bernie berlin. 

this is kind of a dual purpose inspiration post today… bernie is an artist. art wise, i think is she is probably best known for her atc book called: Artist Trading Card Workshop: Create, Collect, Swap. it’s a great book for people to learn how to create atcs, how to swap them and also is full of some great technique ideas that can be used for more than just atc sized art.

however, as wonderful as bernie’s artwork is, it’s not her artwork that is my inspiration post today. it is bernie’s humanitarian and devoted work with the rescue and re-habilitation of animals that brings that warm, inspired glow to my heart.

bernie is the devoted soul behind a no-kill animal rescue called a place to bark. she tirelessly and compassionately saves dogs and cats from certain death in the pounds of southern state where she lives. she has seen the desperation and fear in the eyes of pets that people have simply abandoned to an almost certain death sentence, and wishes she could do more than she already does. she has rescued over 500 animals since her campaign against animal cruelty and euthanisation began, and would have saved even more if her resuce could hold more animals than it already does. 

she has plucked diseased and broken [in body and spirit] dogs from their cells in the pound, giving them a 2nd [sometimes 1st] chance at a new life with people who will love and care for them. she has saved animals from death with simple, treatable ailments that owners couldn’t be bothered to deal with. she has seen more death and senseless cruelty that anyone should ever have to and she still soliders on, rescuing as many defenseless animals as her shelter can handle.

today… bernie is in a competition sponsored by 6 Degrees for a $50,000 grant towards her much needed, and severely under funded animal shelter. how can you help her? here’s how…

How It Works:
The four charity badges with the most unique donations through America’s Giving Challenge will get $50,000 for their cause. America’s Giving Challenge runs until January 31st.

Donate:
If you are able donate , please donate via the badge a $10 tax deductible donation. We need the most people possible to each donate $10 to A Place to Bark. In order to win the grant we need to have the most amount of donors, not necessarily the amount of money donated.

It gets better!
All donations made to A Place to Bark’s Six Degrees Badge, will be matched by the "Zoline Foundation" up to $25,000.00!!! All donations up to June 1st will be counted for the matching donation from the Zoline Foundation. It’s a win-win!

About A Place to Bark:
"A Place to Bark" is a private no kill rescue run solely by Bernie Berlin. All animals come from high kill shelters in the south and are on death row. Combining health care, rehabilitation, and working with animal welfare organizations A Place to Bark provides a true no kill vision. Registered 501c3 non-profit. Visit A Place to Bark’s web site.

how can you not be inspired by such a courageous and selfless woman? she is truly amazing and i thank her for inspiring me to be a better person, a better pet guardian and better advocate for the prevention of cruelty towards animals.

alicia buelow.

i have looooooooong been a fan this graphic artist’s digital collage work. her use of imagery, texture and colour was a revelation in my early graphic design days, and sent me on a mission to really learn adobe photoshop. learn it well. not just the surface, superficial stuff. but to really dig into how things work in this very complex, richly layered graphic program and how i could create my own interpretation of my mixed media collages, digitally.

it’s been a long time since i began dabbling in the computer side of collage and art, at least the last 12 years, and while i’ve grown a lot in experience [mainly through experimentation and serendipitous accidents] i still have a lot to learn. every time i boot up my computer and start up photoshop cs2, i look forward to each nugget of knowledge i unearth during my digital collage experimentations. it’s always a surprise and always an adventure.

so thank you alicia. you’ve been an inspiration to me for many years, and continue to be a beacon of digital artistry and accomplishment that i aspire to. my digitizer and mouse salute you!

kal barteski.

this new momma just kicks ass. i mean really… her mantra and word to live by is GO. two letters with a tons of meaning and potential. she’s just had an adorable new baby girl and is already out there, doing her thing, just going. love that… she’s a rock star in my book!

she’s not only an amazing artist blogger with a great sense of humor, but she’s also full of inspiration, insight, ideas and simply [love’s life]. visit her site today… i dare you not to get excited by pencil crayons, painting and graphic design. i dare YOU! now in the words of kal… GO!

this is a new thing i’m doing in 2008… friday mosaics are gone and instead, bloggy-wise, i’m going to be sharing who and/or what inspires me creatively. every week i’m going to share a creative inspiration and see where it take me/us. sounds fun huh?

so here is my first inspired entry…

i discovered this artist’s amazing, generous spirit spontenously while trolling through my fave late-night insomnia entertainment - youtube. she is bringing the art journaling creative process out there to the masses and is influencing an entirely new group of artists to try journaling, and she’s doing this important and creative work using youtube as her vehicle of communication. love that! love her too [she makes me smile]. anyways… this girl has inspired me and thousands of others [if her view numbers are any indication] to try art journaling, or at least encourages everyone to create art everyday because it should be part of everyone’s daily life. amen sistah! amen.

i now present suzi blu: bringing art journaling out of the studio an onto youtube! enjoy =)