Today in Japan:

The annual Fireman’s Parade at Kanazawa Castle Park. Agile firemen dressed in traditional costumes prove their worth with acrobatic stunts atop tall bamboo ladders.

Related links:
Pigasso: The little oinks making a splash in the art world (Daily Mail, June 4, 2007)

Love the flax coloured padded headboard here.
Images: Maxima Interiores

Now I've thought long & hard about posting this for a number of reasons, the main one being if MOTH ever reads it, I'll be seriously looking over @ The Short Wedding Dress Club, for Version 3!!!

You see, I've a confession to make - for the past 4 years I've been faking it in the bedroom! Now, before you all jump to the ENTIRELY WRONG conclusion, let me fill you in. On this occasion it's all about compromise, something honestly I'm not very good at, but 4 years ago I felt obliged to do.

Come On Boots, Start Walking!

Image Hearst

The weather here in the Hills has turned Autumnal, with a real chill in the air. As I live in boots for at least 9 months of the year, it's time to start my annual pilgrimage to find a couple of new pairs for the season ahead. Although MOTH can never understand why I can't stretch last year's out to another year. When not in his work Blunnies he lives in his RM's, his current favourite pair were bought just after we met 16 years ago. He'll quite happily tell everyone who queries the state of them & that they may be due for retirement, 'Don't be silly, I've just broken 'em in'! Any favourite boot stories from the Hedgies?

Images J.K. Place

TO: Best Western Hotel/Motel Group.

FROM: Millie.

SUBJECT: Your Rooms.

OK, here's the go guys - times are tough & I'm sure you're feeling the fiscal pinch as much as everyone else, but I've got an idea that will turn your business around pronto. Hire uber-cool Italian architect Michele Bonan to redesign all your rooms & you'll have those Chevvies swinging off the highway & into your establishments as quick as lightening. Take a leaf out of the Kafri family's book who did just that & commissioned Michele to design the fit-out of their 2 new Hotels, the JK Place boutique hotels in Florence & Capri. Granted neither of these stunning palazzos have oil-stained parking bays outside each room, but I'm sure Michele can even do something amazing with those. Oh, & those hatches in the wall for the tacky breakfast tray to be noisily slid through..... they'll have to go - not cool boys.

These are a few of my {current} favourite things...

From Top: Nicky Hilton's Breakfast Room via Alkemie; Cutlery from Cath Kidston; Strawberry Napkins from Cath Kidston; Geometric Thank you Cards from Paula Prass; Homemade cupcakes from The Cupcake Company; Handbag from Pucci; Shoes from Miu Miu; Fifi Lapin Illustration; Vintage scarf from Posh Vintage.

Rent My Stradbroke Island Beach House For A Holiday

I've Fallen, And I Can't Get Up

Vermillion Falls in Hastings, it's height is 30 feet. It's located next to a large factory which I believe is a flour mill to the right in the photo. I have pictures of the mill that I will post in the coming days. The falls are part of the Vermillion River and where I am, is in the Vermillion Falls Park located off of Highway 61 and 26th street. There is a walking path in the park which I've traveled down quite a ways before to discover some amazing sites as it follows along the river. Have never brought a camera into the walking path, but one of these days I'll make the hike back there and snap some shots. I've never been to the falls during the leaf color change. The colors that were there were quite a change from the blooming green that is normally there during the warm summer months.

I've Fallen, And I Can't Get Up

Lord Jagannatha Welcomes Guests To Ojai!

By Mayesvara dasa

Hari Bolo Prabhus!

Please accept my obeisances. All glories to Sri Guru & Sri Gauranga.

This is just a general news release informing all our local friends and supporters of a very unusual appearance of Lord Jagannatha in the Ojai Community. The story began last summer when Adhoksaja Dasi, (Alexi Vincent) grew a 120 lb pumpkin. Having developed an appreciation for Krishna Consciousness, she just wasn’t inspired to cut the large pumpkin into a traditional Jack-o-Lantern. Instead she transcendental zed the event by painting it with the beautiful smile of Lord Jagannatha!

