The Year of the Ox ~ Happy Chinese New Year!

The Ox is the sign of prosperity through fortitude and hard work. I wished my Mom Happy Chinese New Year today. She spent about 3 1/2 years in China in the early 1980's teaching English as a Second Language to college students in China ~ I'm so proud of her accomplishments! Thinking about how difficult, and rewarding, her life was during that time period and the industriousness and determination of the Chinese people jogged my memory of a photojournalism project that I worked on in San Francisco, California's Chinatown a couple of years ago and I thought I would share some of those photographs here. I loved this colorful dragon that was hanging in the stairwell of a little mall of shops.

Everyone in this park was focused on the speaker, and the neighborhood was deserted...but this gentleman had errands to run and nothing was going to deter him!

This street musician was playing sweet music while he was calmly watching the world go by.

This gentleman was shouting at the top of his lungs "Wake Up America" and gesticulating wildly! I was fascinated that not one person was paying him any attention, just a sea of people ignoring him!

Chinatown is overwhelmingly colorful!

The beautiful Transamerica building as seen from a street in Chinatown.

So I wish you all a very healthy, happy, and prosperous New Year!

Ham Tongue

We adopted a very sweet cat about 10 months ago from the Palm Springs Animal Shelter. I really went to look for a dog, but when I went by the cage where she had spent 6 weeks of her life, she reached her paw out through the bars toward me and I was unable to go any further. She has gained about 3 pounds since she came to live with us, and her fur is shiny and healthy now. She loves to chase a laser light for exercise, and she is very affectionate. She has added immensely to our lives as a source of love, and also of entertainment. Here she is posing with what I call ~ "Ham Tongue". Most of the cats that I have had the pleasure of sharing my home with over the years have had ham tongue on occasion. What makes me laugh so hard is that they have no idea that their tongue has gotten stuck in the "out" position, and has temporarily dried there. They continue to look at you with a haughty expression of mild distain while you are cracking up. Which, of course, makes me laugh even harder!

Does your cat ever get Ham Tongue? If you don't have a cat, please consider adopting one from a local shelter. Or, if you aren't able to adopt one, please consider giving a small donation to help out with expenses at a no-kill shelter. They do wonderful work and can always use a little help :)

A Raven's Invitation

A few days ago I was treated to a unique experience on Highway 74 at a viewpoint overlooking Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley. It was 7:00 am and I had driven up the mountain a bit to enjoy the new snowfall.

The turnout was deserted except for a single large raven who seemed very curious that I had arrived with my camera. He flew over me, I think to impress me with the size of his wingspan, and landed nearby. He looked me right in the eye and started to make some loud clicking noises (almost like he was snapping his beak together) and his head would bob up and down - trying to tell me something. I got very close to this beautiful bird and he seemed to enjoy it, always looking me right in the eye and we spent about 10 minutes communicating with each other. Then he flew up, circled me once, and landed on the parapet to enjoy the view.

He made another series of very loud clicking noises, motioning with his head, inviting me to come closer. Then he kept motioning with his wing as though he wished me to enjoy the view with him!

In the 1960s, neurologist Stanley Cobb found that ravens have among the largest brains of any birds, as well as a relatively high number of brain cells. Natural history author Candace Savage writes:

“Crows, ravens, magpies, and jays are not just feathered machines, rigidly programmed by their genetics. Instead, they are beings that, within the constraints of their molecular inheritance, make complex decisions and show every sign of enjoying a rich awareness.” My friendly raven was definitely enjoying a rich awareness of the beauty of this day, and I'm happy I got to share this experience with him!

My 2009 Limited Edition Wall Calendar is here!

Featuring the Fine Art Photography of Alison Du Bois, a limited edition archival quality 2009 wall calendar (only 6 have been printed) with a certificate of authenticity signed on the back by the artist, my Wall Calendar has arrived!

This calendar has been printed by a professional lab using genuine 4-color offset ink printing on heavy-weight, glossy paper - just like wall calendars found in bookstores. Date pages are matte-finished for easy writing, are large enough to allow for plenty of notation, and include major holidays. This deluxe calendar measures 10” tall (closed) x 13” wide and has a quality metal spiral binding with a hole in the top center for easy hanging.

