Saturday Sharing (My Finds Are Yours)

This week indulge in nature sounds, ideas, visual thinking, music-making, and art-making; then, for good measure, take in the exhibition "Real Venice", all courtesy of this week's new edition of Saturday Sharing.

✦ Looking for a recording of bird, insect, reptile, or other animal sounds? Naturesongs offers a library of sounds for your listening pleasure. You'll also find nature photos on the site. Naturesongs licenses its copyrighted sounds and will supply custom audio feeds for educational, commercial, and personal use.

✦ Audio lectures on creativity, artists, Christianity, culture, and related subjects are available to download at L'Abri ideas library. One of the site's major offerings is a collection of recorded lectures and discussions by Christian theologian and philosopher Francis Schaeffer. (My thanks to ArtWay for the link to this wonderful resource.)

L'Abri Fellowship International

✦ Information and tools for thinking and communicating more visually are available at the Visual Practitioner, home of the International Forum of Visual Practitioners. 

The Visual Practitioner on Twitter

✦ ArtistShare provides the means for musicians to fund their recording projects directly through their fan base. The fans, in return, gain access to the artists' creative processes. Founder and CEO Brian Camelio describes ArtistShare as "part record label, part social networking, part new media marketing and promotion, and part business consultation site." ArtistShare's mission is "to ensure the creation of new art and music". It's a unique and so far quite successful business and artistic model. Here's an overview with Camelio:

BBC News Feature on ArtistShare

✦ Efforts to save the great city of Venice, Italy, have been ongoing since the unforgettable floods of 1966 and now include initiatives to counter other threats, such as pollution and tourism. You can learn about the wide range of research and restoration projects at Venice in Peril. 

In association with Venice in Peril, 14 major international artists created and donated commissioned work, all photographic images of Venice, for an benefit exhibition, "Real Venice", which continues through September 30 at Abbey of San Giorgio Maggiore, Island of San Giorgio. Some of the work will be auctioned in London in November and other pieces will be sold privately or through galleries, with proceeds going to the Venice in Peril Fund. An international tour also is planned. Participating artists include Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Nan Goldin, Candida Hofer, Robert Walker, and Hiroshi Watanabe. See the full group here. A catalogue is available for purchase in English-Italian and English-Spanish editions.

Real Venice from ikono tv on Vimeo.

Selection of Exhibition Photographs (Installation Shots)

✦ On Art Babble, you will find a wonderful, informative series from The Getty Museum titled Making Art. This one explains the wet collodian photographic process, which was invented in 1851 and until about 1880 was a preferred method for producing detailed prints.

Other videos in the series: Making Manuscripts, The Structure of a Medieval Manuscript, Making a Spanish Polychrome Sculpture, Making Greek Vases, Unlocking an 18th Century French Mechanical Table, and the Art of Gem Carving. All are excellent and worth your time.