It is a matter of humor...

When you stare at the media packages that you receive on a daily dose by TV, you gotta pay attention at what is coming out from the international news headlines. From Turkey to Pakistan, the muslim world is shaken by what is happening on the tube (aka TV). Everything happens on the tube, and you know it!

John K. Harrell is a Denver based painter. His subjects include the Colorado countryside, as well as paintings from his travels in the U.S. and Europe. Harrell has a nice economy of notation, in which impressionist handling is used for areas like foliage and textured surfaces where broken color is most effective; but like the American Impressionist painters from the turn of the last century he has not locked himself into rendering everything with short strokes, allowing larger areas of color to predominate when appropriate.

While most daily painters work in oil, Harrell works in acrylic and occasionally pastel. He seems to be using thickened acrylics, though, as they have a feeling of surface texture and brush strokes. Harrell also is a participant in the Daily Impressionist Painters group blog and has a dedicated web site that features his larger and more finished work.

Antony Bridge and Carl Melegari

Antony Bridge and Carl Melegari - pochade paintings
I first came across Antony Bridge in the form of his time-lapse YouTube videos about pochade painting, when I was doing research on pochade boxes.

In them you can see Antony painting at various locations in the English countryside and towns, using his small hand-held pochade box, as well as painting small self portraits.

I followed links to the site at pochade.co.uk where he displays and sells his paintings with other pochade artists like Carl Melegari and Ben Spurling, interviews artists who do pochade painting, (including Carol Marine, who I wrote about here), shares a blog with other painters on the site, and also sells the small hand-held pochade boxes he uses. These are made on a small scale basis by a UK carpenter and designer who works under the name of Red Top designs.

Mick McGinty (update)

Mick McGinty
I’ve been writing about the “painting a day” phenomenon for about three years now, along the way looking at a number of painters who aren’t trying to maintain the strict “one painting a day” routine, but are instead painting on a regular but less frequent schedule. Often, these painters can devote themselves to larger and more elaborate works than the small (usually postcard-size) paintings favored by those keeping the daily routine.

George Coll lives in Colorado and his daily paintings are of the mountainous landscape surrounding him. Coll treks from his two acre property out into the back country with with 2 pack llamas carrying his supplies (now that’s different). His location paintings are often in the muted tones of daylight softened by the shadows of the mountains, accented with brilliant light on distant peaks.

He also paints figures and town scenes and his blog will occasionally feature images of his larger works, done in the studio from his location sketches. Coll also has a web site that showcases his larger finished work.

Don Gray

Posted by Charley Parker at 9:19 am

I initially came cross Oregon born, California based painter Don Gray by way of his daily painting blog Daily Art West, in which he posts his small paintings of varied subjects, sometimes following the model of small indoor still life subjects common to the “painting a day” practice, but more often of outdoor scenes, frequently painted en plein air.

Download Full Size"> Danforth Museum Members Show 1

Download Full Size

By Marshall Wolff/Daily News staff

"Provocative," 2007, by Virginia Fitzgerald of Natick, is on display as part of the Danforth Museum of Art members show.

Catching up a bit here … I said I had some good news to report. One of my paintings, “Persimmon & Plumbago” took first prize at the Verdugo Hills Art “Focus on Oils” show, and another, “Call of the Desert” received an honorable mention.

Owner Artisan of RL Holmes featured guest on KLTV. ( Coming Next Week)

ody painting by mainland China body painting artist

A model shows her body painting by mainland China body painting artist, Pan Guohua at a Hong Kong book fair. reuters

Photo Quiz--What is It?

Can anyone guess what this object is? It's really pretty obvious, not tricky and challenging like 'you-know-who's'!

Here are TWO links for those that might have photos they want to market. I signed up for their newsletters and organizations a long time ago, but so far I've not had any photos which match their calls. Lately I've received two emails with calls for Historic Sites of Europe and for sports backgrounds from fotoLibra. Perhaps some of you Daily Photo and City Bloggers do?

