test the concept and maybe switch out the rules a bit to give the smaller/newer farmers a shot at selling some stuff). We are going to have a pumpkin event in October, maybe a Thanksgiving market as well as a Holiday market. So…lots to plan and promote.

Then there are my farmers. Love them. Love their independence and spirit. Love how their work, growing food delights them. I am within eyeshot of two of these new logotypes being completed. Another has a few more turns. And the cidery is having the work approved by the TTB. So…a few things on the horizon for now. I would love to share the process but I can only do that after their marks have been approved by them.

I am still making Farmers Market images of fruit and vegetables…making stand alone images and then wreaths and tiles from those elements…creating little collections of things.  I modified my asparagas image to show to Good Life Farm for their asparaganza (an event in May celebrating their enormous aparagas crop)—and I blundered by putting a grasshopper in the picture (fyi. as adorable as grasshoppers are, the Farmers can’t like t hem…at all…think the Bible and swarms of locusts). However, I picked up a few more tricks with warping text (never did that before) and using all the path offset, and path options in my new fave, the “appearance” panel. I am becoming a pretty good intermediate user….

There will be a set of 8 prints auctioned tomorrow at the Great Local Foods Network event at Regional Access in addition to those same 8 auctioned (probably silent) as separate images, and some Q. goody bags of stickers, tattoos, postcards and the like. Should be a fun event with music, raffles, and tons of great people.

The whirring has stopped. The disk is being ejected. Time to get back to the paying work.

noodgy

Peach, Q. Cassetti, 2012, Adobe Illustrator CS5Winter is back with us…after the faux spring forced our forsythia, all our daffodils and the big fat magnolia blossoms to pop. Now we have window shaking winds with wool tee shirts and extra sweaters which would have been ridiculous last week at the same time.

I met with a bunch of local foods people yesterday—our market manager at the Tburg Market, and wonderful Melissa from Good Life Farm. I also had a interesting meeting with members of the Chamber of Commerce—to figure out how the Tburg Farmers Market could figure into the Community Yard Sale (05.12). Thankfully, we got a little thinking about it earlier in the morning so I could be a bit more responsive than my normal dead wood between the ears self. I also had a nice chat with Mary Ellen Salmon, Salmon Pottery about her work, her marketing etc. Mary Ellen does beautifully textured work on simple and elegant forms….with all sorts of texture on texture/ color on color things.  The image below is a detail of a piece she did using buttons to press into the ceramics and then highlighting them with glaze. Pretty! Like little gems, little candies, little magical dreams. So I am charged up.

Detail of a pot from Mary Ellen Salmon, Trumansburg, NYDon’t mind me. I am just feeling a little cranky given all the noodgy people I have given information and direction to more than once who today, requested the same information and duplication of all the stuff I gave em before. I am not chilling on this and frankly wish sometimes, people could hold on, and be a bit more mature than what I am seeing. I am bored with redoing others work and nipping at others heels to get the stuff done I asked for once twice, three times. Tedium times ten. Okay. That’s off my chest. Sorry for that station break.

Today’s illustration breaks some of my rules…and am using gradients for my peach illustration, part of the Farmers market illustrations. There are more in the hopper…some beets, and a fennel illo.

 

We have our prince back

Prince Dauntless from “Once Upon a Mattress”, Charles O. Dickerson HS, 03/22/2012The play was a great success for all. Alex got through with great energy, excitement and polish. It was amazing to see the quiet boy step out to the front of the stage dressed in a red velour nightgowny- tabard with a big gold belt and his crown set back on the back of his head—and belt out a song or two— on tune, in time while dancing. Makes me wonder what we did to have a son with this ability…and really take it in stride without much nervousness.

