Big moon

Cut paper owl, Q. Cassetti, 2013

It was a big moon, a  huge moon actually....a blue moon, some say. But none the less it was significant. Maybe it was nature but maybe, just maybe it was to recognize a marriage of two beautiful and remarkable women. It was light out until around 9:30 and then the moonlight took over, keeping the sky radiant for the rest of the time until dawn woke us up...shining sun and overcast skies. 

It is fully spring, and emerging summer with garlic scapes and strawberries, fresh spinach and  kale, teensie japanese radishes, and spring peas ready to pick. The farmers market has been open for well on a month, with a good crowd each week --with each participant anxious with ideas to make it better and add to the positive experiences for each person attending. I had a nice time seeing people I haven't seen in well over a decade, and enjoying them as new friends with a great common base.

It's been a bit of a haul in the last few weeks with my computer crashing as well as two 2 TB hard drives. So, I shipped the hard drives off to Kroll Online and to the tune of $2M each had the data recovered (much of my illustration work). The computer was 9 years old (with two hard drives (of extra illo work) that just plain died. My friends at Baka Computing thought it might have had " an electrical moment" but with the age of the computer, they were not ready to confirm that. So, prior to all of this monkey shines, I started backing up to a cloud service, CrashPlan, so this will be part of the new scene with the new computer winging its way over from Hong Kong. It is a kick in the pocketbook, so I am feeling a bit shocked and saddened by all of this, but after a week working on a coworkers setup (on vacation), I realized how my productivity has been compromised, so though it is expensive, and though it is an uplanned change, I think it will be welcome and add to the stuff I can crank out. And, I now have CrashPlan, Dropbox, Evernote, Apple Cloud and yes, Adobe Creative Cloud-- the cloud has been embraced and maybe will be a bit less frightening in the future. Kitty, funny girl that she is, refers to my cloud use as the "Thunder Cloud". See, another reason why I love her.

I need to wrap this up now as we need to get Kitty down to her job--but as I have promised Kitty that I will attempt to get back into the blogisphere a bit more....despite my recent quiet. 

3x3 Professional Show Merit Winners.

This collection of five guys are from my annual (2012) Advent Calendar project, "Gingerbread Advent". They were, just today, accepted into the annual, juried competition that 3x3 Magazine has to celebrate illustration. They were accepted as a group. Hurray and Thank you to 3x3. It is wonderful to know that the freakish stuff that flows out of this brain onto digital paper has some bounce in the real world beyond the happy high (when I get the cogs and gears rolling) that this December project can give me. Double the holiday gifting for this girl. To see who else got in>>

Five Advent Guys from 2012 Advent Calendar project, "Gingerbread Advent", Q. Cassetti, 2012, Adobe Illustrator CS%

Summertime

Cut paper owl,  Q. Cassetti, 2013, Trumansburg, NY

It really feels like summer. I am here in my princess tower...a hardwired princess tower, listening to the birds, and feeling the breeze on my feet from the window anticipating the need to blow warm air around with my turbo fan which currently is tucked in my closet.​

Spring has been such a gift this year with the long cool, wet coming on....allowing all of our trees to develop, flower and grow. With this natural prosperity comes a thick coating of bright green pollen that lays on the porches, windowsills, and any surface (even a car sitting for an hour or so) this is shocking in its abundance.​

As you can see, I am cutting paper these days. For real paper...not the digital kind with real live scissors and then scanning them in to digitize them. I am making a little collection of thises and thats...and as they are all cut from full sized, half sized or quarter sized pieces of paper, they are all in the same zone building blocks sized.​ I am getting the paper from this great teacher store called Hygloss who have a thinnish, origami weight matte black paper that really does the trick. I am just feeling so creatively out of it, at least this gets me making stuff that I can use now/ later. With these big black shapes, I can strip textures/color etc. into them and I have translated them all to vectors, so they are scalable as well. I just feel like a creative flat tire these days. The whole Jack is a dull boy thing. Lots of projects sailing through the office...very much beach volleyball with a lob to our side and then back, and back again....all in one day. Not much breathing...lots of moving.

Alex is in NYC taking photography courses. His new work is quite good...and though I am a proud momma--you can see for yourself.​ He is truly taking in the city and enjoying every minute of it. So exciting to see this little flower begin to bloom. Kitty is with us--working on trying to corral ideas, impressions and direction for her Division 3 project next year. I am coaxing her along though I think Rob is probably a better coach for her at this point in her development. I tend to shut things down too quickly. My harshness works with Alex...matter of fact, he actually likes my directness and was humored last weekend when I sat in the car with him and critiqued the Sunoco logo at the gas station. He was stunned that I thought that way. We also had an amusing conversation about symbols and what things mean in imagery. It was cracking open a door he didnt even know existed...and was surprised by the results. I can work with Alex on ideas and thinking and with Kitty on process, editing and expanding beyond the ordinary. What a few months of talk we will have.

​I sold 5 dozen brooches last week (sushi and banana splits) at wholesale to a family friend. This is the way to really do the business with pins versus the onesies twosies. The bill actually looked like something. Funny though I thought the pins would really rock, it turns out that my cards are far and away the more profitable and more requested around here. Maybe I should climb out of the creative hole and just design some cards. Simple, elegant, commercial cards. That seems doable? Right?

Later.​

Snip

I have been cutting lots of paper. I am surrounded by little clips of white with black insides, and little clips of matte black with white show. I am trying to be discrete and cut into a box lid--prior to snipping all over my wacom pad and the pile of notebooks and pencils I fear I will somehow run out of. But paper has been an issue. Not too stiff, not to flimsy.