Wiggles Rocks Us on Cinco De Mayo On Maui

While the Cinco De Mayo party raged on next door at Fred's, we dined at one of our favorite restaurants on Maui, the Greek Bistro.

Wiggles the Cat was the star at the Greek Bistro, a photo op no diner could pass up!This woman in the photo isn't me in case anyone is curious--a stranger who obviously loved to take photos! :-)

If you want to read more about Cinco De Mayo on Maui, I posted about it on another one of my blogs, Who's Yo Mama.

Successful Student on the Drawing and Painting Diploma Course

We are delighted to receive the enclosed photos from Chaitra Channappa, who has received her certificate today for successfully completing the Drawing and Painting Diploma Course tutored by Linda O’Gorman. Chaitra has told us that she has been exhibiting her paintings at an art exhibition organized by MK Arts for health in Milton Keynes hospital. She has also started working with the same organization voluntarily. She is preparing herself towards her dream of opening her own institute of Art (teaching) and Gallery alongside working with children with special needs. The photos are of the launch party and the paintings she has exhibited.

Chaitra has said

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank my Tutor, Ms Linda O’Gorman, the Principal and everyone at the college for the coaching and all support and guidance. I have recommended the course to many of my friends and acquaintances.

We would like to wish Chaitra all the very best in her ventures!

lac1

lac21

Maggie Roberts

We would like to officially welcome our newest tutor Maggie Roberts who is taking over the Children’s Illustration Diploma Course and the Watercolour Gouache Certificate Course. Maggie is a professional children’s illustrator and works mainly in Watercolour. Maggie has taught for many years in collages and we are sure that she will be a very welcome addtion to the London Art College team. You can see more of Maggies work on her tutors page.

Success story for one of our students

We have had some wonderful news from one of our students who has completed the pet Portrait Diploma Course, she has been accepted into University to study a BA Hons Degree in Fine Arts.We have added a success story for Jean on our website showing a good selection of her work. You can visit it at this link and read the full story…..

http://www.londonartcollege.co.uk/success-stories/jean.htm

dragonfly

PAINTING BY TOM HENNESSEY

Tom Hennessey’s painting, “Dawn Distraction,” shows two Penobscot Indians pulling a birch bark canoe over a beaver dam, while a distant moose stands in the background. The painting is being raffled off to benefit the Penobscot River Restoration Project.

Coffee Still Life New York Daily News American Modern Impressionist Ng Woon Lam MFA NWS

Ng Woon Lam MFA NWS

Memberships

Master of Fine Art (MFA) in Painting from New York Academy of Art
Signature member of National Watercolor Society (NWS), USA
Member of Singapore Watercolour Society and Singapore Art Society

Photo contributed
Friends of Riverfront hope to re-create a modern version of the George Seurat painting (bottom) along the Rock River (top) this weekend. Volunteers are needed for the re-creation, but are asked to wear modern clothing. The event is set for 3 p.m. Saturday at the Rotary River Center.

Les Baux Chapel, Provence, France, Matthieu Colin Photography

“The color is crisp and sharp, and the shadows and foliage frame the buildings in the distance perfectly. The clouds in the sky above adds to the aesthetic quality of the image, as they don't draw attention in themselves, but harmonize and cap off the elements around them. Overall this photo does what a good travel image should: it allows the viewer to imagine being where this photo was taken, and make them want to be there as well.”

“What I’ve done as a photo editor has definitely influenced me as a painter in the sense that I also compose in reality and like to look at things in odd juxtapositions to create a really dynamic sense of movement,” Fox explained. “Being a photo editor has sharpened my visual acuity where I can at a glance remember moments in time as I lived them and then recreate them later in drawings. I very much feel like my brain is a camera at a certain level and my work reflects that."

“My paintings are a record of daily life in New York City,” Fox said. “I’d like to feel like when I finish this recording of life around me, you’ll get a sense of the world in which I lived.”

