Glad to be of service Bruce.

Thanks for joining guys. But Pete, if you didn't know that I was so inclined, what did you think Entourage Arts was about? Can't make watercolour entourage images unless one is so inclined, no?

My children have been vaccinated for most things but at the time that the German Measles Vacine was instituted I was in a differetn frame of mind. Having done a lot of research I did not want my children to receive vaccines for that.
I had to get an affidavit signed by a notary which I presented to the schools to indicate that I am an objector.

I don't know how the US can prevent children from going to public school without vaccination because I have seen some stats that indicate that a minor proportion of children are vaccinated in the US as compared to Canada because in the US they vaccinations must be paid for or face long line ups in miserable clinics. But I don't really know about that for sure.

I do know that Salk said that by the time his vaccine was developed polio was already waning and he is unsure whether his vaccine did anything at all.
In 1977 Salk testified that he felt that the vaccines from 1961 on were largely responsible for another Polio outbreak.

Re the German Measles vaccine, the 2% probability that one will get serious debilitationg side effects from German Measleses is equivalbent to the 2% probablity of serious side effects from the vaccine itslef. In Japan the change in vaccination schedule so that infants no longer recieved their first vaccines until the age of 2 caused the incidience of crib death to plummet. Many viruses have been found in live vaciine. Crones disease in adulthood has now been linked to elements in childhood vaccines. Some Vaccines until the late 1990s contained 41% mercury and may be linked to the increase in ADD, Autisem etc. Even when vaccines work, the result is a weakened immune system that never learns how to fight disease on its own. I am not sure, were I to have a baby today, if I would have the assurance to fight the system and really be convinced that vaccines are to be avoided. But I sure would do a lot of research. Take a look at this site here for instance: http://www.vaclib.org/sites/debate/web2.html
I do think we may have been sold a bill of goods and we are so confident that anyone who thinkgs differently is a kook, but you owe it to yourself to really dig through the learned arguments on both sides before you are confident enoght to rebuke a different outlook

I have just published a new blog. For the time being it is to recorde my experiences on my Painting holiday coming up shortly. However, I have decided to enter the fray as a professional artist and this blog will also record my journey.
Please visit, it is such an unvisited blog as of yet I need the company. Thanks!
http://susansorger.blogspot.com/

Great Dylan!

I was going to hang around till fairly late in the evening before taking the train back to London, so the evening is a possibility too!

Jackson, thanks soooooo much for taking all that time to give me Edinburgh pointers.
Really helpful. My one day is going to have to fit around my already paid-for visit to the Real Mary Kings Close.
I saw a special on the seamy side of old Edinburgh and that just really intrigued me so I have made sure to include that.

Thanks for the security warning. I had fleetingly considered that it may not be a good idea but I am far from a famous personage and if someone just wanted to knock off someone at random, all hotels have people staying in them all the time so the fact that I am staying at one shouldn't increase the likelihood that I am the one chosen.
However, I have changed the post so if no evil person has yet noted the information,I should be somewhat safe. Gulp.

Thanks again Jackson and it is such a shame I won't get to meet you in person.

Ok, I have all my dates now so I am looking to fill my dance card with you folks here:
I arrive at London Gatwick at 10AM Oct 20.
With the exception of 3 nights ( OCT 24,OCT 26 and OCT 27) I will be staying at the following hotel until Oct 29 when I leave for Croatia.

contact me for hotel details

I am sure I will spend a disoriented and exhausting day in London on the first day OCT 20 so any takers for an early dinner?
I will be too tired from touring on OCt 21, 24, 25 and I will be in Edinburgh Oct Tues Oct 27. Anybody in Edinburgh???
I'm taking the sleeper train there and back.

I'm in Cambridge Thursday OCT 27 and I hope to meet with Piranesi folk. Anybody else in Cambridge???

So London dates: Oct 20,23,26,28
Cambridge: OCT 22
Edinburgh: OCt 27
Croatia OCT 29-Nov 5
Hotel in Croatia:

contact me for hotel details

I arrive fairly early afternoon from Croatia at Gatwick and will be staying one last night before heading home the next AM. Last hotel and opportunity fo coffee or a meal and chat is: contact me for hotel details

Yes Mateo, I am really very excited. I am really looking forward to meeting with you.

My one regret is that I just couldn't get it together enough to be a new skinny me for Europe. I just couldn't stick to my diet and I'm still a wide little person. I wish I could still be the skinny me. See here.

Try selling that to a gallery owner. Won't work.

Wow, this is great. Surely there must be more of you. That last "You Tube" one is a mind blower. How sad. How true.

I should share mine. I was asked to write it as though it were written by a magazine at the "pinnacle" of my career and I was told to "have fun with it". However, I have changed it from the "magazine" third person to be my personal artist's statement. What the heck I should have one hanging around, just in case.******************

Susan Sorger, Artist Statement:

Painting in either watercolours or oils, I like to depict humorous visual narratives as "freeze frames" capturing fleeting moments where our foibles and peccadilloes are laid bare. I hope to invite the viewer to recognize himself in scenarios where the banal is contrasted with the sublime. This is further punctuated by the juxtaposition of a classical painting style with a light-hearted subject matter. My aim is to create work that is neither “edgy” nor "sentimental" and can perhaps best be described as “wry” with a universal appeal . I once saw a comedienne who did a 20 minute monologue about her toothbrush. It was side-splitting funny. Her subject matter was the stuff of every day life and it was neither provocative, profane or profound but it sure packed a punch as it was just about being "human". I aspire to achieve the same.
Currently, my favourite artists are: James Gurney, Joe Francis Dowden, and Debra Tate-Sears. I confess to being influenced most strongly by the work of Disney Studios’ “Nine Old Men” animation artists, by Norman Rockwell and by the great John Singer-Sargent

I am working on an assignment for a class that I am taking and I have been asked to write an "artist's statment".
That got me thinking. There are a number of really talented artists here, many of whom do art work ( or would like to find the time to do so) besides doing sketchup and illustrations.

