It is so inspiring to have so many bloggers yesterday participate in Bloggers Unite for Human Rights Day. There are so so many issues that need attention and I am grateful to all who participated. If I had more time to read, I am sure that I would have learned about many more issues! Frances, yes, that was a bubblescape created in Bryce with the electricity thanks to a Photoshop filter - KTP Lightning. Nora, I am very very disappointed to hear that the Netherlands went back to private health care with your “pay(ing) three times the insurance fee for less coverage.” Very disappointing!
You can see that my feedreader problem is now fixed. Whew! One problem off the plate. It had been going on for quite awhile before I even caught it. Thank you again for stopping by and commenting.
Hope you are all doing well today!! This is my hospital day when I go and get Remicade for the Crohns. I plan to spend some time thinking about priorities and how I really need to spend my time. Since I feel on a treadmill, clearly something needs to change. I can’t work on the computer or paint there, so it is a good time to think. Thank you again!
Today is Bloggers Unite for Human Rights Day - May 15, 2008. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations. Click here to find out details and join.
Health care is a right not a privilege!! It is unconscionable that the United States does not have health care for everyone. Every other developed country has health care for all citizens. It used to be that South Africa and the US didn’t, but now it is only the US that doesn’t. Clearly people need to come together in government to make this happen! Too many people die every day and too many more families have all their savings and finances wiped out by paying for medical bills. People who are rich will still be able to buy extra health care, but we all need good health care. I would easily settle (ha, ha) for the kind of lifetime health coverage all our Congress people get. Health Care for ALL!!!
Illustration Friday has a challenge every week. This week is Electricity. I hope you like this Electricity!! Illustration Friday is a great way to showcase your work and a wonderful opportunity to meet lots of wonderful people! I encourage you to check it out! Lots of fun people and paintings! Next week I will write a poem but I wanted to keep this shorter today.
This image is for the Pet Monologues which is the blog which I directed you to showing that incredible video about the lion hugging the woman who rescued him. Also they highlight art, poems and more that showcase animals every week. You can see there blog here. And this is the post for this particular challenge. I hope you enjoy the images there!! Here is a cool post about a Dog Beach - check it out! Anyone can join in this fun here too!! They put up a few of the images and then have links to the rest of the sites … perhaps you will feel moved to participate!
I have just found out that my posts are not being sent to my subscribers and they are not showing up in feedreaders. I am fairly concerned about that and trying to figure this out!! This is also perhaps why one of my friend’s blogs is not showing up either. This is the other Buddha image I have created.
I am making some progress on getting some work cranked out. I am also thinking and starting to implement how to get out of some of my responsibilities. I know you will be happy!! Thank you!
I listed this today in my Etsy Shop and it sold today! Now if we can only take Buddha’s teachings to heart and create peace - peace both within and without!! I played with this image to learn some techniques in Photoshop and am delighted that someone wants to take it home!!
I am sure it will not surprise some of my regular readers to learn that I know I need to create more peace in the way I am running my business. I think I have too many irons in the fire and I want to do them all. I did make more progress on 2 graphic design jobs the last 2 days. Well, 3, if you count the family job I am doing. So that is good. But marketing and networking are …. well, overwhelming!! And add to that, my posts have not been picked up by Feedblitz lately and they didn’t answer my email. I am not sure what to do! Take of yourself!!
I like to enter the 2 Things Challenge each week. This week is Mother & Land. This is my entry for Mother & Land. Happy Mothers Day to all the mothers and caretakers! I am sure you can see the mother duck here with her little duckies. Here are the entries for last week’s Rough & Smooth. Anyone can join in, and I hope you give it a try!! We would love more people playing with us! Details are at this link above.
Everyone everywhere on the planet many sign this petition - I hope all of you who haven’t will do it now. Below is another great link - but I want to make sure I give everyone something the can do to help! There is another international link below also.
This is a fantastic link!!! For people in the US this link gives you lots of options!! (http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/home/) - you use their letters or personalize them - there are lots of versions - for supporters of artists, different kinds of artists - it is great!! Please take a couple (literally) of minutes
Here is a link to let people outside the US do more. (http://www.illustratorspartnership.org/01_topics/article.php?searchterm=00267) … it deos not look quite as easy, but I hope you will go do it. Thank you!!
Here is the latest from the Illustrators’ Partnership
———————————————————-
FROM THE ILLUSTRATORS’ PARTNERSHIP
———————————————————-
Since yesterday (May 7th), over 31, 000 letters have gone out from our
Orphan Works advocacy site.
Q: What can we do next?
1. Write the House Judiciary Committee. We’ve set up a special alert to
contact members of this important committee.
Look for the sample letter labeled “Contact House Judiciary Committee
NOW” and send it.
If your Representative is not a member of the House Judiciary Committee,
this will send him a message asking him to contact his colleagues on
that Committee on your behalf, urging them to oppose the bill.
2. Ask for support from family and friends:
Please ask your friends and family (5 to 10 others) who support your
creative work to also go to the site. They can follow the instructions
to easily send a message of opposition to this reckless bill. Look for
the sample letter labeled “For Supporters of Visual Artists - Wrong to
Weaken Copyright Law” and send it.
3. Spread the word to the public: Photosharing on Web will now be at risk:
Please alert your friends who post photos to the web their personal
property will be at risk. Look for the sample letter labeled “For the
Image-Making Public - Protect Personal Property”and send it.
