Supermarket Panic part 6

A few days ago I got an email from my college friend Jenny, who at times has collected my work.  Sometimes she even comes up to New Jersey to look at it or buy it.  (her enjoyment of local pizza may have something to do with it as well)  In my reply I advised her not to come for a visit  (she had inquired), what with the pandemic having closed most restaurants, and restrictions around most public gatherings. One other thing she had asked about was using one of my prints as a design for a jigsaw puzzle. One effect of months of self isolation is that puzzles have sold in huge numbers, and my graphic style seems like it could lend itself to that.   She asked if I had any high resolution photos of any of my larger prints. To be honest, no, as everything I shoot digitally has been for the internet, where small files sized are preferred (loads faster, uses less memory, etc) I sent the largest files I had (resolution is pixels per square inch), but these weren't good enough. The prints are already made, so I don't have to worry about that. I thought maybe how this could work is the puzzle manufacturers could buy or lease the image from me for a fee, then make and distribute the puzzles. In Jenny's further research she believes it may be more like I would have to have the puzzles made then have to find places to sell them.  Tall order for a number of reasons.  Meanwhile she is exploring having a few prototypes made, and gathering information.  If it works, she has an activity to do, and possibly something to hang on her wall, and I'll have information that could lead to a new source of income.  (a portion of those profits would go to Jenny for her work on my behalf).

My next step is to get her some better photos.  One piece she had specifically asked about was A History of Art, which has full color and lots of details.  There are two full color copies, both in frames, but I use simple frame kits, so all I have to do is unscrew the corners, remove the plexiglass, and they are ready to be photographed.  And I have one of these in my apartment.  Yesterday was hot and sticky, and weather reports said that today would be hotter and more humid,  so not a good day for yard work. After an early lunch, I grabbed my framed work, a pile of boardwalk prints (which we had agreed might also work for this), plus my current block, and headed for the Studio.

I could see that they were setting up for another free meal distribution in the back parking lot, but I parked in front as usual. Took a few trips to get everything inside.   First thing I noticed when I got to the basement was that the door to my Studio was wide open.  Was Molly in?  Was some work being done on the space?  Answer in both cases was no, so just a mystery. Nothing seemed to be missing, but it's hard to tell with all that mess.  Well, I had work to do.

For music I chose two things that had a hint of common qualities.  Albums by two bands from the 21st century that were said to be partly classified as psychedelic.  Usually when people think of psychedelic music they think of the 60's, when it was truly a major factor.  But like any style of music it never really goes away, but shows up as an influence. The first disc was the self titled debut from The Coral, a British guitar band that I first learned of when I ran across an unending show about them on a music station on my cable.  (never did figure out if it was a long form video, or just a lot of things shown together) Listened to the album in the store and liked it enough to buy it. The band is from the Merseyside region (the same place that long ago created the Beatles, who helped invent psychedelic music), which I suspect may be a cause of so much influence of sea related elements (mentions of pirates, sea chanteys, etc).  The result is some standard pop and rock and roll. Never really made it big in this country, as happens with most British guitar bands.  When that ended I put on Venus on Earth by Dengue Fever.  Them I leaned of from a newspaper article.  A group of guys from California decided to travel around southeast Asia, and fell in love with Cambodian rock, which combined remnants of late 60's American rock (the psychedelic influence), Asian pop, and whatever else.  (imagine music that would make a soundtrack for movie about the Vietnam war and you're getting close) The band wanted a singer that could handle Khmer lyrics and found one, who had been a singer in her homeland before moving to the States and making a living doing karaoke and as a singer for a wedding band.  (yes, that is a thing, once I went to a wedding in the Little Vietnam section of Philadelphia, where the band played in that style, but exceedingly loudly, and it was probably the least weird thing about that reception) Like the first band, they are still together and have their fans, but never really became big.

What seemed most important today was getting the photos, so I took on that first.  Opened up my framed piece and got large format photos of it- whole, details, etc.  Figured I'd send them all, let her figure out what she needs.  Also a boardwalk print (the food themed one) in large format, in case she wants to see how that would work out.

It's also good to work on new art, so I had brought my current block with me. Only got as far as starting to play with tile designs for the floor.  Black and white there will be used to balance the whole composition in the final version.  It's gradually coming together.

I went outside to ask Nichole about some Studio stuff, but she wasn't there.  Someone walked up to me and handed me two bags of food.  They were shutting down and I guess wanted to get rid of the stuff.   No V bags this time.  Didn't bother to open them to see what I had until after I was home.
When I got home, I downloaded the photos, edited them, and eventually sent them to Jenny. When I learn something I will share it here.  This batch of free food wasn't exactly the same as last time.  Sandwiches were a little smaller, wrapped in fast food style foil wrappers. but not bad.  Tuna salad on a bagel, and what seemed to be pulled pork and cole slaw on a roll.  A lidded cup with some potato salad.  Each bag included a snack sized bag of chips, and a prepackaged large size black and white cookie.  No toilet paper this time, but one had a 16oz bottle of water,  perhaps more appropriate in this weather. More than I could eat at once, so I had some, and put away the rest for later.