Art tip #95--email problems again!
Hi all! I'm having email problems again, and even gmail won't let me send to everyone, so trying it this way for now! Sice I'm trying to raise money for breast cancer research, I didn't want too much more time to go by without getting the art tip letter out to you. (The above gorgeous pair of pale pink stick pearl earrings is item #350265064611 on eBay!)
Anyway, on to the latest Tip--#95 is on ACEOs--that's Artist Cards, Editions and Originals,
which grew out of the ATC (Artist Trading Cards) phenomenon. I've collected
them from other artists and tried my hand at some--they're FUN, and I think
you'll enjoy it too.
I've given several tips about how I do these--but I'll bet you'll have
plenty of ideas of your own! I'd love to hear them...
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WELCOME to NEW MEMBERS!
We've had quite a few lately, and I'm delighted. You old-timers know this,
so you can skip this part. ;-)
You can find the tips on my website, http://www.cathyjohnson.info/ Just
click on Art Tips in the left-hand column, and you'll find the latest one
featured. At right is the archive of
tips, in PDF form--you haven't missed a thing. Just click on any of them
and they should open if you have Adobe Reader on your machine!
(If you prefer the convenience and speed of having them on your own computer
without having to browse the 'net, I've made the tips into inexpensive CDs,
available on my website and in my CafePress store, here:
http://www.cafepress.com/cathy_johnson. Of course on my own website they're
FREE, but a bit slower and you need an internet connection.)
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EBAY FOR A CAUSE
It's breast cancer awareness month, and I'm doing auctions that benefit the
Susan G. Komen foundation for research throughout October! Mostly jewelry,
in delicate shades of pink, but there will be a bit of original art,
too--please check my eBay ID at katestreasures
http://myworld.ebay.com/katestreasures/ if you'd like to help the cause!
These make beautiful gifts, for yourself, and for mothers, daughters,
sisters, friends...
100% of ALL PROCEEDS from these special Pink Auctions go to the foundation,
via eBay's donation arm, MissionFish. It's a cause close to my heart--I
guess most of us have been touched in one way or another...
And of course there are always other offerings there too--I'll be listing
more art supplies, CDs, books and more...
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AND ON CAFEPRESS...
I've added some new greeting cards, including two variations on a theme,
both in honor of this month. You can find them here:
http://www.cafepress.com/cathy_johnson and I'll also donate the profits to
research, if you buy one of the pink cards.
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VIRTUAL PAINTOUT
THIS is an interesting concept! Artists from all over the world are using
Google's street maps to go on a paintout "together"! Read all about it and
see the results of a trip to Ireland, this month, on Bill Guffey's blog,
here: http://virtualpaintout.blogspot.com/
Here's the how-to, according to Bill: "To get to Google Street View, go to
Google/Maps. Find the city, zoom in, and drag and drop the little yellow man
(in the top left corner) onto a street. A pop-up window will appear with a
360 degree photographic view. You may then travel the streets, looking
around, to find your composition."
Give it a try!
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PAINTING INSPIRATIONS
I started out offering a photo each month to my alumni students to work
from, on my good friend Brenda Yarborough's suggestion; seeing the different
interpretations has been a ball!
Sometimes you just CAN'T get out to paint on the spot, and with a group as
large, diverse, and international as my students from the past 4 years, this
is a way for us to paint "together," too. It was so much fun that we
decided to open it up to anyone who'd like to contribute to the Flickr
group, just this month...it's here, if you'd like to join us, whether you've
taken a class or not: http://www.flickr.com/groups/monthly-resource-photo/
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JOHN LOVETT'S BLOG
Australian artist John Lovett's done lots of delightful instructional DVDs,
and is featured in one of my favorite books, Work Small, Learn Big. His
blog is every bit as interesting, and it's always new! Don't miss
http://splashingpaint.wordpress.com/
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FLORIAN AFFLERBACH'S DELIGHTFUL SKETCHES
If you love architecture married to atmosphere, you'll like the lovely
crisp, clean sketches from Florian Afflerbach, one of my fellow Urban
Sketchers correspondents: http://www.flickr.com/photos/flaf/
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ENRIQUE FLORES' NEW BOOK
Speaking of Urban Sketchers--correspondent Enrique Flores has a new book
out! Enrique's also a correspondent on my own international group blog of
nature sketchers at http://naturesketchers.blogspot.com/, and one of my
favorite artist--if you've been on this announcement list long, you'll know
I've mentioned him before!
You can read all about the new book here:
http://www.urbansketchers.com/2009/10/book-with-cuba-sketches2.html or page
through
his sketchbooks here: http://www.youtube.com/user/acuarelista
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OOOPS! MY AMAZON LINK and YouTube
Ooops, last time I sent a letter out, I put my Amazon store link where the
YouTube
link was supposed to be, and I didn't notice. Sorry!
My videos and slideshows on YouTube are here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/KateJosTube --some of them were done with my new
FlipVideo camera, and even have voiceover. If you have comments or
questions, I'm glad to hear them! I'm just learning, and need to remember
to talk louder, but I'm pleased, overall, with the results and hope you will
be too. (I HAVE found that my computer's not quite up to the task...things
are a bit jerky. A new one's in the budget for 2010, if not sooner...)
So...I'm experimenting with video demos and such...see what you think!
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SPEAKING OF MY AMAZON STORE LINK...
Which IS here: http://astore.amazon.com/httpcathyjohi-20 --as I mentioned
last time, if you go to Amazon through my link, above, I earn a small
commission on anything that you might buy--even if it's totally unrelated
and doesn't appear in my store. You could order art supplies, a movie, a
new videocam or a laptop, and I'd still get a 6% commission, if you've
gotten to Amazon through the store link, above.
So I'm grateful! And the commission comes out of Amazon's profits, not your
cost. So thank you, if you bookmark my Books & More site, and please use it
whenever you shop Amazon!
Speaking of links like this--the Federal Trade Commission has a new ruling
about book blogs and full disclosure--so I need to tell you, again, that I
only review books I really, REALLY like and believe you may, too. I buy
them myself, they're not given to me by the publisher to review, so I'm
under no obligation to give a good review to a bad book--if I recommend
them, you know I mean it!
And if I've put a link to them in my Amazon "Books & More" or a direct link
on my blogs, you can check them out by clicking the link to see my own and
others' reviews.
If you buy something on Amazon, I do get that small commission, but not
enough to make me review something I don't like. ;-) It just helps, in a
very minor way, to defray costs of spending time keeping up blogs and
offering tips.