The second night was a driving performance that got him really going—to the point that he was breathlessly energized—much like his coming off a really good cross country event. He was laughing and excited…it was wonderful. He really did a terrific, funny job. There were people asking about if he could audition for the Running to Places production of Oklahoma this summer…and we are are going to push him. I think it would be a fabulous experience for him to do this with another group. Heck, if he goes to Hofstra, I would love it if he had the will and desire to engage in the theatre there (I think they have something like six stages on campus!).

We had the cast party last night (around 45 kids) with Hebrew National Hot Dogs piled high, hostess cupcakes and pink snowballs on platters as our contribution to the event. It was a good time for all. Plus, they left on time. So it was double sweet as we had to get up early this morning to get Kitty to the bus to go back to the Shire for the remainder of the year.

It was terrific to see Kitty. She is full of ideas, angles and ambition to get out of her comfort zone and meet people, try things and learn. She is headlong into costume design and is relishing every moment of it with her classes at Smith and the projects she is doing on the home turf at Hampshire. We hope to send her to FIT for two summer semesters to get stronger sewing and designing chops. I think if we can bolster this liberal arts experience with strong technical skills…she will really be able to fly. She is dancing her way up and down the east coast—making contra dancing clothes for her friends, meeting a ton of new people and getting away from the socially awkward she previously identified with…and learning that she can have both worlds.

So, all is good. I need to go make dinner. Its late as I have been busy burning disks of all the former drama and one act production photos that I plan to give to the leading light and driver of this amazing program. Such a labor of love that will hold both of my children in great stead as they get older and have to get up in front of people and “present”. No nerves for the two Cassettis….to their mother’s great happiness and pride.

Now for their supper….I wonder what there is to rustle up?

Full Plate

Watermelon Wreath, Q. Casseti,2012, Adobe Illustrator CS5Spring slash Early Summer burst through the veil of March —confusing the trees, the green lily shoots, and pump peony blossoms, and me. I have been weather obsessed—reading tons of stuff online, the digital Farmers Almanac trying to make sense of this insame weather and what to expect…with really no answers but those of Rob which essentially was to go with the flow. That would be the right and easy thing, but I fight it. I like the change in weather…the frosty winters, the frozen springs, the gradual warming and then the delight in the blast of heat. This is all upsidedown and backwards. As someone who likes what she likes, she doesnt cotton well to these changes. However, my Rosemary plant from Atkins Farm in Amherst is digging the change as well as my rootbound orchid.

As a bow to early spring, I cleaned the science projects out of the fridge yesterday—and configured a bunch of things into a kale/couscous/vegetable stock soup, a double batch of biscotti (chocolate chip/almonds and toffee brittle), and cooked a brisket. Now we have stuff to eat, and space to store it. Wow. Productivity.

Sparkly Kitty is home to our delight. She is relishing sleeping in her own bed, eating soup and cookies, and just being in her home. We are doing the same. Kitty delights in everything…and we love her so much. Alex is being very funny…and so its great to be all four of us together in the car, at table together.

I have been heads down getting a ton of work out the door from a new Calendar for the Museum, to covers and branding for the big customer.

Lots of small local projects: There is a new local calendar (http://www.tburgevents.com): “Tburg Events was created by Trumansburg residents Peter McCracken, Flannery Hysjulien and Sarah Koski. Christopher Wofford brought our team together. I created their masthead and a printed postcard to be dropped off at various locations to update folks on this new service. The Great Local Foods Network benefit has a poster/website/ postcard and now rack card to promote the event and the background of this new organization (http://www.greatlocalfoodsnetwork.com). I am using scrap from my files for all of this work which is inspiring me to keep going as there is a place for all of this stuff (particularly as I am the art director/creative director) so I can plug and play as I go. My farmers and I keep at our projects as well as the local beverage producers….so more to come as they come to fruition. And then there is the Farmers Market—which I am very excited about and need to wrap my head around what it is that we are doing this season and getting the manpower behind doing it. Maybe a few emails today.

