Taller Than Average Tales

Life of Art SitRep #103 And breathe...

2012-01-27T00:40:00.000-05:00

Every week, I work towards creating a life of art for myself. This is the zigzag filled journey.

Play along in the comments with your own pursuits if you'd like. (That's where I'll cheer you on.)

*******

I meant to finish creating the new products introduced last week for my existing photographs and designs, but Zazzle added another new product this week (aluminum water bottles) which slowed me down. With 8 photographs left to go today, I remembered my theme for the year: Ease. Deciding not to kill myself finishing it today felt pretty great. I can finish it tomorrow.

This week, I

Blogged, FB'd, and Tweeted 15% off sale:

Get 15% Off All Products until January 27, 2012 at 11:59pm PT! (That's today!)
Use code: 15WINTERSALE

Made new water bottle templates.

Added 165 new items to my existing catalog of images including messenger bags, planners, iPad sleeves, macbook air sleeves, macbook pro sleeves, and water bottles as appropriate:

Blue Bokeh by RocklawnArts
See other courier bags.

Bokeh in Spring by RocklawnArts
Browse Abstract Rickshaw Folios

Epimedium Flowers by RocklawnArts
View more reusable water bottles

After Hockney - Black & White: Light on water by RocklawnArts
Browse Zazzle for a different MacBook Pro sleeve.

Purple and White Gingham Pattern by RocklawnArts
View other Purple and white gingham Rickshaw Sleeves

Red and White Gingham Pattern by RocklawnArts
Browse Zazzle for a different MacBook sleeve.

Posted 44 products to promotional blogs.

Rearranged store, moved digital designs down with rest of them. Added folio and messenger bag to top picks.

Deleted album in store images that was driving me crazy by making me click more times to get to design images.

Watched "High Pass Sharpening" Photoshop tutorial.

Watched Video Tutorials – "Using Adobe Photoshop’s Unsharp Mask Tool" and "How To Fix Photos That Are Too Dark Using Adobe Photoshop" and "Demonstration of Content Aware Scale in Adobe Photoshop."

*******

How are your pursuits going?

3 years ago on TTaT: Winter waters

Post Office Etiquette

2012-01-23T19:46:00.000-05:00

While waiting in line at the post office, I started filling out a Signature Confirmation Receipt. In my peripheral vision, I saw a middle-aged woman (probably only 10 or 15 years older than me, gah!) come up beside me and then sort of step out of line as though she was considering cutting ahead of me. I turned my head in her direction and she stepped back in line behind me.

I'm not a jerk, I thought to myself, If I'm not done by the time the next cashier is ready for me, I'll let you go ahead of me.

There were still two people in front of me in any case. When the line moved up, I slid down the counter and finished the form. I stood next to the one guy ahead of me for a long time watching the two cashiers help two people. A third postal worker would periodically walk up to a third register, do some stuff, and then walk away.

After he'd done that two or three times and one of the other cashiers also walked away, I commented to the guy ahead of me, "Just when you think they're going to open a third register..."

"Yeah," he said. "They keep teasing us."

I looked at my letter and form for about the tenth time and read the back of the Signature Confirmation Receipt. I read it a couple of times to make sure that it only applied to packages. I had the wrong form.

The counter by the line had slots with all of the various postal forms in it, but I was too far up to reach them. I took a step along the counter side of the antsy woman behind me (there was room because she was back out like a runner trying to steal 2nd) and reached in front of an older man to grab a Certified Mail Receipt while saying, "Excuse me."

I stepped back to my place in line and hurriedly started filling out the new form.

The antsy woman chirped, "Are you still in line? Are you ready?"

"Yes. I will be by the time they are." I scribbled the address again.

FYI, antsy woman, the content on the forms I was filling out was more for my benefit than a requirement for my transaction. In any case, I was still done before the next cashier was ready.

However, antsy woman, if I hadn't finished, your behavior made it likely that I would've taken the form up to the cashier to finish it there. (Though I probably would have asked for the stamps I needed first so as not to waste the cashier's time.)

To sum up: Chill out when you're waiting in line. Assume the best of the people ahead of you. Don't cut or ponder cutting ahead of someone filling out a form (especially when there are still people ahead of her! It makes you look like a jerk.).

If, and only if, the person ahead of you is at the front of the line and is still filling out paperwork when the next cashier is ready may you calmly and POLITELY ask to go first. Keep your frenzy dialed down and ditch your entitlement altogether. If they didn't suggest that you go first on their own already (Assume the best of the people ahead of you), it's possible they will say no. In they do, suck it up. They were there first. With any luck, more than one cashier will be working so you won't have to wait much longer.

5 years ago on TTaT: Potentially crazy making

Best Business Practices for Photographers

2012-01-21T10:06:00.001-05:00

4. Best Business Practices for Photographers by John Harrington

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

An excellent reference book for the business side of photography. Loads of examples and resources throughout. That said, it's also a bit overwhelming for someone who isn't already in business as a photographer. I think the book contains a lot of great advice for getting things set up the right way from the beginning though.

For the non-pro reader, I would start with the chapter that walks you through copyright registration (chapter 17). It's followed by what to do when you're infringed in chapter 18 with a handy step-by-step to getting an ISP provider to remove your images from a site violating your copyright according to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) starting on page 329: "Case Study: a DMCA Violation." (You might find this useful, Dave2, since you don't have to deal directly with the infringer.)

Then I would read chapters 6 and 7, "Setting Your Photographer's Fees" and "Pricing Your Work to Stay in Business" to remind yourself what your work is really worth. Most people I know can't hear this enough, myself included.

Then I'd look at the chapters on contracts which include many examples of what clients expect/demand and what you can counter with. Harrington also discusses what the contract language means. There are several ways the language can be phrased so that it says you retain your copyright while you're actually giving all those rights away. Watch out for "exclusive," "transferable," and "sublicensable" rights. Completely avoid "work made for hire" if at all possible.

