Now that the weather s getting nice, I’m getting more involved in local Toronto arts scene again.  Leslieville is a nice area to walk and shop and be relaxed. Its not crushing like The Beaches or Queen St W and friends always remark how easy it is to find parking.  Here is picture of Rob Campbell the Smojoe giving his business card to some young lady from Niagara Falls Ontario that he met a few moments earlier. Will she ever call him?

We Spent Thursday Night Exploring Leslieville

The trendy art galleries that struggled to find business after they moved to Leslieville five years ago, are succeeding now because of a sudden influx of trendy people due to recent property developments  just north of Queen on Carlaw Ave  -so young couples who like to stroll about their neighborhood at night might find beautiful unique art in galleries to colour their bare walls.

Pentimento Fine Art Gallery is located at 1164 Queen Street East Toronto, and open from Weds to Sunday each week.  John Rait first opened his doors in the summer of 2006 with a mandate to offer artists a wide variety of promotion, beyond simply hanging pictures in a lovely display, but also including some multi-media and representation on the Pentimento blog. The gallery shows contemporary Canadian artists at all stages of their careers.  Rait offers consultations, private viewings, commissions, and installations.

Sheep Nation by Davide Luciano “Explores a society that is desperate for uniqueness and originality but ultimately succumbs to following the herd.”  The artist has imagined a race of sheep-like people complete with odd looking hoof-like hands and feet, and faces and horns.  Its also significant that the females are all wearing matching designer dresses.

Pentimento Refers To Alterations in a Painting

Pentimento is a word that means something to fine art historians.   I knew I’d heard it before and when I did a bit of research I rediscovered that it means “an alteration in a painting, evidenced by traces of previous work, showing that the artist has changed his or her mind as to the composition during the process of painting.”  And there are many famous examples and perhaps most quintessential the The Lute Player by Caravaggio which has inspired a great deal of discussion about that artist’s creative process and vision. Pentimenti are considered especially important when considering whether a particular painting is the prime version by the original artist, or a second version by the artist himself, or his workshop, or a later copyist.

Pentimento is Italian for Repentance, from the verb Pentirsi, to repent.

Interestingly, the modern word Pentimento has also been adopted by a commercial advertising subculture that studies the decaying hand-painted signs on old buildings – building murals and product art legacies. esp when two or more different signs are present on the same patch of bricks * esp when it’s the same ad.  Here is a bad example because you can barely see the top ad, but real keen eyes can also see the ad below on the fading white paint exterior of the Vancouver gold buyer historic red brick building.  That city has a lot of old buildings and its possible to see the ghosts of some of British Columbia’s biggest selling brands painted on their sides.

The Arts of Networking

The neighbourhood arts network online is a great place to keep up to date in the arts community in Toronto.  The world is always working towards continuous improvement in the process of manufacturing, and the art world is not any immune to the advancement.  The world is constantly developing new ideas for improvement and as an Artist I want to stay connected to the new avenues in the world of networking and selling art.  The conference was organized by the SIFE community at York University and they had plenty of information for students, emerging and established artists.  I had not visited the York University campus in several years and was amazed by the improvements in the architecture.   Large educational institutions with solar panels is admirable.   Terri Block from Master key Communications was one of the first presenters and talked about the basics elements of networking in public situations.   The opportunity to build relationships was addressed briefly but she showed her experience with confidence of public speaking.  A quality that is beneficial to selling your brand as an Artist.

Marketing Yourself and Your Artwork

There was a choice of presentations to make but I went with Susie Boudreault a Toronto and Quebec Artist known as Susie B.   She talked briefly about social media marketing strategies and how to market your artwork online and gain gallery representation.  She did not go into detail but it was inspiring to know that she was doing this professional approach since 2008 and is now on page one of google thanks to her strategies for popular artist.  Something that has given her more marketing opportunities.   She stressed the importance of having short and long term goals and developing a plan to achieve them.  Pricing art work

