I'm feeling really pissed off by someones reply to one of the art lists regarding people who hold on to rr books (in other words - steal) Strangely enough one of the names mentioned is actually the same woman who held my book for a few months, but eventually she did send it on, so thats neither here nor there and not important right now.
Anyhow, another woman posted about her experience with something she had won on Ebay from a Canadian woman. Two and a half months passed and the Canuck hadn't sent the goods. So the buyer contacted the RCMP in the town where the seller lived and they went to her house and the seller then send her the goods. Well, the American woman is still pissed off because she waited for 3 months for it and did'nt even get an explanation!
Well!!! humphhh!! the nerve of those Canucks!
OK the thing that burns me up is why the hell she had to mention it was a Canadian woman. I was sitting here going "yep, so whats your point?"
If it had of been another American would that little fact be mentioned? No, i dont think so. She certainly wouldnt have said something like "this woman in Nebraska did'nt send the goods. Her location simply wouldnt have been mentioned because it makes no dif in the telling of the story.
So; for her to make a big deal that it was a Canadian was really just crap. I felt like asking her if she had ever heard of the term ugly American I would have liked to tell her to watch Amazing Race because you often see examples of it when Americans go to foreign countries. Its so obvious when someone feels superior; the rude way they talk to taxi drivers, and try to rip off the working poor or openly hold their noses in disgust because the smell is different or theres cows walking around on the streets or whatever. They dont seem to have any empathy for the people in foreign countries(like one woman who actually said "why do they keep on breeding?") that was when the race was in India....ok i digress...
Anyway if you write a letter like that theres always the chance that she could turn around and post it on the group list along with her reply and then i'd be the who was flaming.
Or, like what actually happened to me once was this woman forwarded the email i had sent to her privately to the one whos made herself out to be the queen and head honcho and protector of the misinformed and misguided on the yahoo groups. And then it is SHE who takes it upon herself to write an ugly email back and even though it isnt any of her business and she hasnt even got the bloody facts straight she proceeds to tell me off and let me know shes gonna be watching me to make sure i dont do or say anything else that she dosnt like ever again...ewwwww (scary music).....and tells me shes now my enemy for life...gawd, i'm gonna cry... And to dont bother emailing her back because shes already set her filter to not let anything through from me ....omg!, imagine the head on this woman. I bet she keeps files of peoples and watches and waits for them to mess up in some little way on a group list and then she takes the opportunity to charge you with harassment or something in attempt to have you kicked out of the group! OOOOOi'm soooooo scared. Bitch.
Anyway, so thats why i couldnt take the chance, because i'm scared of her rath, ya right!!! But the shit would start flying (my way of course) and i'd end up looking like the bad guy. C'mon, theres billions of Americans versus a handful of Canadians ok. Anyway i'm just a weak little old lady, sick and not strong enough to fight. But i'll stick up for Oh Canada, My Home And Native Land,true patriot love etc etc. but can't do it on a group list because, hell, i dont even know this woman, dont care about her and furthermore i dont want to get in a big argument with big queen shit of turd island. It might mean i'd end up pissed off enough to unsub from that group and hell, i dont care that much and dont want to go that far over such a stupid thing because after all, i like reading their tips of the day.
So a Canuck took 3 months to send you your pkg - big deal; i bet theres lots of the same story with American sellers who never send pkgs.
In fact i KNOW there is because i myself was ripped off for $25.54 by an American woman who cashed my check but didnt send the goods. Ever! Not 3 months late - NEVER! And Ebays stupid "safe harbor" insurance was $25. deductible!
So now that i'm all riled up i'll just carry on with some of my frustations and if i were to email her i'd also ask her if she knows anything about Canada and i'm betting she'd say yes, its that frozen country below Mexico isnt it? The responses Jay Leno got when he asked average joes on the street were unbelievable.
The average American dosn't know that Canada responded to 9-11 or how! hell, probably nobody cares anyhow but they dont realize that it affected a lot of other countries, not just the U.S. They dont know that we were the first to send military, volunteers, doctors, nurses goods and money for Katrina relief, and they also don't know that our help was held back for several days before we were finally allowed in to help the people of LA. We had to be checked out first to make sure we wern't diseased or something? And here we are their next door neighbor but apparently a lot of Americans dont even know that little bit of geography either. Its fricking annoying because you can ask any grade 3 Canadian kid to name the states and he'll not only be able to name them but tell where they're located too, and thats probably more than an American kid can. Ask any American to name 3 Canadian provinces and he hasnt even got a clue what the hell the question means.
Canadians know all about the U.S. yet they know next to nothing about us, even though we are important to them in many ways. Will we ever get used to your superiority? Some can laugh but others get bitter, along with alot of people in a lot of other countries. It just riles me up that that woman felt it necessary to let everyone know that it was a Canadian who kept her pkg for 3 months. Maybe her point was to warn everyone against buying from Canucks. I dunno, i can't figure people like that but i can say anything i want here and if you dont like it get your own blog and you can rant about me or Canada or anything you want too.
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Is this a riot or what
The strange grey marks in my previous post are supposed to be "blockquotes"
I'll figure out how to do it eventually by trying different things. I'm such a dunce.