From there, I might go to chapter 26 "Licensing Your Work." It just depends on what applies most to you. There's a chapter on IRS audits that has tips that would be useful for anyone. Other chapters cover more of the nitty gritty business stuff: lawyers, accounting, insurance, staff, dealing with clients, etc. Make use of the contents and index. (Sizzle, you might find the chapter on contracts for weddings and rites of passage very helpful. Main take-away, get paid upfront so you're not waiting with a bunch of other vendors to get paid after the honeymoon when the couple is broke.)

I really appreciated how Harrington shared his correspondences with clients, and examples of invoices and licenses. "It's not our policy to..." is one of his great ways to say "No" to an unreasonable client request. There are a lot of examples in the book of what you can say to a client who insists on something (often all the rights to your image forever everywhere for one fee) or one who objects to the estimated cost you propose.

I hope Harrington writes a 3rd edition to keep the information current.

On a tangential note, I'm kind of freaked out. I don't think I can do a lot of what it takes to make a living as a photographer according to this book, at least not well which doesn't even account for not wanting to do a lot of it. I was never going to be a wedding, rites of passage, portrait photographer which is the industry's bread and butter.

How then do I make the life of art I want to have work? And what does that life look like exactly? Those are the conundrums.

For now, there are bits from the book I can do, so I'll start there and let the rest sink in more. 500 pages of business talk is a lot to take in.

A year ago on TTaT: Life of Art SitRep #50 the big five-oh

Life of Art SitRep #102 Round One

2012-01-20T00:01:00.001-05:00

Every week, I work towards creating a life of art for myself. This is the zigzag filled journey.

Play along in the comments with your own pursuits if you'd like. (That's where I'll cheer you on.)

*******

This week, I

Shot 12 self portraits.

Made templates for new Planners, Messenger Bags, iPad Sleeves, MacBook Pro Sleeves, and MacBook Air Sleeves and then used them to create 123 new items from my digital designs.

Black and White Rectangles by RocklawnArts
Browse other commuter bag designs on Zazzle.

Double Rainbow Barcode by RocklawnArts
View other Double rainbow Rickshaw Folios

Rainbow Bullseye by RocklawnArts
View more Rainbow Rickshaw Sleeves

Navy and White Gingham Pattern by RocklawnArts
Browse more Navy and white gingham Rickshaw Flap Sleeves

Purple and White Gingham Pattern by RocklawnArts
Browse other Purple and white gingham Rickshaw Sleeves

Added new items to links list.

Posted 38 products to promotional blogs.

Rearranged store a bit.

Blogged Bone China, Espresso, and Jumbo Mugs now available at Rocklawn Arts!

Finished reading Best Business Practices for Photographers, 2nd edition by John Harrington. Uf, more on this soon.

*******

How are your pursuits going?

Two years ago on TTaT: Registered to vote in MA? Go vote!

Consider this black

2012-01-18T15:41:00.000-05:00

Please contact your Senators and US Representatives, and tell them to vote NO on the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and ProtectIP (PIPA).

Be Cool now with Bonus Tangents!

2012-01-16T15:01:00.000-05:00

Knowing that I would have to endure at least an hour of a claustrophobic situation yesterday, my motto was "Be cool."

I'm not sure how they keep managing it but once again my appointment was for the coldest day within the 7 day forecast. Not one of the oddly above average warm days, no, it's the days where the high is only in the teens and my appointments either fall well before or after that temperature would be reached. Bundling up for 11 degree weather is not so bad but I was avoiding wearing any metal except what my jacket had. My pajama bottoms, though sporting a cool series of vertical blue stripes, are on the thin side. Knee high socks help but not that much when it's that cold. Yay for heated seats and someone willing to drop me off and pick me up at the door.

I'd been trying to gauge how long it would take based on two past experiences that would now be combined, but I was dismayed when she said an hour and a half. "Are you claustrophobic?"

"Yeah, a bit. I've done this before but not all at once." Be cool.

I wore a different sweater this time, one that wasn't so bulky: a good choice as it didn't push against the sides of the tube I was in.

I know to relax my shoulders as much as possible before we start, and I also know it's never relaxed enough. "Just slide up an inch so you shoulders are against the headrest," the tech said. I'll just say that when you've recently thrown out your back, these are not words you want to hear. Ow.

The cage over me was bigger this time and part of it was resting on my chest which I really didn't like. It's easier to ignore confinement the less you can feel it. Be cool.

"Take a nap if you can," he said before leaving to start the machine.

I closed my eyes but they felt really jumpy. And then the knocking, beeps, and electronic tones started. The sounds vary widely and occur in spurts of varying length with few pauses. All they have in common is that they are really loud even with earplugs and foam blocks beside your ears. Not likely I can nap through this.

I focused on my breathing, keeping it slow and calm. Thank you, yoga.

I should have elongated my neck before we started because I felt like I was at an odd angle making it harder to swallow and periodically stressed out over it since I wasn't supposed to move.

I tried picturing a tropical beach: white sand, blue ocean, a palm tree arching in from the right, listening to the waves, the sand in my toes. But then I thought about the heat, how I always burn, and how I generally like the idea of a beach more than lying on one.

Considered and discarded: a large beach umbrella, a cabana, an infinity pool overlooking the ocean.

Next up my dream library. Red mahogany built in shelves from floor to ceiling all full of books. Can't have it be too dark though so lots of sunlight from skylights and windows. Maybe a view of the tropical beach, perhaps opening out to it.

"You're doing great," the tech's voice said through a speaker. "Are you doing all right?"

I croaked, "Yes," and made a subtle adjustment to my neck. My palm felt a little sweaty loosely holding the call button. The loud clicks and buzzes resumed. 8 more minutes to the first set, then another set, then pulled out for a contrast injection, and then back in for another round.

You know, I bet H would hate this. Well, I don't know if she's claustrophobic, but the loud sounds would almost certainly be triggery for her. But perhaps I won't mention that. On the off chance she ever needs this done, I don't want to prime her for a bad experience.

The library opening out onto the beach wasn't enough, so what next? Puppies!

The off-white puppies were absolutely conjured from the unrated version of Bridesmaids that I had just watched with my dad the night before.

Some things to note: I do not recommend watching the unrated version of Bridesmaids with your dad. Though I haven't seen the theatrical cut, I think I would have preferred it.

