Saturday, April 30, 2011

Charlotte AKA Charlie Organized by Nowzad Dogs

http://nowzaddonations.chipin.com/charlotte-aka-charlie

Clipped from the page...

Charlotte AKA Charlie was found as a kitten during a mission on routeCharlotte. He was alone at the time andnot wanting her to get run over by the convoy we picked him up. He was probably only a few months old and curled up inside a helmet on the ride back to base. On the compound he quickly became a part of the small team. Everyone helped totake care of him between taking milk, tuna and chicken from the dining hall tohaving family mail cat shampoo and toys. He’s always been great at relieving stress after longdays on operations and has really become part of the family that guys grow todepend on during deployments. We’ve hadhim five months now and with our redeployment soon we want to find a way tobring him back to the States so we know she’ll be safe and not have to struggle to survive. Her impact on the guys has been tremendous especially given that not one of them could would have claimed to be a cat person before we found him.
Certainly a very special animal that has had a huge impact on this deployment.If you are wondering why his name is Charlotte AKA Charlie it is because when we first found him on route Charlotte we thought he was a female but on arrival at the Nowzad Shelter 'she' was actually found to be a 'he' so is now known as Charlotte AKA Charlie!!!


Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Art Supplies on Craig's List

I saw this listing on Craig's List.
http://dallas.craigslist.org/mdf/ats/2339540744.html

It's a great bunch of stuff, however Arlington is a bit of a drive for me. (It's another city!) I wish this guy was in Dallas or Mesquite.

No idea how much he wants for it all.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Friday, April 8, 2011

Notes from the Liquitex demo at Eastfield

The Liquitex demo-man (Peter Andrew) came by Thursday morning at Eastfield. I'm only mentioning it now as I had to work Thursday evening and after having to get up early Thursday morning, after working at Kohl's in the evening, I had to take a nap.

But it was really great. I learned a lot. Found out why sometimes my attempts to use acrylic like watercolor break down. You can use a little water to dilute acrylic but when you use too much water, the polymer molecules can't bond together when they dry. So I need to use one of the mediums, instead of too much water.

The additives are NOT like mediums. You can use too much of an additive. (Andrew equated additives to Tabasco sauce.) If you like glazing, they have a glazing medium that you only need to put a drop of the color in to get your glaze. He suggested buying those droplet bottles from Sally's or another beauty store and using those to store your glazes. (They look like miniature versions of ketchup bottles. Does anyone know what I'm talking about?)

I also found out one reason why I have trouble with hues. (Hue colors are colors that imitate 'real' colors. Like Cadmium Yellow to Cadmium Yellow Hue, or Alizarin Crimson to Alizarin Crimson Hue.) I've always hated hue colors because I have trouble mixing them, they always end up looking like mud.

Mr. Andrew mentioned that you have to look at the back of the tube to see what pigments they used in making a particular hue color. The cad yellow hue was a mix of one yellow plus a touch of some red. Ah-ha! No wonder when I tried to mix it with blue I didn't get a pretty green.

The hue colors are non-toxic and non-fugitive. That might make me go back to cadmium hues and alizarin hues. Alizarin crimson is one of my favorite reds, but it's very fugitive, meaning it fades if exposed to too much sunlight. (I guess you could call it a vampire color then.) Cadmium colors are very lovely, but hey, heavy metal in your bloodstream is not good. (As opposed to heavy metal music in your bloodstream, which is much better than heavy metals.)

Have you ever looked at the back of a tube of Liquitex? It tells you the pigment, gives you the Munsell rating, tells you if the paint is opaque or transparent or translucent. But it also shows a phone number on the back. That phone number is their help line. I never knew that Liquitex had a help line that you can call.

You can also build up layers of opaque acrylic paint, and then carve into it, exposing the different layers. I just realized one could use that method to make a huge stamp. He had a sample where he had painted the layers onto a piece of linoleum. So the size of the stamp would be limited only by the size of the linoleum.

He had a 'piece of pizza' that had been sculpted with different layers of acrylic.

Andrews mentioned that acrylic needs at least a week to 'cure'. It may be dry to the touch, it it needs to cure to become plasticine. Now I know what happened to some hairsticks. (The acrylic paint came off, but I started attempting to wear them in a day. Note to self: wait a full week next time.)

He showed us a cheap way to keep your acrylic from drying out. Put a wet paper towel on part of your palette, and squeeze your paint out on that. You still use the regular uncovered palette as usual. It dried on the palette, but after the demo the paint on the wet paper towel was still fresh. You can also use a humidifier to keep your acrylic from drying out.

Titanium white bleaches out color, while zinc white is a transparent white that doesn't bleach out color. So zinc white is good for glazes. (Or if you don't want to loose the saturation of the color.)

Alcohol will 'melt' acrylic paint. (Before the week dry point.) It does break it down, that might be a cool effect to play with. (I now have a reason to buy lite beer.)

Slow-Dri Gel Retarder shrinks as it dries. (Must remember that.)

Use fluid medium for glaze and gel mediums for thick paint. With paint 75% gel medium to 25% acrylic paint.

A drop of ammonia will get rid of mold in acrylic paint without bothering the paint.

Soft Body acrylic is in both jars and tubes, however it is messier in the tube form. Liquitex only put it in tube form because people see the jar of acrylic as a craft product. So it's just a perception issue. (I'll admit that I've never looked at the jar acrylic, I always reach straight for the tube stuff.)

He showed us how you can use acrylics to do a photocopy transfer to a shirt or other fabric.

He also gave us names of people who do 'different' things with acrylic. (Rather than treat it as a substitute for oil paint.) Franklin White, Jamie Bollenbach, Kirstin Lamb. The group Terracycle does some interesting things with acrylic paint. I have to look these folks up. One of them was doing Giacometti style figures by building up layers of paint on fishing line. Once dry and 'cured' these figures can stand on their own. You can find them on the Liquitex website.

