Seasons

“ Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana! ”

-Groucho Marx

Each year Spring is always the trickster...teasing us with the thought of summer, driving us all nearly mad with it's incessant rain, mud, and random bits of sun. This is true indeed. However, let's all try to stay rather sane by partaking in other amusing distractions. Such as these delightful oxymoronic and sarcastic phrases from Groucho Marx. Brought to you ever so graciously by the Sarcasm Society. They would love to hear what you think. 


"A child of five would understand this. Send someone to fetch a child of five."

"From the moment I picked up your book until I laid it down, I was convulsed with laughter. Someday I intend reading it."

"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn't it."

"I never forget a face, but in your case I’ll be glad to make an exception."

"Marriage is a wonderful institution, but who wants to live in an institution?"

"Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read."

Chairs.

My sister, Hanna, gave a chair a makeover. As did I, only digitally. I also created a portrait of her, in the style of her husband featured in the previous post as to not leave anyone out. They are a creative duo, making old things new and updating older styles to a modern cool. Hanna has a blog called "hannamades." You should check it out. (I designed the header.)

The finished, remodeled chair:

 

Moustache May

Copyright 2010 Mary Meccage

Yes indeed. The above portrait is the man my lovely sister is married to.

More portraits soon to come, but the moustache portrait is probably just going to be an annual thing. You know, during May. I started out with an urge to do a graphic sketch of someone, initially searching for a picture of my parent's 3-legged dog to make a design out of. Then Nick's picture caught my eye, and I knew. This is what I must do. 

The cheeky fellows who celebrate Moustache May deserve a bronzed medal of some sort, or at the very least, a rhubarb pie. Why, you may ask? When attempting a feat such as this, that person will undergo much ridicule and scrutiny, especially in the "Mexi-stache" phase of growth. Now, I'm no expert on moustaches, nor do I ever hope to be, but I do believe what you're seeing here is the "Painter's Brush" style. Either that or a chevron, I can't decide. For a diagrammed look at the different styles visit the American Mustache Institute. 

http://lemonadestand.posterous.com/

Essential Sunshine

Another chapter in my life is finished, another year of school complete. The last project for Illustration was to write our life story and create a handmade book. I chose to show my trip to Australia. This trip was a turning point if you will, a junction in the road where I chose between following the norm or following what my heart wanted to do. 

Shown below is the cover, a quote from the 1st page, the first spread showing a map of Australia, another spread from the same hostel where the man told me about his love of Glacier Park, and the last spread is a short "about me" section featuring the ever-classy, all-time favorite, classic red 1972 Schwinn that I cruise around town on.

(Books have always, always held some sort of magic for me. They're addicting and enthralling and at this point in my career, a definite direction I could see myself going with graphic design.)

      

         

 “Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things – air, sleep, dreams, the sea, the sky – all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it.”

 – Cesare Pavese

A man once told me that Glacier Park in Montana was his favorite place in the entire world. This was as I lay sick and drooling with strep throat in the top bunk of a dimly lit hostel room in Australia. Being in the state I was in, I smiled weakly and nodded. That moment has never struck me as profound until now. 

Think about it. Choosing a place to mark as your favorite in the entire WORLD. There I was, on my dream vacation, and a man was basically telling me that I needed to go no further than my backdoor to experience something beautiful and stunning. But it's in the act of leaving that you return and appreciate home for all new reasons and love it even more. When that urge to go, to see, to travel surges through your veins - listen to it. You can always come back home.

I hiked to the top left serif of the "M" today and sat contemplating the city of Bozeman. The view that I've seen so many times before didn't have the same draw. I saw my town, cradled safely in the mountains and realized I needed to get out. Soon...one more year of school left here and then I'm off, to places yet to explore. 

Another cup

"A morning without coffee is like something without ...
 something else."

Instant coffee is all they drink in Australia, I swear. 
It's actually pretty good, as long as your ratios are right.
I'm not a coffee snob, and most days any kind will do.
Except anything that ends with "chino" "appe" or "ocha."
Why is this post about coffee?

Well, it's finals week. I feel like I'm missing something....
Like there's some huge project I haven't
worked on yet...oh wait. That's right now. 
The 40 paged book I thought would be so easy
to "throw" together with some words is
turning out not so easy. 

Yes, you can say "I told you so."

Furthermore, I showed up to a Philosophy of Animals
final yesterday...an hour and a half late. 
The funny thing was, I thought I was there early. 

Always, always, double check final exam times. 
Always. 

That, and maybe I do need another cup of coffee. 

Illustrated Books

Ah, the Illustrated book. The lovely images seduced my imagination as a child with stories such as "Katy No-Pocket," "Say Hello, Vanessa," and much more. Now, as a much older child, I am still entranced by the innocent simplicity of their stories. A morning spent sipping an Americano while wandering through the children's section of the Country Bookshelf in downtown Bozeman found myself delighted at the treasures I found. Among them, "Forever Friends" by Carin Berger was exceptionally delightful. Consisitng of cut-paper collage and lovely graphic shapes it is an inspiration indeed. I am working on my second book, an illustrated story of an overseas trip. Images are sure to come soon. In the mean time, you simply must visit Carin's website. It is quite charming indeed.

http://www.carinberger.com/index.html