And of course with MY memory theres a good chance i'll make the same blunders over and over. Heres my next attempt:
goodnight
I'll figure out how to do it eventually by trying different things. I'm such a dunce.
And of course with MY memory theres a good chance i'll make the same blunders over and over. Heres my next attempt:
goodnight
Every child is an artist
The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up. Picasso
One way an adult can make a child feel like hes not an artist is by asking him "what is that supposed to be?"
please dont ever do that to a kid. or anyone for that matter. Give compliments, don't ask questions. And please dont ever criticise or "correct" anyone in their art .
I remember so well a picture i made in the first grade. We were to make a picture that made us feel good. I made a winters night scene of my sister and i sleigh riding. I could feel the bite of the crisp night air and see the snow bumblies that had grown all over our snowsuits and mittens. You could see your breath thick in the air as we pretended we were smoking. The sky was black, the air so fresh and the world was beautiful and bright and clear. The stars were a beautiful sapphire blue....i had captured the memory perfectly.
But then the teacher was there beside my desk frowning and she seemed mad at me about something, but i didnt know what. She asked me what color was my dress, and what color is this and that. Then she said "take your picture to the principal!"
All the way down that long long hall to the principals office i remember my confusion. I was fearing getting the strap but also wondering if maybe it was something good. Maybe my picture was really really good and he needed to know that an exceptionally wonderful artist attended his school, and i'd be famous and make my family proud. Maybe i was even going to get a prize!
He went over the same questions with me, asking me to name the colors of things.
Once he was satisfied that i did indeed know all the colors he shouted "STARS ARE YELLOW, NOT BLUE!!! I mumbled "oh, i didnt know that; i thought they were white but i didn't have a white crayon" But all the while my mind was racing thinking
"no..... they're not yellow, and they're not white either; they're blue"
He then took my picture, scrumbled it up and threw it in the garbage can. Needless to say from that time on i always made my stars yellow just like the rest of the kids even though they still look like twinkling blue diamonds to me.
All people are artists, all artistic in various different ways and their pictures or sculpures, quilts ,oil paintings or whatever cannot and should not be compared to each other. Nobody sees things in the same way. And yet, right now i'm wondering and questioning myself whether the art i've become accustomed to making really is art and dosnt even fit into the discription of what art actually really is and what i'm talking about here.
I don't draw, i don't paint, dont take photographs, sew or make sculptures of clay jewelry or any other creative arts. All i've been doing is cutting out clip art or images that somebody else has photographed. I glue them down onto a base, a page or a card. That base might consist of purchased decorative paper,tissue paper,fabric, wallpaper, or whatever that somebody else made. It dosnt matter because its not the focal point; its just something other than a plain white background. I may then add clipped out words that somebody else said, rubber stamping or some odd or end or mass produced embellishment that i purchased. But none of it is what could be considered my own personal making, other than the fact that i probably put it all together in a different way than anyone else would have if given the same supplies. Or maybe by using a combination of images that nobody else would have chosen; the operative word here being
One way an adult can make a child feel like hes not an artist is by asking him "what is that supposed to be?"
please dont ever do that to a kid. or anyone for that matter. Give compliments, don't ask questions. And please dont ever criticise or "correct" anyone in their art .
I remember so well a picture i made in the first grade. We were to make a picture that made us feel good. I made a winters night scene of my sister and i sleigh riding. I could feel the bite of the crisp night air and see the snow bumblies that had grown all over our snowsuits and mittens. You could see your breath thick in the air as we pretended we were smoking. The sky was black, the air so fresh and the world was beautiful and bright and clear. The stars were a beautiful sapphire blue....i had captured the memory perfectly.
But then the teacher was there beside my desk frowning and she seemed mad at me about something, but i didnt know what. She asked me what color was my dress, and what color is this and that. Then she said "take your picture to the principal!"
All the way down that long long hall to the principals office i remember my confusion. I was fearing getting the strap but also wondering if maybe it was something good. Maybe my picture was really really good and he needed to know that an exceptionally wonderful artist attended his school, and i'd be famous and make my family proud. Maybe i was even going to get a prize!
He went over the same questions with me, asking me to name the colors of things.
Once he was satisfied that i did indeed know all the colors he shouted "STARS ARE YELLOW, NOT BLUE!!! I mumbled "oh, i didnt know that; i thought they were white but i didn't have a white crayon" But all the while my mind was racing thinking
"no..... they're not yellow, and they're not white either; they're blue"
He then took my picture, scrumbled it up and threw it in the garbage can. Needless to say from that time on i always made my stars yellow just like the rest of the kids even though they still look like twinkling blue diamonds to me.
All people are artists, all artistic in various different ways and their pictures or sculpures, quilts ,oil paintings or whatever cannot and should not be compared to each other. Nobody sees things in the same way. And yet, right now i'm wondering and questioning myself whether the art i've become accustomed to making really is art and dosnt even fit into the discription of what art actually really is and what i'm talking about here.
