My friend is going to Denver as a delegate. I am eagerly awaiting sparse but informative reports, though I realize if you are at this convention, writing home isn't at the top of your priorities. I wish I could be there. And, because art is my primary interest, and imagination is my friend, I had to pretend I was going to Denver this week.
Any time I go to any city, the most important navigations are to good restaurants and art museums, to galleries in stores and on streets.

So while I was fantasizing, I found some very cool (non food-related)  things to do if you are lucky enough to be part of Denver and DNC history now. ART and artistic creativity in abundance
can be found at the D.A.M.  and in the city.

Artists including Shepard Fairey and Ray Noland are heading to the Democratic National Convention in Denver, with Fairey doing some judging of MoveOn.org's Manifest Hope Gallery Contest.

Art lovers: there's a lot for you in Denver!
Details below.

Joe Biden is impressively bright, can speak comprehensively on a number of complex issues, and is a very attractive guy. He's been around for a while, yet, to his credit, has achieved a lot more than most people know.
If you want to get to know Joe Biden first-hand, find the National Press Club  interview re-aired from Aug 1, 2007 on CSPAN, today August 24, 2008.

His unique personality and history really come through in this interview.  And he references DailyKOS, which is kind of fun.

Links below to watch.

I promoted the Obama "tees by the people" contest this week, really thinking I would not have time to submit anything of my own. But I stayed up into the night working on this, and I submitted it today. My name is TR. My entry is best found searching 'recent'.

If you, too, want to design something but don't have a vector program, I posted a web based vector option at heart4art for convenience.

The Obama campaign sent out an email this week to creative people who have vector capability and can turn a brilliant design in by August 31, 2008. For the campaign! It's a contest, and people vote on the designs they like.

Because if I weren't on the mailing list, I would appreciate someone on the list telling me about it, so I'm spreading the word. I did a search for any related diaries, and I found a nice diary by
itsjessme promoting one of the designs in the contest.  
Nice work, BTW.
(if there are any more on this, forgive me because I couldn't find any.

I am not sure just anyone can submit. It's possible only $$ donors are invited, hence my received invitation. I don't know.  BUT, even if you can't or don't want to submit design, perhaps you can enjoy looking over the gallery of submissions.

Details below.

It's amazing how Obama inspires so many musicians, painters, animators, designers and film artists.

I've done phone calling and lots of community chattering to boost the campaign efforts.  But I wanted to contribute artistic energy.  So, a few months ago, I  designed some T shirts, mouse pads, etc with desire to promote Obama's campaign.

I realize not everyone can afford to donate all of their own art proceeds to the campaign.  Creative people have to pay their bills, too.  But some artists donate percentages.  So I wondered if I could spend some time creating, generate donations for Obama, and still earn a little in order to keep designing.

I began with the subjects I love. Birds, dogs, cats.  More below.

I'm sure millions of supporters wish Barack a happy birthday today. He's worked so hard, traveled so far. Left his little girls and Michelle to do his job.  It has to be hard on his family at times.  And here it is, a birthday before he is elected POTUS, which will be a terrific gift this year to him and a gift to all of us, too.

For Barack's birthday,  I wanted to express my profound gratitude for his talent, commitment and vision.  There are many ways to show I care. Working in my community, donating to the campaign, making phone calls, helping with on the ground ops. But I really love art and design. And I  wanted to pull together something visual --sort of fun and personal.

Please note caveat: this story has a sad ending. My heart is heavy as I write it. But because people at DKOS have been so supportive and interested, I want to update you fellow bird lovers on the gosling saga.

Musical artists have been stirred by the Obama muse this year. There is little doubt, our culture is now relishing a robust passion for artistic expression.  I bumped into an innovative video by TI$A, a new find for me.  It voices part of that vast artistic spectrum inspired and mobilized for Obama.

Many fine Illustrators are well established as political artists. I featured Nick Dewar today, whose art is not all political, though it's all fantastic.  But craftspeople doing political art?  Yes, and the medium is, ready? Seeds!

