As An Artist, Writer, Photographer, Fine Crafter

DOES YOUR COMPUTER HAVE THE FLU?

November 9, 2014

Now that you have discovered the ease of internet publicity, internet sales, and computer record keeping, it is time to discuss some of the pitfalls of being a member of the Internet generation. The world wide web is the wild west and your neighborhood sheriffs are rare, so you need to do what first generation settlers did: learn to protect yourself and your computer from the bad guys.

The holiday shopping season is about to pounce on us, and with it, a rash of computer malware and virus invasions. Why are there more of these foul assaults during the holiday seasons? Ever hear of Cyber Monday? The number of Internet users doing their holiday gift shopping is much higher this time of year because it is so much faster and easier to simply order your gifts with the click of a mouse, have it gift wrapped and shipped to your family and friends, than it is to brave the crowded shopping malls and holiday traffic, bring home presents and then gift-wrap them yourself.

Many holiday shoppers are also infrequent users of cyberspace and depend heavily on their internet provider to guard them from Malware or Virus invasions, and a great many of users don’t perform computer Maintence on a regular basis. If you are using one of the Internet Browsers such as Firefox or Explorer they do provide some measure of protection because they use free virus prevention programs to help foil these attacks, so do many of the Internet Providers such as Xfinity, Yahoo, Google, U-verse and such. You can also purchase virus prevention programs in hard copy and load them from a disc. Many times this is simply not enough. Why is it not enough? Because those nasty little gremlins who create these attacks are constantly working to tunnel through whatever protections are on your computer. The war started the second the internet was created, and if you don’t want to become a casualty, you need to protect your computer. Most of these insidious Malware and Virus invasions can be stopped short if they are caught early enough. At our house, we run two types of anti-Malware/anti-virus scans weekly.

What is Malware? According to Wikipedia, “Malware, short for malicious software, is any software used to interrupt computer operation, collect sensitive information, or gain access to your computer. It can appear in the form of executable code, scripts, hidden e-mail attachments, etc. It also shows up when you are careless about what web sites you visit. Malware is a general term used to denote to a variety of forms of hostile or invasive software.”  Malware masquerades under a variety of terms:  computer viruses, worms, Trojan horses, ransomware, spyware, adware, scareware, and other malevolent names. Home users and organizations to try to safeguard against malware “attacks” by using anti-virus, anti-malware, and firewalls programs many of which can be bought at your local office supply store. They can also be downloaded directly into your computer from the Internet. 

How do you give your computer a flu shot? Well the first step is to make sure your computer security settings on your Control panel are set to make the most of your computer’s built in security. Below are five basic steps you can take. If you are using Windows, 1) turn on your windows firewall.  A Firewall is software that either checks information coming from your network or internet and blocks or allows access to your computer. 2) Set up a list of approved programs and require that you be asked before new programs download. 3) Set up to be notified if the firewall blocks a program. 4) Make sure the programs you use have the latest updates because updates may contain additional protections against Malware that attacks through legit programs. 5) Keep your ant-malware/virus programs updated! To do this make sure your software is set to automatically update new protections. Usually this can be done in the background.

Anti-Malware programs or scans need to be run frequently. I would recommend at least once per month, and during the holidays every week. There are three basic types of scans designed to catch malware: A Quick scan which is fast and superficial, a Full scan which goes through every file on your computer and a Boot Scan. The Boot scan is a very powerful tool because it begins scanning during your computer’s most vulnerable time when it first starts up because until it is fully loaded, your protection software isn’t fully functional.

Even with all these precautions, you might still be successfully invaded by one of these nasty critters. One year we experienced a powerful malware that went through our firewalls like grain through a goose. It locked us out of all our programs. Well if this happens to you, then it is time to call in an expert to scrub and disinfect your computer. Your first step is to turn off your computer and leave it off, Don’t keep turning it back on in the hopes that the problem will have disappeared! Since you probably won’t be able to access the internet from the infected computer, it is a good idea to have the name and contact information of a computer cleaner on tap. If you don’t have time to do this before you are infected, try phoning the store where you purchased your computer or a store that sells them, and ask if they can recommend a company.

There are software programs out there you can buy which are supposed to be able to disinfect your computer, however if you aren’t computer savvy to begin with, you may not be able to use them successfully.

If this sounds overwhelming, it really isn’t. Keeping your computer safe is no more difficult than learning to drive a car. It’s just a new and different technology. And really, do we have a choice?

