since i joined Red Bubble i have noticed there is a large amount of nudity on here, this in its self dosnt bother me as artistic nudity i…
since i joined Red Bubble i have noticed there is a large amount of nudity on here, this in its self dosnt bother me as artistic nudity is something to be appreciated, however i have also noticed there is some of it that i struggle to see the beauty in… for example link has become quite popular on Red Bubble but each time i see it in the gallery i find it incredibly distasteful… now before anyone gets narky, im not saying that the artist is a bad artist or that this is necisarily a bad peice of art, im simply saying that to me it seems incredibly unattractive, however on the other hand there are images such as link, link and link that i feel have used nudity in its correct artistic way. I dont know what you all think on this matter, but feel free to chuck ur comments and oppinions this way, ill be happy to listen!
I’m a big fan of collaborations. They inspire, motivate and challenge me and push me to do things differently and break old habits. They’re also great fun and I get to meet people who I’d otherwise have never known. Most recently, Helen McLean and I have completed two photo shoots together with several other ideas in the works. And while it is a lot of fun, it’s also a lot of hard work. I thought I’d share with you all, the process we undertook for our most recent shoot. Thinking Up An Idea / Sounds easy but not necessarily! We both have a love of 1950s Pin Up art and knew that we wanted to somehow emulate it. After our previous shoot using Hosier Lane in Melbourne, known for its graffiti, we wanted to maintain the use of unusual locations. The specifics were somewhat in the air when we decided to go home and think up something awesome to do. Research / With a vague idea of what we were hoping to achieve I started scouring Op Shops and Costume Hire stores. I did so many google image searches and flicked through so many old magazines that my fingers hurt. The aim of the game was to find something to inspire the shoot. It happened that I stumbled across an authentic powder blue maid’s dress and the wheels started turning in my head. The emails back and forth between Helen and I escalated as we nutted out the exact look we wanted and how we were going to make it work. Sourcing Everything / This is my favourite bit (how do I make this a full time job I wonder?). We started to hunt down particular costumes, props, equipment and locations. Where can I get blue hair rollers? Can I get 1950s ones? Who do I know that would have an upright Hoover? How are we going to light the shoot? When do I have time to drive all over the place looking for locations? Do we need special permission to shoot where we want? How do I attach blue fluff to my shoes? Helen even got out the sewing machine and made a matching apron and headscarf especially for the shoot! All this time consuming and fiddly work ensures everything runs smoothly on the day. Logistics / For this shoot I had to drive out to Bacchus Marsh to pick up two Hoovers. Helen drove out to Ivanhoe to collect some studio lights. And I had to pick up the blue dress I was hiring prior to the shoot. We decided that having a hairdresser put all the rollers in my hair would save time so that had to happen first thing in the morning. The car had to be packed right to keep everything secure. Lists were required to ensure nothing was forgotten at home. With only x amount of time and energy to pull off the shoot we had to ensure things were well organised. Shooting on Location / Always my favourite way to shoot but it has it’s own set of challenges. Our method of collaborating is to take turns photographing each other. That results in two oddly dressed women out and about in public. (Boy we got some odd looks when we took half an hour for lunch!) People interrupt, the light changes, people park 1990s cars in the background of your 1950s shoot… bringing along some spontaneity is a must to adapt to the circumstances at hand. And not being shy helps too! Scouting out locations prior to the shoot becomes very valuable when wanting to capture the best light and avoid the crowds. It’s a Wrap / So let’s jump past all the “returning stuff to people” and associated logistics and look at when we got back and looked through the days shots together. We went through each image flagging our favourites and quietly pushed aside the “not so favourites.” Then we both took home a copy of the raw images for any postproduction we wanted to do. The agreement was to post whichever images from the favourites we each wanted, but with a standardised % mark up so that in the instance of ‘doubles’ we were not undercutting each other on price. Then we both got stuck into it and the final results can be found here BUT! We couldn’t have done it alone- there are some thank yous in order. Anne van Alkemade so very kindly gave Helen and I the use of two upright hoovers for the shoot. They were featured in several shots. THANK YOU! Peter Kelly, the darling, trusted us with his studio lights and even sent us off with a spare light globe. THANK YOU! Centre Stage in Brunswick supplied the powder blue dress used for the shoot – THANK YOU! The Lovely Anna did my hair. (I’ll post her contact details ASAP) AND of course the always wonderful and fun, Helen McLean partner in crime and co-collaborator. Couldn’t have happened without you… ....And the music starts playing to get me off the podium as I wipe my teary eyes! Well, collaborations are all about people working together after all!
There are so many ways to mark goodbye. Will your creation walk backwards and wave, or storm out and slam the door behind it? Will your f…
There are so many ways to mark goodbye. Will your creation walk backwards and wave, or storm out and slam the door behind it? Will your farewell be ‘See You Soon’ or ‘Goodbye and Good Luck’? Post your submissions as words, photographs or illustrations to the Creativity Corner online at The Age here
What makes you think your art is good enough to upload to RedBubble? 1 Gut instinct? / This is the best way to know if your art, ...