But back to my dad who said, "What does 'unrated' mean? That it's for everybody?"

"Uh, no. Think about it: Un. Rated. Use your logic." Once I was done looking at him as though he were crazy, I explained, "Unrated usually means that version of the film is more lewd and gross. Racier."

I should have stressed the gross more, but I still don't think he would have understood because he has no current frame of reference. He hasn't seen any of the now typical guy comedies that seem to hang their humor on grossness. He doesn't really watch TV so he hasn't even seen trailers for those types of movies.

He wanted to see the unrated version though and I was willing to humor him. Periodically during the film when he expressed shock at one thing or another, starting with the first scene!, I found myself just saying, "I told you it was unrated." I felt like he hadn't listened to me.

Despite that and the fact that Bridesmaids is clearly a film aimed at women, he laughed a lot. It did make me laugh but I enjoyed it more for its story about women from a woman's point of view. Though it's taken to extremes, a lot of the emotional content felt true to me.

I was trying to think of any comedies, excluding romantic comedies, that I'd really liked since they aren't typically my thing. I came up with Sister Act, Sister Act 2, and The Blues Brothers, all of which could be classified as musicals rather than straight comedies. So I don't know. It's an odd genre. Ooh, Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Anyway, I was grateful for the image of the puppies.

I also thought of Maru, Japanese cat and internet sensation. I wasn't picturing his coloring clearly, so I imagined him sprawled on his back (as he often does) and giving him a belly rub. When I lived with a cat, belly rubs were stealth affairs, both brief and fast if I didn't want to get scratched. Being imaginary though, I gave Maru a good long belly rub. Belly fur is so soft!

I need another fuzzy hoodie, one without a zipper. It'd probably be better without a hood for this too. A fuzzy sweatshirt to pet would be comforting. I wonder if anywhere has those. Hmm, what color to get? Another blue? No, maybe red if they had a good red.

All in all, it took 1 hour and 13 minutes from the time I walked back to the time I walked out. Though it ran shorter than the predicted hour and a half, I was at my threshold for remaining still and in a confined space. As the table rolled out, it took all my patience to wait for the tech to come in and remove the cage over my head even though it only took maybe 3 minutes before I could sit up.

ARgh.

Might be time to invest in a pair of warm sweatpants if I could find some without much elastic.

And how was your Sunday? If you see a fuzzy sweatshirt anywhere, please let me know.

5 years ago on TTaT: Other People

Life of Art SitRep #101 Spotted pups rest easy

2012-01-13T00:01:00.001-05:00

Every week, I work towards creating a life of art for myself. This is the zigzag filled journey.

Play along in the comments with your own pursuits if you'd like. (That's where I'll cheer you on.)

*******

Oh you guys, I threw out my back. Feels like karmic payback for skipping yoga. OK, so that's not particularly art related, but it is attracting much of my attention at the moment. It is feeling a little better so I'm hoping a night's sleep will put it right. Fingers crossed.

This week, I

Shot 100 photographs, woo!

Created White Circles on Black design, wrote a description for it, and made a product line:

White Circles on Black by RocklawnArts
Browse White and black Mugs

White Circles on Black by RocklawnArts
Buy custom printed vinyl binders on zazzle.com

White Circles on Black by RocklawnArts
Design your own iphone 4s cases

Made another 20 specialty mugs finishing up what I'm going to make from my back catalog of designs and photographs.

Snow-covered Oak Tree by RocklawnArts
See other Snow covered trees Specialty Mugs

Snow-covered Trees: Vertical by RocklawnArts
Browse more Bone china Specialty Mugs

Puffy Clouds On Blue Sky by RocklawnArts
See other coffee mugs.

Did tablet tutorials. Incorporating this into my workflow is going to take some getting used to.

Scheduled Rocklawn Arts blog post for White Circles on Light Blue.

Posted 36 products to promotional blogs.

Tweeted, blogged and FB'd new design White Circles on Black.

Swapped two calendars for cases in top picks in my shop.

Updated metadata templates and deleted some old ones.

Watched Setting up a Home Studio with John Cornicello workshop on Creative Live.

Watched Video Tutorial – Using Photoshop’s Built-in HDR Toning Effect On A Single Image.

Read another draft of my friend's script. Was able to give him several "good note"s and at least one "great idea." Feels good to be helpful.

Finished reading Popular Photography Nov. 2011 issue.

*******

How are your pursuits going?

A year ago on TTaT: Life of Art SitRep #49 Blue canary in the outlet by the light switch

Ow, naturally

2012-01-12T13:43:00.001-05:00

Felt kind of tired so I decided to skip my usual ~18 minutes of yoga. Figured I'd get some exercise doing laundry instead, even decided to do an extra load for a total of 3. (Accursed winter layers!) I hauled it all downstairs with no problem. While putting in my first load, however, I managed to wrench my lower back something awful.

Like can't bend over anymore without pain awful. I have no idea what triggered it, other than being old and not warmed up; I didn't make any extreme movements or anything. sigh.

I managed a deep knee bend to retrieve the sheets I wanted to put in that load, closed the lid, and eased my way into the kitchen.

Right now, the back of my chair has warmed up a bit which feels pretty nice. Tempted to hit up the chair massager (one of those things they sell at Bed, Bath, & Beyond during the holidays), but I would have to reach the floor to plug it in. Not sure I'm ready for that. Maybe a little later.

2012, I've got my eye on you.

How's your day going? I hope well.

ETA: Naturally I'm wearing my "I do all my own stunts" t-shirt.

A year ago on TTaT: All right

Life of Art SitRep #100 Woo!

2012-01-06T00:01:00.002-05:00

Every week, I work towards creating a life of art for myself. This is the zigzag filled journey.

Play along in the comments with your own pursuits if you'd like. (That's where I'll cheer you on.)

*******

I have mixed feelings about my 100th week. Both "Yay, 100!" and "Shouldn't I be further along than this?" The hard truth is that "success" requires interactions and networking that I resist. Not sure how or if I will change to accommodate that. Hmm. I reckon this is me trying to make it work without dealing with people. Could be better. Thus,

If you see a design that you like or that someone you know would like, please share it via Twitter, FaceBook, Google+, email, or any other social media that suits you. Your support is much appreciated!

