18 January

Red, White and Blue with a Splash of Spring Green

As the Inauguration Nears, Arts Advocacy Lives .: Americans for the Arts :.
The Arts and Economic Recovery Policy Recommendations Announced January 13, 2009—Americans for the Arts today released its policy recommendations to President-elect Barack Obama and the U.S. Congress, as they begin consideration of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan. The nine recommendations detail how existing federal programs, as well as new proposals, can provide critical support to the country’s arts, as well as economic infrastructure. The policy recommendations are available here.

From Karen Michel at Altered Imagery; Quincy Jones has started a petition to ask President-Elect Obama to appoint a Secretary of the Arts. While many other countries have had Ministers of Art or Culture for centuries, The United States has never created such a position. We in the arts need this and the country needs the arts--now more than ever. Please take a moment to sign this important petition and then pass it on to your friends and colleagues. Secretary of the Arts Petition http://www.petitiononline.com/esnyc/petition.html

With the warmer temps, I was working on some new leaf sculptures. Here are a couple of images, I've been thinking of using spring green colors for the finish.

Oh, BTW the offerings for Artfest 2009 are posted, to be held April 1-5, 2009 in Port Townsend, WA. A note from Teesha says "Taking time out for yourself is one of the best things you can do in this busy, crazy world. Everyone needs time to just be in nature, play, be silent, gather ideas, commune with other artists, and get away from your everyday lives for a few days. It allows you to refresh and pinpoint directions you want to go in your life. The whole experience of Artfest from the drive up, the beautiful fort on the beach, the inspiring workshops, the caring teachers, the groups that form, and your fellow attendees makes it the perfect place for this to happen. Feel free to email us with any questions at artgirl777@aol.com."

3 comments:

Orion Designs said...

In 2007, I went to Artfest with Chelline and Brenda. Yes, we had a blast. Yes, we made really cool stuff. Yes, we met fabulous artists from all over the country and Canada. Would we go back? Yes, but not so soon. The class offerings don't seem to change enough year to year.
V--

Patricia Griffin Ceramics said...

Hi Cindy - Love your blog and your work! Am adding you to my blog roll. Thanks for visiting mine, which lead me to yours. Your scraffito fish are awesome! Your work in metal is so cool too and the possibilities to combine the two. I want to do an outdoor totem kind of piece that will require a brass pipe or something to hold it all together and I'm sooooo intimidated by all that. Another learning curve to travel upon!

cindy shake said...

Hi Patricia! Thank you for the kind words. I would love to see how your scraffito pieces turn out, I hope you'll post them. I have enjoyed reading your blog and seeing the cool work you do! Yes, I recently have revisited working in clay to combine my steel/metal/sculpture work to be enhanced with the new clay medium...though it's been a steep learning (remembering) curve, I'm excited, so many possibilities!!