What makes you think your art is good enough to upload to RedBubble? 1 Gut instinct? / This is the best way to know if your art, writing, or photography is good. For photographers, we simply know when the shot matches what we were trying to achieve. For writers, it’s when we write from the heart. For artists, and I mean people who manipulate binary-pixels as much as I mean painters etc, I imagine you know when your art has reached its point where it cannot be modified any further without ruining it. That’s right, ruining the final result. / Gut instinct tells you when you have just reached that pinnacle and achieved the art you imagined in the first place or saw through the view-finder. 2 Did someone in your family like the shot? / Trust me, I know from bad experience that relying on the opinion of family (to tell me what makes a GREAT shot) is never a good idea. As much as they believe in your artwork, they cannot see through your eyes. / I only upload a few distinctly better shots to RedBubble out of every few hundred. I might shoot between twenty and a hundred photographs from the one location, but I know almost immediately if it was a good shot or not. On occasion I only have to take one shot to get THAT shot, the one that gets shown to you, my friends and my family. What makes you think your art is good enough to have printed? 1. You received 1,000 ‘Oh, Nice!’ Comments ? / Nope, this is not a good enough reason. Your art needs to be an extension of who you are. Despite what you see here on RedBubble, your art should not be a popularity contest, nor a multitude of ‘nice’ comments. Much as I enjoy getting a few nice words about my work, I’ve recently learned that unless the person actually says something constructive, unique and interesting about the actual photograph … the comment may just be a stock answer to everything they see here. NOTE: OK, so sometimes it can be difficult to put into words what you like about some one else’s art, but at least say something unique. Yes, my photography of flowers have DOF, POV, macro-detail, lots of colour and are ‘hot’, ‘cool’, ‘wow’, and ‘whippitycrack’. Now tell me WHY you like it, WHAT it is that makes it good and HOW many you are going to purchase! :D 2. Only you can know if your art is worth selling on RedBubble. / Do you think someone would purchase it as a card? Or are you just showing off an image that you want others to consider before you commit to it? Ok, so we all do that occasionally. I’m not saying it’s wrong to upload the incomplete and unfinished, but this is RedBubble. It’s not just a community, forum and friend-making location: It’s an online print-shop. 3. Don’t be concerned with anyone’s opinion before presentation. / Upload those few shots you really believe capture what you were attempting. If you really believe the art is good, show it to the RedBubble world the whole internet. Because everyone online and offline is now going to see you and your art. RedBubble is a name, not a fortified location. Our comments, words, suggestions, responses, queries and ‘drool’ will be carbon copied across the planet and archived on the “WWW” Today I shot 5GIG of photographs in 5 hours. / I had a day in the Adelaide CBD, revisiting previous locations, visiting a few new places and discovering new things at each location that I did not see the first time! This added up to around 1,000 photographs. / ... I’ll be the first to admit that less than 200 are any good. / ... Less than 60 are very good. / ... I’ve uploaded only TWO of them to RedBubble. I might add a few more. / ... SEVEN have been loaded to my flickr gallery . All are getting lots of traffic, with very few comments. Just the way I like it. Each of those photographs got some pixel-manipulation. Yes, I do, when necessary. Each of those photographs were one of a several exactly the same … but I decided that one would serve the purpose I was looking for. / I didn’t ask anyone on RedBubble or Flickr if they would like to see it : I made that decision while perusing them on my 500GIG HD. A lot were shot purely because I like architecture, but many were shot because I figured they’d look good as a card or framed image. One of them is a test-image, to see the response/traffic rate. See if you can pick it. 4. Would you delete or replace a photograph if enough people said they didn’t like it? / Seeing as how so many of us rely on the comments of others to fulfill our online life, IF someone was to suggest a fault, change, modification or complete make-over of your art work, would you? I believe I might change an image. I have certainly changed my opinion on pixel-manipulation! I know I’d delete an image, but only from the RedBubble-database. I’ve done that several times. Where’s your thoughts on this? You’ll notice I rarely make comments on other people’s art. There is a LOT of great work on RedBubble. I just don’t have the time to tell you. Anyhow, you know your work is good. Or you would never have taken the time to put it on RedBubble …. right?
