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The Monroe-Sky Valley YMCA is looking to help promote the Arts with their YMCA Arts appreciation week on Oct. 5th through Oct. 11th.

They are hoping to reach out to artists who may want to display/promote their artwork and who would be willing to spend some time (an hour or so) to answer questions about their art medium.  It would also be possible for Artists to sell their works if they chose to do so.  Time frames could be worked out to the convenience of the artist and their artwork would be available to be on display the entire week the event is occurring at the YMCA.

If you are interested in participating in this event, p,lease contact Kathryn Garrison at the Monroe YMCA 360-805-1879 or kgarrison@ymca-snoco.org. 

The Monroe YMCA serves hundreds of members everyday, so the artists choosing to participate would receive a great deal of exposure.  In addition, it is a great way to promote the arts in our community.  Kim Hoover, Monroe Arts Council

drawing: dynamic anatomy help

Painting: Color Theory 

Art as Visual Research: 12 320 x 320 - 83k - jpg scientificamerican.com	The improvement of visual 567 x 449 - 75k payvand.com	Audio Visual Art….FOTC 560 x 420 - 16k - jpg instructables.com	Visual Art Competition 340 x 423 - 38k - jpg mustardfestival.org	Masterpieces: Visual Arts 300 x 384 - 31k - jpg nea.gov
Visual Arts at Century 510 x 362 - 40k - jpg centurymontessori.com	to the Visual Art Program. 713 x 475 - 202k - jpg bowdoin.edu	Visual Arts Gallery 700 x 470 - 264k - gif illustrationmundo.com	Visual Art and the 900 x 300 - 274k eif.co.uk	Visual art by Pamela 640 x 480 - 50k subtletea.com
McColl Center for Visual Art: 3228 x 2490 - 1556k preservationnation.org	School of Visual Arts: Sugar 450 x 348 - 53k - jpg toxel.com	more visual art this year. 347 x 260 - 83k - jpg negrophonic.com	Art Gallery drawing of a 326 x 461 - 43k - jpg mde-art.com	ArtsZone Home > Visual Art 788 x 243 - 80k - jpg arts.utoronto.ca
Singaporean visual art 482 x 320 - 34k asianartnewspaper.com	offshoot of visual arts of 628 x 373 - 257k - png mootee.typepad.com	Visual Arts at Century 510 x 362 - 42k - jpg centurymontessori.com	Visual Art. Ferris Wheel 410 x 307 - 55k - jpg lizsoterosmc.com	Visual art by Jeff Crouch 700 x 525 - 93k subtletea.com

subtletea.com

Sears gets mere wrist slap for allegedly spying on customers
Mitch LipkaSep 14th 2009 at 7:00PM Filed under: Shopping, Consumer Ally

Consumers were outraged when a settlement first reported on WalletPop in June was reached between Sears Holdings over an accusation by the Federal Trade Commission that the owner of Sears and Kmart was spying on the web use and online shopping habits of its customers. They won’t be a lot happier with the ending.

The feds just officially resolved the case after commissioners accepted the proposed settlement and the penalty for Sears’ alleged overzealous, privacy invading behavior wasn’t even a slap on the wrist. It was a gentle touch. The harshest part of whole situation was the FTC actually letting people know the situation even happened.

To join the “My SHC Community,” users downloaded software that ended up grabbing some members’ prescription information, emails, bank account data and purchases on other sites. Sears called the group that participated “small” and said the data captured by the program was at all times secure and was then destroyed.

The FTC filed a complaint against Sears, accusing the retailer of deceiving those who signed up for the service and downloaded the software.

“(Sears) failed to disclose adequately that the software application, when installed, would: monitor nearly all of the Internet behavior that occurs on consumers’ computers, including information exchanged between consumers and websites other than those owned, operated, or affiliated with respondent, information provided in secure sessions when interacting with third-party websites, shopping carts, and online accounts, and headers of web-based email; track certain non-Internet related activities taking place on those computers; and transmit nearly all of the monitored information (excluding selected categories of filtered information) to respondent’s remote computer servers,” the FTC concluded. http://ftc.gov/opa/2009/09/sears.shtm

Tags: Consumer, IT, Juris Prudence, Privacy

I told my significant other it was time to get some life insurance. He was understandably confused, since our topic of conversation was health insurance and the cost of medical treatment. He has health insurance. I do not. Niether of us can afford to go to the doctor. A simple diagnosis can easily cost $4,000.00 after insurance. A heart attack will cost around $40k, if you have good insurance. I can’t afford health insurance or a doctor… I figure I’d better get some life insurance.

I am all for health care reform. I just don’t want it to be managed by the fed, thank you very much. Govt management of anything has a track record of miserable failure.  From parks and wildlife to social security, to public schools, to farming…. the folks on the hill have managed to obliterate potential. Welcome to the machine. Put your life right here in the hands of the machine. It does not compute, and it does not respect.

Lowell Art Works

I am off to the studio at 9308 Evergreen Way. The Art Store Annex building is my painting studio. (I am there six days a week, as a rule.) I currently have several pieces in progress. Four paintings, two stone sculptures in the garage, and a series of bronze figuratives at the foundry in Ballard.