First, I used a rather stiff black through and through paper made by Strathmore. Then, I attempted to cut matte black tissue paper. Wayyy too delicate. Then, I discovered that there was this lovely, origami weight black paper made for school teachers to cut silhouettes of their students. It is flat  flat, matte matte and almost seems as if the black side is screenprinted due to the texture, matteness, and purity of the cover. So, I ordered it from Hygloss (a very inspiring teacher's supply catalog  and now snip snap snip....I am at it. Why? Well,  1. I need to get on the inspiration train. Something, anything...and it seemed like a good place to start. 2. I can make a ton of like images and make some patterns and little designs that might be good for cards etc...again, priming the inspiration pump. 3. Its me/black and white....it can be manipulated or cleaned up digitallly (if I choose to)...​ it can be intentionally crude, but can by scanning in as a bitmap, turn it into a workpath and then, into vectors for illustrator where I can have my daily illustrator party with my fun tools..

So, a series of patterns, little buildings and a village is in the works. Little buildings and snowflakes with pine trees for a possible holiday card...who knows. All I know is my cards are selling well, and I should push it a bit to see if more money can be made from this dream spinning I call illustration.​

I am churning away on a project I need you to remind me I do not enjoy doing. That's right, theatre work. I used to just not like it, but now I know why. Good thing too. What the deal is with theatre illustrations is that they are not really illustrations but an icon developed of the show that somehow has to capture the vision of the director (which may not be formed as it is so early in the game) the vision of the season, the need to tell the whole compelling talk and talk to all the angst and play between the characters PLUS, it needs to attract an audience, an "aw yes" feeling PLUS it needs to work really small (1" square) to banner size. Point of the spear of any theatrical season. So, it has to do everyting and has to be considered and approved by a panel of people. Spells nightmare for Little Miss Impatience. Plus, if that isn't enough, the pay is substandard (what is new for illustration?). One amendment was to create a head of parts and it was suggested that this head be vomiting. What? Let's try that again? And the very thin line art that I should do detailing each and every character in the play, and then have a huge shadow of another character superimposed on all of this (can you say "has to work in 1"" square)? No, don't think so. And an ole favorite of your friend..."we loved the two ideas...could you just put them together?" I do not do Chinese menu artwork...and if I did, we would have to do a photoshoot with a photographer who will want a chunk of change to make your desire a reality. I love the person I am working for, and love her energy and ideas...but just remind me Q. does not equal Happy when it comes to those things on a stage. Please poke me with a sharp stick if I start nattering on about how maybe this time will be the fun one....​ But to refer to my ever optimistic and smart husband, you are getting paid...and it is illustration--so be happy. I need better rose colored lens. Maybe he can lend me his.

Speaking of Dystopic--man, am I digging into a pile of YA Distopic books. Love em. Just am digging through a great one starting with Gregor The Overlander by Suzanne Collins (the same author as the great books and not so great movie, The Hunger Games)​. One cannot miss with a fun hero (Gregor) and his crazy funny little sister, Boots who has been crowned the Queen of the Cockroaches. Gregor and Boots fall through a grate in  the laundry room and end in Underland. The characters are wonderful, dimensional and endearing. The adventures are fun, not too frightening. They are a treat and a great way to leave this plain for flying on the backs of large talking bats, strategic rats, chittering mice, and plodding/kind cockroaches. If you wish to hasten spring along, Gregor and Boots might be the pair to help you on your way.

The Sagamore invitation is done and looks good. Farmers Market is opening this week with an amazing lineup of events and music to complement the food and produce and artwork/crafts with more folks stepping up to volunteer to teach drumming, yoga, or play music. How lucky are we?! Asparaganza was gorgeous! with Melissa's beautiful groomed farm, happy apple trees, nice farm friends demonstrating and having great things to buy to eat! What a gift Good Life Farms brings to all of us beyond the gorgeous Russian Kale and spinach, a dairy share and of course, asparagus!

Pfft

Doodle, Q.Cassetti, 2013

Rain...or at least that is what is planned. The pollen is thick. The trees brilliant...and spring is full bore. Nigel suggested that his grandmother hinted that a frost could happen...but we are all pretending that this cannot nor will not be an option.

I took Dave up to the lake today for the spring shakedown of bug debris, winter detritus, cobwebs and the layer of dust that builds up just by sheer disuse. The house is so much nicer after last year's battle with mildew which would welcome you upon entry...and hang in the air. No olfactory memory there.​ However, I think that Jimmy the groundhog may have a guest, a skunk, under the porch with him. I love the spring and skunks as they give you a little pffft, or a little spritz to say..."Hey there" whether it is when you are out there walking the dog in the nighttime, or enter the kitchen from being away for a while.

Pfffft...a tiny little hi and hello. I hope this stinker is not rabid (as many skunks are around here)...and will just "sashay away" when we start taking up residence at the lake soon. Somehow having poor Shady sprayed by our porch guest or Eesah...our other dog friend get the treatment just isn't right...particularly as they are not angling for trouble. Eesah has a thing for Jimmy though, and maybe we will be lucky for Jimmy to tangle with our other canine friend.

