2022-2023
Bluegrass Music
Design & illustration
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Album Art | Jesse Smathers
Jesse Smathers (Lonesome River Band) was inspired by the vintage comic style for his first solo recording project. The album art features 6 panels and pamphlet. More images of the album here.
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Shirt design | Slocan Ramblers
Canadian bluegrass band The Slocan Ramblers wanted a 2-color shirt design to go with their 2022 release “Up the Hill and Through the Fog.
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Album design | joe thrift
Known for his fiddling with The Red Hots (Joe Thrift, Riley Baugus, Tom Riccio), and for his long tenure with Donna the Buffalo, Joe Thrift has tunes written over decades that hadn’t been recorded. The album art was inspired by his playing style and features photos from his career.
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Women in Old Time Music Exhibit | Art Panels
“I’ve Endured: Women in Old Time Music” is an exhibit launched in March 2023 at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum. The exhibit features four life-size pieces of Gina’s work including Ola Belle Reed, Etta Baker, Aunt Samantha Bumgarner, and Jean Ritchie. The artworks strives to bring a lighthearted fun and curiosity to those who view them.
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Illustration | Jody Rainwater
A commission of Jody Rainwater, member of the Foggy Mountain Boys and well-loved radio personality. Created for Maggie Rainwater.
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Illustration | The Old Time 100
George Jackson and Tristan Scroggins were looking for an illustration to play off the “One-Eyed Fiddler” meme to go with a recording and instructional project involving 100 fiddle tunes that were recorded in a single session.
Bluegrass Breakdown
CBA Monthly publication | November 2022 - present
Starting in November 2022, Gina Dilg has been the art and layout designer for the monthly publication of California Bluegrass Association, The Bluegrass Breakdown. The newsletter was published in a stripped down format during the pandemic, and over the course of a few months, Gina and Jason Dilg (managing editor of the Breakdown) were able to take the newsletter up to 20 pages of community stories, upcoming events and reviews, thoughtful feature pieces, and delightful visuals. The newsletter is received by around 7500 members and is filled with articles celebrating bluegrass, old time and gospel music in and around California.
CBA Event Program Design & Layout
“We had a large, convention-like, event that would spread hundreds of people around a hotel with different activities in different places. As one of the planners of the event, I was tasked with creating for the first time an 8-page event guide that would describe each activity and its location as well as promote certain workshops and concerts. I sent Gina at Square Dance Agency pages of copy pieces, a terrible hand-amended hotel map, photos and advertisement pieces, and little sketches of how I imagined each page looking. Gina took the chaos I submitted and quickly transformed it into a full-color, glossy, Event guide that popped with color and images. People who walked up to the reception desk actually did double-takes when they saw the brochures. "Can I take this?" "WOW!" "Everything I need is all right here!" "This is beautiful!" "I'm going to save this as a souvenir." Gina had interpreted my hand-drawn sketches with clarity and artistry. She took my pathetic map and "tweaked" it into something that people could read and understand. Everyone involved with the event was impressed, pleased, and grateful that Gina had taken our vision and translated it into tangible welcome gifts for our participants.“
Sandy DeVera
Bakersfield Great 48 Event Planner
Trad Music
Superheroes
Illustrations & Merch created to playfully celebrate traditional bluegrass, old time and country musicians. The following were created April 2022 - March 2023.
The Ghost of Tommy Jarrell - Glow-in-the-dark decal to celebrate one of the most celebrated fiddlers in the Round Peak tradition of North Carolina.
The Carter Family - Inspired by old Marvel comics, this illustration was created to celebrate the first family of country music with attitude and style.
Jimmy Martin - Created for merch in the form of stickers, prints, and car air fresheners, the illustration was created to highlight the personality and bold sense of style of the bluegrass sensation Jimmy Martin.
Riley Puckett Run Club - A highly influential guitar player known for his work with the Skillet Lickers, Riley Puckett had some of the wildest guitar runs. This illustration was made for vintage-style cross country running shirts, hats, and stickers for a culture mash-up and play on words.
Aunt Samantha Bumgarner - A fiddle and banjo player from Western North Carolina, Samantha Bumgarner is considered the first recorded female country artist. She recorded with Eva Davis for Columbia Records in 1924. Pete Seeger credited Samantha as his inspiration to learn the 5-string banjo.
Illustration created for Birthplace of Country Music Museum’s “Women in Old Time Music” exhibit.