Sweetness & Light

Many new bloggers have asked where/how to collect images if they don't have huge piles of magazines & books, etc. If you look at the beginnings of both blogs, you will see that I didn't know much. (OK, anything. It still looks clueless but lacking tech funds does not help.) The following is in no way all-inclusive. So many people I link to here & on Giulia Geranium (& on the back of blogger profile) are excellent resources.

Canadian illustrator Lori Langille's automatism blog is an excellent place to be inspired but also to see attribution etiquette in best practice mode. I turned to Lori in December 2008, a few months into Giulia Geranium, for permission to use a personal vintage Marie Claire Maison scan. Lori is also the brains & talent behind the Benevolent Postcard Society, of which I am a proud if not very imaginative member.

Sweetness and Light is a relatively new label on automatism. Lori kindly linked to bricolage a few weeks back. She did so through Pinterest (via Facebook). Before the usual outpouring of Facebook-hate, listen up. I'm not that active on Facebook & you don't need to be. Remember that about any social network. No one said you have to update constantly. In fact, unless you are hilarious (& it's not just your mother who thinks so), I beg you not to. Still, it's your right to do as you wish & I'll adjust my settings accordingly. I'm sure the few who follow me on Twitter are dismayed by my bummer re-tweets. C'est la guerre.

Tina Tarnoff's Thought Patterns is wonderful, just as you'd imagine any artist of her talent would be. Visit often. You'll see such a variety of images & Tina's thoughts about them, where she found them, etc. She's always helpful & generous.

Sarai of Colette Patterns posted a very clear & helpful tools on the web for cataloging. It's now my go-to link to send to folks asking for advice.

I just realized as I was to hit 'publish' that there's an important category of photography/images that I use. That has to do with humanitarian, animal welfare, & other goody-two shoes stuff of which I am rightly accused. That will have to be another post because it's more complicated (of course it is, sigh, why wouldn't it be?) But if you need something right now go to IRIN (humanitarian news & analysis via UN) & register for fair-use photographs.

(Photograph is by windswept ribbons via audrey hepburn complex)