A path of Discovery - Part 1 - Abraham Lincoln

There's a lot to say about what I got to do over the last few days, and I'll try to hit the highlights and best parts. There will be a lot of art and history heavy travel talking over the next few posts..., prepare to learn a thing or two!

Looking for Lincoln

Vandalia, Illinois was the first opportunity to stop and take in some local history on the more than a thousand mile trek towards the East Coast. This city (formerly known as Reeve's Bluff) was the second active state Capital, after the First General Assembly petitioned Congress for a land grant somewhere in the State's interior to serve as the site of a new Capital.

Had no idea there was a public activity called "Looking for Lincoln". It almost seemed like the title of a book adventure for Encyclopedia Brown.

The statue you see above is known as a "Madonna of the Trail" and there are evidently a few others that exist similar to it. This particular one from what I understand was erected in 1928 by the Daughters of the American Revolution in memory of the pioneer mothers who arrived in covered wagons following the famous Cumberland Road.

Pretty sure MODOT blows through 7 Million now on just fixing potholes in Missouri in one month.

The Cumberland Road (also known as the National Road) was the first highway built by the federal government. Construction began heading west in 1811 at Cumberland, Maryland, on the Potomac River. It crossed the Allegheny Mountains and southwestern Pennsylvania, reaching Wheeling, Virginia, on the Ohio River in 1818.

Later efforts pushed the Road across the states of Ohio and Indiana. Plans were made to continue through St. Louis, at the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, and to the territorial capital of Jefferson City of the Missouri Territory. But, after the financial issues of 1837 and the economic depression that shortly followed, Congressional funding ran dry and construction was stopped at Vandalia, Illinois.

The majestic front face of the former Capital. Try saying that five times really fast.

I believe these steps you see above are the ones that Bill Clinton came and spoke on during his first presidential campaign.

In 1933, this building (which had become the courthouse for the town after a new Capital had been chosen) became the Vandalia State House State Memorial, and an extensive program of interior refitting and reconstruction began. In 1985 the building became a State Historic Site within the new Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.

The front entry way had this awesome staircase up to the second floor. Right next to the front door, there is also a life cast that was made of Lincoln's face on display.

The interiors are in fantastic condition, and it is so damn cool to see a place like this still kept up. This particular day was slow, but being near Route 66, I imagine it does get it's fair share of visitors especially during the summer and fall.

The rooms on the ground floor were stately if modest. I wish modern buildings had windows made this way.

I think about when I speak to many people today about this particular era in American history, (whenever I bring up having done historical reenactments) and how so often they think that it was an era lacking in sophistication of daily comforts, education, and other amenities that they must believe only came into existence in the last thirty years. Most people fail to realize that the American Civil war was really the first modern war. Not just in connotations of warfare, but industry, human rights, medicine, inventions, communication, and so much more.

Some of that I blame on modern history books, some of that I blame on indifference on behalf of a good portion of today's population.

This was the Secretary of State's area.

Now the connection with Abraham Lincoln, is that after he was elected to the legislature, this is the statehouse that he spent time at. All the while also doing studies in law and holding down a side surveying job.

Gotta respect that. It was in an effort to make ends meet, and it paid off as in the autumn of 1836 he picked up a law license. A year later he moved to Springfield to fully establish his law practice.

You're probably wondering why I have a photograph of the floor...

I took a picture of that floor because that same wooden floor you see, was the same one that Abraham Lincoln had walked on. Engage full on History Geek Mode. I actually crouched down and sat on the floor for a bit with my hands running back and forth over the wood grain.  

Access to the upper floor was not allowed, but I hope when next I come through this area perhaps it will be. On the right above are some sectioned cut timbers that had originally supported the upper viewing/seating gallery to the room in the next photo below.

Interior shots of the legislature rooms on the second floor.

Be sure to stop in if you are out in this area. They are open 9-5 most days, and the staff member that was onsite was wonderful.

It was only closed recently for a year, around 2008 because of lack of funds. There is a donation box on site. Places like this are becoming rarer, if not just plain forgotten for the magnitude of history they provide. These aren't the Statue of Liberty, nor are they the Smithsonian, but they are both at once humble and proud moments of history that we should all know, understand, preserve, and cultivate for future generations to know.

Until the next part of this update, support your local artists, be kind to your fellow beings, and I'll see you next time! - Mario, the Artisan Rogue
 
 

Strangefolk 2014, Second year, First rate artwork.

So I've finally gotten some time to get a new update on here. It's been a nutty series of weeks, full of late nights, shenanigans, and... wait for it... GOINGS ONS! Somehow I managed to finagle my way back into Strangefolk and brought my special brand of visual creation and casual friendliness to the city of O'Fallon, Illinois and it's unsuspecting inhabitants. I also planned to sell my art.

Strangefolk 2014! Stressful preparation for it. Long drive to get to it. But worth it again this year? Read on my friends!

Since last year, I decided I was going to push my branding, marketing, and art so far that people it would border on annoyance, but instead of it hitting you full frontal like an absent minded drunk, I hoped to mesmerize people with some illustration skills that didn't look like anyone else's work that was at Strangefolk.

The medallions with my logo that were to go on my new business card holder. (inset, upper right) More bottle elements for a new primary sign design.