Jawbreaker

​Jawbreaker

Did you or do you love jawbreakers? I used to. I would walk to and from school and was given a little allowance for making my bed and trying to be nice, and so once a week I would go to the Reynolds Street Market and buy a treat on the way home from school. The Reynolds Street Market was half way home on the longer but more neighborhoody walk home. It was one of those small, dark, neighborhood grocers that popped up next to a beauty salon or a dress shop in the middle of a residential area, offering the full range of food from bunny bread to milk, canned goods, and a butcher case. These grocers all worked on cash at the register and or handwritten bills which allowed a family to charge to their account. Very exotic to my thinking.
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​Reynolds Street also had a wonderful assortment of candy, penny candy, and promotional candy that whimsically appealed to me (and surprisingly, though I dont like to eat it, to me today for the sheer glory of its decorative quality, its design and packaging, for its humor and promised fun). Whoever was picking out the candy knew their audience--and had us in their thrall with candy cigarettes and pink gum cigars, lollipops and licorice, caramel bulllseyes with a chalky sugar center and turkish taffy which was advertised on teevee --encouraging kids to "smack it" before eating it.  How indulgent to have a little change and a load of choices all chocked with sugar, color and artificial flavor. One week it would be fireballs, another would be wax bottles with really gross and artificial syrupy brilliant liquid. Some weeks (around Halloween generally) wax teeth, wax lips and even wax fingernails. At one point, I was crazy into these packs of collectible cards with buttons that had Mad Magazine style illustrations of popular culture things or prepackaged food with a twist. I thought these buttons and cards were the hottest thing...and I, by having them, also was the hottest thing. Did I mention, no one else knew how cool I was? No...because I never shared this with anyone until today, with you.
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​Now, when it came to jawbreakers, Reynolds Street Market had the small ones in the mode of Fireballs (hot cinnamon jawbreakers), but they also had my favorite, the giant Jawbreaker. This baby was a bit less than 2" in diameter, like a golf ball--and one would hold it and lick it until it got big enough to fit in your mouth. The cool thing beyond it just being a big hunk of sugar was that it was layered in color, so as you ate it...or salivated on it or whatever, the temptation was great to pull it out of your mouth and observe the glory of the color change. Plus, if you are the talent I am, you would either drop it, roll it on your sweater, or gum it up in some way that it would be covered in dirt, hair or sweater wool before popping it back in your mouth. Oh, so lovely.

Now why all this talk about candy? Am I nostalgic for a time gone by? No. Another thing entirely. I subscribe to this wonderful email alert which is the Visual Thesaurus.
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​The Visual Thesaurus is a remarkable site which introduces new words (never can have enough words, right?) and displays them in a very interesting, visual, diagramatic way... which is inspiring to me from a design standpoint, but also is an interesting place to brainstorm ideas and words  (when I am helping someone name a product or service). Love this tool. Great timewaster. However, today was a glorious jawbreaker of a word:

​ A U T O C H T H O N O U S

​Take that! Glorious Autochthonous (ah talk then oos). As the Visual Thesaurus neatly describes:

"No Place Like Home Word of the Day:

The adjective native serves many different purposes. Today's adjective autochthonous provides an opportunity to give one meaning of native a rest so you can employ a fifty dollar word in its place. Autochthonous is used to characterize rocks or organisms (including people) that are found in the place where they originated."

​Don't you love it. LOVE autochthonous. And, Dictionary.com had a sensational quote that captured it...that somehow prompts me to love folkloric art even more.

"Folk Art grew from below. It was a spontaneous, autochthonous expression of the people, shaped by themselves, pretty much without the benefit of High Culture, to suit their own needs. Mass Culture is imposed from above. It is fabricated by technicians hired by businessmen; its audiences are passive consumers, their participation limited to the choice between buying and not buying.... Folk Art was the people's own institution, their private little garden walled off from the great formal park of their masters' High Culture. But Mass Culture breaks down the wall, integrating the masses into a debased form of High Culture and thus becoming an instrument of political domination. "

Dwight MacDonald (1906–1982), U.S. journalist, critic. "A Theory of Mass Culture," Mass Culture: The Popular Arts in America, eds. B. Rosenberg and D.M. White, Free Press (1959).

So there you have it. Whimsy. Candy and a brand new word that means local....native, vernacular. So you can have your local candy and sound smart saying it....Well, you know what I mean.

Off to the salt mines. Lets see if we have something to talk about tomorrow. I hope so.​

 

Brilliant

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My brain has been in color spin cycle. My mind is blown. My little Rumplestiltskin moments have pushed me out of my zone and into a blazing nature, with yellow fields, soft green willows budding, blazing pink cherry trees, and the billowing branches in tones of white, cream and pale pink. Spring has been slow...creeping one step after the next...slowly, slowly, quietly under grey skies and cold rain. That grey gradient fooled me until the brilliant blue sky we had last Saturday which continued through this weekend to my absolute shock and delight. What a winter of darkness, a medieval time of slow and sadness, change and cold to the bottom of my heart. What a winter of solid work, solid walls, dreary days and weekends. And now, nature has splashed the world with clear, clean, spring color with lush green, blue skies and delicate pinks, roses and clear yellows. This assault of new, of clean, of hue and shade was such a shock that I had to exclaim my amazement and delight in having the new just arrive at my back door...beckoning with cool breezes and big fat bumblebees seeking our their spot in our new season,  in the new life we have been given, and the crazy growy time we are immersed in. Finally. And yes, there will be an abundance of sour cherries and cider apples this fall. So my friends will have to prepare for a robust harvest and maybe robust profits too. The CSA folks are wildly planting and preparing. We have had some amazing spinach and fine, elegant russian kale (not the horse food we normally consume). And soon, asparagus, strawberries and raspberries. Heaven!

