| Friday, July 29, 2005 |
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Sometimes I wish I could just drop everything and go somewhere else and start over as a new person. Change everything about my life. Change the way things are.
And ya know what...I can. OK, so I am not going to run away from everything, but I am ready for some changes. I'm not sure what they will be yet. I'm not even sure I want to know. I think for now I shall go with the flow and see where life leads me instead of trying to make it take me where I want to go. Maybe there is a different plan for me that I do not yet know about.
I've been trying some new things lately, and I like it. I want to try more. Be bolder. Be braver. Live more. It's about time.
One thing I am planning to do is paint and draw like a crazy person for the next month because I signed up to do an art festival. I'm actually going to try to sell some of my original pieces. It should be fun (scary as hell), but fun. We shall see what happens.
Here's a sneak peak at my progress:
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posted by Kelly @ 7/29/2005 01:43:00 PM   |
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| Wednesday, July 27, 2005 |
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Tranquility, Illustration Friday
"The Real Meaning Of Peace"
Author Unknown
"There once was a king who offered a prize to the artist
who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists
tried. The king looked at all the pictures. But there
were only two he really liked, and he had to choose
between them.
One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a
perfect mirror for peaceful towering mountains all around
it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds.
All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect
picture of peace.
The other picture had mountains, too. But these were rugged
and bare. Above was an angry sky, from which rain fell and in which lightning played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all.
But when the king looked closely, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest - in perfect peace.
Which picture do you think won the prize? The king chose the second picture. Do you know why?
"Because," explained the king, "peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace."
Happy Birthday, Mom! |
| posted by Kelly @ 7/27/2005 06:00:00 AM |
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| Wednesday, July 20, 2005 |
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Click for Larger Image
Karma, Illustration Friday
As soon as I received the topic, I knew I wanted to do something with circles. I am a firm believer in the "what comes around, goes around" theory. I have seen it happen to many times in my life to dismiss it.
The painting itself is acrylic on 16 x 20 stretched canvas. Something new for me. I usually do everything 8 x 10 or smaller, and I thing most of my work is actually smaller than 4 x 6. I photographed this piece and added the words in Photoshop.
I'm adding a disclaimer about the words. I'm just going to be honest here (hoping I don't sound totally stupid after my ranting post about copyright). I saw these Laws of Karma written in several different places, as far as I know they are universal--some of the wording was a little different here and there (I myself changed the wording a little so they would fit), but they all seemed relatively the same. I assumed this meant they were a Public Domain thing, so I used them. I'm in no way claiming the words are mine. |
| posted by Kelly @ 7/20/2005 08:38:00 PM |
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| Friday, July 15, 2005 |
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I started out by writing I'M ANGRY on the page. I was in a rage because I had to clean up after everyone again. That's not what I was really angry about, and I knew I was taking it out on the wrong people. I locked myself in my room and began to write. This is the unedited version of what I wrote. I normally don't post things from my private journals here. They can be too revealing. Too scary. But, it is time for a change. A time to be more honest. It is time to push the comfort level and go further. I'm ready for change.
I'M ANGRY.
Why? What am I really angry about? Am I mad at the kids. NO.
I'm mad at myself. Why? Because I'm fat and I'm going NOWHERE!!!
I earn $7 dollars an hour in a job, that while fun, saps me of my energy. I'm tired of not being paid what I'm worth. I'm tired of not being able to do what I want.
I'm angry that I can't seem to grasp the secret of abundance. Oh, I believe it--but I can't seem to tap into it. Why? Why? WHY?
Why do I have such horrible feelings of, of ___ NOT EVER BEING or having enough?
I'm responsible for everyone else. If I screw up and lose the last little bit--then we all LOSE!
(Here's where it got a little weird. I felt like I was getting answers from someone else. I think I was inspired by Keri Smith's "a conversation in two parts". It has haunted me ever since I read it.)
Then you have doubts.
Yes, I have doubts. How do I get rid of them?
Believe.
How? How? How?
I'll believe for so long, then one little doubt creeps into my mind, and WHAM! I blew it. I won't get my return because of one little bitty doubt.
That's not how it works. Just believe again. Believe and it will happen. So, what is it that you really want?