Good Luck!   Gail

 

CHOOSING A SOFTWARE PROGRAM

August 20, 2014

Art is a business, and like any business, it is necessary to keep track of expenses as well as income. I have been searching for a comprehensive program for my art business for years. Currently I would recommend QuickBooks to track your expenses and income. While there are some all-inclusive programs beginning to be developed, I have usually found some flaw in the program; either they were hard to use, or had an incompatible photo program for thumbnails of my art, etc. There are a couple of...


Continue reading...
 

FRAMING ON A BUDGET: PART 4--Repairing A Plaster Frame

May 26, 2014

As I stated earlier, I don’t recommend re-fitting ornate Plaster Of Paris frames. However, if it means the difference between repairing an existing frame you are already using and purchasing a new one there is a way to fix chipped or broken edges. First, I want you to notice that on most plaster frames such as this one shown in the photo, there is a repeating pattern on the corners and sides. To do this repair, you will need to make a clay mold of the unbroken matching side of the frame, ...


Continue reading...
 

Framing On A Budget Part 3--Refurbishing A Used Frame

March 28, 2014

Refinishing Frames The first thing you are going to need is an outdoor workspace. Refinishing frames is messy, and the materials used need good ventilation. You may also want to invest in a folding table that can be put up when not in use.

MATERIALS NEEDED

To repair a wooden frame you will need, shop rags, a box knife, painters tape, small can of wood putty, a hammer, screwdriver, small woodscrews, finish nails, glue, wood stripper, paint or stain (probably both), sandpaper (both fine and...


Continue reading...
 

Framing On A Budget Part 2--How To Choose A Good Used Frame

March 10, 2014

HOW TO CHOOSE A GOOD USED FRAME                12/1/13

 

 

Another way to frame inexpensively is by restoring used frames. Where can you find used frames? A good source for used frames is flea markets, second hand stores and yard sales.

Choosing A Good Used Frame is not as difficult as you may think. Take your tape measure with you because frames and framed art found here may or may not meet the usual size requirements of the standard canvas sizes sold in the art store. The frame prob...


Continue reading...
 

Framing On A Budget Part 1--Don't Break Your Bank Account

December 1, 2013


Framing fine art can enhance the overall appeal of a piece of artwork; unfortunately, if you don't frame your art wisely it can ultimately ruin the paintings appeal altogether.   We all want our art to look its best, so artists inexperienced in the art of framing usually begin by using a commercial framer. A commercial framer will give you a nice, professional looking frame for your art. They will also give you sticker shock when quoting the price. Depending on the size of the frame wanted ...


Continue reading...
 

Acrylic Painting Techniques - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

October 9, 2013

Acrylic painting techniques are different styles of manipulating and working with polymer-based acrylic paints. Acrylics differ from oil paints in that they have shorter drying times (as little as 10 minutes) and are soluble in water. These types of paint eliminate the need for turpentine and gesso, and can be applied directly onto canvas. Aside from painting with concentrated color paints, acrylics can also be watered down to a consistency that can be poured or used for glazes.

Preventing...


Continue reading...
 

TIPS FOR SHIPPING ORIGINAL PAINTINGS OR PHOTOGRAPHS A Guide To Packing Art For Shipping

September 14, 2013

Congratulations! You sold some art from your web site! Now you have to figure out how to get it to your buyer. Unless you are hand delivering your work you will need to ship it to the buyer. In order to reach your buyer in a condition that does credit to you as an artist there is a real need to select both your shipping method and your packing container carefully. For packing you are going to need a lot of tape, foam core board, acid-free paper, acid-free plastic bags and foam peanuts. To p...


Continue reading...
 

DO YOU REALLY NEED A PROFESSIONAL TO SELL YOUR WORK?

August 27, 2013

I haven’t had a lot of luck using professional agents or web site sponsored promotions to help me sell my art. I am going to avoid mentioning either of the two sites I talk about in this blog by name because I am not really interested in slamming them. I used them only to illustrate the pitfalls of not really knowing much about marketing or how artists’ agents work, and especially not doing your research ahead of time. I freely admit to my ignorance in these matters when I first started...


Continue reading...
 

How Do Copyright Laws Affect You As A Visual Artist?

July 27, 2013

How Do Copyright Laws Affect You As A Visual Artist?

The visual arts category on the U.S. Government website, involves pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works, including two- and three-dimensional works of fine, graphic, and applied art. Examples include paintings, photographs; original prints; art reproductions; cartographic works (maps, globes, ...