This week, I

Made 24 Specialty Mugs (bone china, espresso, and jumbo):

Spreckels Organ Pavilion by RocklawnArts
View more Bone china Specialty Mugs

River Water Ripples by RocklawnArts
More Marbleized Specialty Mugs

Downtown Kansas City by RocklawnArts
See other Kansas city Specialty Mugs

Petrified Forest Desert by RocklawnArts
Browse other Desert Specialty Mugs

Made Rainbow Square notepad.

Rainbow Square by RocklawnArts
View more Rainbow Notepads

Had my Double Arches ornament featured on Bebops' Zazzle Best Sellers blog.

Double Arch by RocklawnArts
See more Double arch Ornaments

Made 2 image specialty horizontal mug template.

Posted 42 products to promotional blogs.

Rearranged store a bit, moved a row of digital designs down with other digital designs near bottom.

Updated copyright notices on TTaT and Rocklawn Arts blog.

Tweeted, blogged, and FB'd a sale.

Updated online sales file. Added sheets for 2012.

Wrote Life of Art 2011: the year in review post. Stop by to see every design I added to my shop in 2011. (It's an image linking marvel!)

Removed expired sale from my squidoo lenses.

Finished proofreading a friend's script. Doesn't sound much like a life of art, does it? Well, I did more than point out typos and grammatical flaws; I proposed solutions. Put my writing/editing brain to work.

*******

How are your pursuits going?

Two years ago on TTaT: 1. You Better Not Cry

Low profile

2012-01-03T19:31:00.000-05:00

Rather than resolutions, I've been picking themes for the past several years.

2007: Engage
2008: The Sleeper Must Awaken.
2009: Begin anyway
2010: You Shall Be Known As Usul.

And then came 2011. I played it close to the vest for a long time, not writing about it until May in a post called Caveats. Turns out that “a person needs new experiences” (another quote from Dune) is exactly the sort of thing that the proverb "Be careful what you wish for. You might get it." warns about.

Although I had many new experiences in 2011, I wouldn't wish them on anyone. The dreadful way most of the year played out soured me on picking a theme at all for this year.

And yet… “Ease” came to mind and took root in my brain. It felt right even as I resisted choosing a theme.

Certainly not the most ambitious guiding principle but one I could use after last year.

It's already turning up in ways I hadn't anticipated, good ways. I looked at some planners from years past that have been sitting on my side desk for a couple of years and knew where to put them. Getting rid of some clutter, finding places for things: the space that provides is a form of ease.

I was down for the count much of last year, so by fall I was racing to catch up. My attitude towards most everything became, I could do that or I could work on Rocklawn Arts. I routinely chose work favoring product creation over other big picture tasks.

I need to ease up so that I will actually do some of the management stuff I keep putting off, so that I will recognize those tasks as being as vital as adding new designs to my shop.

Also, I could use more fun. Space to revitalize and play. Heck, to blog.

My inner voice is often a harsh critic insisting I'm not doing enough. Since the sentiment holds truth, it's hard to discount; I don't want to discount it per se, just to let what I'm doing be enough for now. I think there's growth to be had within ease that I can't quite see right now.

Here's to 2012: Ease.

What's your theme/intention/resolution/goal for 2012?

Whatever it may be, I wish you the greatest success with it and a happy and healthy new year!

A year ago on TTaT: Note to self, vol. XV

Life of Art 2011: the year in review

2012-01-01T15:51:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year!

For the past 99 Fridays, I've been tracking my efforts to create a life of art for myself. Here's a look at what I accomplished in 2011.

I added 48 new photographs and designs to my Rocklawn Arts shop. My goal was to add 1 new design per week which totally didn't happen, but I still came close to 52 for the year. You'll see why I don't mind falling short in the next bullet.

I added 26 new product types to Rocklawn Arts for a total of 2711 new items (includes about 100 templates):

Necklaces
Portable Speakers
Wrapped Canvas

9 new Case-Mate cases:
iPod Touch cases
2 types of iPhone 3G/3GS cases
3 types of iPhone 4/4S cases
Samsung Galaxy S (T-Mobile Vibrant) cases
BlackBerry Curve 8520/9300 cases
BlackBerry Bold 9700/9780 cases

Ties
Tile Gift Boxes
Small Gift Boxes

Notebooks
Puzzles
Flexible Magnets

Gel Mousepads
Plates
Coasters

Laptop Sleeves
Photo Plaques
3 types of Specialty Mugs which include bone china, espresso, and jumbo mugs.

Watched a crazy amount of Creative Live workshops. I would count or link to them all but I'm running out of steam. The biggest gain for me was how much I learned about Photoshop and have been able to apply.

Read 51 books, scripts, or book-like things. Not everything shows up on GoodReads, but most of it's there if you'd like to take a look.

There's more I'm sure, exhibits and outings, but I'm anxious to get back to 2012's life of art endeavors. Cheers!

UPDATED 1/2/12: I am remiss for not mentioning that

I donated $118 from my Rocklawn Arts proceeds to WriteGirl as part of Colleen Wainwright's 50-for-50 fundraiser.

I also donated at least $8.25 (numbers for November and December aren't in yet) to Room to Read via referrals from my Squidoo lenses. Not much I realize, but I like the idea of having philanthropy built into my business even if only on a small scale.

Five! years ago on TTaT: I like me some angles, 2007: Engage

Life of Art SitRep #99 Bring on the luftballons!

2011-12-30T00:01:00.001-05:00

Every week, I work towards creating a life of art for myself. This is the zigzag filled journey.

Play along in the comments with your own pursuits if you'd like. (That's where I'll cheer you on.)

*******

Whoa, that song came out in 1984. Alas, I am likely dating myself for many of today's blog readers. Anyway, 99 life of art sitreps feels like a real accomplishment even though 100 seems the more significant number. I like the nines.

This week, I

Shot 55 photographs of xmas tree and mantle.