A few weeks ago (or maybe more..) i came to a point where i wanted to have small something (widget, feed, etc) that i can place on my m…
A few weeks ago (or maybe more..) i came to a point where i wanted to have small something (widget, feed, etc) that i can place on my main website (webgrrl.biz) and few other blogs that i have.. something that shows what’s been sold recently from all the places i have my art.. The only quick solution i could come up with (and with no cost) was to make a blog and post the info items, and taking the opportunity to Thank the buyer at the same time.. and so artSOLD was ‘born’ From there, i can then grab the rss feed and utilize it in many different ways.. my favourite being the widget at widgetbox : see here In a marketing and business sense, I’m not sure if this has been done before. We usually make a blog or websites to promote what art we make and whats for sale.. but making a blog/journal of what we’ve sold, i haven’t come across, and i have this belief that people like to know what people are buying, popular etc too.. So i thought, Why Not to have one for what’s sold!? Plus if/when buyer comes across the acknowledgment of thanks, thats a positive energy too…and im all about and for Spreading the Goodness! artSOLD took me a full day to set up, using a free blogger template i went lookin for.. Then i put thinkin caps on to see what ‘widget, promotional’ goodies there is available from all the three main places i associate with.. maybe you want to make one too.. :) Its a nice journal to have, and it makes you work just that bit harder (in promotions especially) so that you get sales, and that means a new post! :)
It’s the middle of the night, and I sit awake. Praying, hoping, begging, bargaining with God, with the universe, with angels, with anyone…
It’s the middle of the night, and I sit awake. Praying, hoping, begging, bargaining with God, with the universe, with angels, with anyone who will listen (at least in my own head) – anything to feel that I can help my son recover fully and to ease his pain. It occurred to me that there is a huge network of people here that I’ve come to know and respect who may take a bief moment today to send their positive energy, their prayers, a tiny bit of their own good karma his way. I’m asking that now. On Thursday morning, my son Nick, 18 and recently graduated from high school, headed off for a day trip to Cedar Point, an amusement park in Ohio, with his friends. They had an auto accident; their van went off the highway on an exit ramp and rolled a number of times down an embankment. Thankfully, all the kids survived and six of them walked away with cuts, bruises, one broken bone among them, and an intense scare. However, Nick was severely injured. The most frightening of the damage – two burst fractures of vertebrae in his thoracic spine. He’ll have surgery Monday morning to repair those, after surgery today (or I guess it was yesterday at this point) to repair and stabilize a broken arm, clavicle and dislocated shoulder. The good news is that his spinal cord is still intact and he’s currently immobilized in the hospital to prevent damage until they get things put back together tomorrow. He’s in considerable pain, but talking and still making us all laugh somehow (my son is a very funny guy, according to the hospital staff and everyone who knows him). And so, here I am in a hotel room in Toledo at 4:00 AM, praying and worrying, while my son is hopefully drugged to the gills and having some respite from the pain he’s been experiencing. If you can send a good thought his way this morning and tomorrow, I’d be grateful. No good wishes can hurt, right?
You only have to glance at the recent sales tab to see that one particular shirt is …
You only have to glance at the recent sales tab to see that one particular shirt is selling like hotcakes right now. Ah… The magic of search engines. I often get up and profess about how important it is to sell yourself, and to promote your art out in the ‘real world.’ Well today I’m going to blabber on at you about search engine optimisation (SEO) There are people who spend their entire working life helping bigger websites like redbubble improve their coverage in search engines. But that doesn’t mean that we as individual artists can’t play the same game. Search Engines = Sales / If you search for buy art in google. Something tells me you are shopping for art, probably with your credit card at your side. If I am search for something specific it probably means that there aren’t too many places I can find it. As an artist, I want my art to show up prominently when doing these searches so you will buy it. How to help your work come up in search engines / 1. Use relevant key words in your titles, descriptions and tags. Words that accurately and best describe your work. / 2. Linky Love. When lots of places link to your work, search engines pay attention and start to wonder what is so important about your site. So swap links with friends and link to your main site from all your other online spaces. / 3. Use text. Search engines like words so don’t forget to add descriptions to your artwork. All those comments under your art suddenly have an extra added bonus. And be aware of spelling and grammar. Play by the rules or get disqualified / Yahoo and Google didn’t become multimillion dollar business by letting any Tom Dick or Harry waltz in and mess with their system. You might think it’s really smart to tag something with a bazillion words… until it stops working for you. Ha Ha! It might seem like a few little tweaks but it can make a big difference to how often buyers stumble across your art.
Hi!! It’s been a great week, getting wedded and having people purchased my works, I have lots of reasons to smile these days :D Fir…
Hi!! It’s been a great week, getting wedded and having people purchased my works, I have lots of reasons to smile these days :D Firstly, I’m pleased to share with you that one of my work was selected to be part of the Compassion Courage Friendship book published by Redbubble :D I’m also very happy to receive the $100 RB voucher too….I take it as a wedding gift from RB,haha! :D I’ve also started a button collection with these buttons I have purchased from zazzle.Some of these designs are also from our fellow bubblers, can you tell which ones? :D I made some 10 sales at zazzle over the last 1 week plus at zazzle, thanks to the many on going promotions that are going on at zazzle :D These are some of the items I sold:
I would like to share some good news: I recently SOLD 3 Canvas Prints of my Jasper photos from Marble Bar to a Company in Wester…
I would like to share some good news: I recently SOLD 3 Canvas Prints of my Jasper photos from Marble Bar to a Company in Western Australia. The required size for the Canvas Prints was 100×70cm. As Redbubble doesn’t do this larger size, I had to have them produced locally. Feedback is that the customer is extremely happy with their 3 Jasper Canvas Prints. These will be hung in their Boardroom for all to see. This is my first major sale!! I have learnt a lot from the overall experience and am a little wiser because of it!! I now have my own ABN for any future sales! Jasper_-_Marble_Bar_3 Jasper_-_Marble_Bar_6 Jasper_-_Marble_Bar_2 Thank you for viewing!! Marilyn :o)
I’ve just finished trolling this search engine...
I’ve just finished trolling this search engine to discover that my work is available for download from quite a few different warez sites in Russia…. Put your own name in and see what you come up with, you might be surprised!!
