Don't Maroon Yourself / Blog Piracy poster

You MAY copy this image for the sole purpose of displaying on your blog or website IF it is linked back to this flickr group :  www.flickr.com/groups/stopartpiracycampaign . You may NOT use any piece of this image for your own artwork or any other publication or reproduction.

Since I like to use historical imagery from the PUBLIC DOMAIN in my digital work; I chose one of my favourite of the classic illustrators.....one of Howard Pyle"s famous pirate portrayals. I also included a one-page link of interest from Docs Populi that models a way to give a citation to such a PD image, which I have referenced for doing my poster here.

http://www.docspopuli.org/articles/RecyclingArt.html

I particularly like their point about the importance, even when using PD pieces about attribution...it's your own way of not contributing to cultural/historical amnesia.

....not the least because it's something I myself am trying to do better at!

Pyle's powerful image portrays the pirate practice of marooning.....you choose to break The Code .....you choose to take the chance of being excluded from that society of choice; or worse....for me it's message is analogous to exclusion from any community, including an Art one.

Venice by Moonlight

Title :       Venice by Moonlight

Darkside Challenge:     Masks

The How:     PSE 2 / 19 layers

Source Photos:

The Back-ground is such a marvelously evocate one -a turn-of-the-last-Century Postcard- that I left it totally intact; selecting colours and blends and  building the rest of the images around it!

Images taken  from sets of folders I"ve maintained over the years of pictures in the Public Domain for the majority, woman- called Castiglione/ maybe an Italian actress or Opera star?- included.

The recent edition is the huge Mardis Gras mask from a  Public domain Clip Art site.

It's July 27th!

HAPPY  BIRTHDAY  BRO!!!

Blog Piracy Update: Check July 21 Entry below!

Dr.Mary Edwards Walker 1832-1919 / An Incredible and Inspiring Life Journey

Physician-Surgeon, Abolitionist, Women's Rights & Health Advocate, Teacher & Lecturer, Writer, Prisoner-of-War Survivor, Suspected Union spy, Suspected Confederate spy (because of crossing the lines to help civilians-so add Humanitarian),Prohibitionist,Trustee of Woman's Prison, Trustee of Children's Orphanage, Divorcee and Cross-dresser...and last, but not least, US Congressional Medal of Honor winner!

What an interesting life,eh?

Check out this short LINK on Wikepedia!

Three Muses Challenge:

An Incredible Journey this week / someone who Inspires you next!

The HOW:

PSE 2 / 24 Layers plus 3 for Writing

Source  Photos:

Public Domain Photos from the Library of Congress Archives (LOC)/The archives of the JFK Library/Public Information Network Group ( pingnews.com)/ & Wikepedia Commons

The back-ground is a Freebie from Zen Textures, and the wee mirror from AntiqueClip-art.com

The Picture:

Left of the good doctor is her pre and Civil War/Turn-of-the-last-century life...

Coming 'round her starting at the centre are groups of Women, Teens and girls her fighting spirit and advocacy surely changed the future for :

• Socialists in the  white shirts
  

• Washington, DC Area Black Women's Basketball Team & 1902 class of Smith College Basketball players
• Striking Jewish Teens from NYC Garment District
• 2 NYC Immigrant little girls playing at being "On Stage"

• Women's Team of Surveyors and Engineers/ Federal Government Employees

• 2 women frolicking in bathing suits-oh,my!-on a public beach!

Dr. Mary imagined as a child is on the left, and  in reality as an old woman near the end of her life on the right/ The small frame has a picture of her wearing her Medal of Honour, as shown also on her in her central portrait. 

Her Medal Of Honor

This was the absolutely proudest possession in Mary's life, and hard won.

Congress actually changed the laws for getting it, and tried to get it back from her and 900+ others 2 years before she died.

She absolutely refused, and sticking to her guns as usual, wore it proudly every day until the day she died.

President Jimmy Carter re-instated it to her in 1977.

Think you can figure out why she's inspiring.

My own personal " Blog Philosophy" sidebar, and it's accompanying banners you can feel free to click - way down left yonder- is now headed by a picture of the good Dr.Mary

Blog Philosophy ....... AND Blog Piracy

                          ...she ain't yer average garden -variety protected flower!