Ron's memorial service was last weekend at Mount Saviour Monastery  in Pine City, NY (just outside of Elmira). Mount Saviour is a beautiful, peaceful Benedictine Monastery that was Ron's first project on his own just after he received his architectural license. It is a bucolic place with wild nature and a true, steep valley that leads you to the top of a hill where the monastery, the chapel and the outbuildings housing artists, craftsmen, farmers and thinkers live/ and have lived their lives in peace and community. The service was perfect in it's exquisite, simple symbolism, in the quiet and song, in the message of work and life and living. In the quiet of loss, but the hope beyond death in the life/ the spirit beyond.  This meeting of people was truly the memorial I think that represented Ron the best in his spirit, his gift, and his vision. Seeing the Monastery now populated with a new group of monks, a younger group of men filled with a new vision, a new attitude about this lovely place--it seemed that there was a continuum, an apt progression from one generation to the next, placing Ron's legacy in the hands and hearts of a new group who will love, live and get to know Ron through the buildings he designed with the founder of this Monastery, Fr. Damascus Winzen OSB (1901-71). For more on Fr. Damascus Winzen>>

We soaked in springtime at the lake this weekend and I am beginning to feel that maybe I might be coming back to myself. It is going to take a bit of time, but what with the color, the birds, and a hugging dog and chatty husband, things might take on a bit more levity appropriate with this glorious time.

​Mt. Saviour Monastery, Q. Cassetti

moment, just a moment

​Barn Owl, Q. Cassetti, 2013, Adobe Illustrator, CS5

It has been solid...and I have a minute to say hi. The past few weeks have been solid work with kids packed in (Spring Vacation for each), a funeral with out of towners, food planning and serving and more work. The work has been mammoth with both Rob and me working nights (seriously) and weekends with a window of a morning or an afternoon unprescribed/ unscheduled.​ It was quite a moment that we had to be able to get Rob a haircut last weekend. Monumental...a haircut, right?

It is still grey and rainy. My farmer friends are delighted in the mucky cold. Nothing is too hot, too fast so our lovely cherries and apples are going to have a slow birth this year to promise us buckets, bushels and barrels of fruit.  It was great to pick up our spring greens from Good Life Farm yesterday to watch sweet Melissa doing funny pet trick with her white goosy turkey, strutting about all rigid and shaking, clucking and chortling. This pet turkey is named, Bonecrusher...and to see the Bone being wrestled to the ground by bouncy Melissa was very cute and funny. She held him tight so that our friend Eric could touch Bonecrusher's (from Roald Dahl's BFG)​ wattles.

Rob is home. I have to go. Tomorrow, I will catch up more with you. He is working and so am I...but I will make a little time for us.​

Pencil it in! Asparaganza 2013

Ice Cream Castles

Ice Cream Castles, Q. Cassetti, 2013

​Yep. It snowed again. I am the April Fool. To think I was hoping that this was the end. The End of the snow, but instead, the spring promise on Saturday was just that, a promise. No commitment. Just a teensie bit of hope. And the idealist in me took wing, filling my heart with the just maybe...and now we are back into it. Hopefully, the apple trees/buds and the same with our glorious cherries will not be as romantic as I am. But weather shouldn't be the beginning and end of inspiration. It can be the prod, and I am feeling that tingle that maybe a new something is going to burst and I will be back in the picture making business again.

A girl can hope.

It is also really good to have our Saturday deadline behind us so that we can look forward to spring and change leaving the darker days of this winter behind us.

As you can see, there  are new things afoot with this blog. I have migrated my blog, recipes, about Q and other things to the upgraded Squarespace 6 which has other bells and whistles that allow one to have a magnificent shopping page ( to come with the gemeralds,​ cards, and prints). The only thing I am struggling with (right now) is the gallery feature with thumbnails so I can bring Q.Cassetti.com over to this page as well as Luckystone Partners.com and have all of me under one web roof. I am plodding through learning this new tool (sans XML, HTML code) so it will take a bit of time, but I have patience and love SS...so it should work out.

I am taking over picnic baskets to Diane at Sundrees. We are working on a fun project to sell vintage baskets and then all the fun stuff to go inside as part of the Summer/ Bridal merch offering. I bought a bunch of baskets (Hawkeye and Redmon)--each different with some having pie racks, some having flatware attachments, a few green, a pink one, a tan one, a caramel one. I am in rapture over this beauties. There is an idea here.​

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New normal, at least for today

On Saturday, the sun shone and there was gladness in all of our hearts.  We walked to the little Episcopal Church a block away soaking in the rays, and breathing in the cool, fresh air that we have been so desperate for in this season of gray.  Mary, Rob and Gloria had planned a small service with Rob, Peter, Jim all giving beautiful speeches about Ron, and Peggy delivering a sublime poem which wove the talk of poetry, music, architecture into a beautiful memory quilt.  They all touched on Ron's reach as a creative person who embraced the idea and ideals and rendered them in his friendships and his architectural work. Alex played the bass with Sevi on the piano. There were Cassetti friends and family (my sweet brothers came--both round trips from Boston and Philadelphia in their grey suits and spring ties), Alex's friends, our friends and our dear community members. We convened back at the house for food and drink with wonderful, Django Reinhardt inspired music by Eric Aceto. The doors were open to the outside, and our guest spilled out on the big back porch and into the yard with little children running around, Shady Grove happy to be catching little bits of cheese off the table, and happy people talking and enjoying themselves. I think Rob, Mary and Gloria had a good time and felt embraced by all.  I think Ron would have approved of how simple and yet tastefully done the whole production was. It was a perfect day.