Added 4 new designs to my Rocklawn Arts shop: White Circles on Blue, Black and White Rectangles, Feisty, and Black and White Gingham Pattern (this one should show up in the store soon):

White Circles on Blue by RocklawnArts
Browse White and blue Plates

Black and White Rectangles by RocklawnArts
Create your own iphone 4 cases

Feisty by RocklawnArts
Browse more photo pendant designs

Made 21 Specialty Mugs, a new offering that includes espresso, bone china, and jumbo mugs.

Purple and White Gingham Pattern by RocklawnArts
See other coffee mugs.

Rainbow Bullseye by RocklawnArts
View more mugs.

Navy and White Gingham Pattern by RocklawnArts
Browse more Navy and white gingham Specialty Mugs

Rearranged store a bit and changed store intro links. Changed top picks from cases to calendars.

Added links to links file for all of the case types individually. E.g., iPhone 4, iPhone 3, iPod Touch, etc. instead of them all lumped together.

Removed products from sidebar list that I don't carry: candy jars, pitchers, tea pots, pet bowls, photography. I know, photography doesn't seem right to remove but as far as I can tell, I can't actually offer the thing that would show up in that category. Strange.

Posted 45 products to promotional blogs.

Tweeted and FB'd some sales and a new design.

Watched most of 5 segments of the Creative Live replay of Fundamentals of Digital Photography with John Greengo. Bummed I missed the class on full frame vs. APS last week. Not sure there's enough info new to me to justify buying it though.

Watched "The Stylized Blur Effect," "Video Tutorial – How To Convert To B&W In Photoshop – Best Practices" and "Video Tutorial – Using The Crop Tool Within Adobe Camera RAW" Photoshop tutorials.

*******

How are your pursuits going?

A year ago on TTaT: The Digital Photography Book

An xmas eve glimpse

2011-12-24T18:26:00.000-05:00

Several faves here. Note the mustachioed swimmer in the top left. Got him years ago at a shop in Tallahassee. Still amuses me.

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate it! For those who don't, happy holidays or have a lovely winter/summer interlude!

A year ago on TTaT: Peace on Earth, Goodwill toward Legos

Life of Art SitRep #98 Misperceptions

2011-12-23T07:05:00.001-05:00

Every week, I work towards creating a life of art for myself. This is the zigzag filled journey.

Play along in the comments with your own pursuits if you'd like. (That's where I'll cheer you on.)

*******

Felt like I didn't accomplish much of anything this week since I wasn't feeling well, but it's nice to look back and see I did get some things done (even if it's not as much as I'd hoped to do).

This week, I

Wrote, recorded, edited, and uploaded Hoodie Holiday Rap song. Happy Holidays!

Tweeted some sales including:

10% OFF All Items in my Rocklawn Arts shop!
Code: HAPPYHOLIDAY
Photographs & designs on Prints, Cards, Smartphone Cases, Mugs & more!

Made Orange Circles on Red and Red Circles on Blue product lines. Naturally the templates appeared in yet another sort order making final adjustments more difficult.

Orange Circles on Red by RocklawnArts
Design your own samsung galaxy cases

Orange Circles on Red by RocklawnArts
Design customized ring binders at zazzle

Orange Circles on Red – Small by RocklawnArts
Become a part of Zazzle's artist affiliate program

Orange Circles on Red by RocklawnArts
Join one of the biggest artist affiliate programs

Red Circles on Blue by RocklawnArts
Design your own iphone 4s cases

Red Circles on Blue by RocklawnArts
Browse more Red and blue Notebooks

Red Circles on Blue by RocklawnArts
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Red Circles on Blue by RocklawnArts
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Made 4 new templates for the new Bone China Mug. Don't think I'll bother with the other new items though. Don't think most of my images would suit them.

Made large and small Notepad Square templates.

Blogged Green Circles on Red, Red Circles on Green, and Red and Green Rectangles.

FB'd, tweeted White Circles on Red.

Changed top picks from winter cards to phone cases.

Posted 39 products to blogs.

Added calendars and 3 more binders to my Rocklawn Arts lens.

Emailed about missing stamps in account. Finally got that sorted.

Watched ~1.5 hours of Fundamentals of Photography with John Greengo replays.

Until the end of the year Creative Live is showing segments from their workshops every two hours for free. This is a great time to check out the site and get a feel for the classes they offer. They also have sales going if you want to pick up a course or a collection of courses.

*******

How are your pursuits going?

A year ago on TTaT: Life of Art SitRep #46

Hoodie Holiday Song

2011-12-21T20:53:00.001-05:00

You know how it is when you get the first line of a song in your head, so then you have to write the rest of it?

Um...me neither? Let's chalk it up to an illness-induced delusion. I've been under the weather for about a week, finally getting in to see my doctor yesterday. (She was running an hour late, and I had a morning appointment! My blood pressure was so ridiculously high by the time I got in.) Anyway, though I wasn't feeling physically much better, I did feel about 10 times better mentally for having an answer and a course of action. Wrote this little ditty and thought of you all.

Enjoy!

Click to play.
(Runtime 1:01. You'll probably need to turn up your sound.)
For the record, I do still have one more gift to wrap. When I thought of wrapping it last night, I wrote this song instead, and then today I made this video. I should really stop procrastinating. S'all right though, I take it as a sign I'm feeling a little better, enough to have some fun.

I hope you all have lovely, fun, restorative, and refreshing holidays!

A year ago on TTaT: A Holiday Treat: The Prom: Take Two (part 2)

Georgia O'Keeffe: Nature and Abstraction

2011-12-17T17:37:00.001-05:00

48. Georgia O'Keeffe: Nature and Abstraction by Richard D. Marshall

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Fantastic collection of paintings by Georgia O'Keeffe. Really a beautiful book.

Of the essays, I liked the first best. So if you're interested in knowing more, I'd suggest reading that one, looking at the pictures in the other two, and then reading the chronology at the end. Also be sure to read the quotes by some of her paintings, well worth it and have pointed me to another book I want to read.

It was in that first essay by Richard D. Marshall that shares the name of the book that the obvious occurred to me: just how much I've been influenced by Georgia O'Keeffe's work. When I was young, I suppose I sort of latched onto her as the only famous female artist I knew, and, bonus, whose work I loved.