Well, so much. Isn't that greedy?
No. Not at all. All of us, everyone of us, deserves and is entitled to everything. There is enough for everyone. If you get 1000, there's still 1,000,and much, much more (endless amounts) for everyone else. You getting what you want has no effect what so ever on someone else. None. Zero. They can still have theirs, too."
Really?
Absolutely. There is an infinite supply of everything.
Everything?
Yes. Money. Food. Wishes. Dreams. Love. Everything. So, what is it that you want? Don't be afraid. Don't worry. Don't doubt.
To be a well paid writer and artist. To be paid what I am worth, and not feel bad about it.
To have enough money to live comfortably. Not to worry about money.
Remember you don't need to worry right now.
To work from home.
To be able to travel.
To lose weight. To be healthy and fit. Gosh, when I look in the mirror I get so angry for letting myself get this way. Why do I overeat? Because, I am angry.
Don't beat yourself up. That only creates more of a problem. You will never get to where you want to be by hating yourself. It will only escalate the problem. You need to be kind, gentle and patient with yourself. You need to love yourself now. Focus on the good things. When you look in the mirror, focus on those beautiful blue eyes. Look inside them. There is a beautiful person in them. That's all you need to know.
But, it is so hard to focus on the positive when there is so much negative.
Shhh. Is it easy to look at the negative? Is it easy to hate yourself? Is it easy not having enough?
No, not at all.
Get passed this, and it will be easy. It is supposed to be easy. You know all is right when it is easy. |
| posted by Kelly @ 7/15/2005 06:50:00 AM |
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| Thursday, July 07, 2005 |
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Illustration Friday, Sport
Yesterday, we tried something new: whitewater rafting. To be honest, it was not what we expected. We thought there would be more action, and were a bit disappointed that it was more a float down the river than a hold on to your seat, fast paced, adrenaline packed adventure. Apparently, we need to go on a dam release date for more rapids, but being novices, we didn't know this when we made our reservations.
But, always one to see the bright side, I have to admit that it was fun. Slow, but fun.
The trip down the scenic Lehigh river was about four hours long, and the price of admission even included a picnic lunch about midway through the trip. I'm not sure if it was the location (a private picnic area nestled in the woods on the riverbank), or the fact that we were starving from all that paddling, but hotdogs with all the fix-ins, chips, potato salad, watermelon and lemonade never tasted so good. |
| posted by Kelly @ 7/07/2005 09:18:00 PM |
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| Monday, July 04, 2005 |
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To all my U.S. readers:
Happy 4th of July! As you celebrate our countries independence, why not also celebrate all your wonderful accomplishments (big and small). Today is about celebrating, so why not celebrate!
To everyone:
I think sometimes we get so busy, that we often forget to celebrate our accomplishments. So, what have you done this past year that is worth celebrating? Think of all the big and small things you have done, or just count your blessings and celebrate those.
Things I'll celebrate:
My family
My friends
My dogs
My wonderful little house, that gets better all the time
My pool
My health (and that I finally had that surgery to remove those ugly vericose veins--I've never felt better in shorts!)
My job (I'm working at home again this summer and loving it--I really wish I could turn this into my always job)
My book--still working on the re-writes, but still extremely proud that I WROTE A BOOK!
My son's graduation, and new journey to college
My continued enthusiasm for art--I'm so glad I rediscovered it
Oh, I could go on, and on, but I want to go celebrate and enjoy the day.
So, what are you going to celebrate (Please let me know, I would love to hear it, so I can celebrate with you!) |
| posted by Kelly @ 7/04/2005 01:40:00 PM |
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| Friday, July 01, 2005 |
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Yep, I have my panties in a bunch!
Am I wrong?
About a month ago, I ran into a problem with someone using my photographs without permission. I have never had this problem before (to my knowledge), and I never gave it much thought until I had the problem. I never did anything to prevent someone from taking the images (with the exception of a copyright notice at the bottom of the page.
I'm often asked if I'm afraid someone will take my work, and others worried that I should have some sort of block, but I wasn't worried. Then it happened. I have now put a no right click feature on my images--of course this is not full proof, but my hope is that someone will think twice before taking my images without permission.