Income, Creativity and Community

I chose to find out more about income creativity and community – the three pillars to a successful career.  Who would not want to know about these important factors? Ben Benedict the owner of Benedict Creative Communications, a writing and public relations firm developed in 2005 who has over 1,000 publishing credits with extensive experience in media was the speaker.   His main key advice was to have consistency in professionalism.  He illustrated to the audience how he always introduces himself as an artist.  Thinking of yourself as a business and always for sale as an Artist is crucial.  Modesty is not valued here.  Thinking of tax deductions and saving receipts was also mentioned and keeping the focus as an Artist.  Other work ventures are usually necessary for arts workers to make a living and pay the bills, but Ben advised finding work that allows the schedule for time and energy for a continual artistic flow to remain.   Overlap and marketing as an Artist are possible in some lines of work such as work at coffee shops or restaurants.  Continue the focus of your business of art.  Later there was Art Exhibition information and session by Asif Raza, ArtMole.com with a panel discussion.

The Roncy Street Gallery

Roncesvalles, located, near High Park in the west end of Toronto, was the place to be Saturday evening on November 12th.  This gallery was the host of a cumulative diverse exhibit of erotic art.   The gallery display window did not exactly reveal this theme but had a dramatic flare non the less.   Christian Aldo is the owner of the gallery and organized the event.  The gallery has been in full force for over a year now and looks like they are planning on remaining.   It’s next door to the Local, a quaint bar/pub, and close to the Revue Cinema.  A great location and venue to check out on a Saturday evening after a drink or a independent movie with friends.

Christian Aldo Sculpture and Relief

Christian Aldo is not new to the art scene in Toronto. He has been a working artist for roughly twenty years.  The life size figures in the display window show his resourceful creativity.  The Aldo studio space is attached to the Gallery for his convenience.  Making  art by recycling denim into 3d base relief paintings is another of his specialties he has displayed at the Arts Market in the Distillery District.  Recycled items isn  interest I have in common with Christian.  Using computer components that takes up my studio practice.   I  collage a variety of recycled items into my art.  I use mix chips, semi conductors capacitors, reed switches and LED displays from discarded computers or electronics.

Not the Average Toronto Art Gallery

The Roncy Street Gallery is not the average art gallery in Toronto.  The rooms have a rustic character but the prices for the art are reasonable.  A huge fire mantelpiece with improvised fire, narrow hallways, and exploration of the basement, is for the adventurous mind.  For those that don’t like the stuffy quality of many art galleries you might enjoy this one.  It’s not the ideal location for the display of contemporary art but it definitely has it’s own unique character.  However, I do like to have type of material the artist used listed.  A suggestion I would make to Christian for the future.  People usually like to know what they are buying, and we are living in a material world.

Eye Catching Erotic Art

Christian organizes a few art show events throughout the year inviting other artists to display based on a theme.  The Erotic art had a wide variety of perspectives on what erotic is.  The word erotic from the Greek ἔρως, eros, desire. The life size Cougar painting done by Danial BowBadear was eye catching as you entered the doors to the gallery.  The visual diversity of styles and interpretations on one theme is always appreciated especially on such a common theme in our lives.   There was a wide range of art, such as, boldness, subtle suggestions, sensuousness , pure body function, basic lines and forms and child like play.   Christian had his own work here and there mixed among the visiting artists, and the visitors continued exploring the gallery space throughout the evening in search to find something they could individually relate to themselves.  The art show had something for everyone.

Art for Love Productions at the House of Moments

The first Art for Love production along with various social media contests lead to Canada’s top Artist tv show audition held at the House of Moments on 388 Carlaw.   Akimbo, facebook, and various other social media contest outlets made a call out for audition registrations to become the next Top Canadian Artist.  Promoting that the top prize winner would receive 25,000 dollars cash and a feature representation, exclusive relationship with the House of Moments, and full marketing support in the heart of downtown Toronto.

Photography, Painting/Drawing and Sculpture

The film production company was calling for visual Artists in photography, painting/drawing, and sculpture too bring in only one of their best original works of art.  Various  sizes and mediums of art stacked the walls at the studio location while brave Artists  anxiously waited for their opportunity to meet the ” so call”, Toronto most prominent arto-philes and industry leader judges.   The doors opened at 9 and there was a influx of people apparently.  However, I like my beauty sleep on Saturday mornings as well as a few others who arrived around 11.  The House of moments warehouse studio was chilly so I am glad I didn’t arrive too early to wait in the frigid temperatures.