Hello Well for all of those who wished me luck and offered advice , I thought I’d give you the link to the taping of me on the sho…
Hello Well for all of those who wished me luck and offered advice , I thought I’d give you the link to the taping of me on the show. I look like a real idiot – but there you go! It was fun! Samantha on The Morning Show Thank you for your support. Samantha
There were plane trips, train trips, road trips… wine, words and wonder… regular air gun salutes, pizza theft, cat naps, bathtubs in …
There were plane trips, train trips, road trips… wine, words and wonder… regular air gun salutes, pizza theft, cat naps, bathtubs in dappled backyards… hysterics, jelly bean overdoses, truth or dare, reconnaissance missions, a chicken hat… early bird speech impediments, reject shop plundering, book shop treasure trove hunting, launching words in print and pride, juicy word workshopping and ravenous feasts… all in under 36 hours at just the average run of the mill get-together with my magnificent Melbourne writing mob… When I intentionally left pieces of my heart behind in Melbourne after my trip for the February writer’s meet, I did wonder on my way back to the airport at the time, how long it would be before my return to collect them (or leave more of me behind). All too soon did I begin to miss the giggles and cackles of my beautiful wordy friends, firing off bmails and text messages and phone calls as part of my daily routine alongside eating breakfast and unrolling my purple yoga mat. When the beautiful Bell sent me words of a weekend writing retreat with workshops and wine, not even my pinky finger had to be so much as twisted… And so it was that last Friday afternoon, I found myself back at home in Northcote, dangling balloons and streamers from the windows of Bell’s flat beckoning her home whilst unpacking my heels and lipstick for a night of cocktails on Brunswick Street with Bell, and the golden Trempy and serene Yas. After polishing off jugs of all the options the dusky red-walled cocktail bar had to offer – and renaming them (Bitter Betty we love you) and toe-tapping on the dance floor with Jess to an old favourite (remember me? geng-ga-ga-geng-geng-geng-geng-ga-geng-ga-ga-geng-ga-ga-geng-ga-ga-geng-geng-ga-geng) we trotted home (yes Bell, you do have a trot in you my love) to prepare for our adventures in the country, otherwise known as the massive town of Bacchus Marsh (that contrary to our preconceptions didn’t have a town radius of 2klms and a population of 20). The Bacchus Hill Winery laid out woodfire feasts before us that this little gluten-intolerant belly happily gobbled up in denial (until the headaches hit later on in punishment) amongst words and wine and cackles and sunshine. Around a table the conversations flowed and I, to my absolute pig-in-mud-delight, got to spend hours squeezing the living daylight out of bubbles I met in February, along with trading stories and smiles with new bubbles I had the pleasure of meeting this trip ‘round. As the sun began to sink and we realised we were all in need of rest and down time, onward we went to the b&b Ms O’Brien had lined up for us and what a treat that little homestead was. Being a bunch of bubbles, cameras were immediately out to snap the last of the afternoon light – albeit in old enamel bathtubs and spontaneous “I need a bunch of shoes for this shot!” fittings. Only the wonderful Lucky could have stolen such warm pieces of the afternoon. PJ Ryan showed me what freedom and contentment looks like on a Saturday afternoon – white wine in dappled light under a birch tree… with us feasting on our words, of course. Dinner under a chandelier of glass light bubbles rendered another snapping frenzy at the old pub on Young and Main and after a sugar high frenzy of jelly beans thanks to the warm-hearted generosity of Adgray a game of Truth or Dare was unleashed – the lovely LisaG was all for the dare until it resulted in singing the anthem (was that with or without underwear on your head my love?) and dancing the Macarena. Up Sunday morning ready for word games and workshops, we were bustled out of the house by our hostess with the mostess, not before of course, we were bustled into the tub by the roving eye of Mikey who clearly turns moments golden through his lens. Off we went (James you are my hero, you know that, for carting The Bag [not one joke you lot] around the countryside for me) to the lovely Anne’s completely entrancing and mesmerising home for word games and workshops, giggles and snorts, as we awaited the clock to roll the afternoon around to the moment when we gathered amidst book store heaven for the launch of Haunting Emma. It was a real treat to be able to support one of our own in realising such an enormous dream – warmest congratulations Anne, it was a pleasure to share in your moment with you. And all of a sudden, the weekend was over and we were en route back to Northcote, with a stop over for fish and chips to feed the masses who seriously devoured their parcels in silence, eyes darting around madly, so hungry were we. Monday morning came and away I flew from Melbourne… but I made sure there were pieces of me tucked safely away, left behind… for me to go back and pretend to collect them again in the future. Thank you so much you mob for being the creative lovely morsels you are… and Bell, thank you for the energy and time and pieces of yourself you put into making places for writers to set their words alight (and for hiding The Clock and having a vase of yellow gerbras waiting for me). At the Bacchus Marsh train station after we realised everything wasn’t within five steps of each other – Bell looking every inch elegant (and impressed) in my sunnies. / Big love in the high country. / Are you lookin’ at me? / Are you, punk? / Anne, Fleece and medusa tattoos…. / Word nerd in word nerd heaven. / Lady lovely Lucky Duck and Mr Alesich in actual heaven. / Soaking up the energy and inspiration of my girl of bells and her words. / Mmmmmmm…. / Let the workshops begin – beautiful brilliant wenches with their words. / / And those supertalented superfreaks who can do everything creative… / Clearly discussing something very intelligent and important and not whether my lipstick needs a new coat. / James and Amanda contemplating the woes of a writer’s life (James looks pretty relaxed about it all, really). / / Throwing words ‘round the table. / / The most elegant vegetable in all of the land. / Damsel in the distress – there’s too many floral patterns and doilies! / Ahhhhh… the hostess with the mostess… / Definitive joy. / Definitive dag. / Sunday workshopping and wonder. / / Home again, home again… with full bellies and words a-brewing a-plenty. /
Recently I made my own pinhole camera out of an old biscuit tin. This endeavour was inspired by a wonderful artist going by the name of ”...
