johndugdale.net

When most people think about art, they usually consider sight to be a prerequisite for creating great art, but nothing could be further from the truth.  The Blind Artist’s Society seeks to shatter this myth by providing resources for artists who are visually handicapped to get their art recognized.  Another purpose of the foundation is to help promote research in the field of retina study to hopefully one day provide a cure for blindness.  Many of the artists sponsored by the Blind Artist’s Society have had their works on display in various public forums.

The Blind Artist’s Society also works with artists that have lost their vision due to a variety of degenerative illnesses.  They provide support groups, since coping with the loss of vision when you work in an industry where it plays such a large role can be quite hard at first.  Many of the artists are still able to continue their work, but usually not at the level they previously produced at.  Some of the artists still continue to teach art classes despite severe vision loss.  One example of this is Joan Slocum.

Slocum’s vision became severely impaired after eye surgery to the point that she was only able to see hazy outlines of objects and people.  The emotional support provided to her by the Blind Artist’s Society after her vision loss was essential in helping her continue to work in the field she loves so much.

The Blind Artist’s Society provides much in the way of advocacy and providing informational and emotional support to artist who have suffered vision loss.  If you find yourself in those circumstances, or know someone who could use the support, why not reach out to the Blind Artist’s Society?

A question commonly asked of those who have been blind all their lives is, “If you could see, what would you most like to see?”  The various responses that this question elicits became the subject of an art exhibit in Wyoming.  Formerly blind individuals who had received transplants from eye donors were asked to contribute art to the exhibit entitled “Circle of Light.”  The task was simple; the individuals were given cameras and told to take pictures of the things that they were most grateful their restored vision now allowed them to see.

The images in the exhibit varied greatly from pictures of family and friends to animals and cityscapes.  The importance of what restored vision brings back to a person’s life was clearly highlighted throughout the exhibit.  Eye replacement centers around the world help thousands every year to restore their sight, and see the world through new eyes.  Art exhibits like the one in Wyoming help to bring the cause of these centers to the forefront in the minds of many who simply assume that blindness is a disease that cannot be fixed.  During the exhibition, representatives from the Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank were on hand to discuss eye transplants and how they have changed people’s lives.

If you would like to assist in the work that eye banks accomplish, there are a number of ways to do so.  One important way is by becoming an organ donor.  Most of the eye transplants that take place are due to the donation of an organ donor.  You can also support research to advance eye transplant methods.

Researchers are always making advancements in methods toward using genes to treat and cure a variety of illnesses.  Most of the focus is on gene therapy to treat diseases like cancer and heart problems, but researchers are looking for genes that could help those who suffer from blindness have found some promising results.  Many who suffer from blindness have a genetic predisposition towards blindness.  Researchers at the University of Miami isolated a number of genes thought to be responsible for blindness.  It was found that some families that are obviously predisposed towards blindness did not have any of those genes though.

Using a new technology called whole exome sequencing, researchers were able to find that one of the isolated genes actually is present in the majority of families with a predisposition towards blindness.  The new technology allows researchers to better decode the part of the genome that produces proteins in the body.  Once researchers have been able to solidly confirm the genes that cause blindness, research can move on to the area of adjusting that gene in order to reverse blindness.  It is hoped that this new discovery will allow scientists to make real progress in developing a gene therapy for blindness.

With millions of people suffering from genetically linked blindness this is an important advancement in the field of genetic therapies to treat blindness.  Every year companies and governments spend billions on gene research.  It is good to see that it is being directed to good purposes that may eventually result in the reversal of blindness for many who suffer from the disease as a result of genetic defect.  Gene therapy also holds an amazing amount of promise in treating many other genetic disorders as well.

John grew up on the lake as a kid. He and his family lived there year round and commuted into town for school and work and any extracurricular activities. John was like a fish in the water from his first summer of life. John came along late in life for his folks. He was a surprise of sorts. He was an only child and enjoyed a life of constantly being doted on by his mom and dad. He knew everything there was to know about the water. His dad had carefully taught him how to respect the water, to take care of it and enjoy it. John loved it so much that when the time came to make career decisions he knew he wanted to work in environmental conservation.