I sought out her paintings in museums all over the country. My family went to a great retrospective of her work in DC around 1986 or 87. Seeing her work in books can be misleading. Sometimes the scale really matters. The last image in that exhibit was one of her immense "Sky Above Clouds" paintings. My parents were waiting for me to get through the exhibit and my mom commented that everyone's face lit up when they entered the room with that last huge painting.

Side note: Even at 13, I was making my parents wait for me to finish looking at art.

In 1992 during October break from college, I went on vacation with my parents to New Mexico. It was my first time in the Southwest, and I kept thinking, "the hills really are the colors she painted them." In addition to the local museums with her work, we drove out to Abiquiu to take a peak at her house. (Pretty sure at the time it was privately owned.)

I even painted an homage titled "Left side of a triptych with skull."

But looking at my other paintings and my photographs now, I see more of her impact and perhaps things we have in common. Like the way I tend to photograph flowers or make abstractions out of architecture. My interest in the details and forms of things may have developed in part from looking at hers. Or my interest in those things may have been why I was drawn to her work in the first place. Either way: neat.

A year ago on TTaT: Life of Art SitRep #45

Life of Art SitRep #97 Barcode FTW!

2011-12-16T00:01:00.001-05:00

Every week, I work towards creating a life of art for myself. This is the zigzag filled journey.

Play along in the comments with your own pursuits if you'd like. (That's where I'll cheer you on.)

*******

This week, I

Shot 40 photographs.

Created 4 new designs, wrote product descriptions, and added them to my shop.

Quite proud of my design Double Rainbow Barcode. It actually spells out "rainbow rainbow" with an alpha-numeric transposition if you assume the start and middle reds equal "r." (Because as we all know UPC-A codes are only 12 digits long while "rainbow rainbow" is 14.) Yes, I got my geek on for this one, but I like it so much better because I did. :)

And then I got my groove on with shape and background color layers to make White Circles on Red, Blue Circles on Red, and White Circles on Green.

Made new templates for colored circles on background color product lines. Don't need to resize anything, just add background color and uncheck templates boxes where needed. Of course the new templates posted in a different order which is a bit of a pain, so I wrote out the new order for which items need background color added to them. Think this approach is still faster but not quite the time saver I hoped it'd be.

Created 6 new digital designs. (3 more to add to my shop!)

Blogged a sale and Double Rainbow Barcode design.

Posted 51 products to blogs.

Tweeted and FB'd some sales and new designs.

Made sure ornaments were marked in xmas category and rearranged products in most folders in my store.

Added xmas cards and stamps to my store's intro.

*******

How are your pursuits going?

A year ago on TTaT: A Holiday Treat: Hamlet was my undoing, Part III

Life of Art SitRep #96 Making up for lost time

2011-12-09T00:15:00.000-05:00

Every week, I work towards creating a life of art for myself. This is the zigzag filled journey.

Play along in the comments with your own pursuits if you'd like. (That's where I'll cheer you on.)

*******

This week, I

Created designs for 5 new product lines, a new personal best!

Check out the complete collections of White Circles on Light Blue and Purple and White Gingham Pattern products.

Check out the complete collections of Green Circles on Red and Red Circles on Green products.

Check out the complete collection of Red and Green Rectangles products.

Remade Rainbow Planets necklace twice. First time [zig!] just shifting image to right a bit. Then I realized that if I really wanted to balance it better, I needed to revise the design for a square rather than rectangle [zag!]. I like how it came out:

Rainbow Planets by RocklawnArts
See more Rainbow Necklaces

FB'd, Tweeted, blogged, zblogged Purple and White Gingham Pattern. zBlog started giving me an error message and hasn't been allowing me to post, so I may just let it slip into oblivion. Not a big fan of WordPress, at least not the way I had to work with it on that site.

Tweeted, FB'd: Red and Green Rectangles, Red Circles on Green, Green Circles on Red, and White Circles on Light Blue links.

Took 5 photo booth shots of my stamps.

Tweeted several sales and FB'd two.

Posted 42 products to blogs.

Rearranged store a bit.

Watched Designing for the Social Web with Justin Seeley on Creative Live.

*******

How are your pursuits going?

Two years ago on TTaT: Heifer International

It's another step, but...

2011-12-07T14:24:00.000-05:00

US will use foreign aid to defend gay rights abroad, Clinton, Obama declare: culture no excuse.

I first heard about this on one of those news snippets on The Weather Channel this morning. My gut reaction: how ridiculous when most of our country doesn't legally support gay rights.

It makes me wonder about the power of the almighty dollar though. What if there were financial incentives for states that have legalized same sex marriage and other gay rights? Would money be more important to bigots than their opinions?

As for using foreign aid to encourage gay rights abroad, I hope it helps the worldwide LGBTQ community. But let's have more support and action at home too. How can the US champion gay rights elsewhere if our rights are legally denied so many places here without looking like hypocrites?

4 years ago on TTaT: Finally, another book

Life of Art SitRep #95 Rest and education

2011-12-02T00:03:00.000-05:00

Every week, I work towards creating a life of art for myself. This is the zigzag filled journey.

Play along in the comments with your own pursuits if you'd like. (That's where I'll cheer you on.)

*******

Clearly hit a lull this week, but I think it's a reaction to pushing myself hard the previous weeks. Just need to get my head back in the game, as they say.

This week, I

Shot 8 snapshots.

Watched Wordpress for Photographers workshop on CreativeLive. Made some changes to my zblog on the fly during it. Still not really sold on WordPress as a website platform. Do you like it or have another preference?

Did some research for a design I'm working on.

Tweeted several sales.

Blogged, zblogged Black Friday, weekend, Cyber Monday and Tuesday sales.

Reorganized store a bit.

Had my Rainbow Polka Dots on White binder showcased on Bebops' blog.

Rainbow Polka Dots on White by RocklawnArts
Shop for custom ring binders on zazzle

Posted 39 products to blogs.

*******

How are your pursuits going?

Two years ago on TTaT: Hiccups and epistaxis

Wait!