In all seriousness though, I had been spending many months since the beginning of the year to establish the "AR" (Artisan Rogue) branding across all my social networks and show elements so that I could introduce the new concept of "Artwork for the Social Organism". The first step into this was my wood panel series. How you may ask? Well it's like this...

(Left and upper right) A bunch of new works in my ongoing wood panel series. (Lower two images on right) The continuing finishing steps of my business card holder.

Each of the works above, and like many prior ones that belong in this series are all numbered and belong to one large ongoing series that will for the foreseeable future, go on for the next ten years or longer.

See, the idea was to create a line of original hand drawn artworks that would allow everyone that owned at least one, to belong to a someday massive and growing collective bound by the evolution and variety of the artwork in this series. That's why I request to have photos of the owners, or the places where the art is displayed, etc., because I wanted to show how art can permeate and showcase the amazing spectrum of wonderful art collectors out there.

Inaugural set of stickers for my "Artwork for the Social Organism" movement.

Eventually, probably by the first of this next year, there will be either a section of my site or a separate site altogether that will be more focused on the concept of Artwork for the Social Organism. So there is more to come...

One of the last works I spent in the eleventh hour finishing up before I started packing up to leave for the show.

One of the requests I had gotten to try and illustrate was a work based on How To Train Your Dragon's Hiccup and Toothless. I took a little stylized approach to how I represented them, which I was a little worried about (fan art is always a dodgy thing for me, but I do enjoy making it), but evidently I had nothing to worry about as...

Oh snap! Toothless likes his picture! Twitterverse love!

TOOTHLESS liked it! I soooooo did not expect that, but man, that was super cool to see come across my feed!

This is a pretty common stop that I've made almost every time I've headed east. I stopped here last year for Strangefolk, when I was Gettysburg bound, and for Chicago Comic Con a few years back.

So with a dragon's blessings on at least one bit of artwork that I would take with me on the road, the trip was a go.

The crowds came pretty early, and in a plentiful amount on Saturday.

I'm not normally a crowd meandering type of guy, but thankfully, the vast majority of the people that attend Strangefolk are pretty laid back.

Gotta park in the shade.

So after parking my truck, it was onto getting the tent up and getting down to business.

One of the things that is always a hell of a thing for me to figure out is how to not make my set up look like a cut rate flea market...

I know that next year (if I'm lucky enough to get in, I wasn't kidding about the whole jurying thing... seriously people. If you like me being there, and you want more original art by this Illustrator/Poet/Voice Over artist, then go to the Strangefolk facebook page and tell them how much you liked the Artisan Rogue being at the show), I will have a tighter set up and way more original art.

...yeah, no. THIS isn't looking overly crowded.

I think the fact that I needed a table this year got on my nerves. I'm probably being too critical of my layout and all, but I'm always striving for more clarity and finesse in point of purchase and display. That's absolutely the Hallmarker coming out in me more and more.

I tried to utilize guard dogs this year. All they did was lounge around with that look that says "I sleep on PILLOWS at home..."

There's not too much more to add except that I met so many cool people, so many of you had wonderful and kind comments, and with sincere honesty and complete appreciation, that it totally made my weekend. It truly made all the late nights in preparation and dealing with the heat, worth it. And I meant what I said, if you all, any of you want to send photos (of your new art in your home) please do.

I also unexpectedly got to do a on the spot portfolio review (yes, next year I will absolutely do the same if I am at the show, I rather enjoy this, and thank you Mike Eldrige for showing me your artwork and listening to my input). Feel free to e-mail me if you'd like a portfolio review ahead of time though so I can be available/ready to do it.

Hot Air Balloon rides?! Autumn Wiggins, you've just raised the stakes on next year!

Sunday was actually kind of fun as the show started to wind down. I sat in the grass at the edge of my tent and watched a hot air balloon go up and down giving free rides to people. I have to hand it to Autumn Wiggins (she's the self described "strange" chick that runs this show), she knows how to grow a show and keep it running well. If anything, her efforts make me want to bring it even better next year in what I showcase.

Like all shows, when it comes to an end, I am pathetically slow to get my truck and trailer aligned to get my stuff packed up, and I am never as quick as the other 70 people around me.

I'm not going to kid you, at the end of a show, I usually have a lengthy drive home, so I run about as fast as frozen tar. Which... I actually don't really know how fast that would run. I mean,... maybe that's really fast, because it would slide on ice. And I know a thing or two about ice and slipping on it. I sense a Mr. Wizard moment coming on.

"OMG! Hurry up man! There's a new Sleepy Hallow episode on Netflix and the signal is terrible out here!" is what my pooch seems to be telling me.

So in closing, thank you. To all of you that read this, to all of you that came out and talked to me, bought art, told me your stories, asked about my comics (keep praying that my hard drive will be salvageable), and shared a laugh or two. You all are the reason I believe that I am worth anything in what I do. I do art, I write, and I do funny voices because I want to do what the heroes I have had in life did. Many of them wanted to make people happy. They wanted to make people smile.

Until next time, be kind to your fellow beings, smile, and do a good turn daily. I'll see you next time!

 - Mario, the Artisan Rogue