The exceptional quality of this calendar makes it ideal to economically enjoy these fine art photographs throughout the year and then frame the individual photographs when you are finished. The cover of the calendar is not printed on, so you actually get 13 full bleed (borderless) 10x13 photographs! Many of my most popular photographs are included in this calendar :

Cover: Autumn Avenue

January: Aspen Grove

February: Stone Arches

March: Silverton Trestle

April: Amalfi Coast

May: Mushroom

June: Tidepool Rush Hour

July: Statue of Liberty

August: Pastoral

September: Apple Cart

October: Aspen Sky

November: Valley Floor

December: Sunrise Snow

© 2007/2008 Alison Du Bois

Design Style Guide

The Design Style Guide is a collective group of artists and designers that work together to promote themselves through networking.

There are so many amazing artists in the Design Style Guide group! They use varied media, thoughtfulness, and focus to create fantastic items to enhance your home or office, and I'm so proud to be a member! I will begin featuring some of these talented artists in future posts. To view more work by Design Style Guide artists, please visit their blog at: http://designstyleguide.blogspot.com/

A website is currently in development to showcase these artists for professional Interior Designers, Decorators, and Home Stagers to find these unique works of art for their clients. Watch my posts for more information when it is ready to "go live"!
The original artwork and fine art photography in this post are my hobby. I would love it if you would please "follow my blog" by clicking the link to the right ~ ~ ~

My Favorite Poem

THE LAKE ISLE OF INNESFREE
by William Butler Yeats

I will arise and go now, and go to Innesfree,
And a small cabin build there,
of clay and wattles make:
Nine bean-rows will I have there,
a hive for the honeybee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there,
for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning
to where the cricket sings;
There midnight’s all a glimmer,
and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet’s wings.

I will arise and go now,
for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with
low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway,
or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart’s core.

Fine Art Photography by Alison Du Bois

My New Creation

I'm in love with my newest creation ~ It is so luxurious and rich with the colors of autumn!


A handmade pair of one of a kind porcelain cones by glass artist Starr May of Palm Desert capture glorious strands of freshwater cultured pearls in shades of cream, gold, brown, wine, and copper accented with green and wine seed beads and topaz Swarovski crystals.





Genuine Carnelian finishes the ensemble and the quality construction is protected by french wire. The graceful piece fastens with a secure 14K gold filigree pearl clasp and measures 21 1/2" long and is 1" in diameter.

Creating something beautiful that will adorn someone else, maybe on a memorable occasion, makes me so happy!

Donated to Rare Artisans and available in their shop at: http://www.rareartisans.etsy.com/

The Workroom

I created a new listing for my Etsy shop today entitled "Treadle" http://alisondubois.etsy.com. The photograph depicting the decaying workroom of a seamstress in the abandoned mining town of Bodie, California, features her dusty vintage Singer treadle sewing machine and worn wooden table and chairs.

Along with wondering what she created in her special space, it got me thinking about the differences between her workspace and my own modern version. So, I thought I'd share some quick snapshots of my area created in a walk-in-closet...yes, losing space for clothes, shoes, and purses was hard to do, lol!

My room measures 6' 4" x 6" 10" and I admit I tidied it up a bit before taking pictures, but there is a place for everything. I find it easier to work on projects if I put things away regularly, as it gets messy pretty quickly.

My chair swivels between my jewelry workbench and my sewing/painting area. I do my soldering and patina work outside as there is no ventilation in this room (safety first, always!) I store my sterling silver, copper, brass, and gold filled wire and metal sheet in my bench drawers. The pegboard is great for keeping my tools handy. I use the shelves above the closet poles to store some other supplies.


I utilize these cabinets for my shipping supplies, polymer clay, stamps, paints (oil, watercolor, and acrylic), beads and findings, art papers, scrapbooking supplies, and miscellaneous treasures which fill up the closed cabinets that you see, too.




Okay, the secret is out, I have spilled a teeny bit around the corner into the next room with this Chinese cabinet that has a few more tiny bits and pieces:)

This is my sewing, painting, beading, etc. area. My old Kenmore sewing machine has been with me for about 30 years - I service it regularly and it works like a dream. Working on a quilt in this small space is impossible, so the dining room table is pressed into service for this activity.


I store my serger on a shelf and use the folding table between the jewelry bench and my mannequin when it is needed.

The picture on the bulletin board is a working copy of a Red-shouldered Hawk that I was fortunate to capture a picture of when he landed on the edge of the spillover from our backyard spa into the pool. I'm working on a large watercolor that I hope to finish this month. I'm more proficient with oils and acrylics - watercolour is not my medium - but I'm enjoying it very much!

I needed a bit more space to store my sewing supplies, so this little area where I enter the closet is useful.

By the way, the photographs on the walls are mine, and I enjoy changing them out by the season to pretend I am outside. The wall hanging in this corner is hand quilted by me with lovely gold thread, and I painted the small framed watercolor on the stand.





