Continuing Art Education - Online #1: RISD

One of the advantages of the Pandemic is so much education and instruction is moving online. 

Plus being online means it can now be accessed by students all over the world. 

The only limitation on class size is the numbers one teacher or instructor can reasonably provide feedback to.

Rhode Island School of Design

RISD Ready and Reactivated. Campus looks a little different this fall due to COVID-19, but through the efforts of our community, creativity flourishes as ever.

Rhode Island School of Design is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island.  Founded in 1877 it offers bachelor's and master's degree programs.

It also offers a program of continuing education 

This winter, RISD Continuing Education is offering 40+ online courses for adults, which can be taken from anywhere in the world, at any time of day or night.

RISD Continuing Education

This is the dedicated website for continuing education

Art and Design for Everyone
provides an immersive and innovative art and design education for everyone, at all stages of life and all levels of experience.

The offerings are diverse and include courses for both adults and kids and face to face and online. 

Rhode Island School of Design Continuing Education announces over 60 online courses for adults and teens this winter, as well as eight certificate programs now being offered 100% online.

These are their news updates today about

• RISD CE Online Winter Art + Design Courses for Adults - for adults aged 18+
• RISD CE Online: Winter Classes Start Jan 11 - Courses run from Jan 11–Feb 23, 2021.

This page talks about how their courses are delivered online. 

• Minimum requirements for online courses are a computer, smartphone or tablet; an internet connection; and a web browser
• The minimum system requirements for those classes/courses which use Zoom include: 
• A broadband (Ethernet or fast wireless) internet connection, 
• a computer running at least Windows XP or Mac OS 10.7, 
• at least 4GB of RAM, 
• a built-in camera or USB plug-in webcam, speakers or headphones, and 
• a microphone (if you have a built-in webcam, it includes a microphone).

“We are excited about the new opportunities and benefits online instruction offers; we found people really appreciate the flexibility it affords and we have been able to expand our audience to include students from all around the world.”

Adult Programs:

• include a broad range of visual arts and design disciplines (both traditional and digital)
• plus topics related to art and design as integral parts of our lives and culture
• scheduled over four terms in the Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer.

There are four different types of courses - and these include 

• RISD Online Courses - which allow people to learn no matter where they live
• RISD Online Certificate Programs - which allow people to pursue a Certificate in a specific topic (note that most certificate programs require 396 hours of study)

Certificate programs are designed especially for adults who want a rigorous and comprehensive course of pre-professional and professional study on a part-time basis.

These are the range of online courses.

Page 2 of the portfolio of online courses available to adults

You can take certificate program classes with the intention of joining a certificate program at a later date - and if you do this you have a one-year grace period in which to apply.

RISD Online Certificate Programs

If interested you are urged to make sure you sign up quickly as a number of courses were filled very quickly in previous term.

If you know of other reputable educational institutions which also deliver comprehensive online courses please let me know (Message me via https://www.facebook.com/makingamark2/)

National Watercolour Society (1920 - 2020): Annual International Open Exhibition

The National Watercolor Society of America (NWS) is celebrating its 100th anniversary.

• 1920: founded as the California Water Color Society 
• 1967: renamed as the California National Watercolor Society; 
• 1975: renamed again as the National Watercolor Society.
• 2020: celebrates its 100th anniversary.

The National Watercolor Society is one of the oldest non-profit artist-led societies in the United States. Our mission - encouraging innovation in watermedia through education, outreach, and exhibitions - promote the advancement of watermedia and inspire the next generation of watermedia artists.

One of the things I find interesting is that the NWS had two websites

• one for the society and wider communication with its members and marketplace re its activities
• one specific to its online exhibitions which complement gallery exhibitions. 

Below I comment on 

• its exhibitions in its 100th year and
• the differences between watercolour painting in different countries
• the different ways watercolour painters engage with international exhibitions.

100th National Watercolor Society International Open Exhibition

Requirements include that.....

