BookMooch Journal: Thin Places

Namaste, photo by Kim Pierro. Click image to see this photo's Flickr page.

I recently contributed to the BookMooch Journal Thin Places. My entry was the word Namaste.

Namaste has a lot of different translations. My favorite is "The light within me salutes the light within you." This particular translation was used by the Reverend Tom Honey in this talk for the 2005 TED Conference. His speech, titled "How could God have allowed the Tsunami?", calls into question our Western idea of theodicy, the notion that God is in charge and everything happens according to a divine plan. He counters this view with the suggestion that every creature contains divine light as part and parcel of their existence. (Do yourself a favor, take twenty minutes, and listen to his talk. His warm, soothing voice alone is worth the time.)

Live Oak Friends Meeting House, designed by James Turrell.
Artist James Turrell has also drawn influence from this idea of internal light. Turrell's upbringing included education in Quaker spirituality. The Quaker belief system cherishes inner light as the receptacle and source for divine understanding. (How interesting that the disparate Quaker and Hindu faiths should include this same idea at their core.) On his early experience with the Quaker society, Turrell says,

My grandmother used to tell me that as you sat in Quaker silence you were to go inside to greet the light. That expression stuck with me. ...Telling a child to go inside "to greet the light" is about as much as was ever told to me. But there is an idea, first of all, of vision fully formed with the eyes closed. Of course the vision we have in a lucid dream often has greater lucidity and clarity than vision with the eyes open. The fact that we have this vision with the eyes closed is very interesting. And the idea that it's possible to actually work in a way, on the outside, to remind one of how we see on the inside, is something that became more interesting to me as an artist.

You can go here and view clips about Turrell and his work from the PBS' excellent Art:21 series.

Reference Photo and Collage Sources on Flickr

Smorgasbord by Flickr user CharlesFred. Click image to visit on Flickr.

Say it with me, illustrators: "Photo references are good. Use them." Using references is not copying, it is not cheating. Image references are tools. What's an easy way to make sure you're not trodding on another artist's toes? Search within the Creative Commons.

What is Creative Commons? The Creative Commons license is a legal way for creators to easily share their content with the public. It is not a negation of copyright. There are different kinds of licenses depending on the type of content (music, images, literature, software, and so on) and how the creator wishes to share this material. I release my work under a Creative Commons license (there's a link over in the left column of this page) because I believe that information and influence should (and do) flow freely among creators. The license does not prevent me from earning income from my art. I still own what I make. Creative Commons makes it easier for me to share it with others. You can read more about Creative Commons here.

Even with the Creative Commons license, copyright and usage is a slippery slope. When in doubt, contact the creator, ask permission, and give them credit.

The Flickr Creative Commons search is a fantastic tool for finding photo references for drawing, painting, illustration, or the medium of your choice. You need a Flickr account to use it - it's easy to sign up. Click on the word "Search" in the upper right-hand corner, then click on "Advanced Search." Enter your search terms and parameters, then scroll down to the bottom of the search form, where you will find the Creative Commons box. Click "Only search within Creative Commons-licensed content." And go. You can also browse by license.

UPDATE: Here's a tip from optimization expert Tim Ferriss. Do a Creative Commons search on Flickr, then sort the results by "Most Interesting." You'll get the best images first.

The Flickr Commons (sounds the same, but isn't) is another bountiful image resource. Here are some goodies I found there.

My collaborative sketchbook pal Karo recently posted her favorite Flickr groups for gathering collage material. They are Collage Images, Vintage Illustration, and Mid-Century Illustrated. These groups collect and display images that are old enough to be public domain, or with no known copyright restrictions. Some of the images in the Collage pool are contemporary creations whose owners have provided them for use by others. The ownership of certain original ephemera objects (which are scanned and uploaded to Flickr) are sometimes in question, but this community of artists (usually) acts responsibly in investigating and attributing the sources of these images. Here is a discussion thread on that topic.

These are just a few of the tools artists can use to build their photo reference library. (Beware, your collection will grow when you're not looking. Mine takes up a full filing cabinet.)

Related: Figurative Collage set on Flickr Great anatomical reference site Winston Smith, collage artist Lawrence Lessig, copyright reform guru

Found on Flickr: State Library of New South Wales

Eliza Lawson, May 1845, photographed by George Goodman. Click image to visit on Flickr.

Found on Flickr this week: From the Flickr Commons, a collection from the State Library of New South Wales.

These two photographs are from a subset of the collection called "Costume and Dress."

Dulcie Deamer in leopardskin costume, 1923, Swiss Studios. Click image to visit on Flickr.

The Flickr Commons is an amazing, growing repository of historical photographs from libraries and institutions around the world. Most of the photographs in the Commons have little or no known copyright restrictions. It's a great resource for artists, students, and casual browsers alike.

60 Artists, 60 Minutes: The Shoot

Sunrise, Downtown OKC, by Flickr user Paul L. McCord, Jr. Click image to visit on Flickr.

60 Artists to Hit the Streets of Downtown

Downtown OKC – For one hour this Saturday, 60 artists will be on a mission to capture their perspective of what Downtown Oklahoma City is all about. The event is in preparation for 60 Artists : 60 Minutes, an exhibition in The Underground Invited Artists Gallery this summer.

On June 6 from 11:00 a.m. to noon, 60 people will meet on the corner of Robert S. Kerr and Robinson. Each preselected participant will receive one disposable point and shoot camera and one hour to photograph Downtown as they see it. From the 1,620 photographs taken, the best one from each roll will be selected, printed, and ultimately included in the 60 Artists : 60 Minutes exhibition on display from July 23 to October 15.

The search for artists was done via the social networking sites Facebook and Myspace, and through word of mouth. All 60 artists were selected on a first come, first served basis. The only requirement for participation is that the photographer has to live in the OKC metro area and be age eighteen and older.

“It only took 24 hours to get 60 participants,” said show curator Romy Owens. “The artists are all really excited about this show. 60 Artists : 60 Minutes offers all artists equal parameters: same time limit, same equipment and same presentation. It will be intriguing to see what they come up with.”

The Invited Artist Gallery, located in The Underground, is made possible through a sponsorship by Devon Energy Corporation. Entrances to the gallery are located at the corner of Robert S. Kerr Blvd and Robinson, and inside Leadership Square. The Invited Artists Gallery sits underneath the intersection of Robinson and Robert S. Kerr with entrances from all adjacent buildings. The Invited Artist Gallery is produced by Downtown Oklahoma Inc.

For more information on the Underground or Downtown OKC, Inc, please visit DowntownOKC.com or call 405-235-3500.

[Press release info courtesy of romy owens (contact here) and Kim Searls: (405) 818-2726.]

Read NewsOK's article about the shoot here.

Update: Another article about the shoot, from the Journal Record.

Leigh, by Paho, by Sarah

Leigh, by Paho, by Sarah. Acrylic on found fabric, 6.5 x 7 inches, 2009.05.14 Click the image to visit it on Flickr.

Being a gallery artist means scheduling shows months or even years ahead of time, which means I am more or less under deadline all the time (even if that deadline is a long way off). That's good for me, I work well with a fixed timeline. But sometimes I get bogged down in the middle of a series and need to change gears.

That's where Leigh came from. In a fit of frustration the other day, I pulled out some small canvases and went to work getting wet paint all over them. This painting is from a photo of Leigh Merrill taken by Paho Mann (two friends of mine from college).