November 2010
El Dia de los Muertos
Mexico's famous commemoration of the dead - el Día de los Muertos - is both a joyous and touching celebration. The festival's origins lie in pre-Hispanic Mexico, when a month was dedicated to commemorating the spirits of the dead. After Christianization, it was moved from July/August to coincide with the Christian feast days of All Saints Day and All Souls Day in November.
The preparations for the festival begin weeks in advance, shops filling with decorative paper skulls, morbid little lanterns, costumes, plastic skeletons and themed candy, like white chocolate skeletons. Often cemeteries are decorated and favourite food and drink of the deceased taken there, along with a photograph of them.
In a graphic context this translates to illustrations as vibrant as Mexico itself. Brightly coloured and reinterpreted traditional skull and flower motifs are silkscreened onto glass and then placed into this intimate lounge. Accents of copper and gold metallics warm the space, along with (as we imagine it) wafts of chicken with a chocolaty mole sauce.
See our Dia de los Muertos collection for more inspiration.
Featured Medium • EGO
By taking traditional mirror and adding graphic elements we put a twist on an otherwise common medium. At Farmboy we create a custom graphic for you – then silkscreen it onto a piece of glass and silver the glass behind it. You end up with a completely unique mirror with your design behind the glass. Let EGO bring the sparkle (or new moustache style) you're looking for!
To see all of Farmboy's mediums click here.
Movember - 'Staches for a Good Cause
Slang for moustache, "the Mo" and November come together each year for Movember, a challenge where men change their appearance and the face of men's health by growing a moustache.
It's pretty straightforward. Start November 1st clean-shaven and then grow a moustache for the entire month. That moustache then becomes the ribbon for men's health and the means by which awareness and funds are raised for Prostate Cancer Canada.
Baby faced as of last week, Farmboy Account Manager Chris Read is embarking on a facial hair journey that will hopefully:
1. Raise awareness and his goal of $600 dollars towards Prostate Cancer Research
2. Not creep his wife out too much, and
3. Leave him with a glorious example of manly facial hair like this:
If you would like to make a donation towards Prostate Cancer Research, here's a link. If you have any questions, comments or random flattery, Chris, or El Capitan of Team 7th Inning Stache, can be emailed here.
Featured Artist • Aline Nedelec
Aline Nedelec plunged into the world of photography fairly recently, buying her first digital compact camera in 2007 and soon after replacing it with her first reflex.
"I really like to work with light; sunlight, reflections and night times interest me a lot. I particularly love the early dawn light that I attempt to capture during my early morning walks in the marshes of the region where I live in Charente, South West France. The stark beauty of these wide open wetlands with their vast skies is highlighted by the ever-changing light from the morning mist and the rise and fall of the tides.
I also like architectural photography because this more sober subject also requires great attention to light and composition.
In terms of postproduction I hardly ever go beyond the basic elements; adjustment of levels, white balance, noise correction, perspective and sharpness."
An exhibition of her photography, financed by the Poitou-Charentes region, was displayed in several towns in Charente-Maritime in 2009. She has also participated in several joint exhibitions but claims that's is not really her cup of tea.
Aline has been with Farmboy Fine Arts since 2008.
Farmboy Props!
This month's Farmboy props go to Dave Ensing, seen here reppin' the company colours above Lago di Lugano, Switzerland.
Get published! Email us your best Farmboy picture!
Farmboy Staff Picks • Sara Salevati
We asked Farmhand Sara Salevati, one of our designers here at Farmboy, to choose one of her favourite images from our Stockyard collection and tell us what she likes about it.
Who is the artist?
Nickolas Muray from the George Eastman Collection GNM.300.00001
Why do you like it?
I have always been drawn to vintage photography. This image is stunning, the composition, the color processing and the theatrical setting. It also carries an element of mystery and ambiguity of context, which leaves room for personal interpretations. You can hear the music and feel the stage curtain moving, I am ready to watch this shoe act of 1940s.
Farmboy Podcast
It all started a few years ago when a much loved FBFA designer Francisco began Farmboy FM, a radio blast of favourite music heard at the design desk at FBFA (and around the world...well maybe).
With some jokes and likely some Friday celebration it became known as the Farmboy mix tapes. Submitted tracks from members of FBFA were mixed by Fran and posted to share with the rest of the Farmboy "believers" out there and it was a bit of a hipster way to show everyone how cool we were (for those of you that had the pleasure to know Francisco, being cool was definable by him and came by invitation only).
After Francisco's passing we felt it made sense to keep the podcast moving along in his honour and eventually it morphed into its present iteration as the Farmboy pod cast run by Fatima. Thanks to Fatima's dedication and in honour of keeping a piece of Fran around we have kept the pod cast moving along, however, due to the time commitment, complexity and lack of followers we have made the decision to cancel the pod cast moving forward and retire the tracks for another day.
The podcast has come to an end, but our fond memories of Francisco will live on forever.
Thank you Francisco, and thank you Fatima for the great music over the past 4 years. I'm sure where ever Fran is, he is making mix tapes for all the other "young folks" in his club....
The Stockyard
As always, The Stockyard features some of the latest stunning
imagery from Farmboy Fine Arts to help you create custom artwork.
Still craving more Farmboy? Friend us up on Facebook and follow us at Twitter.com/FarmboyFineArts
Farmboy Quote of the Month:
“Since I don't smoke, I decided to grow a mustache - it is better for the health."
- Salvador Dali
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