I don't draw, i don't paint, dont take photographs, sew or make sculptures of clay jewelry or any other creative arts. All i've been doing is cutting out clip art or images that somebody else has photographed. I glue them down onto a base, a page or a card. That base might consist of purchased decorative paper,tissue paper,fabric, wallpaper, or whatever that somebody else made. It dosnt matter because its not the focal point; its just something other than a plain white background. I may then add clipped out words that somebody else said, rubber stamping or some odd or end or mass produced embellishment that i purchased. But none of it is what could be considered my own personal making, other than the fact that i probably put it all together in a different way than anyone else would have if given the same supplies. Or maybe by using a combination of images that nobody else would have chosen; the operative word here being
usingI'm feeling frustrated that my art isnt true; dosnt have any of me in it unlike my first grade picture of a memory of a winter evening which was the true and real me. And i dont know where to go from here. Am i an artist or not?
Monday, October 31, 2005
Whadda boring Halloween night
I've moping in my room feeling sorry for myself all day. DH is tending the door and passing out the treats because i dont feel like putting on my bra or combing my hair or traipsing up and down the stairs 50 million times. Hes much better at it than i am anyhow; he's friendlier and he knows how to ration out the treats better than me. I have a tendency to give the littlest the most. I sorted out the stuff earlier and brought half of the Coffee Crisps and KitKats with me so i'm having my own little party in here alone.
The trick or treaters trickled down to very few by 8pm; guess the big kids in the neighborhood got too big and theres just the little ones left now. Funny how that scenerio changes from year to year. The little monsters came in great abundance starting at the legal starting time, 6pm. We just "fell back" yesterday for daylight savings time and it seems like its been dark all bloody day long. Its always hard to adjust to and i dont think its even necessary.
One of my dd's carved the pumpkins for us again this year.
The white ladies
I forget how to add my description at the same time as adding the pics. I'm still confused as to what to add first so lets just live with this ok.
I had made Elusive Dreams for a challenge project on the abab list - it was to show the use of lace in a piece. Its a tip-in for an ab, and the opposite side of the spread is also predominately white with bits torn from an old love letter. In part it reads - "i enjoyed my date with you" and let me know if i can see you again" and another torn section reads "dont tell Wilber i saw you or that i wrote to you"
I believe this is a genuine WW2 love letter. I imagined that Wilbur is either the jilted boyfriend, maybe even the writers brother!
When i happened upon Somerset Studios call for art for their white issue for Jan-Feb. 2006 i tore this page out of my ab to send in. Then i decided to make another similar one and send in a pair. It was so much fun i ended up making four. I tried making the whites each a different tone; one beigeish, one blue, one pink and one yellowish. This was definitely a challenge because just how far can you go with color yet still keep it white? Well, actually, i know other artists might not worry about it and will add lots of color and still call it white. But i can't.
I've heard that some submissions have been turned down and have already been returned to the artists but i havent received these back yet! Maybe thats good or maybe they'll be back soon, who knows. Dosnt really matter, unless they're lost in the mail. I enjoyed making them and they're some of my favorite pieces.
I had made Elusive Dreams for a challenge project on the abab list - it was to show the use of lace in a piece. Its a tip-in for an ab, and the opposite side of the spread is also predominately white with bits torn from an old love letter. In part it reads - "i enjoyed my date with you" and let me know if i can see you again" and another torn section reads "dont tell Wilber i saw you or that i wrote to you"
I believe this is a genuine WW2 love letter. I imagined that Wilbur is either the jilted boyfriend, maybe even the writers brother!
When i happened upon Somerset Studios call for art for their white issue for Jan-Feb. 2006 i tore this page out of my ab to send in. Then i decided to make another similar one and send in a pair. It was so much fun i ended up making four. I tried making the whites each a different tone; one beigeish, one blue, one pink and one yellowish. This was definitely a challenge because just how far can you go with color yet still keep it white? Well, actually, i know other artists might not worry about it and will add lots of color and still call it white. But i can't.
I've heard that some submissions have been turned down and have already been returned to the artists but i havent received these back yet! Maybe thats good or maybe they'll be back soon, who knows. Dosnt really matter, unless they're lost in the mail. I enjoyed making them and they're some of my favorite pieces.
Sunday, October 30, 2005
100 things about me
I am woman, wife, mother, grandma, sister, aunt, friend, artist
My roots are Metis (dad) and Swedish (mom)
Grade 8 education
Been married to the same guy 46 years
Married when i was 15
Had twin girls at 16
Had a son at 17
Became a grandma at 32
Cancer survivor - not once, not twice, but thrice.
Throat cancer at 18, again at 19 and cervical cancer at 41
i'm a dabbler who likes to try everything but i master none.
i like to art with paint,collage,fabric,wax,altered books,flowers,atc's,lfb's,
I like to create things out of bits + pieces, odds and ends.
I've had a few pcs published in Somerset Studio
I want to learn to do digital art
Photoshop is driving me crazy.