New Years Day Film Shooting Begins, Are You the Next Top Canadian Artist?

I knew that this Artist call was a competition, but I was not exactly aware it was a live -in reality show production.  Probably a reason why there were not quite as many audition participants as expected.  I imagine many visual artist are not lured into to the reality show appeal with performance and entertainment value included.  I tend to be more of a private process artist.  This is the first Art for Love Competition, so it will interesting to see how it turns out.  The official shooting for the show will begin January 1 on New Years Day 2012 when the art show contestants are put up in accommodations for the entire month of film shooting.  It will be interesting to see what kind of Artist personalities they choose and what kind of art competitions are involved.

Showcase  – Toronto Hottest New Art Contest

When I first arrived we confirmed our registration and how we found out about the competition.  Everyone was there to earn a spot of one of the 50 finalists.  The winners art collection will be featured in one of the largest independently owned art spaces in the heart of Toronto apparently.  The location was not announced.  Many of the audition participants were a little curious as to where and who the most prominent artophiles and industry leaders were.  It was difficult to chose only one art piece to bring to the audition but they were adamant.  I did some inventory management of my paintings and chose my Toronto city scape because I felt it best described me and my transformation qualities.  I like to use disposed computer parts, such as reed switches, hard drives, and key pads, collaged into my paintings.

First Time Audition

The first interview consisted of a very brief individual audition including the best chosen art work.  From the waiting room you could hear many Artists attempts at using any kind of performance skills available.   Beautiful singing was even involved.   I was surprised to find the filming taking place immediately during this brief interview and of course a waiver signing film image rights away.  The dreadful question that many had difficulties with was “Tell us about your personality.”  Oh my, why is this such a difficult question for so many?  Do we really know and have ourselves condensed into a 5 minute verbal performance?  Well, some were prepared, but I was not.   I was stumped with what version of myself to use, I did not have a tv camera rendition yet.  Ha, something to think about for the future.

The Grande Canvas Lounge at the House of Moments

After the first brief film screening interview we were escorted into the larger more comfortable room upstairs with our art work for another long wait.   This was called the grande canvas lounge.  A large wall sized canvas was prepared and ready with painting materials for Artist competitors to exhibit their skills of free hand. I wish I had my own recycled lunch containers full of my art goodies because the quality of materials they had were not the best. There was food and mingling and a lot of nervous energy.  Some creative naturals jumped in immediately and began to leave their art legacy on the grande canvas image.  Many used the opportunity to network relax, share their ideas, and try to enjoy the experience.  I met a few motivated Artists who were there to win and worked it whenever they saw a camera.   It was a great source of conversation with the question, “where is your art work?”   With reservation unlike the others I showed my painting, Cyber City, against the wall.  My painting lacked some of the bold qualities that many of the others have.

Collection and Collaboration of Canadian Talent

I was interested in finding out more about the other Artists and their art work along with their lives and creative process.   The Artists I met were working full time in art careers which can not be an easy venture on the finances.  No wonder their was such a drive to win.  I met with an artist who made Utube videos to digitally document her process of dripping urban landscapes, Amy Shackleton.  She showed me her video and described her process a bit.  We had a common desire for our own materials and she decided to run home to get her own art supplies so that she could contribute to the group wall painting.  Her process was definitely something she has developed  as her own working layer by layer.   I also felt fortunate to have met with Shawn Skeir who lives in the west end of town and is Director of Skeir gallery Parkdale.  He was the one with lungs.  His audition involved the bold song.  I was impressed with his versatility and genuine love of art.  As I got my camera out, Artists were proud to stand beside their art work for photos.  Being ready for the spot light in a situation like this is helpful for the competition.   I felt more comfortable being behind the scenes, so I was content when the judges announced of the Artists staying for the next film audition did not involve me.  Whew.  I wonder if there is such a thing as silent fame and fortune for that is what I visualize for my future.

