Thursday, September 30, 2010

First Friday Art Walk: Highlights for October 1 Everyone is invited.

Highlights  and Treasuries for First Friday Art Walk Team promotion for our great feature on www.ETSY.com  To find more just search ffaw Fine Art or firstfridayartwalk in Etsy's Handmade search.

Treasuries for First Friday art walk Oct 1, 2010


 Take a walk with me
Take a walk with me

By Aweteam member: Storybeader:
This is a wonderful collection that shows cases some of the most beautiful and eclectic abilities and creativity of our group of dedicated artisans.










Time for A pumpkin

 
Time for Pumpkin

by Art Walk Etsy Team member: mandalamagic1
I am no fan of orange but this is one of the best put together orange treasuries I’ve come across. Just lovely Mandalamagic! There is so much vivid color that just draws you right in.












Painting the Art Walk

Painting the Artwalk

By Art Walk Etsy Team member: pawpaintings

This is another amazing Art Walk Etsy Team collection that not only show cases the variation in styles but it shows the vast emotions our members portray through their respecitive media for very serious to fun and frilly.










The Colors of  Autumn
 The Colors of Autumn First Friday Art Walk

By Art Walk Etsy Team member: PaintingsOnPalmer
Butter scotch, pumpkin, purple, Red, sunflower yellows, this is a brilliant array of colors that bring warmth on a brisk autumn day. Just Beautiful!












Other Treasuries I'm in as well:

Pigs in Clover

Pigs in Clover ( aka Rabbits in Dandelions)

By dragonhouseofyuen

This has to be one of my all time favorite bunny collections. Based on color and where that bunny would be eating it’s a wonderful treasury! Dragonhouseopyuen is not a participant in FFAW Fine Art or Aweteam but she included my ffaw bunny in her collection and I just had to add this Scottish crafter to my list this weekend.


Horse Lovers are Stable People:

Horse Lovers are stable people
By Corkycrafts

This is a delightful collection of horse lover art, again showing the wide range of artisans on etsy and their wares. From art to prints to sculptures, to jewelry to vintage, even leatherwork.. the etsy Horse artists have it all!












A special Thanks to all the Treasury curators
 for including my work in your wonderful collections!!

Happy First Friday Art Walk of October to Everyone!!

Shirley's Books LLC : First Animation

Last night I began work on a  video advertising project for  a new online business.  Shirley's Books LLC just begain selling online on Amazon over the summer. They sell new, slightly used , very used and vintage books of every kind. As Shirley says: Books, Books, Books!The first thing I have to do for it before making the stills is to create several graphics that will give the video flavor and uniqueness as well as run through the entire video. The graphics will also be animated gifs that Shirley's Books LLC can use in their blog and website.

These first graphics are cartoons that had to be rendered from scratch by hand, scanned, colored through one of my programs then animated. Here is the first:
This process from start to finished stills and this sample gif took about 4 to 5 hours. I have to say while the process is a bit long with this type of animation, I get really excited to watch the results when its all put together. This is just another amazing part of the entire creative process I love.

If you would be interested in a simple 5 frame gif animation please contact me via etsy.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/57596093/custom-animated-gif-for-blog-or-website

Sunday, September 26, 2010

New Product on Etsy.

Animation for busy etsy sellers:
Finally I've come up with a project that will help people with their marketing.   I am offering is a 12 second Animation GIF file featuring one of your products made from still slides using your photography and including one frame of text.

The largest width on this animatio is
150 Pixels

This offering includes three sizes of the same gif suitable for blogs and websites for $35.00
Sizes:
300px by 300px (not shown)
200px by 200px
150px by 150px (some fonts may not show up well in this size)


This product can be shipped free via email
or Shipped for $7.50 in the USA and Canada


The largest width on this animation is 200 Pixels



 Check out for this item is through My ETSY Store using paypal. Click here to Purchase: LindaLMartin Artist on Etsy
 You can email me directly or convo me through etsy.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Running Horse Gif

Ive been delayed in finishing my Design course, however I decided tonight, after working about 8 or 9 hours on the course today that I was going to have some fun. This little running horse gif is the result.Enjoy! =0))

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Flow Prints


"Flow"
Prints  $24.95
Signed
Click the image to see the details and purchase a print.
Thanks!

Friday, September 10, 2010

Remembering 9/11

In my lifetime there have been two most tragic events, in that one remembers exactly what they were doing and what was happening at the very moment. The first was when President Kennedy was shot. We thought we were invincible, we thought we were always safe we didn’t realize that it could happen here. The second was 9/11 when the twin towers fell. Again we thought we were invincible and we thought we were safe and protected from such things.