​Kitty went back to school early this morning and I have Alex to put on the bus at noon after we fiddle around with trying to get some paperwork completed for him to have an affordable summer at FIT studying photography. Must go, but wanted to say hello and try out this new blog format which I will talk about soon once I have an opinion, which you know I will.

This journey has many stops

left to right, Kitty, Gloria, Ron, Alex, Mary, Rob, June 2012, Trumansburg, NYTomorrow we celebrate Ron Cassetti, my father-in-law. The place is buzzing after a month of planning and talk. All the stars in the process of lining up, and it should represent him well—and to his liking. The flowers are bought and parsed into vases. Mary is  ready with a new dress, better health and the strength to take on this push. She is in command of the program, her guests, and the pacing of the day. Gloria, Rob and I have taken some off her plate so she can be on top of her game tomorrow. Gloria is welcoming her cousins (here from California) and friends—embracing that community. Alex and Sevi are planning and practicing their music. The guest book (a discrete matte black number) is purchased. The programs, printed. Rob is busy moving furniture and fluffing here and there. David is prepping and making the house look as good as it can. I am plating a bunch of food I ordered from the Regional Access and the store—so there is minimal cooking and maximal opening and styling. Nigel is being the wonder he is and helping in every vein including psychological. It should all be good.

I have been thinking about Ron’s last few days with us. He was sleeping a lot, but when he was awake, he was cheerful, comfortable and in the zone with us. However, as he got closer to the end, he would take little naps in between eating and getting up to sleep again. He was roused by Rob from one with his coming out of his haze saying that “this journey has many stops”. As Ron transitioned from one plane to the other, there were many stops—many stops we did not see and many we did. If we take that simple thought about our personal journeys having many stops—it is indeed true from the big ones of birth, death and that moment of awareness of yourself to the simple stops of coffee every morning, to the many trips to the grocery store or to the beach on vacation. The analogy of travel is lovely, linear and like time as we live it —but is that the trip Ron was on. Was he traversing the gradient, gradually moving from one place to another— leaving one behind, accepting the transition and finally understanding where he was moving to, accepting that new place and gradually letting go of the old to grasp the new?

My grandmother, Mrs. Eddy, had trips as she aged, quietly leaving us and living in her mind— mentioning travel with here long dead sisters, and did we see the trunk at the end of her bed, ready for the adventures ahead.? Did we see her sisters who had been there?  She was prepared and ready to go—leaving the dreary dullness of today for the new. Her life in her old body was not where she wanted to be, but free to travel on a boat with her two smart and chatty sisters, a trip for fun, a trip to be together a trip away from the here and into the next or the hereafter.

That journey with many stops is something we are on right now…and will continue either locked in the shells we inhabit on this plane, or in some other guise. We should embrace the adventure of simple things like coffee and conversation, to visions and vistas, to true travel both here to the store or out to the bigger world…registering all the little stops that make up a day, a week, a month, a year, a life…but not anticipiating the beyond—but taking comfort that this forward motion is something we need to accept. To go with the flow.

Creative Quarterly Winner (CQ31)

Frankenstein, Q. Cassetti 2012 Adobe Illustrator.Mr. Minty, (the piece that is the winner, CQ31) from 2012 Advent Calendar series, Q. Cassetti, 2012, adobe illustratorNice! One of the halloween illos got into Creative Quarterly 31 in the print and digital issues of the publication. Need to go through the inspiration images from my pix. Who knows? I was lucky last year!

Mashup

Tiny Banana Split Brooch, Q. Cassetti, 2013 (live link to Etsy)Snowing some more. It was a wet winter wonderland last night when we were out…and it continued over the course of the evening. But there were honking geese in the sky this morning, and the starling were hunting around on the rooftop for a nice little spot in the gutter or under the roofline to make a little grassy nest for the new family on the way. The starlings are agressively family minded…so there is something in that as it relates to a promise of Spring though we certainly do not see it. We saw snowdrops in Ithaca on Sunday, again…another check that change is at hand…but I will not believe it until the white stuff is DONE.

It is very left foot right foot with my design work these days. Move ahead one step, back another and then change the palette sixteen different ways to sunday “Just because”. Very prescriptive and not really getting to visual problemsolving. Hairpullers for yours truly.

As you can see from the Banana Split brooch posted today, I am putting some new stuff on Esty, and am making duplicates to provide for fundraising auctions for Great Camp Sagamore and for MANY/Museumwise. I have a box of about a dozen different ones for both charities (and with these babies fetching around $ 25. a pop…there is a little bit of potential profit along with the gliclees I will be sending along with them). Nice that this might equal a scholarship for one and some supplies for the other.

The community read is raising money even before we have started the programming. Exciting that there is such a wide amount of support around this project.  Meeting tomorrow at 6 p.m. to see where we can take this and who else we can engage in the process.

I am buying Hawkeye and Redmon vintage picnic baskets and will be selling them through Sundrees soon. Diane and I thought it would be fun to have them as part of the mix and as part of the Farmgirl/ Tburg Bride styling that she is working on. So, I have some beautiful things coming my way to sell for dish to pass chic…and ready to be tricked out with your favorite tablecloth and vintage melamine (or some of the really cute plates they have at Target for poolside or lake side endeavors).