Fav. flowers - the simple ones; single petalled like daisies,especially wild ones
I bite my nails, i have cellulite and wide feet
I hate parsnips, the smell of gasoline, mornings, the word "vomit" and Tom Cruise
Love the fragrances of carnation, rose,
Fav. perfume Maui Rain
Fav.sandwich- Arbies turkey and swiss
color - blues, pastels, jewel tones, metallics
books - Imperial Woman, The Good Earth, The Mother, (anything by Pearl S. Buck)
Catherine Cookson; Stephen King; Jacqueline Suzanne; Ira Levin
singer - (1) Elvis (2) Roy 0rbison (3)Elton John (4) Celine Dion
song - (1) Kentucky Rain (2) The One
tv shows - 6' Under, Greys Anatomy, Lost, Sopranos, Dog the Bounty Hunter,Survivor, Amazing Race, Apprentice
Movie - Monster
last one seen - Flightplan; i'd rate it a 5 out of 10
movie star male - George Clooney
" female - Charlize Theron
The fuzz on peaches gives me the creeps
Fav. fruit - peaches and heritage apples
Blended iced drinks- Tim Hortons iced cap and Starbucks caramel frappacino, yummm!
Fav. drink - Diet Coke
I have 8 piercings and a toe ring
Pro choice
politics - NDP
Food - rice, turkey with cranberry sauce, sushi, seafood, Chinese, chocolate
Have a Siamese cat
I love cats, dogs, elephants, whales, dolphins, fish, dragonflies
I'm a Pisces and a monkey
Fav numbers - 2, 22
Failed my DL test a couple times.....well,maybe it was three times who cares?
I have the auto-immune disease primary biliary cirrhosis and osteo-arthritis
Thats why my hobby changed from gardener to the paper arts.
I require 10 hours of sleep a night or more.
I've been to China twice,Hong Kong,England,The Bahamas, 3 states in Mexico,6 of the Hawaiian islands,the states of WA, OR, NV, CA, AZ, Idaho, the provinces of B.C., Alberta and Ontario
Fav. place to visit in China - the Summer Palace in Beijing
Fav place to take off to and will go in a heartbeat - (1)Las Vegas (2) Maui
Places i'm dying to go to - Memphis, Nashville, New York, Paris
I have curly blond hair. Well, ok. its naturally brown and straight
Blue eyes but willing to change
I have contacts in green, violet and brown.
All my grandparents were dead before i was 7 yrs old.
My parents died before i was 30
A sister died at 52,when i was 50.
I used to be a clean neat freak
I'm now a messy slob
I am a night owl
I swam with dolphins and held one in my arms
Rode a bike down a 10,000 ft. volcano (38 miles)
Helicoptered into a keyhole on a windy day
Snuba dived 20' under for 30 minutes
I petted an octopus
I'm the only one in my immediate family who isnt an alcoholic.
I have a serious addiction - slot machine - black rhino
Not really afraid of anything. Well, maybe heights, just a little.
I wear comfy shoes and old lady lingerie
Rarely have a steak but if i do its never rarely done.
I served on the jury of a murder trial (guilty as hell)
I dont like Christmas much anymore
I look awful in red but recently bought an expensive red coat
I once stepped on a nest and was stung by bees a few hundred times
I'm a two finger typist
Fell out of a moving car at age 7 - broken leg and HEAD injuries, but you knew that!
My roots are Metis (dad) and Swedish (mom)
Grade 8 education
Been married to the same guy 46 years
Married when i was 15
Had twin girls at 16
Had a son at 17
Became a grandma at 32
Cancer survivor - not once, not twice, but thrice.
Throat cancer at 18, again at 19 and cervical cancer at 41
i'm a dabbler who likes to try everything but i master none.
i like to art with paint,collage,fabric,wax,altered books,flowers,atc's,lfb's,
I like to create things out of bits + pieces, odds and ends.
I've had a few pcs published in Somerset Studio
I want to learn to do digital art
Photoshop is driving me crazy.
Fav. flowers - the simple ones; single petalled like daisies,especially wild ones
I bite my nails, i have cellulite and wide feet
I hate parsnips, the smell of gasoline, mornings, the word "vomit" and Tom Cruise
Love the fragrances of carnation, rose,
Fav. perfume Maui Rain
Fav.sandwich- Arbies turkey and swiss
color - blues, pastels, jewel tones, metallics
books - Imperial Woman, The Good Earth, The Mother, (anything by Pearl S. Buck)
Catherine Cookson; Stephen King; Jacqueline Suzanne; Ira Levin
singer - (1) Elvis (2) Roy 0rbison (3)Elton John (4) Celine Dion
song - (1) Kentucky Rain (2) The One
tv shows - 6' Under, Greys Anatomy, Lost, Sopranos, Dog the Bounty Hunter,Survivor, Amazing Race, Apprentice
Movie - Monster
last one seen - Flightplan; i'd rate it a 5 out of 10
movie star male - George Clooney
" female - Charlize Theron
The fuzz on peaches gives me the creeps
Fav. fruit - peaches and heritage apples
Blended iced drinks- Tim Hortons iced cap and Starbucks caramel frappacino, yummm!
