Artists In Our Midst

by 4:30 pm. It has 137 Comments.

Big Bunny Linocut by linocutboy on Etsy

As promised, herewith your Artists In Our Midst thread.

If you are any kind of creator – artist, writer, blogger, photographer, musician, inventor, designer, sex toy entrepreneur, gardener, whatever – professional or otherwise, and you want to give yourself or your stuff a plug, please do so.

If you’re not and you know someone who is, get in a plug for them, or ask one of our talented creators to make you something you never thought you wanted, but which would bring a bit of joy into your life.

Don’t forget our Balloon Jobs thread. There are all sorts of clever people who might be perfect for your business, and all sorts of job opportunities and suggestions on offer.

My plug is for the Etsy shop of linocutboy, whose work is just lovely, and includes the magnificent big bunny above.





This post is in and has 137 Comments.

Writing Productivity Class and Meet Ups (NY & NJ) Comin’ Atcha!

by 11:38 am. It has 27 Comments.

Hey Everyone – I’m going to bigfoot myself to announce that I’m teaching an online writing-productivity class starting 10/31. It’s great for any writer (creative, academic, business, etc.) trying to boost his or her output, overcome procrastination and perfectionism, and/or finish a project. (Actually for anyone with those goals, in any crazed-turquoise-bowl-6afield, but the examples and discussions will all be writing-focused.) The classes are four weeks long, and the format is bloggish, so you can be located anywhere. Normally $50, but the host, SavvyAuthors, is offering a discount of $5 just for Juicers—so $45. Click here to register. (Note: the class dates are wrong on that link but rest assured you will be registering for my class.)

More info below the fold. Another perk, btw, is that we typically get many romance writers in the class, and they are interesting people who tend to occupy the sweet spot at the intersection of “kind and supportive” and “publication focused.” (Oh, and in case you’re interested, here’s a piece I did a few years back on romance fiction and social justice.)

In other news, JT and I are hitting the road again and I’d love to meet up with any Juicers in either New York City (Nov 21 – 23) or Montclair, NJ (Nov 25-26). (Pre- and post-Thanksgiving.) Please email me at hillaryrettig@yahoo.com. (Also email me if questions about the class.)

Illustration: gorgeous Kintsugi pottery by Lakeside Pottery Studio in Rehoboth Beach, DE. Per Wikipedia: “Kintsugi (“golden joinery”), also known as Kintsukuroi (“golden repair”), is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum… As a philosophy, it treats breakage and repair as part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise.” Hillary’s note: in other words, Kinsugi exemplifies the virtues of nonperfectionism, one of the main topics we’ll discuss in class. (Image reproduced with kind permission of Morty Bachar and Patty Storms.)

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Shameless self promotion thread

by 7:11 pm. It has 161 Comments.

the_pottery_vendor-large

I can’t see that we’ve done an Artists in our Midst thread, or a job thread, for quite a while. Then again, I may just be too drunk to find them.

Anyway, lets combine the two and have a free thread for Juicers – artists, Etsyists, writers, job seekers, freelancers, businesses seeking workers, community groups seeking assistance, whatever, lurkers more than welcome – to give themselves a plug.

[Image – Francisco de Goya (1746-1828) The Pottery Vendor]


Late Night Graphic Artists Open Thread

by 2:14 am. It has 59 Comments.

First, artist and commentor Larime could use a little help:

My wife, Sylv Taylor, is bed-bound with Lupus and her laptop is the only link she has to the outside world. That laptop is also what she uses to create art, including coloring comics. It’s dying – it shut off 10 times in 3 hours today – and when it’s dead she’ll be utterly isolated and unable to create.

PLEASE consider helping in getting her a new laptop. If you can’t pledge, PLEASE share this on your journals and tell your friends. If her laptop dies and I can’t replace it, she’s going to have nothing to do and no one but me to talk to, all day, every day. This laptop is literally her life and her world.

The Indiegogo campaign is here. Thank you!

***********

Second, a documentary we can look forward to:


(Via Sharan Shetty at Slate)

In theatres November 15.


Artists In Our Midst Open Thread

by 9:00 pm. It has 147 Comments.

First things first- just furminated the boss, and let me tell you what- Steve loves being furminated so much that he is actually hard to brush because he keeps head-butting the brush and doing circles instead of holding still (which was never an issue with Tunch- holding still was a lifelong goal that he marvelously achieved). But he just loves it. Furminated him, then brushed him with a regular brush, and it is amazing how quickly his coat is getting better. Even the bald areas, where I had to delicately cut out mats so he would stop being Boss Marley with dreadlocks everywhere, is growing back and feels silky and soft to the touch.

Back to the thrust of the post, it’s been forever since we have one of these, and I know how many creative people we have commenting and lurking, so let’s do one tonight. If you are an artist/crafter/musician/carpenter/whatever, and you have some wares to share with the rest of us (of if your spouse or friends or basically anything cool you want to share), throw it in the comments so we can decide if maybe you have something that would make our days a little brighter and happier.

Some of my most prized possessions are things you all have made, whether it be my GD portrait, the picture of the beautiful sunflower fields I bought, etc.


Open Thread and Artists in our midst

by 10:33 pm. It has 165 Comments.

I’ve got nothin’ right now, so I will simply share this lovely picture by a late 19th-early 20th century painter called Bertram Hiles, who lost both his arms in a tramcar accident as a child, and who painted with his mouth.

There is more at Callum James and at Design. Decoration. Craft.

So what the hell, lets make this an open thread and an impromptu “Artists in our midst” thread.

Feel free to link to photos, painting, craft, music, writing (including gratuitous blog whoring) or indeed anything that you or your friends have made that you want to show off.


Artists In Our Midst

by 7:10 pm. It has 172 Comments.

Been a while since we had one of these, so I thought it would be a good opportunity for all of you creative types out there to share your wares. I’ve bought several pieces of art from the readership, the latest being this rendition of the animal family.

That was done by Larime Taylor, who paints better with his mouth than most of us can with our hands. Also, Larime passes the word that he is looking for one of you who commissioned some work, but he can no longer get in touch with you.

Hopefully in a couple weeks I can send that picture back and have him airbrush out the asshole in the lower right. I’m going to hell.

At any rate, throw some links to art done by you and yours.

BTW- I would love it if the person who sent me these WONDERFUL pictures that I then had professionally framed and hang prominently in my living room would take a bow and share her awesome work with everyone.

I just love them. They are the first thing anyone sees when they walk into my house. And wait a couple months, and I will show you the pansy pot that Laura W. made, complete with my pansies grown from seed in my basement.