The Art of the Personal Project is a crucial element to let potential buyers see how you think creatively on your own. I am drawn to personal projects that have an interesting vision or that show something I have never seen before. In this thread, I’ll include a link to each personal project with the artist statement so you can see more of the project. Please note: This thread is not affiliated with any company; I’m just featuring projects that I find. Please DO NOT send me your work. I do not take submissions.
Today’s featured artist: Robert A Ripps
Growing up in New York City, inarguably one of the greatest cities in the world for street food, I was able to enjoy everything from hotdogs to pizza, giant pretzels to shaved ices, Blimpies to bodegas. Probably my favorite NYC street food is your classic slice of Neapolitan pizza, preferable from a brick oven, topped with a sprinkle of dried red pepper flakes and a pinch of dried oregano, folded in almost in half and eaten with one hand as I am walking, while a little grease runs down my wrist.
Recent immigrants, and the broadening of American palates, plus the proliferation of food trucks, have introduced us to the joys of Halal carts, birria tacos, Indian dosas, California burritos, and pretty much anything you can stick between two slices of bread, roll up in a tortilla, or serve atop a pile of rice. Or so I thought.
However, it seems like America has nothing on Asia when it comes to varieties and types of street food. A recent trip to Vietnam allowed me to sample some of the most delicious, as well as most inexpensive, culinary treats, that were for the most part previously unavailable to me. Food establishments are mainly on the sidewalks or in the streets, so pretty much every meal becomes street food.
The first night I arrived in Hanoi, I was a bit taken back to see people cooking food and washing dishes on the sidewalk, right next to the people sitting on their brightly colored chairs, enjoying a meal. Being famished, I quickly got over my western bias and soon found myself hunkered down on a way too small plastic chair, hunched over a steaming bowl of noodles in soup and ice-cold beer.
Most dishes in Vietnam were served with plates of fresh shredded vegetables and herbs, small limes to juice over your food, and often, ancient looking plastic containers of homemade pickled condiments or hot sauces.
One street in Hanoi had several vendors deep frying beef jerky, right out in the air, which was still was warm when I got it, with a subtle aroma of five-star powder. Another street had several vendors hawking platters of giant snails, which once I get over the thought of eating a giant snail, were very tender and quite delicious with their accompanying sauce and condiments.
Just about everywhere I went, I came across people selling food out on the street – not just from storefronts, but more often from bicycles, which could be equipped with baskets for fruit, or sweets, or amazingly, some sort of oven or steamer to cook or keep food warm.
And the variety of what you could sample was amazing- you could usually find Vietnamese iced coffee, grilled pork served over noodles (Bún chả), grilled corn on a stick, grilled rat on a stick (which for some reason I did not try), fertilized duck embryos in their eggshell (ditto), crispy rice crackers topped with mung bean paste or chicken floss, all types of sticky rice wrapped in a banana leaf and young coconuts, not to mention all varieties of dried squid snacks, plus your basic “Tteokbokki” and “New York” flavored potato chips (think NY strip steak).
Of course, there were also open-air markets selling the freshest fruits and vegetables, as well as all varieties of hacked fish and animal parts, most of which I could identify. They also sold lots of noodles and pickled vegetables – at one I tried to find out what something was, so the woman reached in, grabbed a handful, and offered me a taste, which would’ve been impolite to turn down.
In Hue, we met a woman lugging a small cabinet on a yoke, housing a pot of warm tasty ginger soup. Which we tried less than 10 minutes after we finished demolishing three or four small Bahn Mi from a nearby vendor working out of which felt like an empty garage. The problem was not being able to find or afford all these different types of street food; it was being able to have the room to taste everything you came across!
To see more of this project, click here
Suzanne Sease is a creative consultant and former ad-agency senior art buyer. She works with both emerging and established photographers and illustrators to create cohesive, persuasive presentations that clients can’t resist.
Suzanne offers something rare: an insider’s perspective on how client’s source creative talent. Her deep understanding of the industry is underscored by her impressive resume: 11 years as senior art buyer at The Martin Agency, seven years as an art producer for Capital One, and stints with the art-buying department at Kaplan-Thaler and the creative department at Best Buy, where she applied her expertise to reviewing bids to see which were most likely to come in on budget. Over the years, Suzanne has worked with a wildly diverse range of clients, including Seiko, Wrangler, Bank One, AFLAC, and Clairol Herbal Essence. Now, as a consultant, she is equipped to problem-solve for her clients from an unusually dynamic point of view.
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