Recently I made my own pinhole camera out of an old biscuit tin. This endeavour was inspired by a wonderful artist going by the name of Steph Tout. I have based my design on hers yet have decided to make it that little bit different. I have made a two tiered camera with 3 holes on each level. So a total of 6 (note: since doing these I have had to adjust the camera and have made 4 holes each level – a total of 8) The idea is to have a panoramic image of a 360 degree view. I have alternated the spacing of each pinhole on the top and the bottom, so the spaces that blend together in one layer can be captured in the other. It has been designed with capturing onto film – with a space big enough to use 120 film or 2 strips of 35mm film in one space. All the measurements I have included are in relation to a tin size of 130mm depth and 483mm circumference. With a focal length of 40mm and the optimal sized pinhole of 0.25mm; which gives the camera an f-stop of 133. What I needed: • 1 x used biscuit tin / • 1 x tin of all purpose – mega grip primer paint that is designed to stick to any surface / • One can of flat black spray paint / • Some sandpaper / • 2×240mm circumference piping at 65mm length / • 2 x blocks of wood cut to the inner circumference of the piping / • 2 x screws / • Some heavy duty glue / • Scissors / • Sharp pointy knife / • Some black – non shiny thick plastic / • Some string / • One very large paper clip – or equivalent could have used a stick or something / • Some non shiny black gaffer/cloth tape / • 1 x large empty beer can / • A drill / • A measuring tape / • A ruler / • A pin – approximately 0.3mm / • Bendy plastic tubing approximately 8mm in diameter / • A pen that marks on any surface / • A saw – preferably a circular so you can get the cut of the pipe as close and as smooth as possible / • Very small drill bits / • Time The Process I had to work out all of my measurements in relation to the tin size and then prime the tin and let it dry. Next coat was with the flat black spray paint. Whilst it was drying I prepared the piping and the wood that was going to be attached to the bottom and the lid of the tin. (Here I had some help because I have a phobia of using saws) Once they were cut, I sanded and primed both of them in readiness for spraying them black. Once the tin and piping was dry I measured up the black plastic to fit inside the tin… This is going to be the separator between the two film cavities. I poked a hole in the centre and threaded some string in and secured it on the other side with an oversized paper clip. This was going to be my handle to be able to remove the divider. Next is to measure out where the pin holes are going to go. I positioned them evenly distributed around the circumference and in the middle of where each film starts and ends from the top and the bottom. As I mentioned before, the holes were alternated to cover all areas of the tin face but between the two levels. At the same time I bought some tubing which I measured out to just under the circumference of the tin and sliced it down one side. I then primed and sprayed it black and left it to dry. This was going to be used around the edge of the black plastic divider to ensure that there are no light leaks between the two levels. It was attached with black gaffer tape and it fits snugly inside the tin to offer a barrier. / Preparing the pin holes comes next. Because the biscuit tin is really thick, there would be no possible way for something as thin as a pin would go through the surface. So instead I got a large beer can – washed it dried it and cut it into 6 pieces. I then sanded the tin pieces, primed them and sprayed them black also. These are thin enough to poke a pin through but are also strong enough not to bend or break easily. It also gives me room to take them out and replace them if I ever need to. Where they are to be placed on the tin, I drilled holes in the places I measured and marked out previously. Poking holes in the tin is probably the hardest part to this whole endeavour and I found that when I first did it, I had not made the holes smooth enough and too large – therefore the image was unfocused and overexposed…. I have now discovered that you can purchase minutely small drill bits from Ebay with diameters from 0.2mm upwards, which will help to rectify any problems from not being able to find needles/pins small enough…. I looked for ever – they are not easy to come by… Once they are the right size and as smooth as you can get them attach them to the inside of the tin – lining them up with the hairpin measurements on the outside. I used a fair amount of gaffer tape to secure them and then resprayed the inside of the tin with black paint once again to make sure there were no white parts showing… (another note – its probably easier to attach the can on the inside and respray before putting the holes in, that way your holes won’t fill up with paint. You may not need to respray the gaffa anyway – make an executive decision when you get to that point) So that is basically it! All that needs to be done now is to load some film into it in complete darkness and test it out. Oh and links to Pinhole Camera Calculators so that you can find out the best exposure time for your camera! Hope this has been slightly useful for anyone who may want to have a go! Most of all – Have Fun!!
