Album Launch – That string & its kite too

I thrive on creative collaborations. Working with poet Rodney Williams and musician Ricky Allan I’ve recently completed cover & booklet artwork for their new CD. The album contains Piedmont Blues compositions, guitars and vocals by Ricky Allan, and song lyrics, poetry and readings by Rodney Williams. It’s an incredibly beautiful Gippsland grown creative musical collaboration. Here’s a sample.
You are invited to attend the Launch 7.30pm, Friday 25 November at Town and Country Gallery, Yarragon. Free entry – CDs and associated prints available at Launch prices with light refreshments and Wild Dog Wines.

Here’s a little about the cover design which I created in Illustrator, using a print and drawings made over a number of months. Themes, lyrics and visuals were discussed at project meetings held at Drouin’s French Pear Café with Rodney Williams. I produced concept drawings and initially we decided that I would  create a series of hand coloured linocuts for the cover illustration. However, this was not to be.
Around that time I was exploring collagraph prints, and created a small series at workshops at Arc Yinnar with Printmaker Jenny Peterson. A simple red print with an orange sun and guitar seemed to resonate with the earthy musical style coming out of Ricky’s container recording studio in Moe.
I trusted my instincts and digitally overlayed some sketchy pen drawings of Ricky’s guitar, and a kite. The design came together fairly quickly after this with Rodney and Ricky’s input.