I am learning sooo much new with Adobe Illustrator these days. I have always used the pen tool…but never really engaged in learning all the cool stuff having to do with paths that are integral with the program and I delight in this new knowledge. The work is speeding up a bit…and I am happier with the results than you can imagine. I also have purchased two new plug ins for Illustrator recommended by the amazing Von Glitschka (aka the Vonster)—Inkscribe and Vector Scribe from Astute Graphics. These plug ins do not really make Illustrator any more inuititive, but allows the work to go more smoothly, more accurately and does some of the knitpicky stuff that just takes time and patience. I was watching a few tutorials yesterday, and plan on a few more today to get rolling with this. It will help with the illustration work, the graphic work and the logotypes which demand more precision/accuracy and smoothness.

So, all in all, things are good. Prince Dauntless will tread the boards this Thursday through Saturday with our having our last, yes last, Cast Party on Saturday. Kitty is home. Rob has a relatively “normal” week. And I have the standard plate of things to do, but with a lot of learning and trying. So, apart from this extrordinary and yet odd weather, things are as close to perfect as possible.

puffs of Spring.

Strawberry Valentine, Q. Cassetti, 2012, Adobe Illustrator CS5Shady and I just got back from looking at our hellebore, our adorable little snowdrops and to see if the cherry trees have buds still on them (that the deer have not gnawed off). We need to put netting over all the hosta, the few peonies left, and the sedum as it kept the deer from ravaging the plants… so be it. I would like big fat hosta, and plump peony blossoms on my tree peony. The ground is unthawing—with the grass all puckery and spongy.  As lovely as the warmer weather is, it still is early.

I may buy a few more cherry trees today from Millers . 3 or 4 more sours…and one or two sweets. This year is the year of the sweet cherry. I have been (and continue to be) possessed by sour cherries, but the sweet are amazing here…as big as equine eyes…and really a robust flavor. What a week cherry week will be this year!

Had a fascinating time listening to the budget work our Village Board was working on last night. It was important to attend, to hear things that maybe we can engage in with the Farmers Market. There is a community yard sale in mid May, and maybe we should offer space for $10. rental  or less, so that folks can bring their things to the park to make it more “community”. Maybe we could get some music, promote the vendors and drive some excitement. We will need some cool shopping bags to sell…and after doing a ton of research, the chico bag still seems like the best option, but I am still checking around. I want the bag to be portable, nylon (as its washable and continues to look good) unlike the cotton ones which are heavy, get ratty looking and just doesnt have a cool factor. Also a bumper sticker. What do you think of ” Carnivore, Herbivore, Localvore. More for ‘Vores”—maybe even use the phrase on the totebag too…versus the logotype. We also need to find a way to drive more to the bottom line so as to make the village investment zero out— Grants, things to sell…more money via rentals etc.

The fruits and veggies continue apace. You will see more…The new tools are fabulous.

Spring Forward!

Pea pinwheel, Q. Cassetti, 2012 Adobe Illustrator CS5Brilliant day. In the sixties. All the doors are open. All the pets are stretched out in the full sun, snoring away and catching some Ds (Vitamin Ds). Rob and a friend are tinkering away at house stuff. Alex is with a friend post tennis screaming with joy over a Pokemon computer game. It’s Prince Dauntless’ only day off this week, so I am not going to get on his back about what he should do or not. He has been a soldier with every night until 9 (even Fridays)…and all day Saturdays too for this play. Gloria is riding. I am writing to you, thinking about an interesting grant opportunity for the Farmers Market and putting some plans together for making naan tonight.

Its been an interesting weekend, not the one I planned. But we are being helpful with a friend who needs the support—so we have been here for him. He needs people to listen and frankly, to parent him a bit He needs to sleep and eat and rest and stop the craziness he has gotten himself into. Its working. He is coming back to himself…as I keep pushing food his way, making coffee, adding a cookie, offering a chip.  He had a bath that was transforming…and after a nap and a good nights sleep…its night and day. After a day, he looks a zillion times better. One day at a time. This is the least we can do.