Fav. drink - Diet Coke
I have 8 piercings and a toe ring
Pro choice
politics - NDP
Food - rice, turkey with cranberry sauce, sushi, seafood, Chinese, chocolate
Have a Siamese cat
I love cats, dogs, elephants, whales, dolphins, fish, dragonflies
I'm a Pisces and a monkey
Fav numbers - 2, 22
Failed my DL test a couple times.....well,maybe it was three times who cares?
I have the auto-immune disease primary biliary cirrhosis and osteo-arthritis
Thats why my hobby changed from gardener to the paper arts.
I require 10 hours of sleep a night or more.
I've been to China twice,Hong Kong,England,The Bahamas, 3 states in Mexico,6 of the Hawaiian islands,the states of WA, OR, NV, CA, AZ, Idaho, the provinces of B.C., Alberta and Ontario
Fav. place to visit in China - the Summer Palace in Beijing
Fav place to take off to and will go in a heartbeat - (1)Las Vegas (2) Maui
Places i'm dying to go to - Memphis, Nashville, New York, Paris
I have curly blond hair. Well, ok. its naturally brown and straight
Blue eyes but willing to change
I have contacts in green, violet and brown.
All my grandparents were dead before i was 7 yrs old.
My parents died before i was 30
A sister died at 52,when i was 50.
I used to be a clean neat freak
I'm now a messy slob
I am a night owl
I swam with dolphins and held one in my arms
Rode a bike down a 10,000 ft. volcano (38 miles)
Helicoptered into a keyhole on a windy day
Snuba dived 20' under for 30 minutes
I petted an octopus
I'm the only one in my immediate family who isnt an alcoholic.
I have a serious addiction - slot machine - black rhino
Not really afraid of anything. Well, maybe heights, just a little.
I wear comfy shoes and old lady lingerie
Rarely have a steak but if i do its never rarely done.
I served on the jury of a murder trial (guilty as hell)
I dont like Christmas much anymore
I look awful in red but recently bought an expensive red coat
I once stepped on a nest and was stung by bees a few hundred times
I'm a two finger typist
Fell out of a moving car at age 7 - broken leg and HEAD injuries, but you knew that!
Friday, October 28, 2005
R.R. bitching
I feel sad about the way rr books go around sometimes at great cost to the participants both monetarily and for the stress and worry that some people go though knowing that their book might get lost in the mail. Or worse - be stolen along the way by a participant......yes, that seems to happen alot these days, usually due to the hostess being too trusting; not getting enough info from the people who sign up; often not even asking for their phone number. But the art thats done in them sometimes dosnt reflect much thought or quality or even enough quantity to really make all this effort and cost worth while if it does make it home.
There often just isnt enough done in them! In this case even more pages consisting of very little would be preferable to one measly page of very little.
One interesting page or hopefully a well done dbl page spread is all anybody expects from each participant but they often don't get it. If this sounds snobbish then so be it but the effort and womanpower that goes into keeping an rr moving and on track should at least be justified by the artwork presented. Some people are just not trying very hard.
I've been in rr's and have seen art where the theme isnt even addressed, pages not signed and worst of all shoddy workmanship with things falling off that wern't glued on properly. The book might arrive home to the owner with 3/4 or more of the pages untouched - what a disappointment! And yet the total cost of all the mailings done in a typical rr might be in excess of $100!!!
I think that artists should take this into consideration and try harder - produce something they can feel proud of; something worth more than the price of all those mailings. Is the purpose merely to make the U.S. post rich? I'd feel embarrassed to do a 5 minute page, call it art then send it on to the next person at a cost of maybe $12.00 or more. Do these artists really think their art was important enough to be worthy of the price that it cost them to mail it?
Let me make it clear that i'm certainly not the worlds best artist, far from it. I'm talking about the otherwise nice decent and artistically creative people who could do a worthy and presentable job but they don't.
And of course this dosnt mean that i think everybody is turning out crap. Theres lots of really awesome art done by rr participants. Newbies usually turn out wonderful pages. Its the ones who've been around and should know better who have all the excuses in the world - life got in their way....work, kids,etc. I'm talking about those who go into rr's with this intention right from the get-go - produce little but expect lots in return. Now, i know nobody would ever fess up to that but it sure appears thats exactly whats going on. This and the fact that they sign up for every project on every art list so thats how they have to operate to get them all done and sent off.
Then theres the ones who select 40 lb books to use.....dont even want to go there! Neither will i mention those first in the mailing line-up who glue enormous marbles, rocks, tires, watermelons or whatever in the middle of the book leaving the 10 remaining artists tearing their hair out trying to work over those lumps. And then each one along the line pays big bucks for the privilege of forwarding that most important and necessary big heavy blob.
Ok now that i've had my say remember this is my blog and i can say whatever i want on it and if you dont like it then dont read it.
There often just isnt enough done in them! In this case even more pages consisting of very little would be preferable to one measly page of very little.
One interesting page or hopefully a well done dbl page spread is all anybody expects from each participant but they often don't get it. If this sounds snobbish then so be it but the effort and womanpower that goes into keeping an rr moving and on track should at least be justified by the artwork presented. Some people are just not trying very hard.