After college, John started a position out of state. It was his desire to get a position closer to home, but time passed and he moved up the chain of command in his office. He was an excellent supervisor because he was hands-on. He spent more time in the field than in the office. His employees appreciated that about him and it made his job easier. He started environmental education camps for kids to teach them the things that were taught to him by his dad. He went home to see his folks as often as he could. They were so proud of the man he had become.

John’s parents died within months of each other. It was not completely unexpected to John, but he was overwhelmed with grief. He quickly transferred to a position back home and spent his days going through his past piece by piece in his parents home. At night he would play fancybingo to clear his mind and pass the time. He enjoyed fishing trips out on the lake. He always picked up his dad’s fishing pole, it made him feel closer to him. Being in the lake house brought him great joy. His grief grew into fond memories and when it came time to decide whether to sell his home another state away or his family’s house on the lake he knew exactly what to do.

John sold his home and moved back into his parents’ lake house. He made it his own and sprinkled bits and pieces of their memories throughout the house. He felt proud of himself for finding peace here instead of anguish. This was his home and he was proud of it. He worked during the week and took on teaching at mini-camps on the weekends. He fished every chance of daylight he could and played sing bingo and costa bingo in his chair at night as he watched the late shows on television. John felt his life was good.

A few months passed and John was offered a management position like he had held before he moved back home. He gladly took the promotion knowing that it meant he would spend his days on his beloved lake. He knew his parents would be so proud of him!  Often times, he would kick back and play landmark bingo after a long day at work.  He dreamed of winning one of those multi-million dollar bingo bonuses he saw advertised so he could quit working and fish all day long.

You can find art in practically anything.  In fact, some of the most beautiful pieces of art that I have ever seen were not in a gallery, but in an everyday situation.  You might be taking your dog for a walk and see a beautiful flower that catches your eye.  Maybe you are checking the mail and you see the leaves on an old oak tree start to sway in the breeze. Whatever it may be, find a way to capture that art in a permanent way.  Turn it into a sketch, a painting, or a sculpture.  I sometimes capture these moments with my camera and then I put them into an album that I use to collect inspiration for later projects.

One time I found inspiration in a really unexpected place while I was surfing the internet.  I saw an ad that was telling people to play bingo online and the bright colors caught my eye.  Something about the way the oranges mingled with the reds on that silly internet banner got me to thinking about how those colors would look merged together on canvas.  I decided to start checking out some of the internet bingo sites to see if I could get any more ideas.

I spent the next five hours surfing the various bingo sites and I found a lot of inspiration. In fact, one of my best paintings was finished that following week using the bright color combinations that I found on CityBingo after I clicked on that advertisement.  Surprisingly, I didn’t just walk away with a new painting idea, but I found a hobby that helped me relax before I painted.

When I first visited the sites, I wasn’t planning to play any of the games, but I found out that you could play bingo online for free and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to at least try.  Everyone knows that artists need all the extra income they can get so I decided to play for awhile.  I haven’t won a jackpot, but I did discover a hobby that helps me calm my mind and prepare to paint.  Now playing bingo is just a regular thing that I do each week and I really enjoy it.

Web design in the Midwest is the best of all worlds.  You have designers who don’t expect Silicon Valley prices and who give better work than third world countries.  This is the very definition of value in website design!

If are shopping for a Appleton website design team to build your site, you will be dealing with people who have Appleton, WI costs of living and not insane California prices.  You also will be dealing with people with American values and a strong work ethic and so you can expect American standards as opposed to what you would expect coming from the third world.

In addition, for those of us living around this area, it’s much easier to meet with, say, a web design Milwaukee WI team and discuss the finer details of a project than it would be to talk with someone from California or Mexico.

You will get someone more likely to understand your business model too.  If, for example, you have a micro brewery and you go with an Eau Claire website design team, you will get someone who likely has a good feel for beer and the culture surrounding it.  If your business is around Madison and you hire a professional from this area, you will get someone who knows what your clientele are familiar with and can build your site with that in mind.  The same is true for Chicago website designers as well.

This is not to say that you can’t go to more expensive areas of the country or even overseas for your website needs.  You can go to Tijuana for your website design just as easily as you can go there to have your teeth worked on. In fact, it’s even easier – you have to appear in person for dentistry.  The only problem is that, while teeth and tooth care are pretty universal, the vagaries of what works in a particular region to garner sales are not.