Sexy Halloween Can Reveal a Cold Exposure

Halloween is a great time of year to explore those inner fantasy personalities that we keep hidden from our real lives.   There are a lot of comments made about this time of year.  We often hear Halloween is a holiday when women can dress as “slutty” as they like without any judgments being made on their character. Well, we can argue about what that really means and why should we judge someone based on their appearance.  However,  many young women take advantage of this season and we see them dressed as  Naughty Nurses, Sexy Cops, Naughty Devils or Sexy Felines freezing their private parts as they travel to their parties.     “That’s imaginative” are the words that come from many Halloween bystanders.    To me and many others they are just sources of eye candy for the night.   There are the brave few that take their time and energy to create some rather unique costumes.  Make up can take hours to apply.  I know from last year when I tried a lioness type of face paint on my own.  I refered to my fury costume as a Liger.  I don’t like to be that cold when I go out.   I don’t believe we necessarily have to show our “goodies” have our cleavage hanging out, to be considered sexy and get attention.   Everyone is different and we have a right to dress anyway we like, enjoy ladies and gents. It’s all about using your imagination, whatever level it may be that night, and having fun.  There is an online photo contest if you take digital photos of these great Homemade Halloween Costumes. You can add to your treats if you upload your photos for free and win.  Thanks to the people who run Social Media Contests you can win $250 in cash or candy.  Those who love the sweetness related to this holiday will probably choose the candy, and some might just take the cash.

Haunting House Renovation Needed

While you are out trick or treating with your camera to win some online photo contest, you can also enjoy those old haunted looking houses too.  Capture those old building that look like they are inhabited by the underworld and enter the House for Renovation to win an Apple iPad 2 thanks to a  Toronto mortgage broker.  If the judges pick your photo of a house in need of repair to be the best, you will receive the Apple Halloween treat.  Don’t be afraid to get close for the right shot.  How about a ghostly looking picture to go with the spooky festivities.   Have some people involved in the photo and don’t forget to write an extra scary story to make it freak the judges out to win.

The Soul Can be Shown Through the Eyes

One thing in life is constant and that is change.  Autumn has arrived with a new change in our northern environment.   Days are getting shorter, and trees are going through their fall cycle colours.   The colours will eventually disappear.   Photography offers us the opportunity to capture these changes in lives.  As the state of constant change continues we reflect back with photo images and see things differently.   Photography can  keep us looking forward to the future and what other things we may see.  Artists gain a different view through the camera lens each time and can pass this on to their viewers.

The Life of Piles

Piles can be beautiful too.  Stacks of merchandise ready to hit the shelves in a store can be very appealing.  This is great opportunity for photographers looking for more experience and something to add to their portfolio and resume. Warehouse Stockpiles is a chance to win a $250 photo licensing agreement  for winning images.  The software company that focuses on helping factories improve their system is looking for photos to put on their pages for their website.  That’s why this photo contest is a winner.   Winners will be given dreamlike online exposure for their photos.  They will have their photos on the large scale production planning page website.

The Organic Daily Bread and Images

Bread is such an old staple food and comes in many different forms other than the wonderbread.  This organic photo contest involving one of the oldest foods is a fun challenge.   The organic ingredients company is offering a professional Breadman breadmaker machine to the owner of the best photo involving this food staple.  Capture someone eating bread, making it, or sharing it.  Write a fun description too.   Our Daily Bread photo contest wants interesting images with bread involved. Your imagination is the best tool to capture all the qualities.   This food has a rich history and many memories can be tied to it.

The Love of Landscaping

Everyone loves to see well landscaped lawns and the lush green quality that makes you want to take your shoes off and explore.   Although autumn has arrived we can still take our cameras and capture images of  the summer hard work.   We still have green grass and colourful flowers before everything changes. Take photos of the landscape beauties and enter them for free.   The Landscaping and Lawn Care photo contest judges want to see your pics. Thanks to a  green property maintenance company this contest has a great prize too.  This is perfect for next spring or would make a great gift for the holidays coming up.   The prize winner will be given $250 worth of garden tools to enjoy.   Lenzr wants people to keep trying at keeping it green.