I was geekifying this morning on my iPad—reading about warps, envelopes and the like and actually have turned an interesting corner in more things being possible/easier to do with this amazingly wonderful, not terribly friendly tool, Adobe Illustrator. New tricks! I am feeling quite frisky.

The week promises warm weather, 2300˚ at the Museum, and many practices for Alex.  The fuzzy magnolia buds are shiny and grey. Our day lilies are showing a bit of green in the ground. The daffodils are trying very hard to pretend its that time to wake up. I hope my cherry trees survived the winter. Time to buy a few more!

I have an asparagas heart on the drawing board with plans for peaches, beets, and turnips. Maybe a root heart (all sorts of roots?). And then, before we know it, Princess Kitty will be back among us! Hurray!

Polyglot

Canteloupe sketch, Q. Cassetti, 2012, Adobe Illustrator CS5I am on a roll with this fruit and veggie thing. Asparaganza, a festival of asparagus at Good Life Farm is going to need a poster, so this work nicely folds into this graphic approach of fruit and veggies. I am intentionlly going very very graphic with this…not quite as graphic as Alexander Girard, but blocky without much tone etc.  I mean, I am a designer—so its not totally out of context to go graphic and bold. I just do not go there as it somehow seems too easy (though I am finding maybe not as cinchy as it used to be).  I am giving myself permission to make some patterns and explore the world of brushes, paths, and symbols to bring some life to this work. And so, it is fun…and I have learned new tools (like outline and offset path, transform and more tricks with brushes). I spent some time this morning reading threads and forums on brushes, on patterns and learned quite a few details (ie. if you are making a pattern brush, and want to be able to use other colors, make the brush in a color. If you make a brush in black, it stays black). Sickly, this is absolutely fascinating to me…and torture for you…and so I move on.

Another discovery: Adobe InDesign is a tool you can create ebooks with. There is a book (DPS Create) available online as a pdf, as a hardcopy book and as an app for your iPad that takes you through the basics on how to figure out how do create ebooks (something I think I need to do just to add value for my customers). Code is that Digital Publishing Systems (DPS) is the word…and there is a lot out there for us to absorb. And…it looks doable. So, I need to create a project to make this a reality and trial balloon this…before I say to folks…”yeah, I can do that”.

From Adobe: Terry White demonstrates, A writeup on DPS

In the middle of all of this, I have done some work on some tattoos (using brushes) which turned out quite nicely (to my thinking) though there is a scary spikiness to these illos that might make the requestors shiver a bit.

Prince Dauntless was just accepted into Hofstra! He is actually happy and smiling…so another one done and done. Must go as the day is tailing out…so culinary creativity will be expected, soon.

 

Whoa!

Tthe National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center said the sun erupted Tuesday evening, creating a solar flare that is the biggest in six years. (AP Photo/NASA)It’s always amusing to wake up to the sunshiny smart voices on NPR’s radio show” Morning Edition”. Generally, there is  some nice little tidbit about politics, books, movies, the state of the state, even sports. “Morning Edition” is the way I brace myself for the day—grounding in it’s regular format, the calm presentation, the intelligent reporting, the odd story that I feel the need to note before rushing into the drinking coffee and driving cars part of the morning. “Morning Edition” is a lodestone for every morning since college for me…a friend and a dependable rock of information, stories, and news. Solid solid.

However, this morning, I was shocked into wakefulness when these normally salient people started talking about the solar flare being predicted for today—possibly knocking out electrical grids, and messing with the communications at airports etc. It sounded straight out of a mid-century Japanese SciFi Godzilla movie—with flares, electricity, torrential rain, possible plane accidents. Was it April 1st? Were they slipping some kind of “funny” our way just to brighten our days (beyond the amusement of Rick Santorum and the Newt)?  

