anne is an artist

FLICKR DELUGE!

Told you! I have tons of photos that I need to upload and to take. It is also occuring to me that I never took the "after" of my hair cut. Rest assured it is a lot shorter.

My weekend was spent moving Mark + Bob into his new place. Bob is proving to be a better roommate than I ever was and will soon replace me as Mark's GF. Who needs girls when you have ice cold PBR's, Wii hooked up to a projector and the bean bag game?

What did I get out of moving? I got my couch back. I now have a couch in the living room and a bed in the bedroom. My futon is serving as my new bed and I also got a new bedding set courtesy of Mark buying the wrong size at Wal-Mart. My apartment is coming together nicely and I think I might get the courage to paint it. I even bought vases for flowers!

This weekend was also spent corralling 10 or so kindergarteners for about 6 hours straight for a birthday party. Trever turned seven a couple weeks back so this birthday party was to celebrate. We played Wii, made balloon animals and spent a lot of time in the basement doing boy things, like wrestling. Here is my favorite photo from this weekend:

Of course, I have received my "kid dose" for the next 5 years.

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p.s. I have started on some sweet felted illustrations. Will share soon!

Look at who's hooked up to the web-----AT HER HOUSE!

Ding ding! Time to get some quesadillas supplies for dinner.

I will let you know how dinner goes.

And I even have leftovers for tomorrow!

Now to crochet a bathmat. Do I need a bathmat? Not as much as I need to just get rid of these two skeins of cotton ease.

Goal: 1 vegetable a day. A WHOLE VEGETABLE.

So I've been hearing the buzz around this Orphan Acts bill for a while. I never really thought that it would come to light. It sounded too ridiculous. But alas, it seems like it is seriously going to pass. Oh great.

So for those of you who may not know what it is, here's the Anne Summary:

Essentially if I make a piece of artwork and don't go through and legally register every piece I do, it is pretty much up for grabs.

OR if I do register a piece and copyright it, all that good stuff, if whoever wants to use my piece can't seem to get into contact with me, well, they get to use my piece anyway.

" H.R. 5889, The Orphan Works Act of 2008, was introduced on April 24, 2008 by House Judiciary Committee Intellectual Property Subcommittee Chairman Berman of California, full Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Lamar Smith of Texas, and Intellectual Property Subcommittee Ranking Member Howard Coble of North Carolina. It limits the remedies in a civil action brought for infringement of copyright in an orphan work. It amends Chapter 5 of title 17, United States Code, (Copyright law) by adding "§ 514. Limitation on remedies in cases involving orphan works."

Section 514 is the new limitation on remedies which the Orphan Works Act will impose on any copyrighted work wherever the infringer can successfully claim an orphan works defense, whether legitimate or adjudicated by courts to be conclusive.

• The Orphan Works Act defines an "orphan work" as any copyrighted work whose author any infringer says he is unable to locate with what the infringer himself decides has been a "reasonably diligent search." In a radical departure from existing copyright law and business practice, the U.S. Copyright Office has proposed that Congress grant such infringers freedom to ignore the rights of the author and use the work for any purpose, including commercial usage. In the case of visual art, the word "author" means "artist."

• This proposal goes far beyond current concepts of fair use. As acknowledged by the Register of Copyrights it is not designed to deal with the special situations of non profit museums, libraries and archives. It is written so broadly that it will expose new works to infringement, even where the author is alive, in business, and licensing the work.

• The bill would substantially limit the copyright holder's ability to recover financially or protect the work, even if the work was registered with the U.S. Copyright Office prior to infringement.

• The bill has a disproportionate impact on visual artists because it is common for an artist's work to be published without credit lines or because credit lines can be removed by others for feckless or unscrupulous reasons. This is especially true of art published in the Internet Age."

For those of you who still like to read up on stuff like this, here are a couple of blogs that I think hit the nail on the head:

• Act on Orphan Works Bill NOW!!!!!


• Logo Factor Design Blog


• Photo Business News & Forum

Of course, you'll notice all of them are opposing the bill. Sorry about that. As an artist I'm a bit biased.

