Summer creative IT crash course series, 6/23-7/28

This six-week series of free workshops will focus on practical application of intermediate computer skills for career development and personal advancement.

When: Mondays, June 23, 30, July 7, 14, 21, 28; 1:30 p.m.-3:15 p.m.
Where: Julia West House Workshops (www.juliawest.org), 2nd Floor Computer Lab, 522 SW 13th Ave, Portland 97205 (TriMet #15, #20; Portland Streetcar; MAX) -- The location is not wheelchair accessible; there is a steep and narrow staircase.

Instructor: Sarah A. Morrigan (Iridia Creative Productions, www.iridiacreative.summerhost.info)

Course outlines
Weeks 1-3: Basic website building and maintenance, with focus on HTML 4.01 and new HTML 5.0; how to use File Transfer Protocol (FTP) to upload contents; online privacy; search engine optimization (SEO); integration of website with weblogs and social networking applications.

Week 4: Experience the world, expand the horizons - finding multicultural resources and non-mainstream media from around the world; making use of no-cost educational opportunities such as Open Courseware (OCW) offered by many universities; free classic literature and reference materials on the web.

Week 5: Digital Creativity - Introductory, hands-on exploration on open-source creativity software such as Inkscape (vector drawing), Scribus (desktop publishing), Audacity (MP3 editing/podcasting), Skencil (image drawing), GIMP (graphic image manipulation/photograph editing), etc.

Week 6: Mindful, meaningful social networking - How to use popular social networking sites for career advancement and community building.

All six sessions are free. Due to limited space available pre-registration is highly encouraged. Contact Patty Warman at 503-222-6564.

Free public domain clip art by Sarah

Check out Sarah's new clip art... and best of all it is free for you to use. These pictures are all drawn with Inkscape 0.46 on ASUS Eee PC 900 running on Easy Peasy.

You are invited to an art fair this weekend.

The Episcopal Church has been in recent years very supportive of arts. Long before the emergent church movement rediscovered the value of arts in spirituality and communal worship, many Anglican parishes established art programs to connect children to art in the context of spiritual formation, to provide forum for emerging artists, and to better incorporate fine arts, music and performance arts in the life of the church.

In this spirit, Portland's Trinity Episcopal Cathedral (147 NW 19th Avenue) will be host to its ninth annual art festival. This year the show features over 95 artists.

This is also a good opportunity to personally meet many local artists and artisan crafters including Sarah.

Event details: http://www.trinity-episcopal.org/08TrinitySite/sections/music_arts/artists_among_us.html

Saturday-Sunday, May 9-10.

Iridia Creative Productions, the "corner store" of graphic communications: Strength in underserved markets

In a Google search alone there are literally thousands of graphic design firms in Portland, Oregon metropolitan area. Some are quite small, while there are a number of well-established firms in large Pearl District office spaces with many employees.

So why choose Iridia Creative Productions?

ICP primarily serves local and -- thanks to the power of the Internet -- global small or home business and community nonprofit markets. ICP is equipped to handle the necessary flexibility inherent in a human-sized business enterprise, in a way no big corporation can. ICP has a better capacity to spend more devoted time on each client -- where our clients are not merely "accounts" but actual human beings an artist relate on a ground level.

Here at ICP, I openly admit that this is not a "big-box store" of graphic design and visual communication. This is more like a corner convenience store -- so when a small business owner or local nonprofit executive needs a small project done quickly and done right, Iridia Creative Productions is the right place to contact.

Sarah Morrigan/Iridia Creative Productions artist presentation slideshow

PDF version of the slideshow

PowerPoint (required fonts: Gill Sans MT and Bodoni MT)

Window paintings and signage with class of elegance, artistry and whimsy

Updated information on Sarah's window paintings and signage services is now online: http://www.iridiacreative.summerhost.info/windowpaintings-and-signage.html

Pillar of Light

This is one of the three pieces inspired by the Filianic Scriptures.

Upon the Heaven are these words inscribed, the words of thy salvation. Upon the Heaven in signs of fire before the dawn of time. Upon the Crystal Tablet that passeth not away... The world is but a shadow, yet it is a shadow of Truth; and at the ending of the age shall the world be redeemed. Neither a leaf upon a bramble shall be lost, nor a blade of grass pass into nothingness. But thou, My child, of all the world, thou alone hast power to choose; and thus art thou called maid, for maid is she that hath the power of choosing. Fix then your will upon the Truth and your heart on the Spirit My Mother, for by your love shall the world be redeemed, even to the last blade of grass. In thy work praise Her and in thy resting, in thy speech and in thy silence. For thou wert made one with Her, and this is thy true estate. It is good for a maid to till the soil, but it is better to live with her Lady. It is good to build and to weave, but it is better to live with her Lady. It is good to serve maids in every way, but it is better to live with her Lady. She that liveth wholly with her Lady is the servant of all the world; no labour is so great as this, nor so greatly to be honoured. 

-- Pillar of Light

The verses are from the Madrian Scriptures.