Book Reviews

Google Alerts notified me of a book review of The New Creative Artist and Confident Color. Thanks, Brenda Thebeau. I enjoyed reading Brenda's blog eSynergy and have added it to my blog list.

Brush tip

In an email exchange Stephen Martinez asked how to remove the coating from brushes and I suggested swishing in warm water. That didn't work for him, but here's what he wrote next: "Nita, Success! I added a few drops of Dawn Liquid Dishwashing detergent to a very warm glass of water. I let them soak for about ten minutes. Success! The brushes are free of the coating and ready to use." Any other ideas about this?

Web site updates

I've been months behind on my Web site with long lists of links-to-add and outdated entries. I hate it when that happens. Last weekend I got all the links entered; then, I discovered I had a lot more to do. I hadn't made pages for my two DVDs, released early in the year. That done, I looked at the calendar and realized I hadn't yet worked out a Holiday Special. I finally put one together and extended the deadline to January 15th. I envy artists who have people to do these things, or at least, to remind them what has to be done. I can only hope I didn't make too many mistakes on the updates. My HTML skills are out-of-date, too. Oh, well, I'm somewhat caught up for the nonce. Probably should begin thinking about Christmas shopping and decorating.

What a shock!

My email this morning contained a warning that a link on my home page went to a pornographic site. Nasty. I've removed the link, but if you have linked to my home page, please do a "renew" of the page to eliminate the offending link. Apparently, the site with the original citation no longer exists and the porn site is using their link. I was horrified. I hope if you find such an intrusion on any site that you'll notify the owner as Kathe did for me, so corrections can be made.

I suppose it's time check all the links on my site, but that's a daunting task, since I have so many. I've checked every site before listing it, but who knows what happens when a site goes down? Well, now I know, I guess.

Don't ask me the name of the offending site. I've erased all reference to it on my Web site and computer.

Gingerbread Art

My granddaughter was so proud of this gingerbread house she made a couple of years ago in preschool. At her elementary school last week I saw a big display case filled with little gingerbread houses. Wish I had taken a photo. The kids must have had fun with that little project.

The Fort Wayne History Center in Allen County, Indiana, is celebrating the holidays with a display of fantastic, artsy gingerbread houses from now until December 13. Read more details in this review from Art to Art Palette online.