Giuseppe 2.1

A concept sketch for a vertically scrolling descent from the known to the unknown (a parallel to David Lynch's trajectory from 'the surface' to 'the unified field'

Hola Giuseppe!

I had a surreal experience yesterday. I found myself wandering through the aisles of a giant grocery store and realizing that I was actually the only person - literally -in the entire store aside from a dozen staff, huddled together talking. I knew something was off, but didn't learn what until I got back - Mexico is in an elevated state today, and fear of retribution and reprisal is palpable. It continues to be a bumpy road, but then I believe that this is the tenor of this time for me.

I am in a different city now - Guanajuato - and am slowly resetting my frayed nerves after the dogs of San Miguel. Once I arrived here, I was beyond exhausted, and it has taken a week to regain stamina... I started to recover this weekend. I get that this must be yet another phase in a deep and ongoing re-orienting and integration... more on that below. Since we last spoke, I've continued to make more drawings and have worked on refining thoughts and strategies with my AI collaborators...

ABC BOOK

I put together a pitch for ABC - An A-Z of Fabulous Foods from Afar. On Feb 1, I sent it out to Philip at Readers to Eaters and also to Gestaltlen and to Tate Books. I haven't heard back. Here's the sample I sent:

SUBSTACK

While I've wrangled with strategies - and I shared my previous thoughts about Substack - I have also decided that just getting rolling is likely the best strategy. ( I haven't posted on my ghost site for a while!) This past weekend, I started a Reluctant Illustrator Substack account and am working on a couple of draft posts.
I plan on continuing to develop multiple threads and create collections of posts with tags: Musings, Observations, Language Machines, ABC, The Double Burn, and a new examination on Emotional Landscapes. I wanted to speak to you before my first post: https://thereluctantillustrator.substack.com/

WATERCOLOURS

Keeping on those as the mood and moment permit...

EMOTIONAL LANDSCAPES

I've been truly working through a roller coaster of my own emotional context here in Mexico, and have continued making drawings. I think I stumbled into yet another theme exploring the crossroads of the Self and the Known and the Unknown. I was thinking of David Lynch and his discourse about the surface and the unified field.

DAVID WHYTE - CONSOLATIONS

In my turbulence, I have returned to the readings of David Whyte and his book Consolations: The Solace, Nourishment, and the Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words.

Inspiring and very helpful. They have been powerful salves, and some I have listened to many times as I do my own processing, and made some drawings along the way. He covers many truths and ways of reframing. The book itself explores 52 (one a week? :-) ... I spent time with Anger, and then with Despair, for which I made a couple of drawings... many more are marinating.

A friend asked me why these were about ascension, when Despair might be better represented as a descent. I like the inversion of pinnacle as opposed to pit, precisely because of the way Whyte reframes despair as a temporary and at times necessary refuge.

I've been wondering about illustrating each of these words. I saw he has a Substack, and perhaps I could try to reach out once I have developed more of a body of work?

REPRESENTATION

I rewatched The French Dispatch the other day and was struck by the illustrations. Wes Anderson has a magical touch. I read about his cinematographer, and the illustrator is Javi Aznarez, and I followed the trail to his representation - The Dutch Uncle. A whole lot of inspiring work there, and I wanted to ask you about exploring the avenue of representation...

OK - Ciao, a domani!