Thursday, December 31, 2020

Thankful for the art and artists that got us through 2020

This year was rough --- so much pain and loss. How can we find hope in days of dire headlines? Find the things you're thankful for. In 2020, every small step forward was a victory to celebrate. Every moment that helped recharge us for the tasks at hand was vital. 

We owe artists, and the kindness of others, for many of those moments.

"Baby yoda" joined the fire fighters.
Above is Baby Yoda with the note. Below you can see his first appearance as part of "thank you" provisions for fire fighters...
The "baby yoda fights fires" Facebook page shared many photos of the smiles he brought.
He got decked out with swag from all the fighter fighting groups he served with.


Last day of December is a good time to reflect back. For many of us, it was art and artists that got us through this year. We have so much to thank them for. Find the pay platforms used by artists who you "like and share." Support what sustains you. Check out Patreon, Ko-fi, Facebook page subscriptions, Etsy, Redbubble, Threadless. See if artists you depend on are there. Shop directly from their online stores/sites. Sign up for their mailing lists. Leave positive reviews. Your support matters!

Thanks to the support of Stuart's clients, he never had to close the store. All year, he was able to keep both staff members on payroll. Thanks to SNB's location in a small business park, the USPS and other delivery services kept coming, so the SNB website and mail orders kept the store going. Online cons helped out.

https://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2020/07/sdcc-2020-comic-con-home.html

https://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2020/09/lightbox-expo-2020-friday-online.html

Almost every indie artist/entrepreneur did a small business model pivot this year. Thank you to everyone who made the choice to shop small and buy from indie businesses. 

The vaccines are coming -- but Covid will continue to test us. 

Your choices protect not only your health and your loved ones, but others in your community. There's light at the end of this tunnel. Stay safe

Everyone who works at SNB is in a high-risk category of one kind or another for Covid. And I'm high-risk too. We all continue to practice the CDC guidelines. Also, our So Cal location means we are in an area that is hard-hit by Covid. Our hospitals are at capacity. Our healthcare workers are exhausted and stressed. We are staying home/working from home as much as possible. 

Out with the nonsense. In with the science!

Amazingly enough -- I did travel to France with Stuart in Jan/Feb of 2020. It's surreal to think about now. It was one of our best trips ever. All our meetings and visits to exhibitions/conventions worked out. And the weather was sunny, warm, and as close to "springtime in Paris" as I've ever experienced.

check out all the flowers blooming -- in February!

12 posts on Paris 2020 start here...

https://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2020/02/paris-2020-musee-curie.html

also in 2020...

I learned that all owls have long, skinny legs..

I love everything about Mandalorian....
http://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2019/12/baby-yoda-artist-is-christian-alzmann.html




My squirrel squad..
30 min Zoom interactive meetings with historical scientists. These will resume in January!
and they just started a new podcast!
https://matheatre.com/podcast/
Leadership. And dogs. Back in the White house...
GOT on TV did the Mother of Dragons wrong. Stuart gifted me with this lovely original by Sanjulian. I hope Martin does better by her in his book.
Social media site I follow introduced me to this Lassie art by Paul Bransom.
New book by Allie Brosh!
First book by Lili Chin.
https://www.doggiedrawings.net/product-page/doggielanguagebook
I had a milestone b'day and I had cake to celebrate!
During my last months on my old Medtronic hybrid closed loop system, I worked really hard and achieved this goal. 90% time in range for over a month! (no cake then).
Ah the pumpkin story!
Portrait by Catherine Scartaccini (CS Illustrator) of our SNB mascot.

Space X mascot
collies featured in a national ad campaign. 
Flower moment from a walk early in the year.
Always our princess. 
Discovered these artists

Street artist in Paris (@rad1_paintings on Instagram). I loved his indie art life smart set-up near Notre Dame. These little tourist items he paints are a gateway to his AWESOME photography work on his Instagram!

photographer in Los Angeles
Gabriel Duarte (@photographyloverla) on Instagram
I got to enjoy many beautiful morning skies in our area.
Hamilton streaming.
Feltie art by Hannah Stiles. Here's her "top 9" from 2020. More on her work in this post from 2019.

Tuesday, December 22, 2020

Fashion collection uses puppets -- covid pivot case study

 Adapting to Covid conditions inspired many pivots in business plans. This case study includes whimsey, artistry, and amazing technical skills...








The Moschino Spring Summer 2021 collection “No strings attached” - Moschino by Jeremy Scott" was presented as a runway show using marionettes. All the dresses were executed to scale. 

Enjoy this awesome video...


Links to articles explaining how they pulled this off... read these to learn the Henson studios connection!

https://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/spring-2021-ready-to-wear/moschino

https://www.wmagazine.com/story/moschino-puppet-show-marionettes/

https://www.insider.com/moschino-designer-puppets-couture-fashion-show-milan-fashion-week-2020-9

Post-WWII Europe and the US used scale models to showcase fashion too..

https://www.messynessychic.com/2017/10/31/the-27-inch-dolls-that-saved-post-war-paris-as-the-fashion-capital/

You Tube interview with Marguerite Sauvage (Updated 12.23.20)

 One of my fav artists is Canada based Marguerite Sauvage.

 https://margueritesauvage.artstation.com/pages/about

She's pictured below left on a panel with Claire Wendling at a convention in Toulouse in 2016.

Sauvage's comic art style has a playful sense of color I find so engaging. She's also one of the artists helping bring more covers and characters of diversity to comics. I was lucky to meet her and attend her panel at WonderCon in 2017. 
You can see photos of that appearance here: https://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2017/04/wondercon-2017-artists-alley-guest.html

Below are some cover art images from Sauvage's website:

 https://margueritesauvage.artstation.com/albums/1539437

Bombshells

Faith
Miss America/America Chavez
Mystic University

This week, she was interviewed on the "Dialogos de Comics" (DDC) You Tube channel of Spanish artist David Macho. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_pyXTJ4_BNPa1SrErVJaRg

In this hour-long chat they cover Covid, working in different illustrations styles through a career, working in US and European comics, and more. They are each speaking fluent English for the entire interview, which is neither artist's first language --- mind blown! I can barely order a cheese sandwich in French -- can't imagine being fluent enough in another language to express myself in a QandA situation. 

Hearing each artist discuss how their home countries are handling the Covid vaccine roll-outs, as well as their impressions of what's going on in the US right now, is an bonus. You can also hear some of the reasons why Sauvage enjoys working with the business mind set of US companies.

More about the interview from the DDC You Tube channel page:

"Our guest graduated in Law and Communication in Paris University, but her passion for art quickly made her come a freelance illustrator. She has created art for magazines, advertising, book publishers, animation... And of course, Comics, doing covers and sequential art for Valiant, Marvel, DC, Image Comics, in books life Faith, The Dreaming, Archie, Inmortal Hulk, and others. After all this, I am sure you know I'm talking about the sensational MARGUERITE SAUVAGE!!! We've talked about life, inspiration, language, the craft, influences, the urge to create and the need to express who you are through art... and much more!!! Thanks for joining us!!"