Thankyou so very much to the moderators of the Compact G…
Thankyou so very much to the moderators of the Compact Group for featuring ‘Reaching Out’ am so pleased with this! also: / ‘Honey Bee’ was Placed in the Top Ten Challenge for the Group Bee & Wasp Passion- thankyou to all who voted for this- am buzzing…........so very happy with this!
Thankyou to all who voted for ‘Sunshine and Showers’ in the ‘Stop and S…
Thankyou to all who voted for ‘Sunshine and Showers’ in the ‘Stop and Smell The Roses’ group Challenge in Yellow Flowers with Raindrops! this has also been featured in this group. so again thanks to those who voted and to the Moderators- ! / / Also my thanks to whoever voted for ‘Its Sad-So-Sad’ in the Yellow Challenge put up by the group ‘You’re Accepted’ That is so good!! also: Many thanks to the Hosts of the group ‘Mans Best Friend’ for featuring ‘Zephyrs Reflection’ – I really appreciate this-!
This seemed a good day to write about God. / God as I know him and as I don’t. The other day I entered a challenge of goddesses. No…
This seemed a good day to write about God. / God as I know him and as I don’t. The other day I entered a challenge of goddesses. Not that anyone has ever called me a goddess. / No. I was wired at birth, and also plugged in. / But the goddess module went missing and it was never found. It was soon apparent that in its place was the alien module. / I spoke to them and flew with them over our world and others. Surely my father, a N.A.C.A./N.A.S.A. scientist, had agreed / for an alien seed to be planted in my mother. She always said / I was the only one planned(ted) of the four. You see(d)? / Our trip out West, including to Roswell, was to the place / of my (in)seminal birth. Enough about my childhood as human-alien! What about dueling goddesses and God? So I wondered, just for a few seconds (that I might just as easily / have forgotten), is it appropriate for me to enter a goddess / challenge? ...Being a Christian. Being an alien, I thought, why not! And here’s my reasoning; because I’d best get to the point, / before the ethernet routes you around my world to the next. For some, a goddess is real, felt, shared, deep inside the conscious; / more than a symbol. I was a serious student of science and math. / My work in application programming is intensely logical. We probably create our own world within a pre-existing one. / I do believe in absolute Truths, however. / Absolute truths might be true for only a brief period in universal time, or / true in one world for one period of time, but relative to the next, longer or shorter. / The differential exists, because time is a relative measure. What is the truth about God? Did Christ help God create “our” world, as I believe; / or was a god or goddess appointed for this or that? I am logical enough to / admit this: that I could be wrong. Some might say that I don’t “have faith”. / Not true. I’m smart enough to know when I’m beat at the thinking game. / Logical enough to say, “if-then-else” (programming terms). / If I’m wrong, what’s “right”? I believe there is nothing to argue. But arguing is fun. / Especially if you know your argument. The Celts had a goddess for the Black Forest and Danube River, Abnoba, / and apparently a god or goddess for just about anything important. / They knew when something was outside of their ability to grasp it. / And when it was outside of their ability to grasp it, they made a god or goddess for it. That’s how all “religions” are created, isn’t it? The Jewish, followed by the Christians and Muslims, held to the concept of one God. / Was the process so different than the ancient Celts? / Did Celtic gods not give them a promise, too? I pose the question. Because you might have the answer. Christianity is thought by many outsiders to be, at least, a two-God system. But I’m comfortable with my choice. / It squares with my round pegs and triangular ones. / I’ve experienced “miracles” in my life. Miracles are relative, in my world of science and math and logic. / So I’ve experienced relative miracles. / Relative to me. The alien. Not the goddess. If I was a goddess, I wouldn’t need miracles. / And I surely would have found a great, good looking, smart-as-a-whip, / Harvard-educated, old-moneyed god to partner up with by now. / Or he would have found me. Right? So instead, for the challenge, I chose a Celtic goddess who was / worshipped to grant goodness and protect the things I love: -The forests, the parent version of our smaller but glorious woods, / in our currently decimated sub/urban environments. -The little critters who live there, that I find so cute / in their wit and willy ways, / adapting to keep up with their ever-dwindling homestead. -Fine birds of all variety: big hawks and eagles, owls, ravens, / down to the smallest of humming Hummingbirds. -Deer and their tender legged young, with eyes so big and soft, / they swallow you in black velvet. -Frogs and snakes and turtles, for whom speeding is defensive driving. -Rabbits and squirrels, for whom I’ve always hoped to crack the code / of their signal-flag tails. -Big cats, who remind us that eyes are the windows of the soul, / and astound us with their long-term memories of human love and compassion, / when it was there. Ah, yes, I would have liked this Celtic goddess, Abnoba, had I met her. / And If I wasn’t an alien, I would hope that she would be the goddess module implanted in me. God, Christ, alien, goddess, math, logic, intuition, consciousness, conscience; / I say yes. / My world is a mesh. / Abnoba, goddess of The Black Forest and Danube by F.A. Moore The Divine Feminine group is sponsoring the Celtic/Nordic challenge, open for voting now. There are some great contenders. My entry, pictured above, “Abnoba, goddess of The Black Forest and Danube”, a digital dream, realistically doesn’t stand much chance against the hand-drawn ones; I’ve seen the votes so far. / But I think she is beautiful, just the same, / as are the sweet creatures surrounding her, who fear her not. Goddess, alien, or human, I would love to live in that kind of world, / and in some sense, thankfully, I do. Aliens can fly, you know.