2011-11-29T16:18:00.000-05:00

During the lunch break for the Creative Live workshop I'm watching, I went out for a quick walk. As I got closer to the end of my street I kept a wary eye on the house across the T-intersection. A boy and girl were in the driveway shooting hoops and the dogs that often bark at me were jogging around them.

The kids disappeared into the garage for a few minutes, so I hoped the dogs wouldn't charge. The black dogs were content to watch their charges and they emerged with a large bouncy ball. They were throwing it towards the hoop, and I thought, "If they make it, it's going to be stuck up there."

As if they read my mind, the girl sat on the ball and bounced it a few times. I'm not sure what happened next except that the ball was swiftly rolling towards the road and the boy was running after it, towards me, a bad cliche.

I saw a car whizzing up the hill and yelled, "WAIT!"

The boy stopped in his tracks thankfully. The car narrowly missed the ball and kept going without even slowing down.

I jogged over to get the ball as it rolled into my street and waited for a string of four cars to go by and then a fifth from the other direction. Oddly heavy traffic today. Yet another vehicle kindly stopped for me, so I walked the ball over. The dogs immediately surrounded me.

The boy said, "It's OK, they're friendly."

One sniffed my hand and gave it a lick. Huh. They seemed downright nice when they weren't barking at me for a change.

I bounced the ball back to the boy who kept saying, "Thank you. I'm so sorry."

"That's all right," I said and turned to cross the road again. And waited for another car to go by.

6 years ago on TTaT: tip worth the time...

Life of Art SitRep #94 Black Friday edition

2011-11-25T16:54:00.000-05:00

Every week, I work towards creating a life of art for myself. This is the zigzag filled journey.

Play along in the comments with your own pursuits if you'd like. (That's where I'll cheer you on.)

*******

This week, I

Post-processed Snow-covered Oak Tree photograph, wrote its production description, and created a new product line for it:

Check out the complete collection of Snow-covered Oak Tree products.

Tweeted and FB'd some sales.

BLACK FRIDAY SALE CURRENTLY IN EFFECT:

$5 OFF T-shirts
$3 OFF Mugs
60% OFF Wrapped Canvas
50% OFF Posters and Framed Prints
50% OFF Cards
40% OFF Calendars
30% OFF Ornaments
20% OFF Case-Mate BlackBerry/Android/iPhone/iPod Touch cases and Speck Case iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch cases

FREE SHIPPING (on orders of $50 or more)
FREE 2-DAY SHIPPING $19.95 (instead of ~~$39.95~~) for a year of Zazzle Black 2-Day free shipping!

Use promo code: ZBLACKFRIDAY

Offer is valid through November 25, 2011 at 11:59 PM PT.

Construction Crane by RocklawnArts
Browse Crane Mugs

Downtown Kansas City by RocklawnArts
Start selling my art online for free with Zazzle.

Snow-covered Branches by RocklawnArts
Be a greeting card affiliate with Zazzle.

Eclectic Nature Calendar 2012 by RocklawnArts
Browse more 2012 Calendars

Red and White Gingham Pattern by RocklawnArts
More Valentine day gift Ornaments

River Water Ripples iPhone 4 case by RocklawnArts
Browse more iPod touch cases

FB'd, tweeted, blogged, zblogged Snow-covered Oak Tree and 4 New Gingham Patterns.

Changed both zazzle stores so they display prices and link to all of the styles an item is available on. The styles thing is cool! Also rearranged store a bit.

Worked on Storm Clouds photograph again from scratch. Scratches being the main issue with the scan, sigh. Think I'm in range of having it sorted though.

Posted 51 products to blogs.

Submitted links to 11 lenses/blogs.

Organized and narrowed down my folders of photograph contenders.

Downloaded a category tree for zazzle. Wish I'd noticed this in the forums sooner.

*******

How are your pursuits going? Hope you all had a groovy Thanksgiving!

A year ago on TTaT: Thanksgiving haiku: Back to the Past

Treasures of the Pharaohs

2011-11-19T20:07:00.000-05:00

44. Treasures of the Pharaohs by Delia Pemberton

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Up until a couple years ago, we used to have a Borders Outlet store in my area. I never failed to find a book I wanted (at a very good price!) when I went there, and I have missed it since it closed. Treasures of the Pharaohs is probably the last book I bought there. It caught my interest because it has a section on Deir el-Bahri, Hatshepsut's gorgeous mortuary temple.

The photographs in the book are superb, including a wide variety of aerial shots of temples and terrain, tomb interiors, coffins, and jewelry. I've long been fascinated by ancient Egypt: I love the art, craftsmanship, hieroglyphs, columns, and structures. The history is also rather interesting, and the text in Treasures of the Pharaohs is very readable and informative. Lots of great information in the photo captions as well.

Well worth a look if only to check out the photographs.

A year ago on TTaT: Life of Art SitRep #41 iPad and iPhone cases

Life of Art SitRep #93 Personal Best

2011-11-17T23:03:00.000-05:00

Every week, I work towards creating a life of art for myself. This is the zigzag filled journey.

Play along in the comments with your own pursuits if you'd like. (That's where I'll cheer you on.)

*******

This week, I

Created 4 new product lines. I learned how to create gingham patterns in photoshop. My first line of products was not quite what I wanted, so I shelved it and went back to the beginning. (Zag!) I figured out a better way to make the gingham pattern with wider squares/lines. I remade 3 designs, created a 4th new one and set to adding them to my store again:

Check out the complete collections of Red and White Gingham Pattern products and Green and White Gingham Pattern products.

Red and Green Gingham Pattern products and Navy and White Gingham Pattern products.

Tweeted, FB'd, and emailed some sales, notably:

Get 50% Off Cards, Mugs, Calendars, Ornaments, BlackBerry/Android/iPhone/iPod Touch cases, iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch cases, Keychains, Necklaces, Wrapped Canvas, and T-shirts!

Code: FFHSHUGEDEAL

Offer valid until 4:00pm PT Friday, November 18, 2011.

After that it drops to 20% OFF until Sunday, November 20, 2011 at 11:59pm PT.

