Lesley Smitheringale Fine Art

Odd Couple at Berlin Zoo

MEET furry friends Mausi and Muschi – the cat and the bear who are a zoo’s odd couple. The female moggy and the male Asian black bear live, eat, sleep and even play together. Their unlikely friendship was forged seven years ago when Mausi entered Muschi’s enclosure at Germany’s Berlin Zoo and started to eat his food.

Zoo caretaker Thomas Dvrflein said: “Mausi was accepted straight away. Visitors ask why they are tolerant of each other. We can’t say. Perhaps its love. Maybe this bear is really just a big pussycat.”

Original Source: The Sun UK

Free Nature Wallpapers to Download by Australian Photographer

Australian photographer Rob Gray has produced some stunning shots in his portfolio and he is kindly offering many to be downloaded as desktop wallpapers. See the whole collection at Rob Gray Wallpapers and here are a few examples.

Honey Bees possess highly sophisticated Brains

Platypus Venom used to relieve Patients’ Pain

Oz Nature Niche officially open! Invitation for all Australian wildlife artists to join…

For a long time now I have felt the need to create a social community based on my passion for the arts and photography with a focus on two things, Australia and wildlife. As a practising artist and photographer and also being Australian I felt that there was a real gap for Australian artists to launch themselves, network locally and gain exposure to Australian facilities such as Galleries, Exhibitions, Retail outlets, online shops, self-publishing options, local photo shoots or sketching and painting classes, framers, suppliers, etc you get the idea. Click on the picture below to go to the main page where you can join if you wish.

I would often see really good sites with similar aims but they are all in America and this is not advantageous in many ways for Australian artists. My vision for this Australian Wildlife Art Community “Oz Nature Niche” is for it to grow into something huge - a massive network of resources if you like but I can’t do it on my own.

I have set this up so that members may join freely and contribute freely in any way they can. I think that if we can gather a pool of artists’ expertise, resources, stimulus, galleries, portfolios etc and then advertise the sight by using the badges available which we can embed into our own websites and blogs we can’t help but open up a larger audience. I have nearly 30, 000 visitors who have checked out my website at http://www.lesley-smitheringale-fine-art.com so you can imagine that if the Nature Niche Badge is embedded on my site, it should generate a lot of interest and likewise when all members do the same. (You can see an example of a badge on my website.)

I see it as a community which we will visit often and help each other out and I can’t count the hundreds of hours I have spent scouring the Internet for information on all of the previous things I have mentioned. After now doing it the hard way and bookmarking a lot about sites and blogs, finding out ways to design a website, the best online shops, how to self-publish a book, where to purchase matte boards and so on, why not share this knowledge with a community? Remember also, that it won’t cost you a cent, totally free- just your time and willingness to share in order to promote the arts in Australia. Click on picture below to visit my page (this is an example of what your page could be like).

I only hope that you will share my vision and help this site grow as I think it has so many wonderful opportunities. If you join and you have your own, fresh ideas - things I haven’t condsidered then please let me know or start a new forum discussion in the relevant groups.

What you will get for FREE if you join “Oz Nature Niche”:-

• your own personal page which is customisable with themes
• rss feeds and the ability to embed your own rss feed from your website or blog
• create your own gallery or portfolio, artist bio and resume, links to your other sites
  
• your own blog with option to include pictures and create an rss feed of this blog
  
• join and create forums
• invite friends to your Group(s)
• join specialised Wildlife Groups within Oz Nature Niche such as Fine Artists, Photographers, Digital Artists, Manga Cartoon Illustration & Comics, Crafts Merchandise & Textiles
• critiques and constructive criticism of your work
• make friends and connect with fellow Australian artists
• ask for and give technical help and tips within your Group(s)
  
• add gadgets and widgets to your own personal page and Group page
• add videos including YouTube etc
• add music to your own page and group pages
  
• engage in Live Chat within all of the Groups in Oz Nature Niche
• lots of exposure, networking opportunities and marketing possibilites
  
• create a Badge to advertise Oz Nature Niche on your existing website and blog plus many more features still to come ….

Hope to meet you on the Nature Niche.

Kind Regards

Lesley

Windland Smith Rice International Photography Award Winners of 2007

I keep track of this competition every year and here are the winning photographs from the various categories plus a really good video at the awards night in the Smithsonian. Congratulations to all of the winners ….

Nature’s Best Photography Exhibit Opening

Grand Prize “Burchell’s Zebras” by Richard Du Toit

Creative Digital category “Iguana Eyes” by Michael D Kern
Endangered Species category “Mountain Gorilla Baby” by Rita Summers

Landscape Category “Fly Geyser, Fly Ranch” by Rodney Lough

Wildlife Category “Bull Bison” by Steve Hinch
Environmental Issues Category “Florida Manatee” by John Johnson


Oceans Category “Dwarf Minke Whale” by Jurgen Freund

Backyard Habitat Category “Orange-crowned Warbler” by Robert Goodell
Art in Nature Category “Mandarin Duck” by Russ Burden

Zoos and Aquariums Category “Kodiak Bear and Bee” by Terry Ross Cervi

Conservation Photographer of the Year “Polar Bear Mother and Cubs” by Howard Ruby
Camera Club Winner “White-tailed Ptarmigan” by Chris Loffredo

Youth Category “Sea Lion and Pup” by Eddie Schermerhorn
Animal Antics Category “Red Fox” by Steve Hinch

Birds Category “Snowy Egrets” by Fabioa Del Alcazar

10 Free Web-based Image Editors

This is an informative post about free online, albeit “watered down” alternatives to PhotoShop and I have never heard of a few of these programmes which look great. I have used Picnik and FotoFlexer which are really excellent and fun to use. Sometimes we just need a quick, slick fix for photos without loading Photoshop, not to mention that they are free if we can’t afford Adobe. I have included photos of three but head over to the LifeClever site and read the full post here.

Picnik

Photoshop Express

flauntR

Colours of an Impressionist Painter

There is a really good article called “Classic Colours - Impressionism” posted by evad on the COLOURLovers site which I often visit. The article was inspired by the colors of the great impressionists, plus some information about each painting and artist from wikipedia.

Click on the picture to view the complete article.

Bring Nature’s Design to your Desktop

I discovered this site today called Desktopography which is a non-profit project, launched in 2005 by a group of designers. They are striving to create a site where people can download nature and topological themed wallpapers with edits from selected designers.

What we see everyday can affect our mood and state of mind, enhance your desktop with a wallpaper creation from desktopography and feel the essence of nature and the outdoor existence on your computer. Bring tranquility to your desktop, feel the wilderness and give your background a breath of fresh air..

Here are a few of my favourites but there are lots more in a range of sizes including widescreen - highy recommended if you are a nature lover and enjoy quality art work.

Featured Artist: Louise Robinson - Art & Ghosts

This artist is incredibly talented and her digital collages have a kind of spooky, fairytale quality which I love. She has a store on Etsy where you can purchase her work and a beautiful blog which is a visual delight.

“I like to make pictures, lots of them. These include digital collage, surreal photomontage, drawing, painting and illustration. My most favouritest themes include dreams, dolls, spectres, fairytales, mythology & nature.“

Arielle and Thumbelina

Storybook Adventure and Dulcimer