/ / Great News- Fly Me To The Moon was placed Second in…
/ / Great News- Fly Me To The Moon was placed Second in the Challenge ‘Definition Of Peace’ for Angel Wings and Heaven Group. Thankyou very much to all of you who voted for this- I am over the moon!
Right, so after the paramount success of “this pos…
Right, so after the paramount success of this post asking your opinions, I’m testing this new idea right here and now and here, now. Every Friday you can come here and shout about all the awesome new people you find. You get the whole day to stake your claims, which, due to interesting timezones, is about 50 something hours long. Pick your favourite new image, tee, or written work, (just one I say, one, otherwise I’ll get all flustered and overcome) and tell me who it’s by and why you think it’s marvellous. Then I’ll peruse all your suggestions and pick one tee, one image and one written work from three different undiscovered talents, to talk about over the course of the following week. The finder and the findee will both then get a free shipping voucher and of course, incredible publicity. Plus, the warm satisfaction that accompanies winning things. And maybe even some Limited Edition Certificates. Let’s see how this goes then. Regards, Mr Baxter – Ambassador of Trying New Things Out When the Boss Isn’t Looking —-—-—-- Follow my every exciting move on Twitter. / And add me to your watchlist.
Good News: I’m 50 Tomorrow. Bad News: You’ll all have to buy one of my works to celebrate:-) LOL Only kidding. !http://images-2.r…
Good News: I’m 50 Tomorrow. Bad News: You’ll all have to buy one of my works to celebrate:-) LOL Only kidding. / Hey there my friends, I’m only 50 tomorrow, and that makes me Half a Century young. I still feel like a young man though:-) Hope you all have a wonderful day on Sat 22nd Aug, one of the greatest days ever:-) LOL. Keep smiling, Don.
I know I haven’t been around RB much lately ( in fact pretty scarce since the beginning of 2009). And I have gotten a number of emails on…
I know I haven’t been around RB much lately ( in fact pretty scarce since the beginning of 2009). And I have gotten a number of emails on that front. Well, all is delightful thanks, and I’m still creating art (though currently focusing my writing on business topics and a little poetry). Sorry, I don’t mean to neglect doing the rounds and posting comments on the many artwork uploaded to RB, but I will – PROMISE! I never forget friends, despite the absence in time. As some members already know, I am involved in a number of projects online, including business and finance, marketing and much more. I am the founder of a few Art groups, one of the largest is on Imagekind call DIGITAL FINE ART (DFA) – specifically geared towards Digital Artists. On top of those, I manage nearly a dozen business related websites. There are some exciting Art related projects upcoming this fall and next year, which am privileged to be a part of, and will tell you more as they unfold. If you have a FaceBook page (I just became a member), I’ll be privileged to have your profile connect with mine there. Also, if you have a Scribd.com account, or LinkedIn account, please add your profile to mine as well. Sorry, I dont Twitter yet, but hope soon….Oh, just in case you are not aware, Scibd now offers its members a chance to sell their literature directly from the site (currently only available to US residents). It’s a great opportunity for anyone who writes poetry and other literature, and who self-publish stuff. It’s an unbelievable opportunity because the site has millions of users, plus millions of visitors daily! My own documents (47 in total) currently has nearly 41,000 read pages!! As am living in Canada, I shall await Scribd’s e-commerce option for international countries to sell books. In the meantime, have fun (just like that tiny image I recently posted on my profile). That’s what life is all about; never letting anything get you down, being true to yourself, smile in the face of dilemma. Please feel free to contact me if you wish to learn more about my online projects, or just to say “hi”. All the best to everyone. Solomon Walker DFA / Scribd / FaceBook / Bountiful Health / MDFA / LinkedIn / Flickr / Zazzle A Big thank you to Linaji and the ABSTRACT DIGITAL ART AND WRITING group here on RB, for the recent feature of my painting “A Summer On Mar” . Appreciate it alot. /
I keep coming across beautiful images and cards that I would love to buy but I am put off of some that have words or borders because when…
I keep coming across beautiful images and cards that I would love to buy but I am put off of some that have words or borders because when I check them in the preview the borders are uneven or the wording is cut off. It is due to the small crop that Red Bubble does when printing them out. I am also reluctant to buy cards of images that are not the right size and you end up with them looking lost in card format. I am guilty of this myself and have been going through my large gallery and amending them. I have therefore rounded up what I hope will help us get them right. Knowledge Base: cropping and borders / We want your images to look amazing for your customer, and how you intended. The products have been designed to make your images look their best without the needing to add borders on your image files. The production of some products will require a small crop of 1-2mm but this is mostly unnoticeable. When making a purchase, the previews that you see on RedBubble should accurately reflect how the image will be positioned and cropped so use these as a guide For cards aspect ratio matters which is about 3:2 Here are the resolution thresholds for each of our products: Greeting Cards: 1300×900 pixels (1 megapixel) Matted Prints: 1800×1260 pixels (2.5 megapixels) Laminated, Mounted and Framed Prints and Stretched Canvas: / o 2400×1600 pixels (4 megapixels) for the small print / o 3240×2160 pixels (7 megapixels) for the medium print / o 3840×2560 pixels (10 megapixels) for the large print