No. Truly, Planes are being re-routed—and we are all buckling down for the sci-fi predictions around weather, electricity and and the possible cosmic show (ushering in a rare opportunity for those of us lower on this spinning globe, to experience the glorious Northern Lights). Word is:

“A strong storm can lead to problems with power grids, GPS systems, and can be a danger to satellites and astronauts, but this storm has produced no such problems, scientists said.

Physicist Joseph Kunches with the Space Weather Prediction Center likens the challenge of forecasting these events to hitting a major league pitcher’s fastball.”Like a hitter we try and figure out if the pitch is coming down the middle of the plate or is low and outside” said Kunches. “The problem is the pitch comes from the sun from 93 million miles away.”

So, as our team of electrician and plumber and I gabbed this morning, this solar news surfaced and somehow got linked to the wonderful Mayan end of times planned for 12.21.12— with tales of customers who are planning for end of times, even here in the magical land of TrUlysses. We are talking of folks putting in hand pumps for their wells (a great idea, I think) to the full fledged survival kit with months of food, water and electricity set by for emergency. What is a solar flare to those of us in wait for the Rapture!

Strawberry Swash, Q. Cassetti, 2012, Adobe Illustrator CS5Little veggie picture for today. Yep. Little strawberry swash… I am full bore onto produce and Farmers Markets as imagery to learn more about illustrator, vectors, brushes etc. I woke up at 3 a.m. last night thinking about brushes. I am intrigued by where the edge of brushes to custom swatches, to then the opportunity to pattern and frame. I am also revelling in my new heavy duty drawing process prior to squaring up, applying my digital tape and rendering these pictures.

I have been watching a few Lynda.com videos on brushes, textures and textured brushes. I hope this might loosen up some of these pretty bold vector images. You will see what happens if we get anything interesting. I have a very things I would like to try…and I am reluctant to ask a friend as sometimes when I try to discover how to do this sort of thing, I learn a ton more just with the hunting and pecking to try to get there. So, I am learning a lot about filters, about Smart effects etc. More on that front

Yesterday was the last winter CSA at Sweet Land CSA. It was a balmy, early spring , early evening. It was a sweet time with moms and their littles all playing together, grabbing carrots and eating them, building little projects in the pile of sawdust. It was tall rubber boots, bags of turnips, kohlrabi and kale, and the feeling of hope and promise as the next time we will be at Sweet Land will be the beginning of the Summer CSA, heaven on earth. I will be helping them to think out communications strategies as well as polish up their brand as it stands. Should be a fun process to have a monster CSA (hundreds of members), versus my smaller farmers (less than a hundred).

Spwinter

Love localvore apples, Q. Cassetti, 2012, adobe illustrator CX5Yep. It needed a name, this bizarre season of on again/ off again Spring then Winter. Spwinter. It was a two quilt night last night and the afternoon temperature promises to tempt the crocuses to bud and bloom. So as Alex and I cruised over to  Charles O Dickerson this morning, we named it just to humor ourselves. 

As you have noticed, I am back on illos of fruits and veggies…inspired by my localvoria and also the hope of the spring like weather. If the farmers are sowing seed, I can sow illustrations which has been fun. I am doing something wild these days. Drawing. Yes, drawing the illos before squaring them up in illustrator and finishing them.  This is a bit of a rare thing, but as I find the design gets better, tighter and its a more profitable use of my time. So, in the lineup, there are a few illustrations with strawberries, some with cherries, some with pumpkins, some with zucchini. Tomatoes still need to be considered. Ginger as well. Yes, this work is a bit design-y but as I am not shrugging off that mantle too…it makes me happy. After looking at last years veggie pix, I think there is a lot of room to continue to develop this little body of work for fun. Plus,  with all the localvoria (as you can see from the new Great Foods Network graphics/poster) there may be some use beyond my personal fun. I am learning a few more tools…focusing on zig zag, on gradients, and brushes. My lovely symbols and brushes palettes are in use too.  What fun. I need to learn more about textured brushes. I think there is some space here. Love my tools.

