Art in your ear

The world is full of those who communicate and those who listen. Podcasts fulfil the needs of both, and even those of artists, as I've discovered. Podcasts are a newish form of communication to the masses. Wikipedia defines a podcast as this:

A podcast is a digital media file, or a series of such files, that is distributed over the Internet using syndication feeds for playback on portable media players and personal computers.

Art is a very visual medium so why even consider podcasts about art? Well, they provide access to a lot of information that normally would never be available to most of us. From art history, museum, technique, design, marketing and the business of art, they are all available to download to a portable media player such as an iPod or available to listen to online through your computer's speakers.

If you have an iPod you can access lists of podcasts through the iTunes program, but there are lots of other podcast search engines available to find the programs you are looking for. I have a couple of favourites that I listen to regularly and keep an eye out for others that may come up from time to time by searching online for new editions.

Here are a couple of links to get you going in the quest for art through your ears.

Podcast search engines
Podcast.net
Podcast.com
EPN (Education Podcast Network)
iTunes

Interested in voicing your own views in a podcast?
How to create your own podcast
GarageBand and iWeb
Gcast

Finally a few of the podcasts that I'm currently subscribed to
ArtBizBlog
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden - Smithsonian museum for contemporary art
SF Moma
Guggenheim
Tate Modern/ London

Experiment, search and see what you come up with.

More cats

I am overdue to do another dog portrait, but found myself drawing this cat which was this week's challenge in a weekly drawing thread. I guess cats and dogs are similar exercises in form and colour and fur...lots of fur. I'll work on it for another day or so, but its more a sketch than a drawing then it goes into the files.

Towers and pigs

I played with an image of a tower that had wonderful lighting. The tower is located in Laguna Beach in Southern California where I was in February. This drawing was done in pen and ink with coloured pencil, about 11 x 14. It is an image I keep threatening to paint in oils and I will. Eventually.

The next experiment is a little video of the piglets filmed yesterday in the barn. They LOVE potatoes in any form and this is the chaos that ensues when they all try to eat out of the same trough. The noise in the background are the geese who were still in their pens in the barns. They are soooooooo noisy!

Growth

When bankers get together for dinner, they discuss art.

When artists get together for dinner, they discuss money.
Oscar Wilde

The greenhouse is a sea of greens and oranges as the marigolds start to bloom and other flower continue to grow. These early blooms will be taken off the plants to encourage more flowers, as they will not be needed until mid-July for a wedding.

Meanwhile, the piglets continue to grow and become more curious about their world. They are still in the barn right now but will be moved to a pen in the field as soon as it is constructed.

Monsters

Remember when you were a kid and there were monsters under your bed? You had to jump in from three feet out in case they grabbed you by the ankles and dragged you under. Well I have monsters under my front steps to the house.

The Muscovy ducks, Buddy and B.D. love to sit under there for hours, their own private camp. Muscovy ducks are quackless and make a strange hissing sound that is quite disconcerting for those who don't know them. It almost sounds like a large dog panting heavily. When someone walks up the steps to the house, they hear this strange noise from under their feet and come scurrying up half afraid of just what will be under there.

Here I have captured one of the 'monsters', Buddy, lying in wait.

Its the time of year at work and home which leaves me breathless in the speed at which it hurtles forward. Meetings, presentations, the farm, life in general never let me have enough hours in the day to do the things I really want to do which is drawing.

This week my drawing has been sadly neglected while I take care of other things. I'm smoothing the path towards some goals that I made back in January and some things are coming together. I was asked to sit on the Executive of the provincial Art Association and accepted and started the process in motion last night. Like most volunteer based organizations, there are hurdles to be jumped and a herd of ideas roam in my head for ways to enhance services for the organization and for those it serves - the artists of the province.

Being on 'the inside' allows me access to the vast network of people and resources for the arts and helps network. I can continue to build my portfolio, participate in shows and enable others to influence and help me in my journey. Workshops and information flow freely and it will be good to be back in the heart of the arts community.

I am also working on some teaching possibilities, summer art camps or workshops perhaps and some more regular teaching in the fall for an online course. As with most artists my dream would be to let art make me self sufficient. As with all things, this takes a large amount of blood, sweat and tears, as well as a plan. At last my plan is starting to come together.