                                    Ship Approaching   by   Howard Pyle

In the politically aware and fighting  spirit of Humanitarian Activist  and  Congressional Medal of Honor Winner, Dr.Mary Edwards Walker and as the result of

something unfortunate happening- concerning copyright infringement- to a fellow artist who also happens to maintain a blog,

Ive decided to further update my sidebar- that scrolly thing of WAY DOWN YONDER- I have under the title:

BLOG PHILOSOPHY....

All buttons & Banners are now Fully Clickable to connect to other sites that have been written by Individuals and Organizations far more articlulate and experienced than I...those already In the Vanguard of some Blogging concerns that I think affect us all...

I would simply and plainly encourage anyone who has ever even had a minor thought about what this little "online universe" really means , in terms of Community and Interpersonal Respect, to reflect what such things mean to them personally; or professionally .....as well as to others....and if so inclined, as was I , to make such things known, in your own way in your own blog, plain  enough for everyone to see and understand...

BLOG  PIRACY

 TumbleFish Studios brought up the very important issues  of Artistic license and Copyright recently on her blog.

Go back to July 18 to see the full story; or just read the section the entry after on why Y-O-U-meaning us all- should be concerned...

Fortunately, for now, she believes the situation has been  been resolved ; and is taking some interesting steps to follow-up the issue....

DID YOU KNOW THAT SEPTEMBER 19  

IS TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY??

AAAAAAUURRRRRGGHHHHH!!!

...be sure to start looking around Blog-O-Ville for details come September....

That's all Folks!

Back to Art Makin'!

UPDATE

Update : Here's a LINK to the Stop Piracy AD Campaign Group on FLICKR  : 

Join the Group...Join the Discussions....Upload your own poster, if you will....

Here's my pull-no-punches/Take-no-prisoners Favourite from the bunch submitted thus far:

Submitted for use on your Blog in the context of the campaign by briedah......very pro-active thoughts in this one!

Do you know your copyright....and have you stated it?

Do you understand that of others?

...that's what the wee fine print is for!

...or the clickable buttons!

 

A Light in the Attic

 

A Light in the Attic was created for Art on the Darkside"s Challenge this week.

The idea came from some colourized prints of the utterly classic horror film, The Cabinet of Dr.Caligari...a film rooted in Expressionism and heir to German Romanticism, but  influenced by the new darling of the era's recent artistic ferment, Cubism.

It is a film of weird angles, and haunting, off-kilter suggestive imagery shot with incredible lighting effects on a set inspired by dreams and nightmares.

Made in 1920...

As was the rest of Europe  Germany was  coming out of the horrors of WW I, and just going into the coming tragedy of trying to fufill the war debt obligations imposed on her by the rest of Europe and her winning Allies and at the same time primed to try new politics under a Democratic form of government ... as surely a Surreal landscape and time period to dwell in as any ever imagined by Bosch.

Title:        A Light in the Attic

The How:

PSE 2 / using a mix of 4 source photos to create an assembled and merged image of  9 layers 

Source Photos: 

The 2 bottom layers were Royalty-free stock images of rays and a whirlwind.

The image of a "woman in gray attic" -I gave her a distorted shadow- is from an Edward Weston photo of 1922 I found via Project Gutenberg.

The image on the left of the man, chair and open window is one from a publicity still for  the 1920 movie .

The above source I"ve linked to for the article on Caligari is on Wikepedia. 

Font:      WolfgangCaps

Young Woman's Blues

No time to marry

No time to settle down

I'm a young woman

and I ain't done runnin'  round!

Bessie Smith / Young Woman's Blues  ( 1927 )

( click on image to enlarge for detail )

The 3 Muses Challenge:     Create a digital image inspired by words

The How:

PSE 2 / I created the back-ground curtain of 12 abstracted layers from photo images of Harlem , New York that I found in the NY Public Library Archives; 1 of them was a PD image of a cubist-inspired cloth design from the period by  Sonia Delaunay and 1 a  royalty-free rayed effect for back- lighting .

All the images of the women were taken in the 1920's period; and are all from the NYPL Archives/10 Layers of photos

They include performers Ethel Waters, Bessie Smith, Josephine Baker and Florence Mills.

The group on the left - Vivienne, Phyllis and Ethel are members of the Northeasterner's Women's club.  Behind Bessie is a chorus line.

The Font:     Zelda, natch! ...... as the old song goes...who could ask for anything more?