Posters: / o 2500×3500 pixels for the smallest print / o 3500×5000 pixels for the medium print / o 5000×7100 pixels for the large print Calendar images: 2182×1906 pixels for the months and 2371×2875 pixels for the cover Clothing: exactly 2400×3200 pixels (and the file must be a PNG). Notes Please do not manually change the pixel dimensions of your image. We use the number of pixels in an image to determine which sizes are appropriate – if you change the pixel dimensions you will trick our quality control software – but the products will come out looking blocky and horribly pixelated.If your image size or format is not right, this might restrict you from selling some products. We automatically determine which products your file can be used to create, so that we only ship products that both you and we can be proud of. Images above 60Mb, or 10,000×10,000 pixels in size, cannot be accepted on the site due to the unreasonable load they place on our servers. If you’re uploading files larger than 20MB they should probably be compressed or scaled down a bit — we don’t print billboards yet! File Format / We accept JPEG or PNG files (we don’t accept TIFF or PDF files). Colour Profile / We prefer the sRGB colour space (our printers are calibrated to sRGB). All of the above tips were found around Red Bubble I hope this helps, I thought thast having the info in one place would be helpful as I had to search around for it all If you do need to amend an image, no need to delete and upload afresh, just amend your image with your software and upload new version under the original in my bubble…....... / art…....... / and / using the change this image function under edit PLEASE check out this link too
Last month I went for a CT scan and while the doctor was looking at it, he noticed some “spots” on my liver – followed quickly by what ap…
Last month I went for a CT scan and while the doctor was looking at it, he noticed some “spots” on my liver – followed quickly by what appeared to be fluid behind it. Now.. we all know what he was thinking (along with me – more CANCER). But, he said that in order to be sure there were no problems I neefed to have an MRI (the pictures are so much clearer). So I was scheduled for Monday of last week.. Then that wonderful man (cancer doctor) called me yesterday morning to tell me that he finally got the results of the MRI and that those spots were nothing by cysts and NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT. There was no fluid visible and he said that I was good to go for my ostomy reversal. Odd.. but I had the exact same reaction to the results that I did when he told me that I NEEDED the MRI.. I broke down in tears….
I decided EMI was a good thing, but i…
I decided EMI was a good thing, but it is a monthly and we had lots to say, show and discuss so I jumped the gun and started ink which will be more of a standard daily blog based news and information center. The first pressing is out and it’s filled with a few tasty morsels of arty goodness. The announcement of a logo contest with prize money of $500 to the winner. Pot shots from ramondoantonio, eon’s latest, lilith and Martin Muir to name a few. And of course my favorite news about an EMI staffer who is getting some national television exposure. Drop in and say hello and let me know what you think in the comment section, good or bad I can take it. Earthmonster ink
Yesterday, Jay, Malcolm and I were shopping in a local sundries store. Jay and Malcolm took off to look at the toys while I picked up th…
Yesterday, Jay, Malcolm and I were shopping in a local sundries store. Jay and Malcolm took off to look at the toys while I picked up the toilet paper and laundry detergent. As I rounded the end of the isle and approached Malcolm and Jay in the toy section, I noticed Malcolm holding a big plastic toy AK-47. I nearly freaked out but then I heard him say, “Guns are not good toys Daddy. People get killed with guns. Guns are not good toys for kids.” Turns out, Malcolm picked up the toy AK-47 and offered the explanation all on his own. Please think twice before buying toy guns for your children. Violence Policy Center Gun Violence in America Columbine Put an end to school violence A Culture of Violence The anniversary of the Columbine School Shooting is a good time to talk about violence in American society, especially in our schools. Here are a few bits of information from the National Education Association Health Information Network More than 135,000 guns are brought into U.S. schools each day. In a brief 5 year period, (1994 to 1999) there were 220 violent events in American schools which resulted in 253 deaths. Gunfire killed 90,000 children and teenagers in American between 1979 and 2001. Children in America are in greater danger of being killed by a gun than the children of any other industrialized nation on Earth. In one year, firearms killed no children in Japan, 19 in Great Britain, 57 in Germany, 109 in France, 153 in Canada, and 5,285 in the United States. American children are 16 times more likely to be murdered with a gun, 11 times more likely to use a gun to commit suicide, and nine times more likely to die from a gun accident than children in 25 other industrialized countries combined. Kids access guns easily because there’s at least one gun in 40 percent of American homes. 30 to 40 percent of those guns are left loaded and unlocked. Roughly 80 percent of school shootings have occurred when kids access their parents’ or relatives’ guns. At Columbine the weapons used were purchased at gun shows, which are virtually cash and carry. Source There is no denying we are a violent culture. There is no denying that our children are dying by guns in alarming numbers. There is no denying that there is something wrong in America. What is wrong with America? I think some of the problem is the John Wayne Syndrome where Americans are indoctrinated to believe that problems can be solved with a tough guy attitude and violence. REFERENCE PAGE
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