Our Three Minutes of Fame
I love this little video. Thank you Brian, Jamie and Perfect Duluth Day!
The Cool Smoke
Back when Northern Waters Smokehaus was a fledgling business and not the international powerhouse it is today, they asked Rick to do a “smoked fish” image for them for t-shirts. This was around the same time they were still focusing on cheese (cheese has gradually given way to charcuterie). Anyhoo, we’ve been getting requests for giclee prints of the original and so now it’s up on the website, imaginatively named “Smoked Fish.”
They’ve recently asked Rick to do a new image for the award-winning and rapidly expanding charcuterie end of their business. Rick suggested that we save time and re-use this one, replacing one of the milkmaid’s pails with a hatchet.
That was apparently too simplistic of a solution. So sometime in the indefinite future, there will be what we can only envision as a full-on Dr. Sparkle exposition on the delights of salami.
Meanwhile, here’s the menu today at Northern Waters:
And a drive-by peek at the fish that started it all:
Mystery solved!
The baker of the Surprised by Love cake was Gateaux Inc. in Minneapolis. Read all about it in their lovely blog, here.
And to Nicole and Michael…. congratulations. You have fabulous taste, really dahlings.
Seems fitting, somehow…
Some artists get noticed by the New York Times. Others get noticed by Cake Wrecks.
Fortunately this was in one of their “this is how it SHOULD be done” sections, so let’s be grateful for little things.
Here’s the caption they put on the cake: “This couple’s cake was inspired by the paintings of artist R.N. Allen, which played a significant part in their early courtship.”
Couples in love are a big part of Rick’s market. Must be something about him, eh?
Thank you, Laura, for pointing this out to us. It made our day…
Mean Tangerine
Thought you all might like to see the outside of our studio, from inside the hallway, I mean. The tangerine wall. I’m not sure how I feel about the tangerine wall. But it’s only for the summer and fall…. this winter, raspberry!
And here’s our wonderful neighbor, Kate Whittaker‘s studio. Kate raised the bar when she moved in. It’s a lot classier in our corner of the building now. Kate leaves her door open, though. She’s friendly…. which is just not our way.
Here are a couple of nooks and crannies from the letterpress shop. Lots of little interesting things to look at there.
And finally…. the table inked for proofing the new Trapper’s Daughter!
Hope everyone’s having a lovely Sunday…
Beer and Eggs
Blarg…. we are toast. But happy toast. The Earth Day show went well… big hits were Rick’s Derailed Ale and my Eggs. Beer and Eggs!
Derailed Ale was done for Steve Knauss at Thirsty Pagan Brewing. It’s the third beer label Rick has done for them. He’s a very patient guy, Steve is. It took Rick so long to do this one that when Steve would call to inquire, Rick began calling it “Delayed Ale” and Steve was a little nervous that maybe Rick thought that was actually the real name, but he was too polite to correct the artist for fear it would add another several months to an already protracted process.
And the best selling egg, so far, is this one, Trust:
I’m tired. But I think it may be because I am still eating coffee cake three times a day. Thank you Miriam Sommerness. There’s only a little bit left, thank heavens.
Still no sign of the Trapper’s Daughter, although Rick says he’s sure she’ll show up one day soon. I don’t know. I’m afraid to ask for fear of adding several months to an already protracted process. Security is tight.
Detained at the Border
As is traditional on Earth Day in Minnesota, we had a lovely mixture of snow and rain. Here I am in the studio with Janelle (in the Warrior Printress tie) and Miriam after we cleaned up from the open house, at which I neglected to photograph the lavish spread of coffee breads that Miriam baked for us to go with the mimosas and coffee. Behind us you can see the Seize Beauty owl, with which Miriam created a fantastic habitat as a background for the food and drink.
Janelle gave her usual masterful printing demonstration.
The Trapper’s Daughter, however, was unable to attend. Seems she had some issues to deal with. We’re hoping to see her in the next few weeks… stay tuned on that one.
At 1:00 we headed over to Siiviis for the Grand Opening. It was packed all day. If you look closely you’ll see Dr. Sparkle staring at the camera. There was more cake and champagne.
The entertainment this year, Lance Rhicard and his young partner, Wilder, was superb. Wilder did refuse to play while being photographed, however. We’d forgotten to include that in his contract. He’s a stickler for detail.
Thanks to everyone who braved the elements to attend! It was quite a turnout. And hugs and kisses to the staff at Siiviis… Nancy, Mel, Janelle and Miriam, and of course to Siivii herself, Jan. They sure know how to throw a party.
The Wire
We are down to it…. the wire that is. Our Earth Day show and siiviis Grand Opening are on Saturday. Janelle is frantically (albeit perfectly) printing bags with the new siiviis logo. Each size will have different colored dots over the i’s.
And Mr. Sparkle is feverishly laboring over this year’s Trapper’s Daughter. Below he consults with Janelle about how to print her. See the black plastic bag hanging in the upper left hand corner? That’s where the roof leaks. Classy, yes?
We thought for a while that the TD might not even show up this year, but show she did, although a bit disheveled in appearance. Rick is still cutting, not answering the phone, and probably not sleeping until the print is done. Which may or may not be Saturday! Come and join us to find out…
New Notecards!
Just for spring… a few new notecards from Mr. Sparkle and Shy Nimitta.
All Downhill (for Duluthians and lovers of Duluth/Duluthians and/or Bob Dylan).
Under the Poppy Sun, from Shy Nimitta
Honeybee… good for insect activists and everybody else.
Hot, Nervous and Ready to Fly. I am, are you?
And lastly, As Above So Below, or as a friend says, “As between, so through.”
These are all 5 x 7 cards, printed on nice, thick matte stock with our usual modicum of recycled fiber and of course, soy inks.
Warrior Printress and the Tao of Packaging
The Warrior Printress has finished her first commercial job and packaged it up for delivery to the client, only to discover that it’s probably just going to the mailing house, which will almost certainly have little appreciation and possible a bit of “WTF” for the nearly Japanese degree of attention-to-detail that has been paid to the final presentation. So we decided to make sure that at least the internet could see it!
Now we just have to print some WP stickers to seal the deal.