And this my laptop computer, which is old as the hills and takes forever to start up, but it is very handy for keeping track of my projects and for playing music while I work. It's also great for learning new techniques - it's amazing what you can learn on YouTube!
Thanks for taking the time to check out my creative work space ~ I'd love to read your comments, especially if you have a link to your own post of what your workroom looks like!

Best wishes,

Alison

My Coffee Table Book

I'd appreciate it if you would take a moment to vote in the Weekly Grand Champion Etsy Challenge (hopefully for my "A Collection of Photographs by Alison Du Bois" coffee table book) at:

http://etsychallenge.blogspot.com/2008/09/915-weekly-grand-champion-your-category.html

And, if you wouldn't mind too much, maybe you could forward my shameless begging request *sheepish grin* on to your email list for me ~ I'd really like to win this so I can go on to the annual contest.

My self-published photographic coffee table art book contains 31 glossy pages and measures 11 ½” by 15”. This deluxe hardcover book is printed on high quality archival (lignin and acid free) paper with high quality ink by a professional printer. The black background makes the colors really pop! This first edition book includes a dust cover. Many of the 80 photographs included in this collection are listed on my http://www.alisondubois.etsy.com/ site. The layouts include from one to four photographs per page, and photos have captions. The book is available for purchase here: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=12706242

Thank you so much for your help, and don't forget to vote in the other categories, too, at http://etsychallenge.blogspot.com/ - I think you will enjoy trying to choose between all of the talented artists competing!

Front Page of Etsy

I made the front page of Etsy.com today in this beautiful treasury created by http://www.girlsavage.etsy.com/ who makes cute plush creatures and her "Feltidermy" have been featured on Cute Overload, The Martha Stewart Show and CNN American Morning!

I'm so happy that she included my photograph entitled "Solidarity" that was taken in Pompeii, Italy.

Thank you, girlsavage!

What I did on my summer vacation ~

I just returned from my summer vacation and wanted to share an incredible adventure with you that I was lucky to experience. I toured the USS Nebraska in Bangor, Washington! She is a ballistic missile submarine carrying 24 Trident missiles that can be targeted independently.

It was a strange and wondrous moment, standing on the deck before we went down the ladder, to realize that the arched area I was standing on could someday open up and a nuclear missile could be launched through it. Trident missiles are fired by the pressure of expanding gas in the launch tube. When the missile is far enough away from the submarine, several stages of motors and boosters ignite. Within about two minutes the missile is traveling about 20,000 feet per second.

Once on board, I was impressed with the organization and engineering involved in creating this beautiful work of art. Courteous sailors, busy with their duties, took time to answer my questions and graciously danced when we had to pass in a narrow passageway. The missiles are quite large - about 44 feet high and almost 7 feet around - so 24 of them fill a large portion of the vessel, but overall it seemed surprisingly spacious. I learned about how the air is cleaned and recirculated, visited the ship's medical office, imagined sleeping in the crew's quarters (you do need to be organized!), checked out the galley, and explored all the nooks and crannies.

The USS Nebraska is 42 feet wide and 560 feet long - for comparison the Seattle Space Needle is 605 feet high. Submerged, it displaces approximately 18,750 tons and it carries a crew of 155. It is propelled by a nuclear reactor and it is the 14th ship in the OHIO class.

I feel much safer knowing that this submarine is patrolling our waters. I got an opportunity to think about being at sea for three months at a time and the kinds of consequences this brings about for a sailor. Not only having to get along with the rest of the crew in tight quarters, but the effect it has on their familial relationships. Young men, most of them in their early twenties, with new babies and young wives - not only missing them, but being unable to even speak with them during their deployment as they have to maintain silence. Their wives learn to handle everything at home themselves, yet when the sailor returns he has to reintegrate into his family and couples have to get to know each other again. Daily duties have to be redistributed, children need to "ask Dad" again....and then he faces deployment again, and it all starts over. Very difficult, and I congratulate these families on their ability to do this so that the rest of us can enjoy the protection provided by these submariners. Thank you!

I was unable to take any photographs to share with you due to high level security clearance required to take this tour, but I have it in my memory forever! If you ever get a chance, there is a public Naval Undersea Museum in Keyport, Washington that has some wonderful exhibits related to submarines http://www.history.navy.mil/museums/keyport/index1.htm that is well worth the visit.

I Passed!

I am very happy to report that I got an "A" on my final exam! A certificate for Diamonds & Diamond Grading, as well as the Graduate Diamonds Diploma from the Gemological Institute of America is on its way! Their distance education program is excellent and allows me to study at home at my own pace. I am planning to take a break for a few weeks and then I will begin my next course of study, Colored Stones.