A New Metal World

The thought of metal can give us ideas of future.   The Metal World photo contest doesn’t involve the changes in season, but it’s an opportunity to see the world differently. Grab your camera and capture unusual metal world situations.  Get your cutlery, your keys, metal scrape,  bridges and subways to get the metal fix with your camera.    The contest judges want these photos to determine the winner.   It’s a chance to win a Sony Laptop thanks to company that specializes in metal roofing ottawa.   Write a little something with your photo to entice the judges and viewers.  Most importantly, use your imagination and have fun.

Wind in the Leaves Collective

I had the pleasure to see a dance performance  put on by the Wind in the Leaves Collective called the Fleurette Africaine in the Distillery District.  I was new to this collective and their work, but I was moved by the performance.    The audience was told afterward that the piece is still a work in progress.  But I enjoying being witness to one of the moments of the process.   It  has taken three years from concept to creation.   The Fleurette Africaine was a passionate personal and historical connection through dance, music, visual art and poetry.  The poetry unified the elements in the work and was profoundly intense.  It allowed me to tie my own experiences to the performance; therefore easily connecting with the art.  These “poetic stories” illustrated personal space and how it intersects with public space.   The main character being a man of African descent in Canada today intersected with stories across the African diaspora about identity, struggle, hope, opportunities/missed opportunities, pains, joys and insights.   All things we have or will experience at some point in our lives. The art is therefore shaped by an African and Caribbean aesthetic but one that also echoes liberationist, pluralism and other’s post-colonial leitmotifs. These “poetic stories” are interpreted and performed by the poet as dramaturge and the dancers accompanied by music, live/recorded aided by projected images, collages and other dramatic devices and expressions.   It was truly an intense performance that projected the natural human spiritual strength.

The Wind in the Leaves collective, is a group of artists from diverse disciplines working to explore cultures and journeying at the cross roads of an ever present reality of Canada in the new millennium.  They genuinely seek to connect many individuals and communities. The choreographic creation of movement and poetic syncretism they used was the catalyst for developing a unique view into a dialogue amongst artists on contemporary issues via collaboration, creation and performance.  Each artist brought her/his individual creativity, which inter-weaved so nicely, in the project performance. It was a good foundation to  bridge an understanding of commonalities around the questions of who we are, why we are here and the imprint that every culture, but in particular African culture, has made on the various elements of the Arts across the world. Charles C. Smith, the artistic director wrote, “This is very much as local as it is a global view resonating in the soul; the being of who we are beyond ethnicity.

Fleurette Africaine -Story of the Collective of Leaves

The collective tells the stories of leaves which, like people, become moved by the winds and who all have unique and interesting stories worth being told regardless of diverse identities, be it women, people with disabilities, ethno-cultural and racialized groups, immigrants and refugees, faith groups, the poor, Aboriginal peoples, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people. The inclusion of all in practice is what they feel should exist in everything that they do as artists and human beings.  The performance had a very basic human quality that I moved by. Connecting to many individuals and communities in a multicultural, multiracial society and a global community. The themes the ‘collective’ is working on echo those of transnationalism, diaspora, globalization as well as the use/abuse of power and the marginalization that results from it and wounds both individual and collective psyches.

WHAT’S BEING SAID ABOUT
wind in the leaves – a journeying

Even on the limited budget that was evident in this performance I could not help but be profoundly moved by the power and depth of the production. This work deserves and, indeed, needs to be seen by a wider audience. Charles Smith’s vision touches a hidden level of experience that lies just below the surface of our awareness. He has put it forth with such skilful means that what has been hidden comes into consciousness with tremendous force and power. The experience stayed with me long after I left the theatre.

Kerry Gordon, PhD

Wind in the leaves is dance, instrumental music and spoken word. It is visually arresting but spare, leaving room for one’s imagination. Two dancers moved expertly with the words and punctuated the drama as it unfolded in my ears, a drama that interweaves historical and present day trauma of the middle passage, judicial and extra-judicial lynching and the banality of every-day racism today. Wind speaks to mass suffering and personal yearning for home and acceptance. It also speaks of our continuing trauma as a people through the voice of a young woman who was privileged to visit the “door of no return” during the bi-centenary marking of the abolition of the shipment of slaves. She commented after experiencing the site: “I’m not OK. I’m never going to OK”. Hers was the privilege of first-hand re-traumatization.

