Go forth and fill your libraries with media.
Seriously, thanks to everyone for being so amazing and patient. You are the reason I love Vox.
I was just told that the Amazon Conduit will be fixed by tomorrow. I will post here as soon as I get word that it's back up and running.
I know this has been frustrating and I am sorry there wasn't more I could do to make it less so. I really appreciate your patience though.
Cheers,
Bad news. As many of you have probably noticed, the Amazon Conduit was not fixed in the last week's release. Unfortunately, there was an undetected bug that is preventing the conduit from working.
We are working on this bug fix and hope to have the Conduit back up and running this week.
I will keep you posted.
Thank you for being so patient.
Blog Action Day is every October 15th, when blogger are asked to post something about a single issue to show our strength and conviction as an online community. It's a great way to feel connected to the greater good, and the participation of so many bloggers to support the world's leading non-profit organizations is something you can do to help, right now. By blogging today, you're supporting some of the world's leading non-profits and sharing your voice for change.
This year's topic is climate change, and we'd love to read your thoughts on the topic. If you participate, leave us a link to your post in the comments, so we know to check out your post!
Go to www.blogactionday.org to learn more, get a badge for your blog showing your participation, and see some ideas for your post on climate change.
Can't wait to read your posts!
~ daisy
The Amazon Conduit will be working again on October 15, 2009. Thank you to everyone for your patience.
Have a great weekend,
daisy, Team Vox
In my last Team Vox post, I let you know that we're aware that the Amazon conduit is broken and that we're working to fix it. Many of you want to know when it's going to be fixed and I'm so sorry I haven't gotten back to you about that sooner.
Unfortunately, I don't have an exact date to give you, but rest assured, the Amazon conduit will be fixed in the coming weeks.
In the meantime, I'm about to finish my latest book and I could use a few suggestions as to what to read next, so... if you don't mind, let me know in the comments what's on your nightstand and/or what book you think I absolutely must read next.
Thanks! :)
Some of you may have noticed that right now you cannot add books from Amazon to your Vox library. Giving people a glimpse into what's on your night stand is important to many of you, so I just wanted to reassure you that we are doing our best to get this bug fixed. I'll keep you posted.
So sorry for the inconvenience.
Hope you have a great weekend!
daisy
It is such a thrill to see my work pop up here and there. I have just found my Funiculi Funicula for Art Hits the Wall, Mary Black Gallery, on the Nova Scotia Centre for Craft and Design website
http://www.craft-design.ns.ca/mbg_past_shows.html
A month ago when I joined VANS (Visual Arts Nova Scotia) I found it in one of their newletters. Currently it is the Art Hits the Wall show at the Rossignol Cultural Center in Liverpool, NS until the end of August.
It is wonderful to get 'noticed'!
With all the visitors I have had this summer I have had a chance to take a big break from the studio. I am really happy with the past year. When I decided a year ago last March that I was going to enter five exhibitions I had no idea that they would open so many doors for me. Living in Cyprus those three years previous to my move back to Canada gave me lots of time to play and experiment and learn. It was time to get serious and start some substantial work.
All five pieces I designed and created were accepted and two even won awards. One of those 'A Lovely Place to Live - in an Apple Blossom' has won another award. I made several smaller quilts in between the larger ones because the ideas just kept coming. A major turning point for me was the trunk show I did for Mariners Quilt Guild this past spring. There were several moments when I would just scan across the audience of about 40 ladies and all of them were smiling. Big lovely smiles. That just gave me goosebumps. And confirmed that it was time to come out of the cocoon.
I have decided to continue with the larger exhibition pieces. They are the ones that gave me the most joy. The challenge of the design, choosing the materials and the techniques. The final embellishments. It is all like a dance full of color and texture. And passion. There is no doubt that I am very passionate about working with textiles. This is what I do.
I illustrated these three pieces while I lived in Bosnia for a year, from 2002 to 2003. I have in my mind's eye the colors and the approach but I've never really had the impetus to just get at it. I have a large art quilt on my wall that is still incomplete and I am itching to get back to. But an opportunity has surfaced where I may be able to work with these illustrations.
SAQA has a call for entry: A Sense of Direction: Sightlines. I am hoping this is what they are looking for but I am
going to work on these pieces regardless if I am accepted or not. What struck me the most about my feelings being surrounded by a city (Sarajevo) in ruins and a distrustfull people was the fact that the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina 1992 - 95 was among three faith groups: Muslim, Roman Catholic, and Serbian Orthodox.
The war involved three ethnic groups: Bosnians, Croatians and Serbians. Observers would remark that the three sides were of the same race, spoke the same language, and were distinguished only by their religion in which few even believed. Hard to make sense of what happened there but in these working drawings I have in mind to make an effort to unify them all once again. To hold them in the same place and give honor to all three.
And to especially honor all those who died in such a senseless waste of humanity.
I have incorporated all three religions in each drawing. The muslim mosques and grave markings. The ancient stecci, large carved square stones, are a symbol of Bosnia. In Sarajevo near Bascarjia within a one block radius there are a roman catholic and a greek orthodox church, a muslim mosque and a jewish synagogue. Even though the Jews were not targeted in the war I have included the Star of David.
'Sightlines' is about a horizon line that runs through the artwork, arriving and exiting at a certain point. This is a very exciting challenge to me and I can see that maybe it is the horizon line I create that is going to unify these three drawings.
I think one of the hardest things as a textile artist, or any artist for that matter where you are working with lots of different materials and techniques, etc. - is to keep a record of all that you are producing. I bought a new camera this summer so that I wouldn't have to struggle all day to get an acceptable photo to send off for consideration into exhibitions. Not only are we artisans but now we have to be skilled photographers!!
This piece in particular was very difficult to shoot. Since moving to the east coast of Canada I have discovered that the weather is the most popular topic of conversation - mainly due to the foggy wet days. So here I have created Misty Sea, (30.5cm x 30.5 cm) trying to capture that foggy mist that gives everything a ghost like appearance. Yet where you stand, the foreground is so intense and clear.
The difficulty in shooting is the mix of matte type fabrics against ones with a sheen (the overlay).
Seriously, I would rather be in my studio making another one for the time it took me to shoot this pic to best illustrate the different fabrics. !!