Must go. Time’s a wasting.

Sundae on Monday

Sundae Brooch by Q. Cassetti, 2013 available on EtsyIts been a while. A busy while, nonetheless… Let me think about the news, the new ideas, the state of the state. The Federation of Farmers Market meeting was very nice and homespun. I liked meeting and seeing the range of people, their engagement, and the vitality in the room.  It wasn’t a huge group, but lots of interest in all that was said. I had the pleasure of meeting the Executive Director of the Niagara Frontier Growers Market and the President of the Board of the Ithaca Farmers Market. The takeaway from that experience as that we should absolutely embrace the dynamics of a small market and truly own it, build into it…and keep it the personal experience that it is today. Bigger is okay, but not for our little community. What we can do for our community is provide a gathering space around food, eating and locally made objects.. We can provide a platform for local music, local performers, local arts. We can provide a neighborhood approach to “why not” type of entertainment and gathering from dish to pass suppers, to fundraising auctions, to the craziness of my friend Deb’s Soap Box Derby. We can revel in Local, Locavore, and in each other. We can use the farmers market to create new bonds beyond the church, the schools, and the community groups. We can continue to weave those ribbons of connection between people…to build and support each other. This is something we do well here in our little Village…and if we are deliberate about this activity, think of the strength we ill all have in each other.

I was prodded to join the Chamber of Commerce. Kicking and complaining…saying no…no…no…and then, surprisingly, I attended and am enchanted. It was such a bright group of action oriented people that being at the table to represent the Farmers Market was a pleasure. The Chamber and the Market both have literature distribution issues, so we are going to create a job and share the expenses etc. There you go! Reason one to go to the Chamber, share the wealth and get stuff done. So, more on that.

We had a very engaging Farmers Market meeting last week. The librarian at the Middle School attended and spoke about partnering with us to do some programming with him around a Middle School “read” to a community read…The book is SeedFolks…and it is about the power of planting to help draw people and communities together. Of course, we are on it…and interestingly, after an email to a variety of community groups, we have traction with them. So, we are going to meet this week to get this thing rolling. The day one of this activity is April 26 to roll through a month, so there is not a ton of time, but it should be fun to see what can happen. It was very rewarding to make a few calls and write an email or two and see the energy that is being put towards this thing. Not much more than that, but should be very cool to see what happens. I am feeling this.

Off topic entirely, Squarespace (the entity I author this blog with) has a site for visual people to create more visually inspired pages (Squarespace 6) along with a way to post retail pages /create a store which is linked to Stripe (a company that can do the financial transactions). Lets just put it this way, my mind is a whirl on this.

Kitty is home for Spring Break. It is great to have time with her. I taught her how to needlepoint yesterday and gave her a kit which I must admit, given how she is absolutely voracious…it will be done before the week is out. This is a great thing as with all the bus travelling she does, this will keep her hands busy during that down time. She had a group over last night to eat snack food and celebrate the Saint who chased snakes out of Ireland….I wonder if he wore green loafers much like the pope?

Market meanderings.

Toivo at the Trumansburg Farmers Market, Q. Cassetti 2012Trumansburg, New York is a community of 1500 people in the Village and 4500 in the Town of Ulysses. Trumansburg is a very collaborative and creative place where lutiers, financiers, farmers, teachers, carpenters all meet at the local coffee shop to klatch and plan. Trumansburg is a project kind of place. We give money, but what we love more than anything is a dish to pass, a community build, a project we can make happen. We have an annual music festival, The GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance, which for over 20 years has brought the world to our hamlet—and we have embraced that spirit of community and power that comes on the local level. This spirit leaks into pretty much anything that happens here, including our Farmers Market.

Our little farmers market sits on a small, triangular village park on Main Street in Trumansburg, New York. It is a young market that started under the big willow tree with several farmers who came together to sell produce and food to the local populace. There was interest and this little market grew. Grew so much that a grant was applied for, and funds were raised by the community to build a pair of roofed pavillions and a bandstand in this little park to formalize this market and move it forward. A local architect and community team designed these structures and over a 4 month period, built it over a series of weekends as a community build. There were people of every shape and size building our market with lunches brought in from local restaurants and families who wanted to contribute. It was truly a remarkable moment which for me fully defined what we were capable of as a village. It was sheer positive energy directed at making something wonderful that would enhance our life on this little Main Steet place.

That was four years ago. Today, the Market boasts a thriving community of farmers, producers, restaurants and caterers, and artisans that come together from mid May to the end of October, every Wednesday from 4-7 in the afternoon and early evening. It is dinner time, and the community turns out to do the circuit and shop, eat and meet up with friends. We have live music every week (pro-bono—but a hat is passed) and occasionally, we will have movie night after the market when we have a screen put up, and movies played with prizes, popcorn and even one evening last summer, rootbeer floats for everyone! Heaven.

We entertain, we enchant, we feed, we involve people and and, we also sell produce and sandwiches, eggs, wine, hard cider and cheese, bread, horseradish jelly and garlic scape pesto. But we need it all to move forward. The market is a three way gimbol— balancing the needs and expectations of the farmer/producer with the needs and expectations of the consumer along with the needs and expectations fo the community. As much as we would like it to be as simple as selling celery, in order for this market to have roots, we need to address all three in the most engaging, out of the box way. If we can charm and provide a treat along with educate and inform, we have a chance of sustainable success for our local food producers and eaters.