I saw the production of Charles C. Smith’s wind in the leaves – a journeying at Lab Cab. It is a beautifully painful expression of some little-acknowledged truths about historical racism, Canadian-style. It needs to be seen by as many people in this country as possible.

As we move through the healing required to create an enlightened society, an artistic piece like this one that bares the truth but gives it to us with beautiful words, music, and movement of bodies, is good medicine.

In both the writing and delivery of his poetry, Smith brings a sensitive yet strong masculine presence to what must be spoken. Harvey Weisfeld’s music was a well-matched companion.

Already a powerful piece, it deserves support to go further.   Penny Winestock, M.Sc.

I look forward to seeing the another performance by the Wind in the Leaves Collective. It’s exciting to see where the breeze takes them, for I’m sure it’s a beautifully genuine place within the human spirit.

Photos by Bruce Peters

Local Cafes Are Known to Supports the Arts

Local Cafes are offering more of their wall and hanging spaces to local artist.   It’s not easy making a living these days and rather than buying art and decorated your cafe, restaurant or eatery you can help an artist out.  I decided to share some of my art work with the public. I had a chance to exhibit in one of my favourite locations, the Distillery District. My favourite Café Uno restaurant kindly said they would host my art work on their walls in their establishment.  We could not use the walls for hanging unfortunately, because they have rules about drilling holes into heritage buildings.  However, I did have some beams and windows to hang.  Sharing personal creativity can leave one feeling extremely vulnerable and powerful.   It’s a silent version of giving a lecture speech to large crowd of strangers.

Marketing Artwork and Discovering Your Own Brand Personality

My creative process does not begin with the purpose to sell, but if I can make profits from my artistic process I am more than happy.  More money to spend on future painting supplies.   These things are not exactly cheap.  Displaying art work in public is a great opportunity to gain exposure and market yourself. The results may even be a monetary gain for a painting or two.  People like to connect with the art work they see.  Personality branding is important in the art world.  Writing a little information on the background story and your inspiration and motivation to paint are often captivating and insightful.  Artist are not immune to marketing and it helps to do some small business storytelling about yourself that will interest people.

Creating The Value of Art Work

Pricing your art work can be challenge, but to have a value is necessary.   This is always a difficult decision for me but with practice and experience I have grown a better understanding of what my art work is worth. I factor in the cost of supplies, time and effort I put into the art work.

I made the mistake of undervaluing my art work in the past, and had my art work sell quickly beneath my eyes.   I knew it didn’t feel right immediately.  Some of my art pieces might not look like there is a lot of time invested but taking apart the computers was very time consuming and physically demanding sometimes. The recycled objects that have been added to the collage are very unique and would be a challenge to      find again.

Another mistake is to over value  art work and have interested buyers walk away immediately when they see the price tag.  Some say it’s better to start high, but not to high and then go down in price in small increments.  I learned from this mistake as well.  I consider the emotional attachment I may have to the to the art work as well. Keep in mind  how much it would take to replicate, and the value of the invested materials and time.   Unless each art piece is completely created with the purpose to share with the world you may want these considerations when deciding on a price for your work.  Or if finances are not an issue simply spread your pieces around and offer them for fundraisers.

Summer in Withrow Park, Return of Toronto Free Arts Programming

One of the joys of living in Toronto is the amount of free arts programming that is available, and which I hope continues.   There are so many great parks spread throughout Toronto as well.  My favourite introductions was to Dusk Dances a few years back in Withrow park.  They have been running for 17 years and presented 67 events.   They have done 175 dance works and held an amazing 330 performances in 22 different parks.   They began with the simple desire to bring dance to the public.  What better place in the community than in the parks.  They were generously supported by the Toronto Arts Council, the Ontario Arts Council, The Canada Council for the Arts, The Department of  Canadian Heritage and many other individual donors and sponsors.  Although it’s free to attend, they do have some creative and passionate people volunteering their time to collect money during the performances on a pay what you can scale. They used humor to remind us how much the cost of a movie is to attend when thinking of donations.   Although, to keep in mind that everyone is always welcome.  This week they are performing at Earlscourt Park in  Toronto.   During the week of August 25-28th they are at the Arena Grounds in Flesherton.