This little exercise is another excuse to touch tools I am not familiar with as well as build on the tools I currently know. Case in point, to work in illustrator is to use the “Path” tool—creating lines from dots/points and handles…not the most intuitive. I have used the paths exclusively—however using the “outline” and “offset” path pulldowns have given me more room to work faster and more accurately. Additionally, I am trialing “Vector Scribe”, a bolt on to Illustrator that allows “enhanced vector creation and editing”…we will see.

Need to get on it. I have the Great Foods dudes coming today for lunch. Carrot Ginger Soup (little cumin) and the usual offerings to make sandwiches with. Cheers.

Sturm und drang

Asparagus, Q. Cassetti, 2012, vectorIf tomorrow is Super Tuesday, does this make it Super Monday? I am loving the sturm und drang of the Republicans—all of it comic and ridiculous with the current apex of insanity being el Rushbo nationally calling out a 23 year old law student calling her a prostitute. El Rushbo is a rude, arrogant brute who vascillates between being sewn onto the coat of Republican party and denying his engagement in this group. He is a vicious man with a bully pulpit that speaks to the tremendously vocal minority. I used to think he was funny in his insanity, but this recent episode has eliminated all the funny this ass espouses. I hope that the bile splashback onto the Republican party is significant and lasting. It is alarming to me that to  the Republicans, contraception is more imporant than world affairs, more important thans olvency, more important than energy, pollution, education, the future. What does the consititutional right of religion have to do with each and every individual woman making independent and personal decisions about her own health and body? What is about bringing contraception into the office and allowing one’s boss to decide who gets it covered or not (Blunt Rubio amendment).

There is a right and wrong in this matter. It is an individual decision…the right of the individual versus a societal one. Why is it that these men have any, ANY say in this matter? What is with this nasty vaginal probe requirement in Virginia? Each and every legislator who votes for this should have to experience it before voting (and be FORCED to see  the monitor). No one can make decisions about  other people’s bodies particularly the “weaker” sex. I hope someone is doing some pretty intense pollling just to confirm that the Republicans do not care for the women’s vote as they have, to my thinking, cast it right in the garbage. Say good bye to 50.8% of the votes. Enough for my angry, mismatched ramblings…it just obscene that we are focusing on things that isnt a group decision but that of an individual. There is so much more to talk about and resolve to make the world a better place.

Thank you for your patience today. Just had to say it.

 

Melon Foundation

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

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

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

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

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

IF: Intention

Hairhopper, Q. Cassetti, 2012 pen and inkIntention

Men’s minds are as variant as their faces. Where the motives of their actions are pure, the operation of the former is no more to be imputed to them as a crime, than the appearance of the latter; for both, being the work of nature, are alike unavoidable.


George Washington
Social Maxims. Difference of Opinion no Crime.

First day in March

Radish, Q. Cassetti, 2011, vector.Wow. Its a rainy day, but the sun shines in my heart. What a meeting for the Trumansburg Farmers Market we had last night! We had happy people who brought food, and all ate, talked and mixed it up.  We had couples, individuals and families with little people as well. Avi, our new market manager was amazing as was the board…being engaging, chatty, open with the response from our vendors being equally so. We had older farmers, flower farmers, younger farmers, Crooked  Carrot (the new CSK: Community Supported Kitchen), my friends from TreeGate Farm and more. I had the best chat with Mr. Wayne Waid and his wife Wanda about beekeeping and how he got involved. Mr. Waid used to work for a local printer and was printing a series of books for the experts at Cornell on beekeeping. He started reading the books…and it all came together after that. He told me about the Finger Lakes Beekeepers who have communal/teaching hives and they would welcome new members. HELLO….!. Think of all the talent, expertise and time we had in that room. Nothing seems impossible. It was positively energizing and exciting. We had such a great vibe that the new season is going to be fabulous.

