Online Art Design and Craft Classes From the Best

I wrote in my last post that I had hit a major “snag” in my posting since discovering that one may not be “legally correct” by using photographs from another site, even if one is merely publicizing for them, and alerting other potential readers to it’s existence. The aforementioned post concerned an artist by the name of Marilyn Radzat.

I have spent the time in the interim trying to solve the dilemma; a post about arts and crafts cannot work without photographs. I have found the most amazing art that I have never seen since beginning this endeavor, and it has been somewhat of a distraction that I don’t know if I can legally include a photo of the amazing things that I find. I do, however, have several happy things to report in the interim as I continue to analyze how to handle this hurdle.

Number one: Not only is Marilyn Radzat the finest fantasy artist I have ever had the pleasure of discovering, she is also a real person. I don’t mean that in it’s most literal sense; Of course she’s a “real” person; she makes “real” art. I mean that she is accessible and nice. She actually took the time to personally email me with permission to use her photographs to promote her art classes. In case you aren’t familiar with the artist, she does not do this for money, but for the love of teaching. Her works are in fine galleries throughout a great deal of the planet, and in the homes of such notables as the Clintons, Ron Howard, and Anne Rice, to name a few.

Number Two: For the first time in her decades-long career as an accomplished fantasy artist specializing in figure form, she is offering on-line classes.

Number Three: The classes are very reasonably priced. A steal, as a matter of fact. The opportunity of a lifetime, in my humble opinion. She told me in her email that teaching was what she loves best; hence, the reasonably priced online classes, accessible to folks from all walks of life, not just the privileged. She could easily give personal classes to only those who could afford the exorbitant price she has a right to request.

Number Four: She often uses gourds and specializes in incorporating other “found” and natural materials in her works, such as stones, shells, flea market finds and “throwaways”… Although she does fantasy art in other mediums, it’s predominantly sculpting in one medium or another; her depiction of female faces is unparalleled. She has a lovely “artist’s statement“, which is:

See her website @ www.marilynradzat.com/ for breathtaking examples of her other “prettier” fantasy works. For a mere $20.00, yes, you heard me correctly, $20.00, you can take the online course of how to create these enchanting “pea-pod babies“…. Find information on all classes @ www.thatcreativeplace.com

Now, THIS is what I call “art”….

Now, loyal readers, this is very irritating. I am stuck in a sort of limbo here about copyright laws and such boring details as that. All I want to do is direct you to some extremely cool sites with fantastic art, and I feel that in order to do that, the post should include one photograph of the aforementioned art to get your attention so you’ll know I’m not making this up. But now I have become hobbled, bogged down, and simply afraid to include a photo in my posts, even if it’s only purpose is to link you back to the site from whence it came and promote the artist. Doesn’t seem right, does it?

Anyway, I guess you’ll just have to take my word for it until you go and see for yourself. I just discovered this artist by the name of Marilyn Radzak…. Absolutely mind-blowing stuff. So, if you’ve gotten this far, please visit the site: www.thatcreativeplace.com/ It’s hard to remember that this was made from a gourd….

In the meantime, I will try to clear up this fog and confusion concerning the placement of a photograph which is used simply to link back to the site from where it originated… Sounds like good business practice to me, but hey, what do I know about legalities?

Leslie

A must-have for artisans and crafters

One of the most useful and versatile tools one can ever own is the Dremel. It’s not just an arts and crafts accessory, as a matter of fact, I don’t think that was meant to be it’s primary purpose. It’s an all-purpose, “do-it-yourself around the house” tool. Eventually more and more people began integrating it into arts and crafts and hobbies uses.

I am looking at my “Dremel Product and Accessories Catalog”, and there is a very pertinent quote contained therein, which states “If you can’t figure out another way to get a job done, you’ll find a way to do it with a Dremel rotary tool”. This is not BS. It’s lightweight, compact and versatile, with over 150 accessories enabling one to cut, sand, shape, engrave, carve, drill, buff, grind, polish, etch, clean and more. If you’ve never used one of these nifty tools, I highly suggest you get one. You will find many uses for it, whether you’re a craftsperson, an artist, or a handyman. It’s an amazing “problem solver”, and priced very reasonably. I own two of them (one very old, another slightly newer; about 8 years old) and they’re still going like gangbusters.

The Dremel is a rotary tool, which relies on very high speed (up to 35,000 rpms!) instead of force to get the job done. The speed does all the work, while you just guide the lightweight, easy to handle tool. And yet another bonus is that the “Dremel People” are some of the best in the world at “working with you”… In other words, if something breaks, they generally replace it for free. Lose a part? Contact them and they’ll do everything they can to help. They make accessories which enable this one tool to do practically anything. I believe one could almost build a house with it, except as they state in their guide, “it makes a lousy hammer”.

The “accessories” are different bits or attachments that one changes for doing different jobs; some are for sanding, some are for cutting, some for buffing, etc. Then one can purchase many different “attachments” which turn the simple dremel into something altogether different. For example, I own a “shaper/router table”, which converts the tool into a bench mounted wood shaper. I also own the “Flex Shaft Attachment”, which is basically an extension that is attached allowing you more freedom of movement and ability to get to hard to reach places. There are attachments that can turn your dremel into a wood-burning tool, a chain-saw, lawnmower and garden tool sharpener, a tile cutter, and a drill press, to name a few.

Their website is (what else?) www.dremel.com