Wednesday, April 20, 2011

April Newsletter

April Newsletter
"Art is a step from what is obvious and well-known toward what is arcane and concealed." Khalil Gibran

Welcome Creative Souls to the latest installment of your newsletter - your monthly portal on all things Creative, at Creative Souls.

As many of you may have noticed while visiting CS, we have been undergoing a number of exciting changes and are exploring several new avenues at this time. We are glad to have you here and are pleased that you will be joining us at this time of fresh beginnings. I can think of no better time for new adventures than wonderful, glorious Springtime!

Izabella, our amazing founder, has added several people as Administrators to assist her with the overall operations of the site: Kimmie Draper, Judy Keefe, Stephanie Voss (Joy Uslion) and yours truly, Peggi Meyer Graminski, have volunteered their services, and are here to help answer any questions or discuss any issues you might have. Please feel free to contact any of us at any time.
creativesouls.ning.com
  
FEATURED ARTIST
 This month's featured artist is Bernice Wagnitz. Congratulations Bernice! Bernice is a multi-talented artist, residing in Clawson, Michigan. Her artwork is brightly coloured and highly energetic. Here is a little bit about her, in her own words ...

I've done art and crafts all my life. It wasn't until I had to have my first back surgery and the gals at work bought me my first set of oil paints. I was off and running. I had always sketched, I call it doodling but now I was hooked. I just started to do digital art in 2009 and just like with oil painting I fell in love with it.

Art is my life saver, it's why I get up in the morning and stay up all night. I try and learn new things all the time and grow everyday.

I have an artist page on Facebook if you would like to see more of my art. Thanks and keep creating
Here is a sample of Bernice's lovely art:


If you are interested in being a Featured Artist at Creative Souls please visit our Featured Artist Thread

Le Mer

Come to me my love
into this sea you have woven within me
the bright and florid depths
filled with salty issues i have wept.

Come to me my love
and sing sirenically
of shores not yet spoken
and dreams not yet broken
of an oceans rhapsody.

Come to me my love
in the sway of each ebbing tide
shot with loves light
the arrows of our sweet delight
illuminating all the world inside.

Come to me my love
leap upon the bow waves of this rolling flame
the ever living play of passions fervent game
two dolphins swept upon each other
to slide in languid motions
through the depths, my silken lover.

Come to me my love
the swirling maelstrom of your grip
born between the tidal constancy and rip
shorn of every tether you have known
blown into the stormy heart that we've sown.

Come to me my love
sway in languid lengths of bliss
the delicate dance of your lovers kiss
to tangle dulces limbs desire
entwined within each other's fire.

Come to me my love
and i will sing to you of sea's
the shanties that do mermaids please
of pirate chests and crackens roar
the dragons rests, and fathoms more
in dulcet tones of evening breeze.

Come to me my love
upon a mirror's surface
and watch the flash of green
disappear into the depths unseen
Apollo in his resting place
and we on sands in sweet embrace.

Come to me my love
and never be apart
gambol in our playful waves
my one immortal heart
then we shall swim eternally
into this loving sea
in elegance and beauty
True Love entwined and free.


Richard Michael Parker

CREATIVE SOULS MAGAZINE
 Our new Creative Souls Magazine will be coming out soon! A creative team has been organized to put the magazine together, and they are now awaiting your submissions. If you have artwork or articles that you would like to submit for consideration please don't hesitate to send in your submissions now!

CREATIVE SOULS PUBLISHING

To announce some very BIG NEWS here at Creative Souls, here is a note from Richard Michael Parker, CS Admin

I want to welcome you all to Creative Souls Publishing Ltd, the Publishing arm of Creative Souls. In the coming weeks I hope that you will share in the experience of the workings and construction of a new form of publishing, using an innovative Business Model, that has not as yet been seen in the free market. This is the dawning of a brand new day, and a brand new way of doing business, Creatively. Welcome!

In the Next couple of weeks, we will have our own Publishing arm, and a shop front from which to sell our creations. It is hoped that we might be able to tap into the vast creative storehouse we have available together, to create something special, from which everyone can benefit. A full team of professionals have been employed to make this a successful venture, and a Limited Liability company has been set up to ensure its smooth running.

The model should allow for a generous royalty to be paid to contributing members in each of the projects, along with a profit sharing scheme of 9% of net profits, for those involved in each Creative Souls project. A modest contribution of profits of 1% will be retained from net profits for Creative Souls Publishing, with 90% of net profits being donated to Charity. The running costs of the Publishing company will of course be taken into consideration before net profit is calculated.

There is so much Creative potential here for Ebooks, Books, and other arts and crafts 'How too's', that it was about time we spread our wings a little and allowed Creative Souls to fly a little. Other sites, authors, workshops, and events will also be able to advertise and sell products through the shop for a modest fee, or in most cases simply a modest cut of the sale price of the items. So given the business model, with 90% of CSP's net profits being donated to Charity, it is hoped many artists and authors will find this an attractive opportunity, not just ethically, but also financially.

We look forward to working with everyone in a Collaborative and Creative manner, to make Creative Souls a community of true creativity that puts the Soul back into the Marketplace.


Please take a moment and stop by our new Creative Souls Publishing BLOG. See you there!

REMINDERS

Stay in touch with Creative Souls and Creative Souls Publishing on Youtube, Twitter, or Facebook. We also have our newly-created Creative Souls Community Blog for more general news. We have a full spring and summer planned, and our new shop will be opening very soon ~ more information will be available on the site and these links regarding selling items through the shop in the very near future. So please stay up-to-date by visiting our links :)

PROMOTE YOURSELF!
Our first Self Promotion Tuesday was a great success! Many new and inspiring artistic creations were seen by your fellow artists, so mark your calendars, and remember that every TUESDAY is the chance for you to self promote your work on the Creative Souls Fan Page. You can still promote your work on the main Ning site, on the Self Promotion Discussion Section. Many of our artists are taking advantage of this, and it is a great way to show others what you are doing and what you have to sell and share... so don't be shy, be seen!

MORE EXCITING EVENTS
Thanks to everyone who took part in our monthly Soulful Self Portrait Challenge, "You and Your shadow". We had some incredible entries, and are looking forward to receiving more entries in our 6th challenge 'Soles for Souls', come join us in this creative and fun event.

Heads up for CS member Michael deMeng's newest class offering. Creative Souls members will receive a special discount when enrolling for this class. Visit this link for all the details - Michael's classes are always informative and lots of fun!

http://creativesouls.ning.com/forum/topics/micheal-demeng-newest-online


Here is a slightly more comprehensive list of upcoming events
Take a look and see what's happening in the Arts community ~ don't miss out!

Announcements:
 If you would like to make an ARTS announcement to our community of 3000+ artists, please visit the Announcements message board. Remember, you have to be heard to be seen! :)

Wishing everyone a very Happy Springtime! Your friends at Creative Souls

No comments:

Post a Comment