Another fabulous thing just came to me from JetPens. You remember JetPens, right? the  pen company with lots of asian art supplies, office supplies, cool pens. To a gal like me, its a veritable candy shop. So, the new candy came in the mail, and I am over the moon with these two pens.

First one: Tachikawa Linemarker 0.5 mm: This is a manga/anime inspired fountain pen that is smooth, inky and lovely. Works like a charm on watercolor paper. A nice ink liner that is smoother than Rotring—and more fluid. Not scratchy whatsoever. Refillable and not too expensive.

Second: an amazing multipen(!)  The Pilot Hi-Tec (I have the 0.3mm but there is 0.5 and 0.7)/ One buys an empty body and can customize the ink cartridges (gel pens) that go into the body. There are bodies that can accomodate 2, 3, 4 and even 5 different colors (and or/ mechanical pen as well). The colors are outstanding (apricot and orange…bright green and dark green….lots of choices). It is a smooth, gliding line…and its click click click and you can move from my absolute, shout it from the hilltops favorite, “clear blue” (read non repro photo blue ink) to red to black. The soft blue transcends the verithin pencil as duh, you dont have to sharpen it, it doesnt dig into the paper, and best of all, its not waxy at all, so the ink doesnt bead up on the sketch lines. I am thrilled.

I have to run to turn off my vegetable stock. Gotta go.

Outing myself.

Wednesday! Whoa! Salad for dish to pass tonight done. Trash on the curb. Prince Dauntless at school. Cats fed and angry.There is banking to do, key to pick up and some publication design. The Cidery is well on the way. We are closing in on the labels. Delighted and Delightful!.

I have a crazy secret to share with you. You know I listen to talk radio, and Howard Stern. I listen to political radio, Rachel Maddow, Amy Goodman, NPR, Terri Gross, and Meet the Press. I listen to books on tape from Audible. I love listening to chatter when I work.

Well, I have been listening to trash Tv, yes, the trashiest in the world, The Bachelor. OMG. What an amazingly profitable and formula driven show complete with individuals who are essentially cast in roles that happen season after season. There is the dullard, body building “hunk”(?) Bachelor…with a Zack, Jake, type of name. He is thuggy, not very original, and always is exclaiming about his inner, dull feelings of love, of the girls “opening up to him”, and of the possibility of “my wife is in this room”. He is always driving hot cars and “planning dates” (read the t.v. producers are planning, staging and making them happen and putting the words in Zack/Jake’s mouth). Then you have the girls. You have the beautiful bad girl who is guaranteed to take her top off. The good girl who lost a spouse or boyfriend in some awful accident (generally an airplane). You have the girls that might engage in cat fights. You have the yappy, maudlin one. There is always a super kookie one who is off her meds. And there is always one that reminds me of my favorite, most favorite internet personality>>Miss Teen USA (2007). These gals have given up their jobs (no one is very high management types.. and I am always trying to figure out how they pay the bills) to be on the show. They have suspended their lives to live in a group house with nice public spaces. When they give us little peeks into their bedrooms—it is not the lap of luxury. When they are not out of the fantabulous dates with Zack (either “one on ones” or a group date) they are busy waiting at the dream house eating frozen food. If they get through the immediate eliminations, there is a chance to travel around the world “finding love”. Oy.

The dates are a formula too. There is always the Barbie Dream Date ( the gal gets a shopping spree to buy a party dress, the loaner big hunk of jewelry, the private plane flight to Las Vegas, the private concert by some musical group, the tete a tete dinner in an exotic location where she and Zack can “open up to each other”. There is always a date where the pair either bungie jumps, tight rope walk, jump off a cliff together to get closer. There is the group date where there is “acting” and Zack has lots of kissing scenes with all eight gals. I could go on and on. This is so absolutely mindnumbing, yet fascinating.