Total layers:     24

       

   

Storm Rider

Title:   Storm Rider

Darkside Challenge :   Haunted House

The How:     PSE 2 / 12 Layers

Source Imagery:

Four seperate photos of  the House, Prairie ,Storm & Rider courtesy of the Wet Canvas Member's Photo Archive, Image of Jennie Jerome in the Public Domain.....click on image to enlarge

To my Great-Grandmother Immaculata Concepcion Rodriguez: A Message from Afar: He Lives!

Call me a space cadet ( it's in the stars, I"m Aquarian )!...I Love NASA, and I Love Surrealism!

The above is dedicated to my Great-Grandmother, Concepcion, who fought with Villa to bring about the Mexican Revolution!

VIVA mis abuela Concepcion!

In fact, one of her sons was still riding with Villa in his Bandito mode when he was being chased around US Territory by Pershing.....but that's another story!

The 3 Muses Challenge:     Surrealism

The How:                                  PSE 2 /7 layers

Text:                                           Tango

The Imagery:        

NASA, US Gov Archives & other royalty free images, except for the eye, conch shell and truck-on-stilts...they're mine!

Bring on the cerveza!

Here's to YOU, Pancho!

The Embrace

Art on the Darkside Challenge:   Wolf/Werewolf

Combination Imagery:

I couldn't top these finds!

An old French Post Card and the  overlay of a wolf's paw from   Gustave Dore's illustration for Little Red Riding  Hood  

The How:

PSE / 2 layers 

The Why:

It was a full moon !  ( Actually, the night after...but close enough )!                              

Serenity

Serenity is my answer to this month's Dragonfly Challenge at  Big  Art Adventures , a monthly Challenge site, which in the past weeks  has just started encouraging the exploration of Digital creations as another art form for it's participants to consider.

I"m in!

Title:         Serenity

Method:   PS 2 / about 24 manipulated layers

Source Imagery:

The base background of foliage from Thailand is one I had created in another project, to use as a sort of wallpaper behind any future projects 

The copy-right free Dragonfly imagery is courtesy of the Antique Clip Art Site, which I just found out about from seeing an entry from another Artist on Blogger who enjoys digital challenges, Anne, of Creative Cornucopia.
 

                  

Up, Up and Away-To the Rescue!

(NOTE: To see a bigger version, either click on the above picture itself, or take a short journey over to my Picasa Alblum -tab at the left and up top )!

Here's my entry for the 3 Muses Challenge of Up, Up and Away...first uttered famously by a certain red- caped crusader....the call has since been heeded and taken up by a virtual flotilla of others of his ilk!

Pictured here for your viewing pleasure are such past ( circa 1930-40's ) heroes and heroines  that have since gone out of mere mortal syndication and into the great and ever- growing public domain in the sky ! 

They are the now Immortal :

Bulletman....( see the lil' helmet )?

Green Lama .... ( yes, you read that right )!

Cat Girl....( looks more like Woman; if you ask me )...

Lady Luck... ( she -in-green-with heels , yet )!

Mothman .....hmmm-nn..

Nelvana of the North  ( First INUIT heroine , and a half-Goddess one at that )!

and last, but not least...

WILDFIRE!.....YOU ROCK GIRL!

Number of Layers:  13  /  All photos Public Domain, albeit altered a bit!

( To find the Three Muses Challenge site , press on their name here )

I see suddenly it's July 4th...

HAPPY  FOURTH TO ALL OF YOU SOUTH OF THE 49TH!

 

Paris by Night - 1923

Paris by Night- 1923

This is my entry- a piece originally created for a postcard exchange on Wet Canvas - to this week's  Art on the Darkside Challenge to use Gargoyles- those fantastic architectural elements-in a piece

I at first  thought to re-invent it for an entry by cropping it to just the gargoyle, but changed my mind

The back-ground is a shot I took in Vancouver, BC,Canada 2 Summers ago.

A much-manipulated and location-challenged Paris/Paris monuments are over it.

My own B/W shot of a Notre Dame gargoyle is looking into the river where a very young-just-starting-his-mustache Salvador Dali is floating. A bemused Josephine Baker looks on...

Check out   http://artonthedarkside.blogspot.com to find out more!

(Link at bottom under CHALLENGE  BLOGS)

Happy Canada Day!

Cheers to All!

Chris/ WildGoose