Always scouting for art, I poked around for some political art and found multimedia variety: Music, illustration, and crafts. All art with a pointed statement.

More after jump.

Ok, it's Saturday. Time for a relaxing nature story. We're lucky here. No flooding. We feel for anyone suffering from extreme weather patterns.

Extreme patterns! Something strange must have caused the Canada geese parents to hatch eggs in the desert.

The parents were probably just in survival mode when they abandoned their babies. The desert is not a good habitat for them.  But seeing these little guys peeping desperately in the sage, we couldn't just leave them to die in the cold mountain night or be easy dinner for foxy.  So here they are, growing and thriving.  It's truly amazing, how strong the will to live can be.

While I am, like many, grieving the loss of Tim Russert today, I respectfully want to pay tribute to another fallen contributer to our world: Cornell Capa, a remarkable photojournalist whose camera became a riveting eye on moments we cherish years later. Mr. Capa was 90, and passed away in May, 2008.

Saturday, glad for a distraction from  the rules committee stress,  I posted a diary about the two adult Canada geese who somehow ended up prancing around a desert hillside with newly hatched goslings. We've never seen geese hang around in the desert. So we figured they were distressed by some developer changing their pond or river habitat, wherever that may have been. That happens a lot around here.

The poor geese tried hard to protect their tiny hatchlings, but the harsh landscape offered unfriendly odds.  Plus, even though we filled a wading pool for them, the desert here is inhospitable to water birds.

This is the strangest thing! I still can't believe I saw what I saw. Last night at a favored ranch out of town, about  time to enjoy a lovely dessert, we heard geese honking. In the high mountain desert! I didn't have my camera, darn it. BUT it was such a rare and wild situation, I posted the scene in a collage showing desert geese and more detailed story. Thanks for taking a look. I know, the collage is goofy. But it shows you what happened.

(See UPDATE June 2, 2008 Canada geese gosling story (for bird lovers))

For the art fans here, I'm always scanning for art and artists, especially those whose work reflects the human condition, cultural conscience, and soulful reflections invoked in viewers. This slide show features all drawings. The interpretive  qualities will probably move you.

In memory of losses we share, we hold hope for a revolving spark of new life.  The new season or generation reflects that every species is part of an intricate, complex ecosystem.

The bird watching diary this weekend inspired me so much, I did an illustration. As a bird watcher, I celebrate new life every spring as nests miraculously take form, cradling the newest little ones for another cycle of life.  

Artistic freedom probably is an especially sizzling art world topic during an election year. I found a fascinating story about a Miami muralist, Serge Touisant, hired to do something beautifying a city underpass. The mural was well executed, professional, and promptly doomed by local authorities.

I tried to research whether this has been diaried. Kept getting a Error Server message. I'm sure since Harry Shearer has won a 2008 Webby and the site MYDAMNCHANNEL.com is very well designed and entertaining, a lot of you know of him. But I just found it, watched the vid, liked it, wanted to make sure others enjoyed too. I scout for art. I love art. I share art.

The moving beauty of a photographer's invitation can change the way we think.  Interpretation is often left spaciously available for the viewer. This is the power of artful picture-taking. I saw some amazing photos at a couple of sites and wanted to share them with you.

When people experience trauma, one of the most effective techniques used in therapy is art. As part of a diverse cluster of cultures, artists can often best articulate our inner waves of dread or hope in action. Just 'being heard', feeling represented, can be a relief from overwhelming powerlessness when things go 'bad' around us.

I'm not an expert on music or film, though I respond to the best stuff with palpable chills, and appreciate the genius behind great work. I'm not an expert on visual art, either (though I have a degree in it). But I have been thinking a lot lately about trauma witnessed in my country  during my lifetime, and about how making art can be surprisingly cathartic, inspiring and liberating.

I want to promote art and artists who have something transformative to say. Many of you already know about these artists,  but in case you haven't had a chance to peruse the various works listed in this blog post, you may enjoy checking them out.

UPDATE: ANOTHER AMAZING SLIDE SHOW AT NYT: Robert Rauschenberg, who just passed away.