Electronic Copyright

Branching Out and trying something new ~

Yesterday afternoon I finished work on my next series of photographs that I plan to incorporate into my new book and was ready to copyright them. So, I decided to give the new United States Copyright Office electronic copyright system a try.

The Copyright Process - standard method:

Previously I printed out a hard application form from their website http://www.copyright.gov/ and completed it, made prints of my photographs and accompanying information, - made a copy of everything for myself, then mailed them registered return receipt to the Library of Congress (LOC). Waited for three or four days to track online and get notification that they were received by the LOC. At this point I could start to publish the photographs because they are protected as soon as they are received, but I still had to wait for over 6 months to get a certificate that a publishing house might need to verify that they are my copyright. Wait for about 5 months for them to cash your check, wondering all the while if there is anything wrong? Then continue to wait for your certificate. I am still waiting today for a certificate from a submission I made on October 22, 2007 - when I spoke to the Copyright Office a few days ago they said it is still being processed and may take a few more months as they are so backlogged things are taking about 8 months now due to the changeover to their electronic process (which he said is taking about 4 months)!

cost - $23.02 prints and copies

fee- $45.00

mailing - $5.25

Total = $73.27 for 81 photographs + about 6 hours of my time running around initially and then calling and checking on it!

The new and improved Copyright Process - Electronic Copyright:

So, yesterday afternoon at about 5:15pm I was ready to give it a try. Wow...what a pleasure! It took me 40 minutes from start to finish. I created an account http://www.copyright.gov/eco/index.html, then filled out the application form. The next step was to pay on a separate secure site which was easy and fast. I was returned to my application without any difficulty and the final step was to upload my submission. There is a 30 minute time limit and it was suggested that if my file was too large I might need to creat a .zip file, however I only had 75 photographs for this submission so I just uploaded them individually. When I hit the "submit" button they were all uploaded within 7 minutes, and I was given a confirmation page with the document files and titles to print out for my records. Then I was returned to the home page where I can now track my submission electronically with a unique file number. The biggest advantage is that my photographs are acknowledged as submitted immediately and I don't have to wait an additional 3-5 days for mailing delivery confirmation!

cost: - $0 printing and copies

fees: - $35

mailing - $0

Total = $35 + 40 minutes of my time (this will increase slightly over the next four months as I track my open case online to ensure that it is completed, but should be minimal as it will not entail redialing and waiting on hold for the copyright office).

I highly recommend the new Electronic Copyright process for artists and photographers - it is cheaper, faster, and less stressful!

Rare Artisans Exhibition News

I am very honored to belong to a group of craftsmen that began to collaborate about a year ago ~ "Rare Artisans". We put together a simple website to showcase the artist's works last November, and we began to build our http://www.rareartisans.etsy.com/ shop in January of this year.

I'm extremely pleased to announce that Rare Artisans recently received an unsolicited communication from the Pasadena Bead and Design Show inviting us to exhibit our handcrafted jewelry, original artwork, and photography. Apparently they found our website http://www.rareartisans.com/ and liked our work!

The show will be held at the Pasadena Hilton on August 14 through 17, 2008. Thursday-Sunday; 10AM to 6PM daily. This is a well publicized, juried artisan trade show showcasing two hundred and fifty exhibitors who are committed to design and handwork: wearable art, handmade beads, art jewelry, designer components, art couture, lapidary, textiles, enameling, ceramics, embellishments, metalwork, collectibles, glass, interior décor, and decorative arts, along with artisan suppliers to the trade. It is well publicized in all major bead, jewelry, gem & textile magazines, including; Ornament, Belle Armoire, Belle Jewelry, American Style, Niche, Art Jewelry, Bead & Button, BeadStyle, Beadwork, Stringing, Beads 2008, Colored Stone, Fiber Arts, and Jewelry Artist, along with local and LA area advertising in newspapers and weekly magazines and radio advertisements.

We are all elated and on cloud nine!

Sunday Morning

I rarely have time these days, but I long for the Sunday paper this morning. I am remembering how much I used to look forward to a cup of coffee on the back porch with the crossword puzzle. Impossible to spend any time "on the back porch" here in the desert at this time of year, lol, but I think I'll take a trip to the store this morning and pick up the New York or LA Times and have a go! On a lazy Sunday morning, a special treat is just what I need☺

Front Page of Etsy

My photograph, "Red, White, and Blue" made the front page of Etsy in a Treasury curated by soleilgirl last night! Here's the link to the Treasury entitled Bleu, Blanc, Rouge http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=14865