Truthfully, I never minded if someone "took" the image to use to link back to me, or to post on their site. I've been contacted many times for this, and I am always flattered that someone wants to post my work. Hey, it's promotion. I don't mind that at all. In all of these instances, my name was clearly displayed with the work giving me credit for it.
So, what upset me so much about the photographs?
My name was no where on site where the pictures were posted. The photos were posted next to an interview of someone else, and there was a link under them to my site, but all the link said was See more pictures of Dallas, PA (or something like that). The link was to my photoblog, and there was contact info listed on the site, but no copyright notice (at that time). I didn't have my name all over the site, but if the person wanted to contact me, they could have easily figured it out. In a way, that was significant to me, because, if anyone else just clicked on the posted link, they would have assumed it was the site of the person being interviewed. Yes, my fault for being so discreet, but I still don't think that gives a person the right to use the photos. The person didn't just take the photos, they resized, reformatted and renamed the images. In my opinion, this isn't right.
When I saw the images, I was upset, and sought the advice of others about the situation. Others were even more outraged than me, and said that I had every right to be upset. I tried to contact the site administrator by email, to ask him to remove the pictures (or contact me, so we could work something out), but I did not get a response. Several days past, and I heard nothing, and I was getting worried that the site was a fraud. I'm not extremely technical, but I have heard about bandwidth being stolen, and that sort of thing, and I became a worried. So, I went back on the site to see if I could find any additional info, and I found that the site had a comment field. I posted a message saying, "The photographs from Dallas, PA are being used without my permission. I have asked the administrator to remove them, but have not received a response. I want the photographs removed immediately."
As soon as I posted the comment, my computer crashed. I ended up having to do a complete system restore on it. This sort of confirmed my suspicion that something was not right with the site, but still I have no proof. It truly might be a coincidence, but...that's another story.
Well, the photos were removed, and the site administrator posted a comment admitting that he used the photos without permission, but basically thought he did nothing wrong because he did not use them for commercial purposes. Then, I got a rather hurtful email from the person whose interview was with the photos. She called me rude, narrow minded, and an insult to my community. Yeah, I found out later that it was a legit site, and that she does live in my community (which by the way is very small!) She said that the site administrator was from a different country, and I offended him. She also said that he is an artist, and thought he was doing me a favor by linking the site. I tried to explain to her that although I like the publicity, I didn't like the way it was done. Anyway, in the end, we both had our opinions, but I thought we came to an "understanding". At least it seemed like we left things on nice terms even if we did not completely agree with each other. I left it go.
But, now, I have gotten another nasty email telling me how rude and ungrateful I am for not allowing the pictures to be posted. This email was from someone completely different (as far as I know). Here is part of it:
Too bad you couldn't have asked to be noted for the credits and
let the user display your work there.Too bad as an
artist you couldn't see the value in others seeing
your work where it isn't being used for commercial
profit and enjoy it.Infact,I'd say it was quite a
compliment having it displayed on the site.Your tone
was self righteous.You could have done yourself a
favor and responded nicely and perhaps have had some
commissions.Now you've just alienated yourself as
pompous and rude.
I did ask the administrator to do this. If the administrator had contacted me, or listed my name as the photographer, I would have never posted the comment. I did think it was a compliment; I just didn't like the way it was done. I know this sort of thing is going to happen. I know not everyone is going to like me, or what I do. But, I don't like being called names. Am I wrong?
I'm not looking for a wave of support here (Well, maybe my bruised ego is), but I would know others opinions. How do other artist feel about this, has this happened to you, and how did you respond?
I found this link, and I think it backs me up pretty well. If you would like to know anything about copyrights, it is worth the read. I could not find the author's name on the site, but he does give permission to link, so here it is: What is Copyright Protection?
And, for more info, here's the offical site: U.S. Copyright Office |
| posted by Kelly @ 7/01/2005 12:52:00 PM |
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| About Me |
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Name: Kelly Gibbons
Home: Dallas, Pennsylvania, United States
About Me:
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| Not Quite Grown-up: The Random Ramblings of Kelly Gibbons the Dreamer, Writer and Artist |
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