At first I wasn’t going to rise to the occasion. It felt strange, like some sort of sacrilege to write one more memorial song, one more memorial essay, to do one more memorial painting or one more memorial video. And then as I do when something affects me deeply I prayed about it. And God began to touch my heart and show me that we had lots of warnings for both events yet we didn’t believe there was a problem and those in leadership didn’t pay attention, they just kept appeasing us and telling us we didn’t have anything to worry about, that they were taking care of everything. We were naïve, but we aren’t anymore.

So in 2002 I wrote this poem: "Remembering 9/11
( Please click the Image  to see the poem clearly)

Thursday, September 09, 2010

Wild Horses in America : My thoughts

"Just because no one recognizes you, doesn’t mean you don’t exist."

I don’t understand sometimes, why there is always someone, some place, that wants to wreak things of historic significance and beauty just because they can. Destruction of this type, in my opinion, is nothing but Social Vandalism.

It doesn’t surprise me at all that the same people who want to erase our history want to do away with wild horses on public lands. I’m thinking back to the history I learned in school. About how years before any British, French or other Northern Europeans set foot on North American Soil, the Spanish came and with them brought horses. We are talking at least 100 years before the first boat loads landed in Massachusetts or Virginia. These were Spanish Barb horses with certain genetic markers that can still be traced. And guess what. These same markers can be found in the wild herds of Chincoteague called the Chincoteague Ponies and Nags Head NC, called Banker Ponies.


Most of the descendents of these wild horses were in North America running with herds of buffalo and being used by Native Americans long before any Europeans made a permanent settlement in North America. That means they were here first.



Ok now what are some really good reasons to keep these wild horses, besides the intrinsic value historically and culturally? Well there are some interesting habitat issues that are deliberately being over looked.

First: Horses have some very interesting biological behavior that actually is good for the environment. The first being soil renovation and replanting of seeds. In fact that is exactly what some South American countries are using horses for in their reforestation programs, to rebuild rain forests.

Second: Horses are a good “canary” as to whether there is enough forage and water in isolated areas. A healthy horse population generally means a healthy wildlife population. And a healthy wildlife population means everything is in balance. And since it is, that means the predators ( wolves, coyotes, and brown vultures,  mountain lions, and bears are staying in their range and not on people's farms eating their calves, sheep, and poodles.


Third: About the destruction of habitat. Horses in their natural habitat actually range anywhere from 50 to 100 miles when they aren’t impeded. Their impact on grasses, and water sources is negligible unless they are confined to extremely small areas. Horses in the wild do not over graze an area the way domestic cattle and sheep do. In fact, sheep and cattle tend to graze in one spot until everything eatible is gone, then they move on leaving nothing but weeds. Horses will graze for a day and move on (replanting grasses as they go). It’s a self preservation thing. Keep moving and stay ahead of the predators. Keep moving and stay healthy. A horse’s biology is made to take a bite and take a step.


So what’s the real deal here. If the wild horses are doing no harm why not let them stay where they are and thrive and feed the growing eco-photography tourist industry that leaves no damage to the land? Good question. I have a few theories, but no real concrete proof. Let’s just say that its not surprising that the agency that is targeting horses is also the same agency that caused the debacle with the reservation system. The reservation system after 100+ years is still, I might add, not fixed.


Kind of like the senator that told me a few years back. “I don’t think Indians actually live here anymore.”( about the tribes in Virginia seeking Federal recognition). And yet, I had just gotten off the phone with the chief of one of the tribes he said didn’t exist. That tribe has had a continuously recognized treaty that the Commonwealth of Virginia since the 1600s and could trace their ancestory, unbroken, to Pocohantas and Powhatan on both their mother and their father's sides of the family. Seriously thats about as Native as you can get and be not native. It sure does give one a reason to pause and rethink the legitimacy of all things publicly administered. These same people are now saying that they don’t think there is any such thing as a wild horse left on the range. I.E. If you say it doesn’t exist, it doesn’t exist.


The American and Spanish Mustangs are part of our history and our heritage. They need to be preserved on our National Lands, not exploited. There is an old saying, " You can tell how a man treats his family by the way he treats his animals" If this is how certain people in the government treat animals entrusted to their care, and have a history of treating people in their care the same way, I’m just wondering what they think of us.


You can read more about what is happening with the wild horses on Public Lands by going to:





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Thanks to Pam Nicholes for the use of the Photo.
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