I've been in rr's and have seen art where the theme isnt even addressed, pages not signed and worst of all shoddy workmanship with things falling off that wern't glued on properly. The book might arrive home to the owner with 3/4 or more of the pages untouched - what a disappointment! And yet the total cost of all the mailings done in a typical rr might be in excess of $100!!!
I think that artists should take this into consideration and try harder - produce something they can feel proud of; something worth more than the price of all those mailings. Is the purpose merely to make the U.S. post rich? I'd feel embarrassed to do a 5 minute page, call it art then send it on to the next person at a cost of maybe $12.00 or more. Do these artists really think their art was important enough to be worthy of the price that it cost them to mail it?
Let me make it clear that i'm certainly not the worlds best artist, far from it. I'm talking about the otherwise nice decent and artistically creative people who could do a worthy and presentable job but they don't.
And of course this dosnt mean that i think everybody is turning out crap. Theres lots of really awesome art done by rr participants. Newbies usually turn out wonderful pages. Its the ones who've been around and should know better who have all the excuses in the world - life got in their way....work, kids,etc. I'm talking about those who go into rr's with this intention right from the get-go - produce little but expect lots in return. Now, i know nobody would ever fess up to that but it sure appears thats exactly whats going on. This and the fact that they sign up for every project on every art list so thats how they have to operate to get them all done and sent off.
Then theres the ones who select 40 lb books to use.....dont even want to go there! Neither will i mention those first in the mailing line-up who glue enormous marbles, rocks, tires, watermelons or whatever in the middle of the book leaving the 10 remaining artists tearing their hair out trying to work over those lumps. And then each one along the line pays big bucks for the privilege of forwarding that most important and necessary big heavy blob.
Ok now that i've had my say remember this is my blog and i can say whatever i want on it and if you dont like it then dont read it.
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Metal man, boogie man and scared women
The faces can be raised on their hinges to see screaming and scared ladies beneath.
Not so scary haunted house
Found this house on a kids site and wanted to use it because it had great windows that could be opened to reveal faces. A big eye greets you when you open the door.
Triangle pages
The left side triangle paper is the shaving cream technique. Window with paper mesh and foil surround. Zettiology stamp images and a faux metal tile.
Another set of cut pages
I placed plain paper behind the windows just for the scan to make for less complicated viewing.
The left side page background is gift wrap paper with gesso brushed on. The right side is a painted paper towel. I use super 77 spray adhesive to adhere paper onto book pages because it drys fast, dosn't warp and stays attached.
Monday, October 24, 2005
Creations from last week
"Happiness is the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort"
this is the last page i did in this book in my quest to use up some old technique papers. As usual i found that once an interesting background paper is glued down, the ideas follow. Its a good way to start on a spread when the creative muse has flown the coop and this usually does it for me.
This paper is a couple years old and sort of crisp now but its got a nice pattern and i wish i could remember how i made it. This happens a lot and most of my stack of technique papers are puzzlers. I really have to put the ingredients and technique on the backs of the papers i make, just in case one turns out good and i want to make more like it. But its hard to do because its just playing and trying stuff and then the paper is wet then set aside to dry and you move on to something different. The next day theres a vast array of background papers all over the place and who knows what paint or ink or whatever went into any particular one. I'll have to remember to keep a post-it pad handy, jot down the info and place by each one then attach them to the backs when dry. This paper is oddly rough to the touch, a very dull matte and with odd colors that splayed and blended from some obviously very wet technique.
The little winged kids are Claudine Helmuth rubber and the lady is from a collage sheet. Her Vitamin C skirt is from an extra page removed from the book, colored with Tombow markers and embossed with holographic powder. Ankles, tattoo and shoes are compliments of Nicole Richie via The Star. Isn't it funny how you can tell they're hers? God i hope mine arn't recognizable as being mine - they're really ugly!
My original intention for using some of my stash of technique papers was to simply adhere them to a few triangular or half pages. I had already finished the more involved two page haunted house spread so i thought something simple like this might work ok as a different or unique addition. This book needed more. I had actually thought about doing something like this for a long time. Since there were lots of pages remaining in this book it was my opportunity to see if it would be a good way to show off different technique papers ;) lol, i knew it would!
Once i cut the pages and covered them with odds and ends of my papers i thought i'd use some punches to have parts showing through from one to another. Good idea but then the idea to put mesh or screening in some of these windows also hit and it was a little late to do it in proper order. I had to pick apart the already glued places between the pages to insert the screens in order to have the edges hidden.
A lesson learned is to plan where to place windows and what they would be for.....quotes or words, faces or something because a plain window with nothing behind it is quite boring, even with a different nice paper showing; its not enough. The other windows i had left blank didnt bother me but this page with seven holes in it looked unfinished. I went to http://www.thequotegarden.com and found a quote i liked; fit it into six of the square windows and covered the seventh one which was a little star with the bottle cap lady. It was too small for a word anyhow.
Saturday, October 22, 2005
I was lost but now i'm found
It took a while to figure out how to add on to my blog and i'm still fumbling along. I find things like this complicated because they always overlook telling the most simple basic stuff - the how to actually put their info into motion kind of stuff.