It is just that here you don’t have to settle for a trade off of quality for price.  You don’t have to deal with people who barely understand what you are saying and can not relate to what your business is doing or how your customers will react to various ideas.  You can get real value!  So why would you settle for less?

The new trend among smokers is to use electronic cigarettes.  These products are better for your health and they come in a variety of flavors which make them more fun to use.  While millions of people use these products, here are five specific groups who are frequently buying the best e-cigs.  These are also five people that will commonly use 10% off coupons to buy their e-cigs at a reduced price.  Many of these people also frequently visit the review site, ElectronicCigarettesReviews.net to get the most up-to-date e-cig coupons available.

1. The Quitter
People wow ant to quit smoking all together love using Smoke Tip electronic cigarettes.  They can buy the starter kit with the cartomizer and then choose refills with various nicotine levels. Over time, they gradually decrease the amount of nicotine they are using to break the chains of addiction.  Eventually, they will quit smoking all together, but they will never suffer from the painful withdrawals that come along with the usual experience of kicking the habit.

2. The Parent
According to e-cig reviews, parents love the option of electronic cigarettes. Because these products have no second hand smoke, they can stop worrying about the risk to their children.  When a parent smokes Blu e-cigs, they are not subjecting their children to the dangerous exposure to toxic cancer causing smoke.

3. The Environmentalist
According to Green Smoke reviews, people love that they can smoke without harming the environment using e-cigs.  There are no harmful smoke byproducts coming from these cigarettes.  There is also less trash produced from the habit since you reuse the e-cigarette over and over and just recharge it as needed and by refills of your nicotine.  These refills can be even less expensive when you use a Blu Cigs discount coupon with your refill purchase.

4. The Closet Smoker
Smoking e-cigs is discreet because there is no nasty smell to the give away your secret habit.  So you can use that Safe Cig coupon and not have to worry that your co-workers can smell the smoke rolling off of you.  Electronic cigarettes are completely odorless so no one will ever suspect that you are enjoying a cigarette on your lunch break or after the kids are asleep at night.  You can even smoke indoors and no one will notice. You can also use a V2 cigs coupon code to make sure that you save big when you purchase the starter kit.

5. The Penny Pincher
With the help of electric cigarettes affiliate programs, you can smoke for practically no invested money. You can tell your customers to use the Premium discount code and they will thank you when they get a steep discount.  As you promote your favorite e-cig brands to friends, family, and online smokers, you can get credit towards your next purchase.

All five of these groups know that e-cigs have many advantages worth considering and the eSmoke coupon codes are quite a benefit.  You can try the electronic cigarette too by ordering a starter kit.  It comes equipped with everything you need to get started.

Art can be found in some of the most unexpected places when you look close enough to see it.  You can find art in places far beyond the walls of an art gallery if you are willing to think outside of the box.  Anything that stirs deep emotion or dreams within a person could be considered to be an art form.  Whether that is a special hobby like drawing, writing, or playing games, art comes in the experience more than the medium.  I recently encountered a subtle form of art through the world of online bingo.

I had logged on to the computer to play a few games to help me unwind when I visited a bingo review site.  I was reading about the various promotions going on and I suddenly started dreaming about how playing bingo could really change my life if I actually won a jackpot.  Only one successful round of Rolloverbingo could seriously deliver this starving artist from a pile of debt.  I figured it was worth a try and was surprised by what I found.

As I visited site after site where online bingo is available, I noticed a recurring theme.  People who play at foxybingo.com and Littlebigbingo all had one thing in common.  They were all looking for a way to improve their life.  They were choosing to see the beautiful potential in something as mundane as a simple bingo card full of random numbers.  As I started playing and hearing the stories of the people I was competing against, the artist in me started to get a little sentimental.

Isn’t this what art is all about in the first place?  Isn’t it about looking at something that most people find to be totally ordinary?  Only when you gaze at it, you see something exquisite and powerful, full of hope and evoking the deepest of emotions.  That is why online bingo is the most subtle form of art I have ever encountered, but it remains nonetheless.  Take some time to look for subtle art in the everyday life experiences you encounter.  Whether you are playing a game on the internet or walking through the supermarket, everyday experiences hold the potential to unleash powerful moments of artistic inspiration if you are walking in full awareness.