So, I've decided to take every Thursday ( ish ) and do a post on getting a job in the creative services or as a fine artist. Not everyone can afford, or wants to be, a full time artist. I know that I chose to move in a direction that has me doing less drawing and painting, and more graphic design and project management. Hopefully what will happen is over time a resource list will build that helps transition people from their art school career to what ever role they wish to play in the creative industry.

Where does one go to find employment as an artist, or someone holding a fine arts degree? I know a lot of my family felt it was a waste to go and get a degree in the fine arts, and I was regularly asked "what are you going to do with an art degree." To some extent everyone I went to school with faced this, some more than others. A lot of the best art students at the University of Calgary had parents who would refuse to pay for any art courses, seeing the fine arts as a dead-end degree ( and lifestyle ). Changing how people value an art degree, and finding a job for your art degree can be tricky, but there is a lot of work out there if you dig for it.

So, this week I am going to share some websites that I used when I was looking for work as a graphic designer. Most of these sites have space for someone wanting to work in any aspect of the creative industry, from gallery director to wall muralist.

Artists In Canada usually has a few job postings, about half in graphic design, the rest scattered through various aspects of the creative industry.

The Job Bank of Canada is also a fantastic place to start looking, most gallery positions show up here. Lots of graphic design as well.

Last but not least for this week, Craigslist. If you don't know about Craigslist, you really have to go check it out. It is like a giant international classifieds website. Anything and everything. I found a lot of job postings here in the past, and best of all, you can post your services here as an artist.

Labels: employment, jobs, working life

Came across this site during my web travels...Emulgator. Basically this artist makes short videos (from like 30 seconds to minute or more) capturing the little details in passing life. The things some of us notice, but rarely video tape. He captures it best below:

"There’s magic in the mundane. Extraordinary in the ordinary. New in the old, unexpected in the expected. These are the roses you’re supposed to stop and smell. And they’re not waiting around. Are you paying attention? What are you missing? Stop. Look. Listen. Now isn't here for long..."

So peruse through the collection. One of my favs is actually "caress" (the woman dressing the manequin). Don't judge me!

recent studies on the benefit of caffeine, as posted on the website www.usnews.com include:

"For example, Harvard researchers found in 2005 that drinking 6 cups of coffee or more daily cut the risk of getting type 2 diabetes by 50% in men, and 30% in women. One study of 80,000 women showed that those who who drank more than 2 or 3 cups of coffee daily reduced their risk of suicide over 10 yeas by 1/3 - we can all drink (one cup coffee) to that news!"

Good to know for all those late night creative sessions, as most of us artists tend to keep insane hours trying to juggle our art practice with out day jobs. So bottoms up to those energy drinks! I'll toast a can of TAB to that, and ignore the pounding heart rate, confident that I'm preventing diabetes!

So i stumled upon this really neat blog, and was instantly fascinated. People annonymously send in their secrets on postcards. Not only can I understand the catharthis of finally letting go of the burden of a secret, but it's also feels deliciously naughty to go and read them!

Check it out!

http://postsecret.blogspot.com/

So, in my continuing research of photography from the beginning of the last century, I bring you a link to Ruth Harriet Louise, the first woman glamor photographer in Hollywood. Among the stars she photographed were Joan Crawford, Douglas Fairbanks and Greta Garbo, including this iconic image. She only worked for 5 years with MGM and died at 37.

So, trawling about on the Oracle ( ie: Google ) I came across a couple news websites for art and artists:

http://www.artdaily.com
http://www.artnewsblog.com
http://www.absolutearts.com




I honestly was not impressed overly by any of them, but take a look, maybe they will be magic for you where they were not for me.

Lately my world has been about video games, and the art of building something where people come together to tell stories and build experiences together. Now, I know some people are going to moan and cry and say 'but that isn't fine art.

I really thing this is something that a lot of artists need to get past. To move beyond this notion that art has to be this solitary act, noble, important, and non-commercial. Art started as cave paintings for telling stories, perhaps more artists should get back to that sort of thinking.

Anti-Factory is a one-woman (Stephanie Syjuco) fashion design unit in San Francisco that makes unique items out of recycled garments. Syjuco is currently a sculpture professor at the California College of Arts. Syjuco has developed a project through Anti-Factory called the "Counterfeit Crochet Project". In an attempt to debunk high-end fashion, this project is focused on the making of replica designer bags through crochet. Syjuco is making several homemade bags herself, but is also interested in collecting pieces by others who crochet as a hobby or has ever wanted to try to crochet. Personally, the project makes me want to learn the craft of crochet. Better get out my Dummies book...

Check out the Anti-Factory blog for updates.

A small tripe called the Piraha lives in Brazil's rain forest and have a unique language that has called into question modern thoughts on communication, language and its development with humans. The Piraha have no sense of time, numbers or colors- "No one paints and there is no art." Interestingly as well, the tribe of around 300 is not isolated and interacts with the surrounding populous.

Labels: communication, language

What started off as a seemingly innocent enough playtime activity for children at an after school center in Seattle eventually turned into a power struggle of privilege and exclusion. Eventually the child-build community of Legotown became a mirror for the "inequities of private ownership and hierarchical authority", leading the eventual ban of Legos.

Ok, the idea seems a bit strange and extreme to start off with, but keep in mind the children are in the 5-9 age group so they are old enough to understand what was going on- and seemed quite articulate bases on the 5-9 year olds I usually hear about.

Hello all AT-ARTS members!

Looks like I was voted into the position of president at the last AGM. I look forward to working with the society, and trying to fill Sarah Springers shoes, she has left some pretty impressive footprints with us, but I look forward to growing into this new position.

The society AGM was held on the evening of Thursday, April 5th. In attendance were: Aran Wilkinson-Blanc, Petyr Hrynewich, Tina Riedner, Peter Morgan, Rob Dabizsa, Aaron Springer, and Sarah Springer. The new Board of Directors reflects the following:

- Tina Riedner, President
- Aran-Wilkinson-Blanc, Vice-President
- Petyr Hrynewich, Treasurer
- Peter Morgan, Secretary
- Sarah Springer, General Director (1)
- Aaron Springer, General Director (2)

The Student Liaison board position has yet to be determined since no current post-secondary students were in attendance. It was decided that this position will be elected on April 17th, 7pm at EMMEDIA during the society's crit night.

Committee member heads were also determined at the AGM. Tina Riedner will be in charge of the Membership committee, Peter Morgan will head up the Grants and Fundraising committee, and Aran Wilkinson-Blanc will head the Advertising and Events committee.

Society tasks were also re-assigned during the AGM. You can look forward to hearing from these individuals on specific matters:

- Aran Wilkinson-Blanc/Peter Morgan, Events and Postcard Exchange emails
- Sarah Springer, Quarterly Newsletter
- Tina Riedner, Membership Renewals
- Peter Morgan, Crit Night Liaison
- various directors, Blog Posting (board members have choosen specific days of the week for which they are responsible for posting to the society blog... this will ensure an eclectic mix of blog topics)

Thanks to all those who attended the AGM! And special thanks to all those who have committed to carrying the society forward!

Labels: AGM

For those of you who are are gamers, I thought you might be interested in an April Fool's Day game that was designed in one week by three fellows, one of which is Marcus Riedner (At-Arts member and UofC art grad). It's a super silly game mocking much of the video game industry. But silly is good sometimes! Download it for free at http://www.verse-studios.com/foolsgold.html

And while you're visiting verse-studios.com consider submitting your portfolio for their concept artist search. I think Marcus posted about it previously, but this is just a reminder.