Tiger at Prague Zoo, Prague, Czech Republic, Richard Nebesky Photography

When Fox reviews a photo, he focuses on the composition as well as the application of the image. If he’s searching for a cover shot, for example, he considers not only the design and sentiment of the photo but also whether the book title at the top of the page will obstruct any particularly important element of the shot.

“The photo must fit the need,” he said. “I tell any photographer, ‘Do your research. Who are you targeting?’”

Fox suggested photographers submit images that are clear and focused. A food shot, for example, should focus on the food, not the entire restaurant. Fox favors bright colors and recommends photographers avoid sending editors images that are too monochromatic. Most of the images he chooses for the guidebooks feature people, which he said gives the visual a “sense of humanity and warmth.”

Stained Glass of St. Vitus, Prague, Czech Republic, Richard Nebesky Photography

Fox modified his approach dramatically as photographers and stock agencies began using the Internet to store and transfer images. Fox now reviews submissions online, and he selects about a dozen images to show at meetings.

“It’s a very different kind of reality,” Fox said. “Frommer’s series have expanded and new series have been created so there are more books to complete and less time to do them. We had to create different systems. It’s as much time management as it is getting the perfect picture.”

Harvey Nichols Department Store, Edinburgh, Scotland, Neil Setchfield Photography

Though Fox has a wide range of photographers and stock agencies to pull from, he is constantly looking for new sources and creating new contracts. If he’s editing a city guide, he tries to find a photographer in that city who can do the job. Frommer’s works six months, or two seasons, ahead so Fox must always be thinking well in advance.

“We have to carefully monitor how we want the books to look each year,” he explained. “The styles of photos change over time, and sometimes a photographer’s personal style becomes dated.”

Marine Painting

When Your Boat Needs a Marine Paint Job

Repainting your boat does more than maintain your boat's appearance. A quality marine paint will help keep the boat's surfaces free of algae and barnacles, protect it from the salt water, and help your boat move more smoothly and efficiently through the water.

Natural Science Center zookeeper Amanda Schuch slides paper under the foot of Kisa, a Siberian-mix tiger.

Credit: Jerry Wolford / News & Record

NATURAL SCIENCE CENTER

Hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday; 12:30 to 5 p.m. Sunday. Animal Discovery hours: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Saturday; 12:30 p.m.-4 p.m. Sunday

Admission: $8 adults, $7 children (ages 3-13) and seniors (65 or older), free for children under age 2

Information: 288-3769 or www.natsci.org

Coney Island Lager To Go National

Beer Advocate Magazine has reported that the Saratoga Springs based Shmaltz Brewing Company is planning to expand both the varieties and availability of local favorite Coney Island Lager:

The national launch of Coney Island will feature its self-titled debut offering and four craft brewed lagers including Sword Swallower (May 1st), Albino Python (May 1st), Human Blockhead (draft only, summer '08) and Freaktoberfest (September 1st - Halloween).

Schmaltz (which also makes the popular HE'BREW Beer) is not simply cashing in on the Coney Island name; a portion of the beer's proceeds directly benefit Coney Island USA

This is New York City?

Last year, the Bloomberg administration launched 'This is New York City,' an international marketing campaign geared at bringing more tourist dollars to the city.

As City Rag points out, those of us who live here never actually get to see how the City is presented in these ads. Luckily for us, the ad (like everything else) can be viewed on You Tube.

Lilliputia, an experimental attraction of little people on Coney Island, was built in 1904. Located at the Dreamland amusement park (now the New York Aquarium), the 80' x 175' "Midget City" was built in proportion to its citizens: 300 dwarves lured away from sideshows. As paying customers gaped, the diminutive denizens milled about their cardboard utopia, visiting a tiny theater and pocket-sized parliament. Eventually, Lilliputians were told to engage in promiscuous sexual behavior. By the time Dreamland went up in flames in 1911, Lilliputia had devolved into a hotbed of sexual anarchy, with 80 percent of newborns conceived out of wedlock. Surf Ave and W 8th St