The interesting thing as I think about the market and how to talk about it—I keep reflecting on the farmers markets of my life. Growing up, my mother and I went to a farmers market in a very dicey neighborhood in Pittsburgh that must have been in a garage or something. It was an indoors market, very dark and dreary. We would go to see Mr. Kutz (from Central PA) with his red haired, apple cheeked daughters to buy eggs and chickens and occasionally something green. Somehow the green stuff always came from Giant Eagle.

The next snapshot was learning about the Ithaca Market and watching it grow. The concept that local food, or organic food would have any significant foothold was totally alien at the time. Food Co-ops and natural food stores when I was in college were grungy places that smelled odd, and the produce was less than hearty or robust. It was more about tea than it was about food, at least for me.

Moving ahead again, I was sent to the Natural Foods and Products Convention in Anaheim (1989) when I was working for Estee Lauder. I was sent to get an eyeful of what was happening in this Natural world…particularly that of the channel of beauty and cosmetics. I was sent to better understand the competition so as to be able to leverage the power of this beauty brand, the funds and product development we had, and take it to the next level from the grungy health food store to counters at  Neiman Marcus and Nordstoms. I was horrified (and delighted I was wearing my badge backwards) when I sat in on a personal products break out session , when a leading light in the natural foods store beauty business pulled out an article hinting at Estee Lauder getting into the natural products world. This woman proclaimed that those in the business had better raise their sights as the competition was just about to get bigger, and they couldnt just be natural product people…but needed to improve their marketing, their image, their brand. They could not rest happily in the dusty food coops and needed to up their game. The concept of a Whole Foods was beyond imagination.

Now, look at where we are. Whole Foods is a reality. Organic produce is available at WALMART?! People really are reading the labels. Packaging is more responsible. The CSAs are booming…and popping up everywhere…can this continue? How is going to evolve? What is the model? How can anticipate this? or should we? Can the Trumansburg Market be the incubator for these new products and farms? Can we have a lovely night of stars, and friends, food, and bags of leeks and organic eggs while supporting local agriculture and thus supporting the betterment of those around us? I think we can. We are a community of do-ers…and this seems right up our alley.

Now that I got that off my chest, I can think about the board a bit more. Thanks for your patience.

Locavore

Hardware Store Punch, Q. Cassetti, 2013Tomorrow I have the opportunity to speak to the Farmers Market Federation of New York at LaTourelle Inn and Spa about how our board works with our Market Manager. Just thinking about the points I am going to make, has forced me to think about how I have engaged in the local foods movement, and the progress that has been made in the last 18 months.

In the past two years, I have provided pro bono work (some design, some consulting, some both) to: MyerFarm Distillery, Redbyrd Orchard Cidery, Good Life Farm, Sweetland Farm, Tree Gate Farm, Stone Cat Cafe, MacDonald Farm, Wide Awake Bakery, Farmer Ground Flour, Regional Access, New York Foods, The Trumansburg Farmers’ Market,  Central New York Cider Week, Forge Cellars, The Piggery to name a few. I am sure I am forgetting someone. It has been an amazing journey learning about these farmers, their farms, their livlihood, their focus and why they farm. I have learned that farmers may not all be born marketers, and that the perception that there is fairness in the world/ and in the local economy should be cultivated (to that, I believe that the market teaches us if we listen—to tune our products, product selections, and the work we do to be desirable….We just have to each listen, and hear). I have learned about the import of transportation, of distribution hubs wheither it is in the form of a weekly pick up or CSA, a pop up shop or a truck that delivers to a bigger area. I have learned about farming during a drought, and the sheer knife edge these farmers live on between the seed purchases to harvest with bugs, and water, and hail, and heat or lack thereof….defining success and financial disaster. I have learned that sometimes, just sometimes, I need to give my farmer friends a bit of rope to figure things out themselves, and in the same way, give myself permission just to take a little time and let things simmer and evolve. These are people who know about watchful waiting. They know about seasons and time. They know about light and darkness, heat and cold. These are people who will move greenhouses around on tracks to make sure their greens have the best source of light and heat to bring us delicate greens in the middle of March. These are passionate people who love deeply but because of their trust and collaborative make up, can be hurt as deeply as they love. These are people who do not mind getting dirty, working hard, and when possible, playing just as hard. They care about their apples, their greens, their flowers and boules and link it to a larger, more spiritual notion. Allison Usavage  created a lovely film about Stefan Senders and David MacGuinness’ Wide Awake Bakery and captures this spirit that seems to be an overlay to the local food scene here, here is the vimeo link>

This work sometimes can be challenging…but the film shows the reward. To be able to drink from the same cup as these hard working people is an honor. And, to try the first fresh greens of spring, to taste Eric and Devas sublime sparking cider as delicate as a bite of apple, or see tiny Melissa get her massive horses, Randi and Betsy pull together for her, or taste Stefan’s wonderful hot bread made from Greg’s flour (Farmer Ground) which was ground from Thor’s wheat….Or to try Tony’s black beans…the circle is complete. One blessing after the next—from the farmer to the consumer and back to the lovely land we live in and on. The same birds sing to my farmers as they do to me. The same rain and snow come our way. It is all right here, right now. And we all live in it for now.

Peace

Winter on Cayuga Lake, Q. Cassetti, 2013The sun finally shone today. First real sunny afternoon since February 1.  The light was so welcome, so crystalline and bright, bouncing off the snow, casting deep blue shadows. It was a miracle to feel the heat of the sun heating up my studio, heating up my heart a bit.

