...anatomy drawing buffs, that is. An independent magazine in the USA is looking for artwork relating to bones. Submit your artwork (any medium) in postcard format and include your name and e-mail or website for credit. Best entries will be printed. Thanks to mailart.org for this one.

I am alive... and after much effort have found my account, reinstated, upgraded it, and discovered I haven't been around here since early 2005. Thank you to the people @ At-Arts for creating this; I'll have more to say later. For now- Hello again...

oh, this has been Aran (just in case)

I recently discovered that the Alternator Gallery for Contemporary Art in Kelowna has a Community Window for art exhibitions (look under "opportunities" on their home page for submission requirements and floor plans). It's similar to the +15 windows in Calgary at the Epcor Centre for Performing Arts. Submissions are on-going and exhibitions change frequently. It seems like another great opportunity for small solo exhibitions if you're just starting out in your art career.

So it's the reverse of what I do all day long at work... Typographer is a simple interface that allows you to type in a statement or story and as you type it chooses images from the internet to accompany specific words. Basically it illustrates your story as you create. It's a bit fun to play with, although a little slow. Its' a very interesting way to examining images and their relation to the word they were chosen for. It also makes you wonder where or how, we as artists, develop images for particular concepts. Food for thought...

Wayne Martin Belge has been making found art pieces for about thirty years now. He is also a photographer. To combine these two creative outlets, Belge started making pinhole cameras. Each camera is machined with a particular photographic shot in mind, so that each camera produces entirely unique photographs. Each pinhole camera also has a different theme and are made from various found objects, from surgical tools to insects and bone. Even with these unique elements, the pinhole cameras are entirely functional.

How do you each of you display the postcards that you receive (either from the exchange or from friends around the globe)? We generally put the most recent arrivals on the fridge with an assortment of magnets. When new ones come tumbling through the mail slot in our door, the current fridge postcards get allocated to a spot on our bulletin board (which is an amusing and colourful display in our dining room). But the bulletin board is filling quickly. I came across a neat idea for storing my postcard collection when the board is truly full. Visit the Super Deluxe Tuckbox Template Maker, put in the dimension of the box you need and a PDF template will be created. Print it off, fold it up, and you've got yourself an easy storage box for your precious postcards. This idea, thanks to ReadyMade.

The University of Iowa is looking for participants for it's 6th Annual University Print Society Postcard Print Exchange. This is open to international artists. An editioned print series of 13 identical postcards, 4 x 6 inches in size, is required. Please download the official poster for all the details and instructions...printexchangeflyer.jpg

Deadline for all submissions is April 13, 2007.

Actually, One Hundred and Eighty Things I Hate About You. But not you personally, no, this is the title of an exhibition by London artists. Each artist has illustrated their "pet hate" and these illustrations have subsequently been made into dartboards. Talk about dealing with your anger issues! The show runs February 16-March 23 at the Dazed & Confused Gallery, London (if you happen to be visiting the mother country).

Scott Blake, an artist out of Nebraska, is doing, what he calls, Bar Code Art. He was inspired by the Y2K computer bug scare. His first piece was a portrait of Jesus, which he created in Photoshop using a bar code system that he developed. He is currently offering to send interested individuals a FREE postcard, you simply need to choose a portrait and email him your street address. He sells temporary tattoos, flipbooks, t-shirts, and prints on his site, so browse on through.

Need a break from the snow and cold of Calgary? Why not spend a weekend in Vancouver where you can check out the new Vancouver Art Gallery exhibition Acting the Part: Photography as Theatre. It features staged photo works by Cindy Sherman, Jeff Wall, Yasumasa Morimura, Wang Quingsong and many others. And while you're down at the VAG, you can also check out the Vancouver 2010 Countdown Clock, which was unveiled yesterday. And you can celebrate Chinese New Year (Sunday, February 18th) by visiting the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Chinese Garden, a little bit of peace and quiet in the heart of downtown Vancouver.

Some times we all get caught up in our lives and forget the reason why we wanted to be artists. A lot of times we even forget to be artists period.

I know that I have been very busy trying to start up a business. Sure, it's in video games and I'm in charge of creative direction, but there is a heck of a lot more spread sheeting than there is drawing and painting. In the hustle and bustle I've forgotten what it was that drew me to art in the first place, the simple act of drawing.