We (those of us in attendance at the demo) got a book "The Acrylic Book" which is chock full of information on acrylic. I've only started looking at it. Plus we got some meduim and a tube of Acra red.

Peter Andrew also mentioned that if you know anyone who does unusual things with acrylic paint, tell Liquitex. Acrylic paint is such a 'new' medium as compared to oil, watercolor or stone or clay.

If you have at least 30 folks in your group or school who would like to have a Liquitex demo-person come by, contact Liquitex. I had gotten a card from Peter Andrew but now I can't find it. He has a website at www.peterandrew.net but contacting Liquitex is probably the best way to get a demo to come to your area.Link

Friday, April 1, 2011

Update about "Prisoner of her Past" documentary

If you go to Kartemquin Film's website you can get on their email list and receive updates about this film.
http://prisonerofherpast.kartemquin.com/
Blog; http://prisonerofherpast.wordpress.com/


I clipped this from the e-mail. If you live in New Orleans, New York or Chicago you have a chance to see the film.

Late-onset PTSD film premieres New Orleans 4/4, New York 4/7 *Exclusive luncheon with the filmmakers, Chicago 4/11*

PRISONER OF HER PAST originated as a 10,000-word Chicago Tribune article in 2003 and immediately drew hundreds of emails from around the world. Tribune writer Howard Reich, whose mother's late-onset Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder was the subject of the piece, then expanded the article into a book, "The First and Final Nightmare of Sonia Reich" and PRISONER OF HER PAST -a collaboration with acclaimed documentary powerhouse Kartemquin Films.

Join Howard Reich, director Gordon Quinn , and Dr. Bradley Stolbach of La Rabida Children's Hospital for an exclusive, intimate luncheon and book signing at the majestic Union League Club of Chicago on Monday, April 11.

Tickets are disappearing fast for this one-time opportunity to lunch with the filmmakers and participate in an in-depth discussion of late-onset PTSD prior to the film's national broadcast on PBS later this month. Also in attendance, Kartemquin Films Executive Director Justine Nagan and the 45-year old organization's board of directors, including Board President Steven Whisnant.

Union League Club Author Series Luncheon with Howard Reich
Monday, April 11 at 11 AM * 65 W. Jackson Blvd, Chicago
Ticket price includes lunch. Click here for tickets or call (773) 509-5320 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (773) 509-5320 end_of_the_skype_highlighting. Tickets also at Winnetka Book Stall (847) 446-8880 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (847) 446-8880 end_of_the_skype_highlighting. Book and DVD available for purchase at luncheon. We thank Mr. Denny Cummings, the Union League Club, the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, and WTTW11 for creating this incredible event! Bookmarks generously donated by Triangle Printers.

Since it's completion, PRISONER OF HER PAST has screened to packed houses in Poland, Texas, the Ukraine, Montana, Florida, Utah, Wisconsin, Ohio, and beyond. Scroll down for details on the New Orleans and New York premieres, as well as news of the national broadcast.

KARTEMQUIN FILMS in association with the CHICAGO TRIBUNE presents PRISONER OF HER PAST Executive Producer GORDON QUINN Producer JOANNA RUDNICK Producer & Writer HOWARD REICH Editor JERRY BLUMENTHAL Associate Producer & Sound ZAK PIPER Original Music by JIM TROMPETER Director & Cinematographer GORDON QUINN

NEW ORLEANS PREMIERE * MON. APRIL 4
National World War II Museum, Solomon Victory Theater, 5 PM Reception / 6 PM Screening
We're thrilled to return to New Orleans for the first time since POHP was completed! Premiere screening and discussion with Howard Reich and psychologists featured in the film Joy Osofsky, PhD and Howard Osofsky, MD, PhD. Co-sponsored by Congregation Temple Sinai New Orleans and New Orleans Holocaust Memorial Committee. Address: 945 Magazine St, New Orleans

NEW YORK PREMIERE * THURS. APRIL 7
Museum of Jewish Heritage New York City at 6:30 PM. Post-screening discussion with Howard Reich , Gordon Quinn, and Dr. Yuval Neria of Columbia University. Event is free with suggested donation. Read this article to learn why organizers hope the free event and discussion will help those suffering from the trauma of 9/11. Address: 36 Battery Place, New York

U.S. NATIONAL BROADCAST * ON PBS
Broadcast is currently confirmed in Chattanooga, Fresno, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Memphis, Birmingham, and other cities across the nation. Begins late April, continues throughout 2011. Tell your PBS station you'd like to see PRISONER OF HER PAST on their schedule! Check your local listings

CHICAGO BROADCAST * ON WTTW11
Thursday, April 28 at 9 PM
Sunday, May 1 at 4 PM
Check your local listings

"...under his journalistic calm there's a story of terror and heartbreak and rage. ... This doc succeeds in large part because it makes the story personal." -- TimeOut Chicago

PRISONER OF HER PAST tells the haunting story of a secret childhood trauma resurfacing in a childhood Holocaust survivor, sixty years later, to unravel the life of Sonia Reich. The film follows her son, Chicago Tribune jazz critic Howard Reich, as he journeys across the United States and Eastern Europe to uncover why his mother believes the world is conspiring to kill her. Along the way, he finds a family he never knew he had.

This film is the first to expose late-onset PTSD and examines the disorder’s devastating effect on families. It also shows programs that are aiding young trauma survivors of Hurricane Katrina – and how such early interventions may have helped Howard’s mother. (57 minutes, 2010)


I'm off to check KERA's website (my local PBS station) and pester them if they don't have it listed yet.