Catching the Spirit of Dusk Dances:   BoxSet, The Horlogium, Strathcona High, Class of ’56, and Eugene Walks with Grace

I went on a Sunday evening when we had some questionable weather.  It was overcast but the weather tried to co-operate with the performance artists.   Due to the rain near the end of the evening we were denied the final dance called Bao which was a rhythem and dance from Toma ethnic group in the forest region of Guinea, West Africa.  It was apparently a dance done after the initiation ceremony of young girls.  What a shame I had missed it and it was the final night in my neighbourhood.   I really enjoyed the BoxSet Toronto premiere with a trio of dancers focused on using boxes in their choreography.  Very inspiring.   

The Visual Allure of The Horlogium

The Horlogium was a fun and whimsical performance as well.  You can tell by the photos how visually appealing it was.  Hanging from a tree with an accordion the viewers had a wonderful glimpse into the a story line of a creative experience of falling in love with dance and it’s strings attached to music. I would describe it as lovely and divine.  Eugene Walks with Grace was just as visually appealing with intense lighting and amazing grace of the duo dancers.   Of course, there was also the amazing lady dancers in Strathcona High, Class of ’56 that were fun and intoxicating to watch.   I am left wondering if all the park performances are composed of the same dance productions.  I will have to explore further. I truly enjoyed the Withrow Park experience despite the poor weather conditions.  I look forward to witness the spirit of Dusk Dances for years to come.

Starting a Career in Photography Can Start With Online Photo Contests, Really.
Starting a career in photography can be a challenge.  There are online photo contest were you can submit your images and gain some self promotion for your photography skills.  I found one with legitimate prizes too.   It can make it worth while.  I found this photography photo contest webs site.   They are constantly coming up with next contests every few months.   There is a unique contest running now designed for the more professional minded photographer.

Images of A Manufacturing Process

This contest is looking for those with a professional photography mind set.  Those who are looking to sell their images.  It is still a photo contest and free to enter but if chosen to be the winner you will have the opportunity to sell your photos to Solarsoft for their online promotional material.   They are specifically looking for excellent images of automated equipment making stuff indoors.  This could be a challenge.  It’s not an every day photo topic, but you can schedule a tour with your favourite or least favourite manufacturer.  Solarsoft will license your winning photos for their new website and give you substantial money with the license agreement.   You can gain exposure for your amazing photography talents.  These images are not easy to find and they want hard to find shots of an automated manufacturing processes.

Solarsoft and the Love of Photography

Solarsoft was the company that has shown a lot of support for the love of photography.  They were amused with the story full images that were submitted and displayed in the Broken Factories photo contest with Lenzr online.  They were even more taken with the pictures submitted in their Beautiful Factories photo contest. They’ve decided to ask Lenzr, an online Toronto based company, to run another match so they can license images for their process manufacturing page, and the lean manufacturing page of their new website.

The winner gets $250 photo licensing deal, while three other photographers are offered $75 photo licensing deals.  The sponsor rewards prize winning photographers, and gets to use their photos.  The winning photographer will have just licensed photos to a highly respectable multinational manufacturing resource planning software company and perhaps see them displayed on their website. Non exclusive license for 3 yrs.

Classy Summer Drinks Are Fun and Prosperous Too

For those who may not be as professional minded with photography there is also the Classy Summer Drinks challenge.  You might consider yourself an amateur or just a hobby photography.  This is a fun summer photo challenge that you can participate in when entertain or just relax with your favourite mixed drink on the patio.  Lenzr wants you to tease its viewers by photographing a delicious-looking drink under summertime light.  Ice and other fancy things in your drinks may help improve the allure of your photo.  The support for this challenge comes from a specialist in stainless steel ice cube trays.

The winner of this contest will be able to select up to $400 worth of material from the sponsor’s catalogue and have it shipped anywhere across Canada to their home or business address. And of course, the shipping will be free. Some catalogue items include steel popsicle molds, divided lunch containers, ice cube trays, all sorts of glass and steel boxes, and air tight steel wicked cans.  The voting will begin on September 15th to determine the top 10 entries. Starting September 25th, the judges will select a winning image from the top 10 photos.   Don’t be shy with your digital camera, start snapping.