Or,

Get 50% Off Cards and Postcards & 10% Off Custom Stamps in my shop until Sunday, November 20, 2011 at 11:59pm PT.

Code: CARDNPOSTAGE
*****
Remember: you can get free shipping if you sign up for a free 30 day trial of Zazzle Black.

Zblogged and blogged 50% off cards/postcards & 10% off stamps sale.

Made Snow-covered Trees: Vertical (small & large) & horizontal, Rainbow Bullseye notepads. Rainbow stripes, Light Blue and Dark Blue Rectangles large & small notepads.

Light Blue and Dark Blue Rectangles by RocklawnArts
See more Geometric Notepad

Rainbow Stripes by RocklawnArts
View more notepad designs from Zazzle.

Made Snow-covered Trees: Vertical & horizontal, Snow-tipped Pine Tree on Blue Sky gift tags. Rainbow Polka Dots on White shipping label:

Snow-covered Trees: Horizontal gift tag by RocklawnArts
See other Gift tag Labels

Rainbow Polka Dots on White address label by RocklawnArts
Browse more Rainbow Labels

Made Snow-covered Trees: Horizontal and Vertical calendar posters.

FB'd new Snow-covered Trees: Horizontal and Vertical links.

Zblogged and Rocklawn Arts blogged Snow-covered Trees: Vertical & Horizontal.

Rearranged store a bit. Changed top picks to winter holiday cards and postage.

Posted 42 products to blogs.

Watched Beauty + Fashion Photography with Matthew Jordan Smith workshop on Creative Live.

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How are your pursuits going?

A year ago on TTaT: Funky red tulip

To Reune or Not To Reune

2011-11-17T13:17:00.000-05:00

Somewhat unfathomably to me, it's been 20 years since I graduated high school. Via the blessing/curse that is Facebook, one of my old classmates reached out to me to get my address so she could send me an invitation to our 20th reunion.

I was reluctant but obliged because she had been nice in school and we'd actually been best friends in elementary school. I figured I'd just say no when the invite arrived. What I didn't expect was a handmade, hand written invitation accompanied by a mix CD of songs from 1991, also handwritten and decorated. Somehow that made it harder to dismiss without more consideration.

Some background: my senior class had 51 people, most of whom I'd known since kindergarten. One transferred to our school a few months before graduation and he hated us all; he didn't even show up to graduate. I don't expect him to come. Two are convicted rapists, one still in jail I think, and the other out on probation. Obviously, no desire to see or even be in the same room as either of them. Another was arraigned on drug charges several years back. Mom reads the local paper and keeps me abreast of such things.

So, of course, that also means I've heard about lots of weddings. On occasion, I run into people or their parents, so I've also heard about someone who needed a kidney transplant a couple years ago and someone who got divorced. Really it's more that they run into me since I tend not to recognize them. While their looks have often changed, mine seem eminently recognizable. (As for the parents, it's not like I knew all of them.)

My last encounter with an old classmate was about a year ago. He was very nice, had an attractive wife, and very well behaved children.

Guests are welcome at the reunion, but I find myself with no one to bring which would put me out there without any buffer or sanctuary.

Before we'd even graduated, most of my closest friends had drifted off for various reasons. Some had left for other schools before senior year. The people I liked best in 11th and 12th grade weren't in my class.

By the end, there was a casual group of us and my "best friend." I put it in quotes because it's not like we were actually that close. We hung out, played tennis, went to movies, and her church's fair. (Assuming she wasn't dating someone in which case I didn't see her much.)

She's the only person who kept in touch with me once we'd started college. She wrote the worst letters, long but saying absolutely nothing. We talked about an election at some point when she revealed she wasn't registered to vote, so hadn't despite having opinions about the candidates. I was appalled and said they should make registering to vote mandatory to graduate if you were 18 like learning CPR had been for us. She said, "You can make me register, but you can't make me vote."

That infuriated me so much, I actually did write our old principal a letter with my suggestion. He thought it was a great idea, though revised it to sending reminder letters to students when they turned 18. Not mandatory but better than nothing.

Also, I was assured that I would just as soon my old friend not vote. Before I recognized that I was bi, I went to a yearly dance at college called The Homo Hop. It occurred around National Coming Out Day and was open to everyone, just a great dance. (It's too bad I was not tuned in yet to my sexuality and not yet out, because that year was the best Homo Hop while I was at college.) I told my "best friend" from high school about it because I thought it was awesome, and she said, "I'd burn the place down." And she meant it.

So I was done. Didn't send her a Christmas card that year and voila! Permanently disengaged. No desire to see her again. Last I heard she teaches locally and is married to a guy who does recreation for inmates or something.

One person comes to mind that I'd go out of my way to see. Kate and I crossed paths about 7 years ago and hung out a bit, but she's no longer living in the area. Also, I know she blew off our 10th reunion just as I had. If we were in the same place, I wouldn't need a reunion as an excuse to see her.

It's not like everyone in my class sucks. At least I assume many of them are fine now. I'm just not particularly drawn to them.

It wouldn't be so terrible to hang out for a few hours except that my least favorite question is, "So what do you do?" If I could go and not talk about myself, I might be game. There's a certain amount of conversational maneuvering I can swing (though not at all smoothly), but a couple of hours during which the intent is to catch up is more than I can manage.

Fine, I'll say it: I don't want to feel like a loser. It's been a rough year for the most part, and I don't want to tell them about it. Amidst these people, I was valedictorian and voted most likely to succeed. Granted, it's not like they all believed the latter was true, but I'm nowhere close by conventional standards.

Why do I care? It's not so much that I care what they think, it's how being around them triggers my own negative thoughts. Part of me thinks I am a loser by objective standards. Mostly I hold these thoughts at bay knowing I've chosen the life I have. In many ways it is what I want though at a glance it might not appear so.

Anyway, with the year I've had, depression could so easily take me over. I've been in pragmatic mode for months, but there are things I can't change or fix and the weight of that sometimes breaks through. I don't need to fall apart at my 20th high school reunion.

Looks like I should RSVP that I won't be there...

A year ago on TTaT: Orange tulips