It is easy to get caught up in other things, but it is important that every now and again we all take some time and get back to basics. Get back to why we do something in the first place.

We've all pondered this question at some point. Maybe it was while you were trying to decide between med school and art. Or maybe it was when your parents asked why you couldn't just become a tradesperson. Or maybe it was the night before your portfolio was due and you still had unfinished projects. Some might say that they are even plagued by the question, "where can my B.F.A. take me?"

It's always important to look at what others have done before you and what your contemporaries are achieving now. Lately, I have been looking at the work of James Jean, an illustration artist out of L.A. You've no doubt seen his work around, even if you don't know it. I discovered him while reading the Fables comic series, written by Bill Willingham. Jean does much of the cover art for the series.

What do I find most interesting about Jean? Well, he has talent. But he also obviously knows how to market himself and present his work. He has created a large volume of work. He maintains a sketchbook. He is able to use new media (blogging) to communicate with the public and create an art journal. And he has a B.F.A.

Tina Riedner, After Thought's Vice-President, has an upcoming show at the Untitled Gallery Main Space, 4th floor, 319 10th Ave. S.W., from February 16th to March 11th. The exhibition, entitled Four Winds, showcases her new explorations in painting. Please join her at the opening on February 16th from 7-10pm.

Fellow University of Calgary art grad, Becki Chan, has started up her own business in her downtown Vancouver apartment. If you have a business or upcoming event you want to advertise, or simply a button addiction that you need to feed, then check out Bubblebox.

Because of the dimensions I like to cut my postcards, through the course of an entire year, I've accumulated narrow strips of paper (about 3 x 8.5 inches). They were just wide enough that I refused to throw them away. I figured that there must be something I could do with them. They aren't that suited for collage (since they're rather plain Jane neutral colours). But it occurred to me that they would be perfect for bookmarks. So now, when I want to do a little brainless, relaxing art, without making much of a mess, I make bookmarks. In order to stiffen them up a bit, I've actually started gluing three layers of the strips together, so now the pile of left over paper is getting smaller. I add the finishing touch, by writing one of my favourite quotes on the back of each. I gave several away at Christmas time to family (wouldn't they make a great stocking stuffer?!) and I'm continuing to make them as a gift for my literary friends. Thought I would share, in case any of you are in need of ideas on how to use up your scraps. If you have a particular project that you do with your own scraps, please share...

Since I started combining my postcards with my altered book process, I've been doing some reading up on "decos". Decos (short for decorated) are small booklets that are exchanged among a group of artists. The first person (the "initiator") sends a blank booklet (about the size of a postcard with between 4-8 pages) to one person, who then fills a page with a design. It is then sent to another person who does their own design, and so on. When there are no more pages left, the booklet is sent back to the original "initiator". I thought it would be cool to try sometime if there were any interested members... I was thinking that one could send the booklet in a uniquely decorated envelop, so that each participant who decorates a page also decorates an envelope and therefore, gets to keep an "art envelope" from one of their fellow participants. That way, at the end of it all, it's not just the "initiator" who ends up with some art. Any interested folk out there?

...who's there?
Doors of the world.
Doors of the world who?
Doors of the world: A Mail Art Call (that seemed more humorous in my head, sorry 'bout that).

Anyway, yes, I found an interesting open call for a simple mail art idea. It's not an exchange per say, but your submission is posted alongside all the others on a mail art blog. I think the end result will be quite neat. The woman organizing it is Sharon Zimmer. She is asking for a 4X6 inch colour photo of your front door (apartment door, any door you like, really). The photos are simply mailed to her in Florida and then she posts them as they arrive. I'm quite excited to see the doors (from around the world) as they are submitted. My apartment door looks so boring compared to the first door posted, which is from Rome. But hey, it's Rome. They're bound to have some great artistic doors.

As you probably know by now, the society has an on-going postcard exchange between members. There are currently about eleven people involved. Receiving art postcards made by friends on a monthly basis is a wonderful way to pass the time between receiving bills and crappy flyers! If you’re looking to further develop your interest in mail art, I suggest checking out www.mailart.org. It’s a great international site that provides an on-line gallery, news, blogs, calls for submissions and collaborative projects focusing entirely on mail art. It gets me charged to make a gazillion postcards and small art pieces! It got me thinking that the next After Thought show could simply be on online exhibition of postcards. It would mean some more work for our webmaster, though… what do you guys think?