One of my favorite pieces is by an extremely talented artist currently living in Keizer, Elizabeth Baumann (website, blog) “Bound by the necessities of life”:

Look for more information next week for the upcoming Mayor’s Gala, Winter Art Solstice, taking place on January 29th, 6-9 pm.

( Tickets in advance: $10, night of the event $15. You can register here. And more information at the Keizer Art Association website.)

Painting with Hot Wax.

Learn the ancient art of Encaustics with DEANNA WHITE. Learn the history, safety and how to make your own wax paints.

You will try fusing techniques with the beeswax, using different heating tools such as a heat gun, torch and flat iron.You will work on your own projects at your own pace and will have one finished painting, maybe two, depending on how you work. You may want to bring some of your own *personal photos, special papers, and any other flat items such as leaves, for collage. Deanna will also have a large assortment of papers and collage items. *Photos must be fresh Kinko photo copies which are toner based, not ink jet.

Saturday, September 26, 11:00-4:00. $65 includes all supplies.

Visit Deanna’s website

You can register here. I’d hurry there are only 3 spots left.

Dushko Petrovich: I would be likely to critique it as excrement, and talk about its qualities, you know, its color, smell or something like that…because that’s exactly what the person didn’t want to hear.

via Art Fag City » Paper Monument’s Roger White and Dushko Petrovich *Knew* Excrement Art Would Be A Hot Etiquette Topic.

Salem photographer releases book .

The Acting Advice Blog – by: Jenna Fischer from The Office

I thought being an actor meant being famous. But, most actors aren’t recognizable. It’s funny. I watch TV in a whole new way now. Like, I watch a show and I see the person who has 3 lines on Law and Order and I think, "Their family is gathered around the TV flipping out right now. I bet that was a huge deal for that person!" There are so many actors that make a living by doing support work on shows. I was that person for many years. For me to stay in this business, it had to be okay if I was never recognized. I learned that I loved the craft of acting more than the idea of being famous.

(my emphasis)

via The Acting Advice Blog – by: Jenna Fischer from The Office .

Ego can so get in the way of pursuing so many things in one’s life. You should read the whole post, there’s a ton of great advice from obviously a very generous actor.

Revered as the baroque master of lifelike portraits and light and shadow, the 16th-century painter Caravaggio is now being touted as the first master of photographic technique, two centuries before the formal invention of the camera.

via story here .