Then lastly, please send a letter to your appropriate representatives. Even if you aren't an artist!!!! You know someone who is creative and this will help them. Bad at writing letters like I am? Never fear:

• Plagiarism Today - Draft Letter
• Legislative Action Center - Illustrators Partnership of America

THANKS ALL!

So if anyone has tickets to tomorrow's "tickets-sold-out-in-one-hour" Flight of the Conchord's show, and would like to give them to me, please do.

Look at me, being all productive.

illustration friday

So this is going to be the look and feel of my new portfolio site. Eventually I will be getting some sweet flash animation up in there, but until then there ya go. I believe it has all of the essentials.

The parents are coming up next weekend! I'm going to try to paint my apartment in nice hues of orange and purple before they get here. Does anyone know of some cool goings on in Milwaukee?

Speaking of Milwaukee, here is a pretty nifty site by MIAD alum: MKEArt.com. There is a lot of potential here and it looks like they are off to a great start. It makes me wonder why hasn't anyone thought of it before?

Coming soon to a post near you: Felted illustrative portraits. Dig it.

Illustration Friday: Wide.

Again, on a Tuesday! hee hee.

Yep, so this is the new bike that I have. It was one of the abandoned bikes left in the laundry room. I have a ton more bikes that the tenants are going to sift through. I've already taken it back and forth to work, to the Ace Hardware shop and to Borders. Not only have I saved on gas (because who can afford $4 a gallon gas?) but I have realized that I am hideously out of shape. HELLLLLOOOO Ice packs.

Also, I have painted my living room a cheery orangey-pink color and it has tied the whole place together. It actually feels like a home now. Based on some fabric inspiration, the new colors of my living room are brown, orange, blue, white and green. Getting up and down the ladder for painting? MORE ICE PACKS.

Needless to say I am working my legs tremendously. They should be babelicious by the end of the summer if I keep painting living rooms and biking to Borders.

So I am actually feeling pretty down about that sweater. I think I started it in March or February so it is a lot of work and I've actually never "frogged" a whole sweater before. Currently it is sitting on my bed, looking dejected, forlorn and covered in cat hair. Should I do it? Well, frogging that sweater will be easier because I have successfully sewn together a dress from this tutorial and I LOVE IT.

The fabric at JoAnn's was half off as well, which sealed the deal. I haven't finished any of the edges yet. I kind of haphazardly dived into this dress (because I can't really do it any other way) so I didn't think about finishing edges until I realized I should probably finish them. Maybe some kind of ribbon or bias-binding. How easily does knit fabric unravel?

The best part about this dress? I can actually get away without wearing a bra! I made the straps extra long so that there were extra reinforcements when it came to the girls. I was so excited that I wasn't wearing a bra that I ran to the grocery store. IN PUBLIC.

So now I am sitting here in my new dress. I also busted out some tried and true socks so that I can boost my knitting ego.

A LOT TO SAY! I haven't been to work since Monday so I have a lot I wanna blog about. So I'm just going to keep talking!

Speaking of keeping talking, I was visiting a sweet old lady in my apartment who has to move out this summer and can't take her cat along with her. We are trying to get this cat into a no kill shelter but we haven't heard back from the lady that is taking her. So I opened up my big trap and offered to take the cat if she doesn't hear from this lady. We introduced the cat to my cats and they seemed pretty okay with each other. This cat is OLD but gorgeous. One of the most unique facial structures I've ever seen. But it is old and it takes a lot of medicine. I definitely would not be able to keep it. Why oh why did I open my big mouth?

On a hilarious note, she gave me two bags of catnip. I've never treated these cats to catnip before. Never really crossed my mind. I crumbled some up on their scratch post and CRAZINESS ENSUED! They were getting into all kinds of mischief! It was hard to keep up with them bouncing off the walls for AN HOUR. Now they are sound asleep on the sweater that needs to be frogged. Enjoy some pictures of cats being caught in the act on FLICKR.

Does anyone want a beautiful black cat?

