The Shiny Squirrel

April 14th, 2008 Daryle Dickens

Ever heard of www.theshinysquirrel.com? Me either. Until this morning. Got an email from artist Chris Gregori telling of prints he has on the site. You remember Chris don’t you? He is the www.postdue.com guy. (Not to be confused with www.postsecret.com)

This is what The Shiny Squirrel has to say about itself:

The Shiny Squirrel is a platform for emerging artists and designers that features exclusive limited edition and/ or one a kind pieces. It seeks to showcase the growing market of young talent that need a voice and forum to display and sell their work.

The Shiny Squirrel merges a diverse field of fine and applied artists through its Online Gallery and Designer showcase. The website’s monthly shows will allow individual artists and designers the opportunity to create a cohesive statement about their work and their place in the art or fashion communities.

Pretty cool don’t ya think? If you know any emerging artists and or designers you should let them know about www.theshinysquirrel.com. And if you want to see Chris’s work you can find it right here.

That is all I got for today.

Until next time,

www.zaf622.com

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Another great post sponsored by:

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Amazing Awesome Internet Finds

April 10th, 2008 Daryle Dickens

Here we are again living in another Thursday. A snowing April Thursday. I am not too happy about it. But I know a week from today it will be just a memory. On to this weeks amazing awesome internet finds…

1. If you need a machine to play with your dog why do you have a dog?

2. Ya, you think you know what a tall bike is. This IS a tall bike.

3. A presidential candidate that has an art store?

4. A land I never want to find myself in.

5. When they get done making my helper clone I am putting this on his "to-do" list.

Save the best for last…

6. If I still had a land line I would pawn your car stereo to get one of these.

Don’t be afraid to send me links if you find something you would like featured. Even if it is your own art.

Live to create,

www.zaf622.com

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How Do You Define Success Has An Artist?

April 9th, 2008 Daryle Dickens

Ever think about that? Your artistic goals and how you know your hitting them? I think more artists should. The other day my inbox was graced with one of Cole Thompson’s newsletters. Cole is a photographer who works in black and white. Cole has told me that he does not think he does a very good job as a writer. I think he does a really great job. This is from his latest.

As a young boy I dreamt of being a "great" photographer, but I’m not sure what "great" meant to me back then; fame, fortune, women? (no, that was the unrealized rock star fantasy!)

For the last month I’ve been forced to ask myself: what are my goals, what am I trying to accomplish and what defines success for me? As I was pondering this I ran across some interesting thoughts on success:

"Don’t aim for success if you want it; just do what you love and believe in, and it will come naturally." David Frost

"I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody." Bill Cosby

"Some aspects of success seem rather silly as death approaches." Donald A. Miller

I wonder if one can separate success in art from success at work and at home. Can we be successful in one area our lives and a failure in another? Or is it all rolled up into a single measure?

Ralph Waldo Emerson said this of success:
To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded! ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

To achieve true success there must be balance, integrity and a purpose beyond self. I believe that true success in one area of our life permeates into every other area.

Good stuff to think about. And a great way to have Cole write a post for me. (Thanks Cole.) You should thank Cole too by going to his web site and checking out his work. You can find it at www.colethompsonphotography.com.

That is all I got,

www.zaf622.com

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An Auction Of Great Functional Art

April 8th, 2008 Daryle Dickens

The Matthews House, a 501(c)3 organization that serves at-risk youth ages 16-21 that lack significant family support in their lives, is currently holding a silent auction of flower pots created by local artists. The auction is part of the event Cultivate Hope which is this Saturday, the 12th at The Hilton Garden Inn.

The pots have been created by artists such as Rachel Herrera, Kathi D Dougherty, Abbey Rothenbuehler, Angela Hopkins, and Cynthia O’Neill just to name a few. You can check out some of the pots here.

And bidding has already begun at The Hilton Garden Inn, 2821 E. Harmony Rd., Ft. Collins, Colorado.

But the real fun is at the Cultivate Hope event. Wednesday the 9th is the last day to buy tickets so do that now by clicking here. Did I mention Dave Beegle will be performing live?

I hope to see you there.

daryle@zaf622.com
www.zaf622.com

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Yes. You Too Can Write For Art Palaver

April 8th, 2008 Daryle Dickens

I have been asked and I have had people hint at writing a post for Art Palaver. But yet have I had anyone follow through with a submission. I think it would be great to have other writers for this blog. And I know there are plenty of qualified writers out there who would create some really good and creative posts. Which would just add to the quality of the discussion.

Consider this my invitation for writers. If you have something to say in relation to art this is a good place to say it. Art Palaver saw over 10,000 unique visitors in the month of March. And that number grows with each month. Drop me an email if your interested.