For more information about the Orphan Works Act of 2008:
Please post this message or forward it to any interested party. You can post or copy and or all of this post.
I think this is sort of a cool painting because you can see so far into - so deep - the image. Obviously it is a variation of the last few. I am very tired today. I had planned a nice relaxing day today where I could rest and catch up … and the discouraging work I was doing a few days ago got reactivated this morning. Which is fine. But I got notified that I needed to overnight printouts - that I did not have printed yet. I understand why and it was an excellent strategy - but just implemented at the last minute. And I understand why. But the post office and Fedex place closed in about 30 - 60 minutes … so I needed to go into hypermode. And now I am pretty, pretty sick. There is a reason I do everything pretty much early - I don’t function well that other way. So I am exhausted and needing to rest. Please tell me how you are.
First off, anyone who is willing, I would love if you would send thoughts of peace to Lebanon - I have friends with family at risk there. I know there are so many places that can use our kind thoughts and healing energy. Thank you! Lots of rainy weather here today … but I managed to get a walk in around the block before it started. Today (and the last few days) I was working on taking a client’s photo of her dog and getting the puppy - the gorgeous puppy! - into fields of butterflies and flowers. I don’t want to show you yet because she has not seen the images yet and that doesn’t seem right. At least today’s work was more successful than yesterdays!! That is, is will be successful assuming my client and friend likes at least one of them!
These birds are part of the series that I did awhile ago with a very pretty bird picture .. and then I made lots of transformations of it. Have you ever been playing with images and created several images you love, knowing, of course, that you will remember how you did it (ha ha famous last words!!) … Well, I wish I could remember how I did this. (At least I remember which program).
This week I missed the Illustrator Friday challenge … the very first time since I started to participate. Shucks … I meant to get it done. I want to make sure I at least do the 2 Things Challenge this week. I also have 2 other jobs (besides the ones I mentioned above) that I need to get done. And then all the other responsibilities I have taken on. A little too much on overload - but I am delighted to get this puppy into his field!! Thanks for stopping by!
Hi this is brief today - it has been tiring and frustrating with some great parts also - like working with my sister. The was an image I did for the 2 Thing Challenge - right now it is my best seller at Etsy!!
The structure of the paintings (digital) of the last few days are the same. Only the color is different. As you know I love, love to play with color!! It is fascinating to me that these paintings are identical except for the color. To me they each give such a very dissimilar feel … does this engage you also? The last few points have been short so it should be easy to see them fairly close together. I would love to hear your thoughts.
The order for Whole Foods is completed (except for delivery). I always forget how many details there are in producing cards. Prepare the files to print and print them very carefully and let them dry. Then there are 2 cuts on each card - one taking off the vertical excess and one the horizontal excess. After that they need to be folded and packaged up.
But then the other part of being in business is making invoices. I have a program (a database) where I enter all my sales and such. I have a way to print invoices from there. But today it turned out that the invoice would only print 15 on the page. So it took an hour to figure out to change the layout to print 20 on the page. I figured that - so great I have it for the future. But notice all the time this takes.
Then there is one other thing … I am the one who is a vendor with Whole Foods. So that means that I need to make an invoice with both of our cards they bought and then rework the invoice into 2 separate ones for our database. Also Whole Foods asked if I could trade out some of the stock they had for some new cards. That, again, means going through databases to change the invoices to have accurate records. Given all this paper (well, ok computer) work, it is amazing I get anything done!
Today was a work horse and an still is … I am in the midst of printing the order for Whole Foods … you know the drill - the printer works well for quite awhile and then I waste 45 minutes trying to get it back on track. The good news is that it IS back on track. To print our cards borderless and have it work well, I have to print from an old version of Quark - nothing else I have prints as well. And all the files are set up in it. The newer version just doesn’t print borderless as well for me. I have updated drivers and such and it just doesn’t work.
One quirk this old version of Quark has it that it also has to print in an old computer operating system .. the kind that can get into crashing cycles and get a saint frustrated. Don’t worry, I am not saying I am a saint. But things are buzzing along for the moment so I wanted to write you and say HI! I would LOVE to hear how you are!! Thank you for stopping by!
Today was the first day I have been out marketing since I got sick almost 3 months ago. There was a sad job of picking up our work that was on consignment at this fantastic gallery - the Fiber Art Center in Amherst, MA (US). It was a terribly sad task since they are closing. They had performed wonderously for quite a while!! I think the economy tanked them. They had beautiful high end fiber exhibits from all over the world and also wonderful local art. I went only a double handful of times - but I sure was wowed!
I think that unfortunately many small places are being unable to compete due to economy of scale and basically a recession. They had a website that I would have directly you to .. but not much point now. I think this emphasizes why online marketing for artists is so important.
Then we went to our relatively local Whole Foods - they have been a customer for several years. There is a new person running that area but luckily she was still wanting to work with us!! Whew!! It is not a large account, but for us it is large. And it is exciting that she choose some new images that they have not carried before. I am hoping that people will HAVE to have these new images!! Once we got home, I passed out from exhaustion for 3 hours .. clearly I am not bounced back all the way yet!
Followup on yesterday’s copyright issue. In some ways some older work is in public domain, but often estates of heirs of the artists and/or museums still own copyrights. They seem to often be vigorously be pursuing their rights in not allowing online galleries show their work. Some of these places are checking the web to make sure others are not showing these old masters. So that is a slight update on that … but it is CERTAINLY not up to me to do anything about it!! Thank you for coming by!!
