Friday, August 31, 2007

VOTE

I'm reaching out to the masses and hoping to get feedback on what I should call my wine come October.

The poll will end in a few weeks and depending on the results I'll start the wine label design process. And maybe even post the designs and see which one you chose.

I may go outside the vector art world and use some photography in my design. My photography has been getting some good reviews. In fact. The office here needed a shot of a kid for a trade show poster. Sure enough my boss brought the PR team and the Head of marketing over to my office to go through some of the shots I took of Elle on vacation. Sure enough they picked one. The poster is all Elle! Her second thing she's done for Safety 1st. And I may bring her in to do a potty shot. Which will likely confuse her since she's moments away from being potty trained.

Hope to see some more votes on the Poll! Please feel free to submit write In's as well!

Have a good LONG WEEKEND! Woo-Hoo!

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Corx




Afternoon,

I picked up this very cool and simple game called Corx.
It's very similar to "Pass the Pigs" but with specially designed cork's.
You bounce the game pieces on the table and depending on which side they land is how you score. It's very addictive.

J and I are planning on having a grape harvesting party at the house and I thought this would be a great game to have on hand as people help pick, press and crush!

Check it out. This tutorial makes it look easy... It ain't!



Enjoy!

P.S.

Just got an update from J and Elle did great this morning with her 1st day at her new school. Hopefully she's napping at the moment... We'll get the low down from Elle tonight. She could be a spy. She is well spoken and very observant! She'll rat you out.

Design is on the Move!



Kjeld forwarded me this shot. It's a follow- up to an earlier post for the Logo I designed.
The Electrician put the logo on his work truck and I think it looks pretty sweet! And kinda cool to think I may see it on the highway.
I'm such a designer. I wish the truck was black and the ladder on top was yellow...

The actual layout of the artwork on the truck was done by someone else.

Sorry for the infrequent posts lately. We've been busy at work and home.

Elle is starting a new school today and we're hoping for the best on her transition. And J is gearing up for the return of the Brown students for this year. And when they are there she's straight out.

And the grapes have started to turn purple! Elle tried one and said it was good but I think they'll be much sweeter come Sept. – October.


Mike

Monday, August 13, 2007

My new Favorite website



I've been busy sending co-worker's and friends some wonderful ecards!

www.someecards.com

Enjoy pissing yourselves!

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Painting



Good Evening,

I made a promise to myself while I was up in Maine on vacation that this amazing inspiration would not go to waste. And tonight I started to make good on that promise. Thanks to J for cleaning our studio/office I was able to feel comfortable to get something started.

This is the under painting of a shot I had taken while coming back from Isleford. It's a typical 2 man lobster boat heading towards Little Cranberry Island as the sun hides behind the mountains. This won't be a sepia piece. It's just the tonal under painting that I will begin to layer and glaze over to build up color when it's dry (oil might take a few days since my liquin bottle from college wouldn't open). It's on a gallery style canvas.

The shot is pretty rough since I'm getting used to the lighting in my studio for painting. I'll likely have to make some changes to the bulbs or the source. An occasional glare was annoying but I look forward to working out the kinks as I get back to painting and hopefully filling the house up with work.

I already have 2-3 more painting lined up after this (in my head)... One at a time though. One image on my friend George's website I though might be a fun piece to paint.

I will admit. It's hard to shut off the Art Director mind that I've had for 8+ years. I need to relax and not look ahead but just enjoy the piece and explore where it might go and take me.

Until the next post!

Grapes





















We're in the final stretch. 3 solid months left until we can harvest these babies!
I'm shooting for the end of Sept. Early Oct. to pick them and crush them.
I have all my supplies ready and special Merlot yeast this time around.

Here's a close up and here's shot of the grapes on our new fence and yes those are grapes covering the fence to the left.

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Transforming Roster


















FOXBORO (Reuters) - The New England Patriots announced Tuesday they have signed free agent Optimus Prime.

Prime, the one and half story tall Robot, has never played American Football but seems to be a perfect fit for the New England franchise. Other than his obvious color scheme he is a true Patriot. Fighting for freedom in an inter-galactic battle against the Decepticons.

It was announced today at a brief press conference in Foxboro today. The Kraft family, Coach Bill Belichick and Optimus Prime fielded questions about the robots new role on the team. The always elusive Belichick added "We're uncertain at this time what role Prime will play on the team. Though we are certain he'll be either a truck or a robot". When asked how this maneuver came about Patriot owner Robert Kraft answered "We saw a lot of film on Prime with both his cartoon and movie films and knew if there was a possibility to have him in our organization we'd make a spot for him."

The details surrounding his contract have not been made public but it is rumored to be a 100,000 mile or 4 year guarantee. With the current price of gasoline we can speculate on a multi-million dollar deal for the transforming robot. This unprecedented signing brought many media outlets in which Prime added just a few comments to the media frenzy. When asked about his role as a potential leader he replied "I am used to a leadership role as the leader of the Autobots but I don't expect to carry the team except to drive them to practice. I look forward to the challenge."

Shortly after the press conference the media spilled onto the training camp facilities to get player reactions. When questioned Tom Brady with a excited smile responded "It's really exciting to play with a guy like this. I played with him when I was a kid... Not football but with his action figure. We're excited to have him. This is so cool!"

We can expect to see Prime working out in camp later this week pending his Massachusetts State car inspection and emissions test.

The New England Franchise had a busy off season signing Randy Moss, Adalius Thomas and now Optimus Prime. Mirroring them are the Celtics and Red Sox with roster moves of their own. The Celtics signing Ray Allen & recently Kevin Garnett and the Red Sox trading for Eric Gagne.