Poet Ponders the Digital

Visalia Direct: Virtual Valley August 29, 2011 Deadline October 2011 Issue Artists Gather Online: The Valley’s Virtual Art Colonies Not long after the first artist used charcoal and ground seeds to create the first cave painting, the first critic arrived on the scene. Having stated a mastodon could create better artwork, the critic then left the artist alone in his cave. I am certain that within months, a handful of prehistoric artists met around a fire to reassure each other that critics were simply Neanderthals without any artistic abilities. Over the following centuries, artists gathered in various places. Among the more popular settings where author’s met were cafés, restaurants and unemployment lines. Being an artist has never been easy and it is only occasionally profitable. It’s little wonder that artists need to gather and commiserate. After gathering, artists find themselves reenergized. The support of your creative peers makes it a little less terrifying to expose...

Visalia Direct: Virtual Valley February 28, 2011 Deadline April 2011 Issue Crawling the Crafters’ Web Beading, quilting, knitting and various other crafting hobbies occupy, literally, a fair amount of space in our household. My wife enjoys assembling bracelets and necklaces, creating jewelry that easily matches items we’ve seen in stores and at craft fairs. Handmade items are given and received as gifts in both of our families; my mother and sister-in-law both quilt and sew. One thing I’ve learned about crafters is that they respect the handmade projects of other crafters. It is a community with a passion for supporting each other, too. These artisans are small business owners, too, selling their crafts. There is no better way to show your support for arts and crafts than buying items made by the men and women at local craft fairs. My wife and I visit craft fairs several times a year. During the winter months, there are fewer such markets. But fog, rain and even snow do not s...