Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Have you checked out Jazz and Draw

If your in to Jazz or just interested in learning about Jazz greats and their songs, then you need to stop by at Jazz and Draw. Jazz and Draw is the creative idea of Philipe Debongnie, who started the site back in January 2011, because he loves Jazz. The main purpose of the site is to connect people through art and introduce them to Jazz Musicians and new artists. Anyone can submit their art as long as it adheres to the guidelines, which are to render your favorite musician and and tell which of their songs you like best. If you can find a link to the song send it along, so others can be exposed to the music. By doing this it gives ALL a chance to share not just in great music but in artwork as well. The more people submit their favorite jazz musician the larger the Jazz collection grows, enabling this site to become a visual and audio archive for people about Jazz Musicians and their music in the future.

So if you find yourself with nothing to do someday, pick up a pencil, pen or other drawing tool and render your favorite person of Jazz and send it in to philippe@jazzanddraw.com You say you cant draw but still like jazz, then tweet it at Twitter or like it at Facebook

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Webinars the Modern Day Seminar

You may be asking yourself the question, what is a webinar or you might already know and have taken one. In either case, there is a little something here for both groups. For those who do not know, webinars are like seminars, except the speaker comes to you by way of a video feed over the internet, instead of you having to go to a physical place to hear them speak on a certain subject. It saves you and the speaker travel time and expenses, not to mention the hassle of having to schedule one around the other busy activities in your life. With a webinar, you can attend it in the comfort of your own home, and the best thing is you do not need to worry about making an impression on anyone or about your appearance. You get to kick back and relax in your PJ’s and just click on the link the Host of the event has provided. What could be easier than that?

Recently, I took one sponsored by the site Modern Thrive, which is owned and operated by the wonderful leadership of Cassie Boorn, who organizes these events. She gets quality people in the field for which they are offering the event in, mine happened to deal with the field of Illustration. The speakers were a sister-brother team Salli Swindle and Nate Padavik who run and operate the great sites of They Draw and Cook and They Draw and Travel, as well as running their own very successful illustration business.

The course ran for three nights and was attended by people from all over the globe. There were people from Australia, many parts of Europe and, the States. That is the great thing about these webinars they bring like minded people, from all over the world into one place, not only to learn from very knowledgeable people but to connect with, share ideas and learn from each other. Modern Thrive also set up a private group page on the internet, so that this group could stay in touch with each other going forward, and could continue to share and learn from each others experiences. How awesome is that?

Next time, you find yourself needing to broaden your knowledge on a topic, try a webinar there just a click away.

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Finding Art in the Wild

Recently I had the chance to go hiking with several friends, at Pisgah Nation Forest, which is located in the western mountains of North Caroline. Since we got a late start we decided to check out some sites closer to the trail head that we usually pass by on our way to trails deeper in the forest. In doing so, we got to spend the night sleeping next to this waterfall. It was just a small waterfall that we had passed by dozens of times but had never stopped at, but had always said someday we would. I don’t know about you but to me there is something special about waterfalls, almost magical. I’m not sure if it's the sound they make or the power you feel of the rushing water as it cascades over the edge, or the quiet pool of water they make, that you find at the bottom. On this day, none of those things drew my attention quite like what I noticed a few feet away from the shore.

There on a big flat rock which was just below the water's surface was a curious sight. Someone had stacked rocks, not just randomly placing them there, but arranging them with great care and thought as to how they would fit one on top of the other to create a miniature monolithic rock sculpture. As you can see it had to have taken some trail and error to get the rocks to balance just right. I thought of the person having to stand in the still chilly mountain water contemplating just how they wanted to go about placing each rock after they had picked it up of the bottom of the creek bed. It made me wonder what their selection process was as to what stones to pick up and which ones to pass by as the combed through the various rocks in the stream.

Then I thought humans since time began have always found ways in nature to tell of our passing through it, whether it is the monolithic boulders at Stonehedge, the cave paintings that can be found throughout the world, or this little pile of rocks stack so carefully. We all want to make a mark on the world. Leave behind a little piece of ourselves so that others may know of our passing. On this trip I got to witness one such passing, deep in a forest, along a small creek I was touched by another human that wasn’t even there, in ways that neither of us could have imagined.