Thanks,

daryle@zaf622.com
P.S. Guest bloggers would reduce the likelihood of lame post like this one.

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this post sponsored by:

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The Post Secret Project Comes To Fort Collins

April 7th, 2008 Daryle Dickens

Do you have a secret? The postcard asks. I know the question is rhetorical, we all have secrets. Frank Warren, the creator of PostSecret.com knew that too, so he is asked us to share. Starting in 2004 he asked people to put a secret on a homemade postcard and mail it to him with only two rules. The secret must be completely truthful and it must have never been revealed to anyone before. Since he started he has collected more than 150,000 postcards. This month he is coming to Fort Collins to talk to us about them.

Thanks to Beet Street Mr. Warren will be at the Northside Aztlan Community Center April 26th from 7 to 9 PM.

The concept of Post Secret is so simple but the project itself is powerful. Check out this short video to get an idea of what people create:

Check out the Post Secret site here: www.postsecret.com

Buy tickets for the Fort Collins talk here: www.fctix.com

This is also a great chance to take part in Post Secret. Send your homemade postcard with your secret to Beet Street by April 20th and it will be included in a public art exhibit April 22-26 in The Gallery Underground. The address for that is:

Beet Street
19 Old Town Sq, ste. 234
Fort Collins, CO 80524

For more information check out www.beetstreet.org/social-media.

While your there read up on all the other events going on with Beet Street’s Social Media events.

Thanks for reading another Art Palaver post,

daryle@zaf622.com

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Art And Stuff Found Around The Web

April 3rd, 2008 Daryle Dickens

1. Because good desktop wallpaper is hard to find.

2. Who wants to try with me?

3. All you need are 1000 of them.

4. Do this now, because you don’t know what you have until it’s gone. (Cinderella taught me that.)

5. Pretty pictures of people and their pets.

And now for number six…

6. A sit down with Stan "The Man" Lee.

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This post is sponsored by:

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My New Studio

April 2nd, 2008 Daryle Dickens

It is late and I really am not in the mood to post. But my little schedule tells me I need to. I did not get to posting earlier because I was working on my new studio space. You may have caught that in yesterday’s post. I am now a resident artist in The Gallery Underground.

This is a new adventure for me. I have never thought of myself as a studio artist but I wanted to be more involved in the art community in Fort Collins. Sharing a space in a great gallery like The Gallery Underground should help me do that to say the least. By renting a space surrounded by great established artists who are further up the road than me I am bound to learn a thing or two as well.

The first big opening is this Friday the 4th and I am not feeling prepared. But I have only been there about two weeks now so I have not had time to produce. I will have a few pieces up and a few works in progress. By the First Friday in May I should have more work up and my space more defined as mine. I’ll keep you all posted.

If your in the neighborhood Friday night it’d be great to meet you. Stop on by.

Thanks,

www.zaf622.com
www.myspace.com/zaf622
www.twitter.com/artpalaver

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The Gallery Underground Done Got Bigger

April 1st, 2008 Daryle Dickens

The best art gallery in Fort Collins (according to the readers of The Rocky Mountain Chronicle.) is now 800 square feet bigger. The gallery took over the space left vacant by a neighbor that moved out in February to create artist studio space. The new resident artists are Rachel Hererra, Kirsten Savage, Colleen Ford, and Daryle Dickens.

This Friday is Gallery Walk, a perfect time to check out the new expansion.

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Thank you Beet Street for sponsoring another post:

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Time Again To Ruminate

March 31st, 2008 Daryle Dickens

Ruminate is a literature and art magazine published here in Fort Collins. The quarterly magazine just released issue #7. This is what the publishers have to say about it…

"Our Spring 2008 Issue 07: Addiction is officially released! It features exciting art from Deanne Moulten and Josh J. Peters, fiction from Linda McCullough Moore and Stacy Barton, nonfiction from Christopher J. Gaumer, and poetry from Jeffry C. Davis and Amanda McQuade…just to name a few. And all of it engages the theme of "Addiction" in surprising and profound ways."

And they have also created a poetry prize…

"The Janet B. McCabe Poetry Prize was established to honor a woman who loved words, books, and most of all "things of beauty" as Keats would say.  Janet–the grandmother of RUMINATE’s founding editor–was also a large part of the inspiration for our magazine. And so it only seemed fitting to create this poetry prize in order to honor the poets today who are pursuing beauty and the amazing woman who inspired our pursuit of RUMINATE.

We invite you to enter your poetry! The submission deadline is May 15th, 2008; entry fee is $15. $300 will be awarded to the winner and $150 to the runner-up. The winner will be featured in the 2008 Fall Issue."

Go to http://ruminatemagazine.com/ for all the detail on how to get your copy and also to submit.

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