If you check out "help" and its full of wayyyyy advanced features but no info on how to make your next blog entry. Or if there IS info, well, they dont tell you how to actually do it. For example - how to make BOLD or ITALICS or or BLOCKQUOTE (what the hell does it even mean? If its simply to add a quote - well whats the big deal calling it some fancy name - BLOCKQUOTE? Just to confuse me? QUOTE woulda been fine.
SPELLCHECK? well, i guess you click on it and it'll correct your spelling for you? right? Nooooo, not exactly because i tried and its not that easy. They put all this stuff there for you to see but they dont say HOW to actually do it. They want to make it hard for you so you'll appreciate them more.
The italics one especially pissed me off big time because i did everything plausibly possible....hit it before you want it; after you want it; highlight what you want italicised....nope,nothing happens. ok i know its a joke, they're just messing with my mind by not mentioning that you have to also hit F 123 first then abcd and add // and ctrl and shift at the same time that you're typing the word. Or is it just a sick plot to drive me nuts? Well, it did and it does so - problem solved by just not messing with it anymore. So dont go reading expecting to see italics and blockquotes and the like. Figur out ma spelink as wel ok; not going to go there because you never know if you're going to lose all you've done and it does happen, i know. Thats why i'm so bitter.
In the same vein when i think of all the billions of people who've figured out how to sell stuff on Ebay it makes me sick when i realize i'll NEVER be able to do it even though i've got literally TONS of good stuff to sell!!! I mean where the hell does one begin? How do y'all learn this stuff? Were y'all born that way, and i wasn't?
Ditto with Photoshop. Its not as if i havent tried hard enough. Really, its important to me so i've tried a million times. A huge chunk of my life has been invested in trying to do something with this program. No, i'm not talking about any fancy amazing tricks. Just some simple little how to do's with step by step instructions to change something in an image, just any little ol' thing like the color or texture or whatever. Theres no such info available as far as i can see.
You have to ALREADY know how to do a lot of other moves before you can even start! Like for example heres step one in a "beginner" tutorial to change the background in a picture...."first get rid of existing background" Thats it. Thats the first thing you have to do. uhhh OK....and just how does one do that? i dont know and it dosnt tell you. It assumes you already know. Well, i don't, do you? So you try everything you do know like highlighting and hit delete but nothing happens. It would make me laugh if it didn't make me cry.
It makes me feel bad and real sorry for my stupit self. Like; i'm thinking i must be smart enough to even WANT to do stuff like this. And i've been willing to spend hours trying to sort out what they're saying in the beginner tutorials but they leave too much out. I betcha i've spent more hours than anyone else on earth trying to learn Photoshop, all with very little to show for it. Well, i have to bitch whine and cry and complain, because i'm like my mother so says my dh. And if i didnt that would mean i understand it all!
At least i know i'm smart enough to not want to learn algebra, or football or french!
OK enuff already, its depressing and then i have to live with the red swollen eyes from crying so much. But i'm just being honest,laying myself out on the line; for what purpose i dunno. I guess i'm just wishing that somebody would understand what i mean, pat me gently on the shoulder and say its the same way for them. That would make me feel so much better, to know i'm not alone. But it'll never happen because i already know theres nobody who will admit their shortcomings or say that they don't get it either. I'M THE ONLY ONE ON EARTH!
What most people will do is say "ok, lets try this, lets figure it out; I"LL SHOW YOU!" they proudly pronouce, then they expect you to sit there and watch them eagerly while they fumble their way around trying to figure out what they havent got a clue about either, all the while pretending they're smarter than you and they'll secretly figure it out as they go but of course never letting you know that or admitting that they dont know diddly squat.
A couple hours later you're no further ahead; in fact you're worse off and now you're pissed off and you've got a doozy of a throbbing headache that you're keeping a secret from them and you resent this A-hole of a person for wasting your time, making you think that THEY"LL be able to figure it out and show you and now YOU OWE THEM A BIG FAVOR BECAUSE THEY SPENT SO MUCH TRYING TO HELP YOU! Thats when i realize that i hate them for letting them do this to me, making me a worse pipsqueek and more gullible and insecure than i already am. Most people are so damn egotistical its unbelievable. NOT ONLY THAT BUT ITS AT THIS POINT THAT I FEEL LIKE I DONT CARE ABOUT LEARNING STUPID #&^%@#*PHOTOSHOP OR *&^%$#@ WHATEVER. But of course i meekly and mildly sweetly purr and say awww thats ok, thank you ever so much for trying, and now "what can i do for you?"......Babysit your 4 little boys for a few hours on Sat?...... ohhhhhhh ok.... sure.
If you check out "help" and its full of wayyyyy advanced features but no info on how to make your next blog entry. Or if there IS info, well, they dont tell you how to actually do it. For example - how to make BOLD or ITALICS or or BLOCKQUOTE (what the hell does it even mean? If its simply to add a quote - well whats the big deal calling it some fancy name - BLOCKQUOTE? Just to confuse me? QUOTE woulda been fine.