And then there is the Fantasy Suite (generally in Tahiti) where they get “permission” to sleep together. The Fantasy Suite is totally Barbie with a pool, hot tub, tall tubs of champagne and satin on the bed. They like it nice and obvious (and Barbie Styled Tacky). I could go on and on about this. America sees these dates and women being eliminated after being considered  by Zack over the course of 8 or so episodes with these polygamous style dates…to the point that there is the meeting of family at the “hometowns”. The climax of the show is the elimination of one gal and keeping the last by offering her an engagement ring. Yep, two dream dates, a lot of groping and discussion about “opening up”, with sidebar video of each chick talking about her love for Zack. And surprisingly, it rarely lasts after the trips, the evening dresses and roses, and fantasy.

The next Bachelor or Bachelorette is selected from the prior year’s show—so there is a ton of back story and communal love for the perky or beautiful girl with lots of sass and “reality” or the strong, sensitive Zack-to-be.

And we all are delighted and amused like children as we know what is coming season after season.  We know about all the types of dates, the types of dinners, the infighting, the factions style conflict, the rich (not) and a meaningful conversations (not), and all the opening up (there is always a build when the widowed gal has to tell Zack about her child and loss of her love in an accident). Such edgy stuff. Makes the Kardashians seem like Fullbright scholars.

More often than not, the happy couple break up withing seconds of reality hitting (no more fantasy dates, the underwear on the floor, the philandering that Zach may be involved in)—and their “love” cannot survive.

There have been 16 bachelors, 16 Zacks… and they keep coming. I pity the folks that actually think that this is the way things should be. No wonder its hard for college kids to date. This bizarre show of competitive dating has changed things…not good. Not good at all. Now its time to go back to sleep in my Rumplestiltskin mode…and stay away from this crap.

More later.

 

Breathe

Q. Cassetti, 2011, pen and ink. Cover of 3x3 Magazine recently accepted into Applied Arts Magazine, submitted by Hively Design.Its seven fifteen and finally, finally, I have a little window to say hi. I have some chicken I just put in the oven. Rob isnt home and Alex just was dropped off to be Prince Dauntless. It was a busy day today with all sorts of finishing and starting.

My big client got four projects done. The new cidery got finished label sketches. I ordered some sample nonstem wineglasses for that project from Discount Mugs. They have really affordable drinkware which you can easily get printed or laser engraved (affordable) which along with coasters would set this new cidery up nice and right for the soon to be launch at some of the better bars and restaurants in the area. This project is wonderful as are the smart and engaged couple who are focused on this segment of the local food future.

The adorable couple who farm with draft horses like the new direction having to do with their totem animals (a bear and a bee)… They like the typographic slug…So that will be fun to blowout. Plus, I may be helping them with tattoos for their wedding. They are going to give their tattoo artist another shot at it…and if they do not love it, I am on. Fun. Though I must admit, the new temporary tattoos are terrific (a bird and a heart).

The new project, The Great Local Foods Network now have a poster, a call for Auction donations publication, a website (from Squarespace), a brand spanking new url from register.com,  a postcard (printed at the old standby, BargainBasementPrinting.com The Great Local Foods Network is sponsoring a fundraising event with music, food, silent and live auctions to raise money for the first project, the Bakemobile. The Bakemobile is a mobile, woodfired, bake oven that can be used to cater events, do demonstrations, create an outreach for local food in Central New York. All of this done on Sunday pm and Monday. Busy…as it was design, illustration and some cheesy, written by a designer copy writing by yours truly.

It is remarkable how my farm collection is growing. One restaurant. One distillery. One Cidery. One Bakery. One Mill. The local foods network and 3 farms! Beginning to sound like something.

Tomorrow is the first annual meeting of our vendors at the Tburg Farmers Market. New board, new direction, new market manager, and a tweak in our focus. Should be interesting. I should write some notes as I am the leader of this pack, and should have my scattered wits about me.

I just heard Rob. Time to go.