Painting must be primarily water-based media on any appropriate water media surface. Other media, if used, must be in conjunction with the water media, which must be dominant.

The 100th National WatercolorSociety International Open Exhibition has

• a Virtual Opening online on October 17, 2020 (see video below). 
• a dedicated online website with all the selected artwork - which has very large thumbnails and the scope to enlarge the image. 
• You can view with all images on view (see below)
• Or click on a painting to see more about who painted it, size and media
• All artwork is watermarked but the size of the images mean this is much less of a nuisance compared to websites which watermark small images.

The standard of the artwork is very good and I think distinctly different to the Members Show - which can be seen below this one.

National Watercolor Society - 100th International Open Exhibition
with a page on a website dedicated to online exhibitions

It also has 

• a list of accepted artists - 73 artists from seven different countries (USA, Australia, Canada, China, Italy, Malaysia, Peru, Scotland, Singapore and Taiwan - with the largest contingent by far being from China)
• a prospectus (pdf file)

The range of entries from other countries is pleasing to see - although I'm bemused as to why so few come from the UK.

However I have noticed that many UK watercolour painters seem to be quite slow to engage with international competitions. 

By way of contrast, those that do - such as Angus McEwen RWS - frequently get selected and often win prizes. This is his painting in the NWS exhibition

Members Annual Exhibition 2020

This video is about the 2020 Annual Exhibition by NWS Members - also online and held earlier in the year 

A Virtual New English Art Club Annual Exhibition 2020 - online now!

There are three different ways of viewing the art selected for this year's Annual Exhibition of the New England Art Club right now. 

Hopefully at some point I'll get to see it in person - because it has now been cancelled twice. 

• The exhibition was originally planned for 12-20 June 2020 at the Mall Galleries - and got caught by the first lockdown. 
• Then it was rescheduled for the autumn and an exhibition from Wednesday 11 November to Saturday 21 November and was knobbled most unfairly by the second lockdown!

So it looks as if a bit of effort has gone into surviving lockdowns and getting exhibitions seen online if not in person.

we've been absolutely determined to put this show on Pete Brown PNEAC

That's why there are now two additional ways to view ONLINE the works selected for the exhibition

1. the normal way - scroll down this page until you come to the first page of artworks in this exhibition. This gives you an image - as submitted by the artist - of the artwork,. But it's very slow to scroll through the pages and it's very difficult to imagine the size of the real artwork
2. the BRAND NEW virtual exhibition provides a way to see the artwork hung on the walls. 
3. the Filter Lists provide a partial perspective on the Full Exhibition.

View of a Virtual Main Gallery

Here's a video of Peter Brown, the President of the New English Art Club to explain what's happening. 

PLUS details below that provide you with a guide for how to view it.

I'll reserve my review until I see it on the walls for myself!  My overall conclusion about the online version is "Good effort but there's scope for improvement" - and some issues need to be addressed now.

I've provided some comments and suggestions at the end as to how technology and presentation might be tweaked in future.

The Virtual Exhibition

The exhibition showcases paintings, drawings and prints from our elected members alongside work by emerging artists whose ethos reflects its own: informed by the visual world and personal interpretation, while underpinned by drawing.

The brand new VIRTUAL Exhibition can be viewed online. You can take a walk around the exhibition in an interactive virtual tour. You get to

• navigate around the exhibition as you choose
• select the artworks you want to look at more closely.

It takes a little while to get used to the tools available for navigation but once you're used to it, it's easy to move around.

You can navigate to specific parts of the Mall Galleries using:

Ever so slightly distracted

my photo of the Venus de Milo in the Louvre

I'm feeling every so slightly distracted at the moment.

Some of you are aware that I've developed severe osteoarthritis in recent times and have been in quite some pain for quite some time (both chronic and acute). 

For me it was just "pain" - getting more pronounced and more irritating as it progressed in terms of intensity, longevity and resistance to painkillers. Not to mention grinding to a literal halt and being unable to walk.