It has been a cold, dark, grey few weeks. It has been a hard time for all of us, most particularly Mary, Rob and Gloria at Two Camp Street with our sudden loss of Ron.

We have all been winded by the whole experience starting with his last trip to the hospital through to a week where he was admitted to hospice and by the following week, gone from us. The whole experience felt as if it was triple time, and we were all trying to learn the new normal, the new dance steps for the next day, and the day beyond—finally feeling that we could do this, could incorporate this change into our lives when he left us.

We were told we had weeks not days… but we had days. Albeit, the end was sweet for him. He was comfortable, with his family, and spent the last few days with us enjoying the simple things like a perfectly poached egg on toast, listening to Wodehouse read by his brother, talking about summers in the Thousand Islands and his large Italian family of uncles, aunts, cousins and grandparents. He had his family, his wife/son and daughter all around him during that last week, attentive and sweet. He was at peace, and he left us gracefully, quietly, as if letting go of a light tether that bound him to this plane. It was a gentle moment of passage—a soft birth into the next chapter.

I cannot say enough of the little village we live in. It is times like this that the rubber hits the road—and we were supported, cared for, and loved by the remarkable EMS team who were with us at the end—gentle and respectful, kind and giving—taking something that could be frightening and embueing it with humanity, humility and  grace. They were there to allow Ron to leave us, and help us to understand he had left us. Their kindness went way beyond their job, and we will be forever grateful. We had a beautiful prayer and service with the Episcopal minister while Ron was here…and when Mary was ready, Joe Sibley came with hugs and common sense to take Ron to the funeral home. That evening was filled with sadness, but also with heart, and life confirming. It confirmed we are in the right place surrounded by the right people who care. We are part of a community that reaches out and hugs those in need….and know it is the right thing. It was a blessing that Ron waited for his brother to come. It was a blessing to have Rob’s first cousin here. It was a blessing we had Alex over the Presidents Weekend…all of it bolstering and bracing all of us.

We are now putting together a Memorial for Ron—with poetry, music and spoken word. There will be a reception chez Camp (2 blocks from the Church)—and  I am scanning cookbooks and catalogs to see what we can do. We have guests coming in from California and Boston. We will have people from Corning and Elmira, Rochester and Ithaca. Of course we will have those from his little village. We will have jazz, as Ron would have liked it. We may even have martinis as that was his most favorite. So, forgive me for my silence…I have needed to gather my wits and calm the spinning wheels in my brain.

I will be able to say a bit more tomorrow. Thank you for your understanding.

Happy Year of the Snake 2013

Love Lock, Q. Cassetti 2009, pen and ink

What a week

Summer in Ithaca, Q. Cassetti, 2013, Adobe Illustrator Cs5Things have been a bit wild around here. My father-in-law was rushed to the hospital last Friday with a significant nosebleed. He was in the hospital for a few days—and then the process of interviews, deliveries, questionnaires, phone calls and the beginning of the “new normal” began. Hospice has begun. He has moved downstairs as his movement/mobility is challenged. He is not in pain, though breathing  is challenging. He has limited time awake and conscious with most of the time asleep. We are all trying very hard to wrap our heads around this change…and it is stressing us all out in different ways. Everyday is different—and all of our independance is challenged as Mary and Gloria need time to tend to their lives as well. This week with Rob is going to be tough as he is seriously busy and travelling, so I feel I will fill that gap as well as I can. I have set up a Caring Bridge site (a wonderful service that is private and allows a family to talk about  a family member who is sick/ailing/challenged etc to a wide community of friends—essentially making the same “phone call” over and over again…and keeping all the friends and wellwishers up to date with the status quo. I have taken this on….and I hope its been helpful for Ron and Mary’s friends. To learn more about Caring Bridge (www.caringbridge.org)

Rob has been busy moving furniture, making beds out of sofas, moving trip hazards, supporting the change next door in a broad physical way. He also has been very kind and open with his dad and mom…spending time with them and sweetening the sadness that we all have. Lightening the moment with stories and popcorn. He is such a wonderful guy.

We got an impressive amount of snow on Friday. Its been grey until today which has given us a blazing blue and white day to relish the snow bouncecard effect on the light, and the lovely blue shadows we have here on our plateau.

I am rounding the corner on a lot of projects from the candle packaging for “Bee of Life” (using one of my bee goddesses as the image and I created a hive texture and my bees as a complement and background for the paper labels) to Sagamore’s Benefit event package graphics. My big client is bending and changing, and we are bending and changing with them. I am working on box graphics and some vintage related publications for Forge Cellars, updates on the packaging and new ideas for Redbyrd Orchard Cider. The Piggery seems well on their way with new programming and promotion (their BaconFest was a huge success) with Valentines Day seatings filling up, and plans for a St. Patricks Day Sausage Fest on the horizon. Good Life Farm is ramping up for Asparaganza this spring, so we have had a meeting about that…and putting plans in place to support this event. The Farmers Market has sent out applications for vendors (I think I may be a day vendor for a few of the markets just to sell my little thises and thats along with cards)….but we will see.

Creatively, I am a bit shot. I wish I had the zing going on that the Advent work had, but given the changeability of the moment, I am just happy to make little creature doodles in my notebook and focus on the work at hand (teasing out a content review of a website for one) to make psychic room for the extra stuff. I have also decided to spend time learning new things, so I am trying to do a few Lynda.com tutorials during the day to keep my head in the game…and learn something that can make me more productive etc. Plus, I love my digital tools….and the more I learn, the more fun it gets.