Continue reading...
 

DOES YOUR COMPUTER HAVE THE FLU?

November 9, 2014

Now that you have discovered the ease of internet publicity, internet sales, and computer record keeping, it is time to discuss some of the pitfalls of being a member of the Internet generation. The world wide web is the wild west and your neighborhood sheriffs are rare, so you need to do what first generation settlers did: learn to protect yourself and your computer from the bad guys.

The holiday shopping season is about to pounce on us, and with it, a rash of computer malware and virus invasions. Why are there more of these foul assaults during the holiday seasons? Ever hear of Cyber Monday? The number of Internet users doing their holiday gift shopping is much higher this time of year because it is so much faster and easier to simply order your gifts with the click of a mouse, have it gift wrapped and shipped to your family and friends, than it is to brave the crowded shopping malls and holiday traffic, bring home presents and then gift-wrap them yourself.

Many holiday shoppers are also infrequent users of cyberspace and depend heavily on their internet provider to guard them from Malware or Virus invasions, and a great many of users don’t perform computer Maintence on a regular basis. If you are using one of the Internet Browsers such as Firefox or Explorer they do provide some measure of protection because they use free virus prevention programs to help foil these attacks, so do many of the Internet Providers such as Xfinity, Yahoo, Google, U-verse and such. You can also purchase virus prevention programs in hard copy and load them from a disc. Many times this is simply not enough. Why is it not enough? Because those nasty little gremlins who create these attacks are constantly working to tunnel through whatever protections are on your computer. The war started the second the internet was created, and if you don’t want to become a casualty, you need to protect your computer. Most of these insidious Malware and Virus invasions can be stopped short if they are caught early enough. At our house, we run two types of anti-Malware/anti-virus scans weekly.

What is Malware? According to Wikipedia, “Malware, short for malicious software, is any software used to interrupt computer operation, collect sensitive information, or gain access to your computer. It can appear in the form of executable code, scripts, hidden e-mail attachments, etc. It also shows up when you are careless about what web sites you visit. Malware is a general term used to denote to a variety of forms of hostile or invasive software.”  Malware masquerades under a variety of terms:  computer viruses, worms, Trojan horses, ransomware, spyware, adware, scareware, and other malevolent names. Home users and organizations to try to safeguard against malware “attacks” by using anti-virus, anti-malware, and firewalls programs many of which can be bought at your local office supply store. They can also be downloaded directly into your computer from the Internet. 

How do you give your computer a flu shot? Well the first step is to make sure your computer security settings on your Control panel are set to make the most of your computer’s built in security. Below are five basic steps you can take. If you are using Windows, 1) turn on your windows firewall.  A Firewall is software that either checks information coming from your network or internet and blocks or allows access to your computer. 2) Set up a list of approved programs and require that you be asked before new programs download. 3) Set up to be notified if the firewall blocks a program. 4) Make sure the programs you use have the latest updates because updates may contain additional protections against Malware that attacks through legit programs. 5) Keep your ant-malware/virus programs updated! To do this make sure your software is set to automatically update new protections. Usually this can be done in the background.

Anti-Malware programs or scans need to be run frequently. I would recommend at least once per month, and during the holidays every week. There are three basic types of scans designed to catch malware: A Quick scan which is fast and superficial, a Full scan which goes through every file on your computer and a Boot Scan. The Boot scan is a very powerful tool because it begins scanning during your computer’s most vulnerable time when it first starts up because until it is fully loaded, your protection software isn’t fully functional.

Even with all these precautions, you might still be successfully invaded by one of these nasty critters. One year we experienced a powerful malware that went through our firewalls like grain through a goose. It locked us out of all our programs. Well if this happens to you, then it is time to call in an expert to scrub and disinfect your computer. Your first step is to turn off your computer and leave it off, Don’t keep turning it back on in the hopes that the problem will have disappeared! Since you probably won’t be able to access the internet from the infected computer, it is a good idea to have the name and contact information of a computer cleaner on tap. If you don’t have time to do this before you are infected, try phoning the store where you purchased your computer or a store that sells them, and ask if they can recommend a company.

There are software programs out there you can buy which are supposed to be able to disinfect your computer, however if you aren’t computer savvy to begin with, you may not be able to use them successfully.

If this sounds overwhelming, it really isn’t. Keeping your computer safe is no more difficult than learning to drive a car. It’s just a new and different technology. And really, do we have a choice?