I was supposed to be getting things sorted earlier this year - and then covid struck!

Having spent quite some time recently fighting my way back into the outpatient system at my local hospital now they're back in "we're still doing normal operations" mode, I've had two recent appointments with the medics.

The Monty Python Foot 
in the Bronzino painting of 
"An Allegory with Venus and Cupid"

At my first appointment in October, what I thought was the need to take out three broken bone shards floating around in my ankle has turned into 

• a valgus hindfoot
• I've got no cartilage left; 
• I'm walking bone on bone and 
• the rear of my foot is out of alignment 
• which makes me walk in a weird way
• which is VERY painful
• the need for an ankle fusion operation (i.e. 3-6 months recovery of which up to 3 months is non weight bearing on that ankle). Apparently after they've cleaned out all the bone (and bits of bone) which is causing problems and bolted bits of grotty bone together my body will think I've had a break and make new bone which will cause the vertical bone to fuse (knit) to the horizontal. So the flex of my ankle will be much more limited - but hopefully will create an ability to walk without pain.

The second appointment this afternoon confirmed my suspicions about my increasingly painful shoulder.

An X-ray taken back in May shows that the cartilage has disappeared in my left shoulder and I'm grinding bone on bone. This is the reason why my shoulder currently prevents an awful lot of routine movements due to a total inability to move in the socket - and causes an awful lot of pain and some interesting bone grinding noises right next to my ear.

The statue of Venus de Milo
in the Louvre Museum in Paris

Which means I need a shoulder replacement operation.

This apparently has a longer recovery than the ankle operation. 

Hence the Venus de Milo pic. I looked back at my photos from the Louvre. I'd not realised besides having a problems of her own with her left shoulder, she has also got a problem with her right foot!! ;) 

So my main priority now is 

• absorbing all of this
• doing some more research about both operations
• deciding which one comes first
• losing a lot more weight to make life easier when I'm recuperating (I've lost 20kg so far!) and trying to move around with a foot which cannot go on the ground and a shoulder which is rather useless!!
• getting my home sorted to cope with the demands of having one and then another limb out of use for some time

Blogging is not my top priority right now - so if there are some gaps that's why.....

(PS I wonder if you can do two handed typing when you're recovering from a shoulder replacement)

Reporting copyright infringement & impersonation to Google - MAJOR FAIL

For all those who wonder what happens when you report the infringement of copyright or impersonation of your website or blog to Google.....

• The good news - Google reviewed my report
• The bad news - Google has not done what it told me it had done

In short:

• Earlier this year I found a blog which had lifted my blog posts wholesale - and then changed some of the words - and decorated the blog with Google Adsense adverts
• I reported it to Google in April - but heard nothing
• I reported it again in September with a LOT more detail. To do a report you file a formal copyright infringement report - providing a lot of detail
• see https://support.google.com/legal/troubleshooter/1114905
• see https://support.google.com/legal/troubleshooter/1114905#ts=1115645 (re infringement via Blogger)
• you wait for a long time 
• My first report was ignored. 
• My second report was filed on 14 September; 
• I received an email from the Google Blogger Support Team today (9th November 2020)
• you get an email saying they agree with you - and the blog is now suspended and will no longer be viewable
• you check the URL of the offending blog - and FIND THE BLOG STILL EXISTS!!
• you email the Google Blogger Support Team saying you are very unimpressed and are now writing a blog post about it
• you email the Google Blogger Support Team saying you want to pursue the money paid to the blogger who impersonated by blog

GOOGLE FAIL

Bottom line what looks good on the surface does not deliver in reality

We take inappropriate content seriously
If you see content on a Google product that you believe violates the law or your rights, let us know. We’ll review the material and consider blocking, limiting or removing access to it. Behaviours like phishing, violence or explicit content may also violate our product policies and qualify for removal from Google products. Before creating a request, try to flag the content in the relevant product.

In visual terms this is what the process looks like.......