Sales are null, all over. Some artists I have spoken to have closed down the shop or studio until the crash passes. I plan to take advantage of the opportunity to make art with no concern for having to market it. I secretly loathe marketing myself. It’s detrimental to my creative process to have to deal with that. To frame the issue in business terms, an artist is a manufacturer. Every artist needs good vendors. This would be the galleries. It would be… but the artist/gallery relationship has changed over the last fifty years. Artists pay 40-60% of sales to the gallery. That’s just fine with me if the gallery is advertising, marketing, promoting my work with real, live, knowledgable sales staff, and some concern for the longevity of my career and the market value of my work. The sad fact is, most galleries do not operate this way.

A bony, fragile hand lay curled on my desk.
It seemed for an instant to be beyond a portal
then immediately transcribed into this focal plane, due to bifocal lenses.
I did not recognize it, at first, as being my own.
It seemed far too wrinkled and fraile to belong to me.

The word tolerance has become some kind of mantra. I hear it chanted on street corners, in bars and churches, even in the library… usually by those most socially unacceptable. I absolutely will not tolerate anyone. It’s disrespectful, and arrogant. Nobody deserves to be tolerated. Those who are not capable of recognizing or maintaining decorum deserve consideration and compassion, not to be tolerated. Those who are making some sort of statement, be it with bacterial body odor or a white sheet over thier heads should by no means be tolerated. With all due respect to free speech, and I grant them free speech, on an iceberg somewhere off the coast of hell in January of 6066.

It does no good to complain that evil prevails while preaching tolerance. Tolerance is why it prevails. When good works receive consideration, when compassion holds the human fascination as long as morbidity, when principled people are once again heralded among man kind, and the face of humanity is turned to receive life as willfully as it seeks death… there is no need of tolerance.

In the course of my career, I have had a variety of studio and work spaces, ranging from a closet to a fully converted foaling barn with process dedicated work spaces. I have shared many of these spaces on widely differing terms, with equally diverse results.

I should add a discaimer at this point. The opinions expressed regarding my experience are the product of individual perception. Your results and opinions may be similar… or not.

Here’s Your Corner… COOL! ^
24 linear feet of counter and a wall full of cabinets worked well for the small mixed medium pieces I was doing, and the other artists were friendly and open. My cabinets were locked in my absence, except for one. As I recall, we each had an open cabinet expressly for sharing of tools, ideas, and some materials. Nobody showed work there, but we had visitors by appointment quite often. Everyone was cordial with all visitors, and respected one another’s right to do business. This is my best case scenario.

No, REALLY!
In other situations and places, no amount of space would have been enough to prevent the fall out. Neighbors wanted more than their share, tools and equipment disappeared, locks and even huge cabinets were destroyed. One studio mate used a crow bar to dismantle a solid wood dome-top armoir, without cause or warning.

A fellow who had too much to drink got lost on his way to the bathroom, once upon a “is that your dinner on my shirt?!” time. On another occasion the same gentleman used the trash can for a urinal.

I have stories… oh! Boy, do I have stories!
- Arrive to find a viscious dog now lives there,
- Arrive to find a relative of a studio mate is going to be living in the non habitable space for a few months, maybe a year.
- No time left for you… the sign on the door now reads, “Party Barge”
- Unsafe and improper use of power tools and fixtures provided liability issues:
“Steel doesn’t float?! But, they make navy ships out of it!”
“Now, wait… nobody mentioned a welder BEFORE I hosed down the floor! Why is that MY fault?!”

Okay, some of it is actually funny, many years later.
Back on the bright side, I have had some really great times and incredible experiences sharing space.
But I will cut to the chase. Sharing a studio can be a truly beneficial experience and an excellent cost cutter. To make sure it is, I suggest you consider the following:

1. Personalities and personal chemistries.
All the mates in space need not be best buddies, but it helps if everyone is congenial and respectful. It also helps if everyone bathes at least once a week, and refrains from using the space as a love nest, personal bar, or for any purpose not mutually agreeable or previously discussed.

2. Rental or lease agreements in place
A verbal agreement is the root of all evil. All things should be considered.

3. Mark it!
Put your name or a consistent identifying mark on anything you intend to get back. Be sure to mention when you want it back.

4. Do Unto Others
Some people mess other people’s sand boxes. It’s bad form.
Remember throughout any conflict or difference of opinion that you wish to have some semblence of a relationship with your studio mates after the storm. Avoid kitchen sinking, yelling, or throwing objects.

5. More is not always better. Bigger is not always better. The dream studio can turn into a maintenance and administrative nightmare, even if it’s bought and paid for. I found a good rule of thumb is to limit myself to no more than 2 full time jobs. Your mileage may vary.

Seven states – Tennessee, Idaho, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Alaska and Louisiana – have had both houses of their legislatures sovereignty resolutions. Alaska Gov. Palin and Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen are currently the only governors to have signed their states’ sovereignty resolutions.

The resolutions all address the Tenth Amendment that says: “powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

“Now more than ever, state governments must exercise their Constitutional right to say no to the expansion of the federal government’s reckless deficit spending and abuse of power,” Sen. Baker said. “With this resolution, our Legislature can send a message to Washington that our state’s rights must be respected.”

The full text of Florida’s memorial is available on http://www.tenthamendmentcenter.com/2009/07/16/florida-senate-to-consider-state-sovereignty/.

Tags: Add new tag, Politics