Strange Affection

I have a great deal of affection for clip art. As campy or boring as a majority of the images are (the actual photographs they put in clip art can be great for a presentation but using too many of them is a bit of a soul sucker). I keepusing clip art to create promotional stuff for work...

Why? Because infringing on copyright makes my stomach go all sour.

Does this mean clip art is really within the public domain of free usage? I have no clue.

(I should probably clarify this...but that would require I stumble through the legalese of Microsoft, so do it yourself.)

Anyways, the reason I am still a fan of clip art probably has more to do with the functions in Microsoft Office Suite. I can recolor, I can make background color transparent, fading, color saturation....the old stand-by's of flip and rotate.

Basically I can take two black and white abstract designs and create this background:

The background pattern is entirely made by yours truly (can you hear the modesty or is that my imagination...oh, my imagination, got it). I did it for a book mark where I wanted an gingham-ish pattern in a rosy-brown.

I know this has no mail, no art and no philosophy but it is part of why I am enjoying my mailart projects so much. Sure someone else may have created the basic block you are using to create but you can still end up with something interesting and totally your own.

Snags and Cake

So,
I've hit a few snags. Things have gone wrong. Not hideously, dangerously or even illegallly wrong but as they say in Meet the Robinsons : I just don't know how well this plan was thought through...or something like that.

First, my attempt to create a night sky piece has produced a very boring postcard. A total snore. In addition the person to whom this card was going to has some background in graphics and it was doomed to ridicule either way. Ugly and unappealing are okay but boring is completely unacceptable.

Now I am focused on trying to fix it. Add more to the original piece? Try same ideal in different medium? I can't really decide...I think I keep looking at it from other people's perspectives.

I have a thing for the night sky, it's like the ocean (actually large bodies of water in general), I find it calming and soothing but so awesome (Lizzie, please note the appropriate use of the word awesome). Anyways.....

Lastly, naturally, Sleepless Night, Bedroom Ceiling has the wrong address on it. Let this be a lesson to all: update your address book regularly. On the other hand, I left a note via facebook for the receipent (MMC) which led to a briefish IM run in where I directed her to the blog and caught up on old times.

That conversation solidified something that has been rattling around in my head (enter tiny philosophical bit): Individuals create. Doesn't really matter what your primary interests are or what job you do, there is some little bit of your life in which you make something. Maybe others don't consider it intellectually challenging or interesting or artistic or original but there's a satisfaction to be found in the making of something physical that you share with others.

In my friend's case, sharing is the best part! It may be the only green food I would truly enjoy eating...

MMC's Ben 10 cake for Alexander

I like it! Mostly because I can't even get a nice swirly pattern when I frost a cake, let alone manage to frost a figure...