Good Luck!   Gail

 

CHOOSING A SOFTWARE PROGRAM

August 20, 2014

Art is a business, and like any business, it is necessary to keep track of expenses as well as income. I have been searching for a comprehensive program for my art business for years. Currently I would recommend QuickBooks to track your expenses and income. While there are some all-inclusive programs beginning to be developed, I have usually found some flaw in the program; either they were hard to use, or had an incompatible photo program for thumbnails of my art, etc. There are a couple of...


Continue reading...
 

FRAMING ON A BUDGET: PART 4--Repairing A Plaster Frame

May 26, 2014

As I stated earlier, I don’t recommend re-fitting ornate Plaster Of Paris frames. However, if it means the difference between repairing an existing frame you are already using and purchasing a new one there is a way to fix chipped or broken edges. First, I want you to notice that on most plaster frames such as this one shown in the photo, there is a repeating pattern on the corners and sides. To do this repair, you will need to make a clay mold of the unbroken matching side of the frame, ...


Continue reading...
 

Framing On A Budget Part 3--Refurbishing A Used Frame

March 28, 2014

Refinishing Frames The first thing you are going to need is an outdoor workspace. Refinishing frames is messy, and the materials used need good ventilation. You may also want to invest in a folding table that can be put up when not in use.

MATERIALS NEEDED

To repair a wooden frame you will need, shop rags, a box knife, painters tape, small can of wood putty, a hammer, screwdriver, small woodscrews, finish nails, glue, wood stripper, paint or stain (probably both), sandpaper (both fine and...


Continue reading...
 

Framing On A Budget Part 2--How To Choose A Good Used Frame

March 10, 2014

HOW TO CHOOSE A GOOD USED FRAME                12/1/13

 

 

Another way to frame inexpensively is by restoring used frames. Where can you find used frames? A good source for used frames is flea markets, second hand stores and yard sales.

Choosing A Good Used Frame is not as difficult as you may think. Take your tape measure with you because frames and framed art found here may or may not meet the usual size requirements of the standard canvas sizes sold in the art store. The frame prob...


Continue reading...
 

Framing On A Budget Part 1--Don't Break Your Bank Account

December 1, 2013


Framing fine art can enhance the overall appeal of a piece of artwork; unfortunately, if you don't frame your art wisely it can ultimately ruin the paintings appeal altogether.   We all want our art to look its best, so artists inexperienced in the art of framing usually begin by using a commercial framer. A commercial framer will give you a nice, professional looking frame for your art. They will also give you sticker shock when quoting the price. Depending on the size of the frame wanted ...


Continue reading...
 

Acrylic Painting Techniques - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

October 9, 2013

Acrylic painting techniques are different styles of manipulating and working with polymer-based acrylic paints. Acrylics differ from oil paints in that they have shorter drying times (as little as 10 minutes) and are soluble in water. These types of paint eliminate the need for turpentine and gesso, and can be applied directly onto canvas. Aside from painting with concentrated color paints, acrylics can also be watered down to a consistency that can be poured or used for glazes.

Preventing...


Continue reading...
 

TIPS FOR SHIPPING ORIGINAL PAINTINGS OR PHOTOGRAPHS A Guide To Packing Art For Shipping

September 14, 2013

Congratulations! You sold some art from your web site! Now you have to figure out how to get it to your buyer. Unless you are hand delivering your work you will need to ship it to the buyer. In order to reach your buyer in a condition that does credit to you as an artist there is a real need to select both your shipping method and your packing container carefully. For packing you are going to need a lot of tape, foam core board, acid-free paper, acid-free plastic bags and foam peanuts. To p...


Continue reading...
 

DO YOU REALLY NEED A PROFESSIONAL TO SELL YOUR WORK?

August 27, 2013

I haven’t had a lot of luck using professional agents or web site sponsored promotions to help me sell my art. I am going to avoid mentioning either of the two sites I talk about in this blog by name because I am not really interested in slamming them. I used them only to illustrate the pitfalls of not really knowing much about marketing or how artists’ agents work, and especially not doing your research ahead of time. I freely admit to my ignorance in these matters when I first started...


Continue reading...
 

How Do Copyright Laws Affect You As A Visual Artist?

July 27, 2013

How Do Copyright Laws Affect You As A Visual Artist?

The visual arts category on the U.S. Government website, involves pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works, including two- and three-dimensional works of fine, graphic, and applied art. Examples include paintings, photographs; original prints; art reproductions; cartographic works (maps, globes, ...


Continue reading...