Dori DeCamillis

Sipsey Wilderness, Alabama This is reprinted from an email from WildSouth , a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting wild areas in the Southeast. Today is a day every friend of the wild can rejoice.  After more than a decade, 50 million acres of our most pristine wild lands are secured as the "Roadless Area Conservation Rule of 2001" has been reinstated.   These so-called "roadless" areas represent the core of our nation's public lands and have survived untrammeled by man.   Let this be a reminder to all who work to defend the wild and for every person who supports conservation that:  “We need wilderness preserved -- as much of it as is still left, and as many kinds --because it was the challenge against which our character as a people was formed. The reminder and the reassurance that it is still there is good for our spiritual health even if we never once in ten years set foot in it. It is good for us when we are young, because of

I love this new addition to an old building. Dresden, Eastern Germany, Museum of Military History  To be reopened after a dramatic redesign by American architect Daniel Libeskind. Libeskind added a massive five-story wedge of glass, concrete and steel that rips through the former armory built for the armies of Kaiser Wilhelm I. The new addition interrupts the symmetry of the neo-Classical building as a symbol of how German democracy has pushed aside the authoritarian past. AP Photo/dapd, Matthias Rietschel.  Taken from artdaily.org

Opening this Friday, October 14th Artist Reception 6 to 8 pm at  Red Dot Gallery Exhibit A by Dori DeCamillis A five year project funded by the Alabama Council on the Arts, returning to Birmingham after a summer exhibition at the Mobile Museum of Art and  Compact Hybrids by Scott Bennett A collection of sensuous ceramic sculpture by this year's winner of the Alabama Council on the Arts fellowship winner.  Red Dot Gallery, 1001 Stuart Street, Birmingham, AL 35226, (205) 870-7608 www.reddotgallery.com

Stephanie Lee Here are various painters' take on lemons. For my students: note the lighting, composition, use of brushstroke, variation of color, atmosphere, and attention to detail or lack of it. It doesn't hurt to try to paint like all of these people and see which style and qualities resonates with you. Carol Marine Noah Layne Jeffrey Hayes Ralf Heyner Jo Bradney Paul Coventry Raymond Logan Vangabot (a robot) Linda O'Neill

Ron Mueck is an Australian hyper-realist sculptor working in the UK.  A good description of his career can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Mueck I saw the above sculpture at the Hirshhorn in Washington D.C., and have been a fan ever since. One of the most arresting aspects of his work is his distortion of scale. This one attribute completely changes how the figure is percieved.

This weekend I chaperoned my daughter and her friend during the Anime Weekend Atlanta, a gathering of Anime fans from all over. (From the dictionary, Anime is:  Japanese movie and television animation, often having a science fiction theme and sometimes including violent or explicitly sexual material.) The atmosphere was friendly and polite, extremely nerdy, and very funny. I've poked fun at Annabelle for years for her geeky interests, but I admit I had a great time, especially taking pictures.