SPELLCHECK? well, i guess you click on it and it'll correct your spelling for you? right? Nooooo, not exactly because i tried and its not that easy. They put all this stuff there for you to see but they dont say HOW to actually do it. They want to make it hard for you so you'll appreciate them more.
The italics one especially pissed me off big time because i did everything plausibly possible....hit it before you want it; after you want it; highlight what you want italicised....nope,nothing happens. ok i know its a joke, they're just messing with my mind by not mentioning that you have to also hit F 123 first then abcd and add // and ctrl and shift at the same time that you're typing the word. Or is it just a sick plot to drive me nuts? Well, it did and it does so - problem solved by just not messing with it anymore. So dont go reading expecting to see italics and blockquotes and the like. Figur out ma spelink as wel ok; not going to go there because you never know if you're going to lose all you've done and it does happen, i know. Thats why i'm so bitter.
In the same vein when i think of all the billions of people who've figured out how to sell stuff on Ebay it makes me sick when i realize i'll NEVER be able to do it even though i've got literally TONS of good stuff to sell!!! I mean where the hell does one begin? How do y'all learn this stuff? Were y'all born that way, and i wasn't?
Ditto with Photoshop. Its not as if i havent tried hard enough. Really, its important to me so i've tried a million times. A huge chunk of my life has been invested in trying to do something with this program. No, i'm not talking about any fancy amazing tricks. Just some simple little how to do's with step by step instructions to change something in an image, just any little ol' thing like the color or texture or whatever. Theres no such info available as far as i can see.
You have to ALREADY know how to do a lot of other moves before you can even start! Like for example heres step one in a "beginner" tutorial to change the background in a picture...."first get rid of existing background" Thats it. Thats the first thing you have to do. uhhh OK....and just how does one do that? i dont know and it dosnt tell you. It assumes you already know. Well, i don't, do you? So you try everything you do know like highlighting and hit delete but nothing happens. It would make me laugh if it didn't make me cry.
It makes me feel bad and real sorry for my stupit self. Like; i'm thinking i must be smart enough to even WANT to do stuff like this. And i've been willing to spend hours trying to sort out what they're saying in the beginner tutorials but they leave too much out. I betcha i've spent more hours than anyone else on earth trying to learn Photoshop, all with very little to show for it. Well, i have to bitch whine and cry and complain, because i'm like my mother so says my dh. And if i didnt that would mean i understand it all!
At least i know i'm smart enough to not want to learn algebra, or football or french!
OK enuff already, its depressing and then i have to live with the red swollen eyes from crying so much. But i'm just being honest,laying myself out on the line; for what purpose i dunno. I guess i'm just wishing that somebody would understand what i mean, pat me gently on the shoulder and say its the same way for them. That would make me feel so much better, to know i'm not alone. But it'll never happen because i already know theres nobody who will admit their shortcomings or say that they don't get it either. I'M THE ONLY ONE ON EARTH!
What most people will do is say "ok, lets try this, lets figure it out; I"LL SHOW YOU!" they proudly pronouce, then they expect you to sit there and watch them eagerly while they fumble their way around trying to figure out what they havent got a clue about either, all the while pretending they're smarter than you and they'll secretly figure it out as they go but of course never letting you know that or admitting that they dont know diddly squat.
A couple hours later you're no further ahead; in fact you're worse off and now you're pissed off and you've got a doozy of a throbbing headache that you're keeping a secret from them and you resent this A-hole of a person for wasting your time, making you think that THEY"LL be able to figure it out and show you and now YOU OWE THEM A BIG FAVOR BECAUSE THEY SPENT SO MUCH TRYING TO HELP YOU! Thats when i realize that i hate them for letting them do this to me, making me a worse pipsqueek and more gullible and insecure than i already am. Most people are so damn egotistical its unbelievable. NOT ONLY THAT BUT ITS AT THIS POINT THAT I FEEL LIKE I DONT CARE ABOUT LEARNING STUPID #&^%@#*PHOTOSHOP OR *&^%$#@ WHATEVER. But of course i meekly and mildly sweetly purr and say awww thats ok, thank you ever so much for trying, and now "what can i do for you?"......Babysit your 4 little boys for a few hours on Sat?...... ohhhhhhh ok.... sure.
Blue daze in October
Who would'a thunk it...
Me with a blog. Not sure if this is gonna work out, how much time it takes to keep it up or if i'll have enough to say to make it worthwhile. I've read a few blogs and i like seeing the pictures posted but alas! Just as i'm the last blogger on earth i'm also the last one standing without a digital camera.
But ok. I can talk, i can type and i can scan so here goes.
Curiosity is killing this cat so i'm already leaving to go see if i'm doing this right and to see what it looks like. I hope i can find my way back!
Me with a blog. Not sure if this is gonna work out, how much time it takes to keep it up or if i'll have enough to say to make it worthwhile. I've read a few blogs and i like seeing the pictures posted but alas! Just as i'm the last blogger on earth i'm also the last one standing without a digital camera.
But ok. I can talk, i can type and i can scan so here goes.
Curiosity is killing this cat so i'm already leaving to go see if i'm doing this right and to see what it looks like. I hope i can find my way back!
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