I was curious what would be "your" artists statement? What sort of work do you like to do? What are you trying to say or achieve? What media? Who are your favourite artists? Which artists were your greatest influences?

I can't wait to see your answers.

When they start to edit and make changes they will see very quickly why those groups and components would have been good to use.

I am really quite pleased that things seem to be going so well. The councellors had no knowledge of SketchUp before the camp and I spent only 10 hours training them directly on the camp materials. They totally got it. I needed the one on one training at first to see where there may be problems and this first run of the camp will allow me to do some tweaking of the program. Then I will just record the training sessions and make that available to the next licensees.
I pleased as punch!

I am happy to say that the first of the camps that have licensed my SketchUp Camp program, Seneca College Summer Camps in Toronto, is now in its 3rd week and things are running quite smoothly. From the reports I am getting from the councillors say the kids are having a load of fun and they are learning how to make SketchUp Models correctly!

They are alternating the camp weeks so they have 12 -14 year olds one week and 9-11 year olds the next week. They are spending the full day for one week on SketchUp
In order to meet their program requirements I put in a ton of work providing them with a 104 page step by step screen shot by screen shot manual, a second 30 page summary manual and an IT manual as well as various things such as a keyboard poster with the special keys coloured in and of course templates for certificates of completion. I have a number of files that I created as a basis for some of the exercises and assignements and I put those in a private collection on 3D warehouse. The kids are placing their work in another private collection on 3D warehouse and dowloading at home. From the items I am seeing, even the youngest group is turning out some wonderful work. Though I can see they get bored with creating components and groups quite early on. I examined some of their models and I can see a half hearted effort at first and then they just give up and model. No matter, they know how

Err, instead of using so many different applications, you could use Piranesi and get it done in thrice, and have more control and choices.

Have you tried the free trial at all?
There is a link to the free trial at the bottom of this page: http://www.entouragearts.com/Piranesi.asp

Unfortuneatly you don't get all the brushes and entourage avaialble with the pay version and you can't save any large files and there is a nasty watermark accross the image, but it gives you some ideas.
You can start off with some of the "canned" styles and then Break them down and look at the steps, then you can customize and make it your own.
With your abilities, Pete, you should be able to turn out some really super work.

Yes, I have the same problem as well. I had to cut my original post short.

With respect to the underground from Heathrow, is it really all that easy with luggage?

I would not have flown to Edinburgh from within the UK , I was thinking of flying in from Canada to Edinburugh and then flying home from either Heathrow or Gatwick. But the options are too limited and sadly, since I will likley only have a single day in Edinburgh, a jet lag day is probably not the best one.
I think the sleeper is a good idea Jackson, as you said, because I would have had to pay for a hotel night anyway.

any further advice on anything, MUST SEE, Stay away from, good inexpensive accomodation, all that. Keep it coming. Thanks so much.

Thanks Alan,
Any advice about London Hotels?
Also, isn't the trip in from Heathrow to London also a big deal?

I need some advice about how to book my flights to and from the UK for October/November 2009.
The artist vacation that I am going on leaves from Gatwick to Croatia on October 27 and returns November 3 at about 5:30PM .
I would have liked to get a return flight to Toronto from Gatwick on the same day but the only flight I see leaves about an hour later and I think that is chancy. I could wait till the next morning and stay nearby, I suppose.
However, my flight choices, with respect to comfort of Airplane, are greater if I arrive and leave from Heathrow.
Is it a super expensive and time consuming proposition to travel from Gatwick in the evening of November 3 and get myself to HEathrow?
I'm going to be spending a week in the UK before the Croatia trip and would really love to spend a day in Edninburgh. I was thinking of taking a sleeper train one night there, and another back. But maybe it would make more sense to just fly into Edinburgh ( limited flights) and take a single sleepr to London. So now I am completely mixed up.
Air Transat, a really inexpensive ariline with tiny uncomforable seats flies both to Edinburgh and Gatwick. If I pay a premium fee I can get a seat with extra leg room but then the price ends up being virtually the same as Air Canada, which is all around more comforatable and reliabl,but they only fly to Heathrow. I think I am allowed more luggage with Air Canada as well. Any advice?

thanks but no thanks. I was asking for help, not sarcasm.

mateo that is just wonderful. I expect we will have limited free time since it is a "learning holiday" there will be some sight seeing attached as well.
I have been to Dubrovnik, but that was, are you ready, 37 years ago on a school organized trip. I will be very curious to see how it compares.

I would love to meet with you for more than coffee that is for sure. I hope nothing comes up during that week for you that will prevent it.
I have a "sort of" itinerary I can send to you. I have your e-mail so I pop it off.

I am really really looking forward to meeting you in person.

Gai,
Isn't Dubrovnik a little closer to you? Maybe there?
It would be great!
I speak the Hungarian of a 2 year old. That is when we left Hungary. My second language was Spanish: we lived in Santiago Chile for 4 years. I have forgotten all my Spanish. I did not learn English till I was almost 7.( a second time actually, we lived in MOntreal for a 6 month period when I was 4 and I forgot all my Spanish, spoke fluent English, had to relearn Spanish back in Santiago and forgot all my English, Thank God for Hungarian or I never would have been able to converse with my parents)

Alan I do expect to be travelling some so maybe I can make it to your neck of the woods> We shall have to see as the dates approach, but I am putting all takers into my "Date Book" Now!