(see previous post for an example of not keeping my mouth shut when it comes to taking in cats)

So at the beginning of starting this blog, I remember thinking "aloud" how fascinating the internet is, in which I have a voice that lets me catapult my opinions and thoughts to, well, everyone with an internet connection. I try to maintain my writing with a reasonable responsibility (you will never know what kind of underpants I am wearing---unless I learn how to sew underpants. Then I'm telling everyone.) without boring people or boring myself. Granted, I have kept a "real" writing journal for a while. I by no means write in it regularly, but there is a certain satisfaction of having EVERY detail out on paper. Even the opinions I have that aren't so popular.

Apparently the new trend is to write about everything that you ever think. I read the entirety of that whole piece. The whole ten pages. It made me feel so strange that I left my computer and painted my entire bedroom.

So for those who probably don't want to read the whole thing, it is about a girl who pretty much wrote about everything in her blogs. Her life was online for everyone to share, and essentially it seems it backfired, as her then boyfriend decided to give her a taste of her own medicine and publish a story about her in some widely publicated magazine.

First things first. I wish I had a widely publicized magazine that would cater to my thoughts. People would probably buy a lot more of my art.

Second, the whole story never seemed to go into the moral lesson it was always pointing at. I was expecting it to end in some fashion warning youngsters of the dangers of posting intimate details, when I got to the end and realized that this young writer was just continuing doing what she always had been. Writing about herself for all the world to read.

What's weird is that it is a very compelling story. Of course, my first impressions were like most anyone else, "Whoa. How could anyone be so preoccupied with themselves?" or "Man, get a life!" or any other negative kind of comment. But it really made me rethink why in the world people have blogs in the first place. Isn't that what blogs are for? Sort of a "Hey, you over there! Look at me! Look at me!" purpose?

So in this, I don't really offer an opinion. I figure, there are enough of those out there, and since this is my blog I can do with it what I will. I think what fascinates me the most about that article is the fact that a lot of people think of what's private and what isn't very differently. Ultimately I post stuff that my mom can read. I always use that as a rule of thumb and have, up until this point, suggested others do the same. But I guess everyone's mom is a little different.

So there has been a lot of talk about public art in Milwaukee. Especially with the "Bronze Fonz" and all of the of the outrage that has come with it. While I am not necessarily a fan of the Bronze Fonz, I also don't necessarily consider it art. Ultimately it doesn't bother me, I know I'm probably going to take my picture in front of it sooner or later, and I most certainly wouldn't close down my shop because of it.

There are other "atrocities" that are being planned for this city that are making some people question Milwaukee's tastes.

"What do we do about all of the bad art that is being installed in Milwaukee?"

So here is probably where Milwaukee artists will shoot me, possibly with good reason. I don't really care what in the world art you want to install. There, I said it. Every city has bad public art. I'm not sure that I've seen anything that I would consider that great. When people talk about the Bronze Fonz, I don't get upset about the eyesore that it will create.

HERE is what I am upset about:

Milwaukee's PRIORITIES. We are raising thousands of dollars to put up art work that we are all just going to argue about. THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS. Yet, the Milwaukee Public School system has gotten rid of its art and music programs due to funding. Now then, raise money for whatever in the world you want. It is your money. But don't you see something incredibly wrong with this picture?!?! In my incredibly humble opinion, I think both Milwaukee artists and Milwaukee(as a city that raises money for bad public art) should be ashamed of itself and these pointless arguments they are having. Get your priorities straight!

Yikes. So I've been a little bit heavy on the "issues" in my posts as of late, so here is a totally light-hearted observation:

I watched Hannah Montana to see what the fuss was about.

I LIKED IT.

I just had a lovely seven day vacation. Now I am back in the office. I believe I need at least several more days, please.

I went to see Indiana Jones at the Oriental with Mark and the parents. I liked it! I tell you what I didn't like. The people that sat DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF ME in an otherwise almost empty theatre. BIG pet peeve. Next time I am going to be obnoxious and obvious about my distaste. There is just no excuse people!