My first WLOS Craft Corner appearance was today! Very fun experience taping it with Victoria Dunkle. Three more segments are to follow shortly with other creative paper crafts you can do at home. Bet you did not know I’m a web geek and crafty, too.
Following is a link to the Bookmark Gift Craft…an embedded video is to follow shortly!
Update: Following is the second segment…
“TheMarySue.com will feature content on topics such as video games, comics and women in technology, and will be curated from a female geek perspective.
“A lot of it is going to be, ‘here are the cool things on the Internet,’ but it’s from the sensibility of women who are really knowledgeable about the tech and geek world,” MSNBC’s Abrams said in a phone interview.
OK…I’m NOT on board with this. Video games and comics? Come on.
Code and technical know-how as well as combining color, symmetry and balance on using cutting edge software are what it takes to be a great web developer or website designer. The ability to communicate while helping the viewer navigate the website is the end goal of every graphic element. Whether it is a male or female web developer does not factor in. While I appreciate the effort to provide the latest geek information for the nerdy requirements of my profession, I object to the rest of their perspective on the subject of female geeks.
Susana Polo (obviously a female) will be editor of TheMarySue.com. She has said she’s excited about carving out a new space for women on the Web. However, I see her as taking us a step backwards.
“One of the things you want to do as a girl geek is you just want to play with the boys; you want to be part of that culture,” said Polo, who currently writes for Geekosystem. “I think there’s value in having our own space.”
“She explained by phone that the name of the site is an ironic twist on the Mary Sue character in fan fiction. A Mary Sue is typically a beautiful female character who represents a standard of perfection that’s impossible to live up to.”
If that is not the most condescending, ridiculous statement toward female web designers, I don’t know what is. Ugh, the images of perfection girls are fed, even in jest. While I embrace my female geek sensibility, I do not feel excluded from any aspect of gathering design information, participating in web forums, or the geek community in general. Being a female in a male environment can be a plus and fascinating, as well.
Hopefully, as the vision for TheMarySue.com develops, it will become a valuable hub and community for techy women, nerdy web designers, geeky developers and more. One that contributes to a tech knowledge base as a whole and not devalue the role of us female geeks in an unintended, “humorous” way. I’m also interested in how much they comment on social networking and women in technology (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) in relation to the web and tech world.
I’d like to share the artistic side of this female tech geek. Here is a sample of some of my latest fine art. They are created with encaustic wax, acrylic paint, ink, Japanese paper and a few other things. Who knows— hopefully you may see them around Hendersonville or Asheville some day. Enjoy.
[portfolio_slideshow]
Took a break from MtnWebs, web design projects and WordPress (a rare occurrence). We went to the National Gallery of Art in DCand saw works by Renior, Picasso, Monet, Rodin (my favorite), Cassatt, Van Gogh, Degas and more. Also, walked through the Sculpture Garden and saw a Calder and Lichtenstein. It was breathtaking and I’m so glad my sons got to see the paintings and sculpture in person.
All media are inspirations for web design. Encaustic painting is my newest artistic endeavor. I have a Bachelor of Fine Art from Auburn University, but did not learn encaustic painting while there. It could be explained as painting with heated wax, yet the creative possibilities are endless. You can include unique Japanese paper, image transfers, text, texture and any mixed media you can come up with. Encaustic involves a good sense of design and a huge sense adventure. Can’t wait to get started!
Two illustrators that are inspiring to me are James Noel Smith and Laura Coyle (who is also an amazing Jazz singer). They have very different techniques—individualism expressed through visual art. Check them out. Some of my other inspirations are: Savion Glover, Auguste Rodin, Édouard Vuillard, Vincent van Gogh, Daylilies, Isadora Duncan, W. H. Auden, Maya Angelou, Yo-Yo Ma, Donnie Hathaway, Stevie Wonder and Calexico.
Also, be sure to watch this following video, Boy with a Coin.” Stunning…
“Design in art, is a recognition of the relation between various things, various elements in the creative flux. You can’t invent a design. You recognize it, in the fourth dimension. That is, with your blood and your bones, as well as with your eyes.”—D H Lawrence
Dobry den (Good day in Czech)Greg and I just returned to Hendersonville, NC from an incredible trip to Prague in the Czech Republic. Never could I have imagined the beauty that was constantly, almost nonchalantly displayed at every corner, in every building. It seemed like millions of cobblestones lead me to marvels that somehow survived what history had dealt them.
People have asked me what my favorite parts of the trip were. That’s a tough question. The very Gothic Saint Vitus Cathedral in Prague was an awe-inspiring place of worship and symbol of holiness and faith. Also, the majestic Charles Bridge that crosses Vltava river in Prague. It was commissioned by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV in 1357 and has seen the good and bad of eras of history in that area.
In contrast, the The Lennon Wall is a totally different creative inspiration. Once a normal wall, since the 1980′s it has been filled with John Lennon-inspired graffiti and pieces of lyrics from Beatles songs. In 1988, the wall was a source of irritation for the communist regime. Young Czechs would write complaints on the wall and this led to a clash between hundreds of students and security police on the Charles Bridge (mentioned above). Now, the wall symbolize love and peace.
In the midst of all this history are remarkable contemporary bronze statues sprinkled throughout parks and courtyards in the city. The clean, rounded lines contrast with the intricate tangle of vines, patterns and seemingly hundreds of visual layers carved into the historic buildings (even each door, window, and every other structural element). Some of the contemporary works are comments on modern life.
English author, poet, playwright, essayist and critic, D H Lawrence created works that represent the dehumanizing effects of modernity and industrialization. In Prague, sculptures with the same theme are placed next to a building that was built before the 1500′s. And this contrast works. One gives you a rest from the other. Let’s you appreciate the properties of all with out personal saturation or having to “choose” which art you want to experience in such a large city.
There are artistic treats and surprises around each turn in Prague. These surprises and their contrasting styles have re-opened my eyes to the design possibilities in all medium. The chaos vs. balance even translates to web and graphic design. Contrast can create visual drama and an experience clients cannot turn away from. Why not take the risk?
P.S. No rock climbing pictures of Stacy this trip—foot still broken. Greg climbed in the Czech Republic near Poland, though. I’ll have to wait the broken foot heals and stick with the incredible climbing near Hendersonville and Asheville.