Brand new website!

 

It has been a while in the making, but I've now posted the new version of the  Jim Harper Designs website out on the Internet. 

This is the first major update to my site in far too long. In the interim, website design has changed dramatically.

Now, a large percentage of people surfing the web do it via smartphones. While in the "old" days one laid out webpages assuming they would be viewed on a standard computer-based browser, that type of design causes the smart-phone user especially to have to view the verbiage in such a small font size as to render it almost unreadable.

The  the updated site is created with a responsive design at its core. I eschewed using a CMS system (e.g., WordPress, Square Space, Joomla) for this particular project, for a "hand-coded" site using a Bootstrap base, just to show some coding savvy for those who are looking for a website designer. I have done work in a number of CMS systems including WordPress, Square Space, Joomla--the Bound for Glory radio show site I run is built on WordPress, so I have those skills as well. A good designer, even if designing on a CMS system, should know what is "under the hood" to be able to customize the site for their client's needs. 

The home page features my little cartoon character, Sylvester K. Nordlefink taking a walk, and an interactive graphic at the top that also acts as the website's main menu. I had originally designed this "you gotta have art" menu ten years ago, and had used a html image map to create it, but the new version utilizes an SVG graphic that allows for greater interactivity. SVGs are less likely to be depreciated as accepted html code than image maps in the near term, and have the ability to resize to fit whatever screen you are viewing it on.

There are a number of other features built into the site, including the "accordion" style of page layout on my Graphic Design page. I have over a 150 images just on that page, and I needed to figure out how to make all of that work without making the page too long or overwhelming. The accordion layout did the trick.

Most of the images as on that page I also created as thumbnails--that pop up a closeup view when clicking on them--that also saved space and loading time.

I also took some time to work on some of the "hidden" features of websites--optimizing the site for search engines (commonly known as SEO). Responsive design, "alt" tags for all the images, Open Graph meta tags, and more help bring sites up in the rankings.

Ir rook a month and a half to pull everything together and get it all coded, and there are a lot more features that I hope to add in the future, but for now it was time to get it out the door. Hope you enjoy, and please send me feedback!

25th Annual Juried Photography Show at State of the Art Gallery

My work "Time Eagle" is in The 25th Annual Juried Photography Show at State of the Art Gallery. Opening night reception on Friday, March 7, 2014 from 5-8pm at the gallery. Show dates are Wednesday, March 5 through Sunday, March 30, 2014.

State of the Art Photo Show

I have a photograph in the State of the Art Gallery's Photo Show, opening tonight! http://soag.org/

2013 Photo Show at Cooperative Gallery 213

Here are a couple of shots of the fine exhibit at the 2nd Bob Johnston Photography Exhibit & Competition, January 4-26, 2013, at the Cooperative Gallery 213, 213 State Street, Binghamton, NY. I've got three of my pieces in the show.

Cooperative Gallery 213 Holiday Show 2012

Here was the scene tonight (Dec. 6, 2012) at the Artist's Reception at the Cooperative Gallery 213's Holiday Show. I have six pieces in this show, four of which you can (barely!) see here, two of my small oil pastels on the far wall, and two of my "Me" series photos in the center display wall. — at Cooperative Gallery 213, 213 State St., Binghamton, NY.

Check out my work on Fine Art America

I've been adding to the artwork available on my site on Fine Art America, and you can now see my whole Flora series--and purchase prints, framed prints, and greeting cards right through the site. You can see a wide selection of flora prints on Fine Art America. Check it out!

Cooperative Gallery 213 Show

Just dropped off a bunch of work for the Annual Holiday Show at the Cooperative Gallery 213, 213 State Street (between Henry & Lewis Streets) in downtown Binghamton. The Gala Artists' Reception is Thursday December 6, 2012, 7 - 9 pm, the First Friday Gallery Tour Dec. 7th, 3 - 9 pm, and the Closing Reception Dec. 22nd 12- 4 pm. Come see all the great work and help support your local artists this holiday season!

State of the Art Gallery Annual Photo Show

Come see my new work "Me(2)" at the State of the Art Gallery's 23rd Annual Juried Photo Show. Opening reception on Gallery Night Ithaca, Friday, March 2, 2012. The show runs from 2/29 to 4/1, (State of the Art Gallery, 120 State Street, Ithaca, NY) http://soag.org

Shows in December

Come see my artwork all December at the annual Juried Show at the State of the Art Gallery, the Holiday Show at Community School of Music & Arts (both in Ithaca), the annual Members Show at Cooperative Gallery 213 in Binghamton, and the 12x12<150 show at The ARTS in Corning.

Photos from my booth at the 2011 Ithaca Artists Market

Ithaca Artists Market

I'm going to be showing my paintings this year at booth 20 at the Ithaca Artists Market. The show is on Friday, July 29, 2011 from 2 pm to 8 pm at the Ithaca Farmers Market location on Steamboat Landing in Ithaca, NY. Lots of great artwork, great food, and other arts-related booths! Besides my paintings, I'm working on bringing a bunch of never-before-offered-for-sale drawings and watercolors, as well as a new selection of greeting cards. So come by the booth and say hello!

The full Sketchbook is now online

The Art House Co-op was besieged (in a good way!) with entries for their 2011 Sketchbook Project, and besides taking all of the almost 10,000 sketchbooks on a cross-country tour (my sketchbook has been viewed in Austin, Portland, Atlanta, and at their home-base in Brooklyn), they also committed to scanning all of the sketchbooks in so they can be viewed online. Mine is finally up, and you can see the whole book at www.arthousecoop.com/users/jimharper3/artwork. The theme of my book (there were a number of themes suggested by the Art House Co-op) is "First thing in the morning, last thing at night". The sketch pictured is of the State Street Theater in Ithaca, NY.

East Shore Festival of the Arts

This Friday (May 13, 2011) is the opening of the East Shore Festival of the Arts, at the Lansing Town Hall (29 Auburn Rd (Route 34/34B), Lansing, NY). The opening reception will be from 6-9pm on Friday. Lots to do, see, and hear--art, film, food (including wine and chocolate tastings!), music, and more. The exhibit (which includes one of my Flora Series paintings) runs from May 13-July 18, 2011.

Sylvester K. Nordlefink

The latest news from the workshop is the start of my "new" comic strip "Sylvester K. Nordlefink". Sylvester is not new, however. I've been drawing him for many years now--if you have a greeting card from me with one of my Sylvester drawings on it, it might be worth something someday, maybe you should hold on to it! Sylvester first started appearing back in the late 1970s. This is my first attempt at putting him into comic strip form, and I'm not quite sure of the frequency yet.

Gaia Grrrls Exhibit at Binghamton City Hall

I have my painting, "Flora Series, No. 6" right now at the "Our Priceless Planet" exhibit being put on by the Gaia Grrrls at the Binghamton, NY, City Hall. The exhibit runs from March 4 through April 29, 2011. Along with the painting goes a statement about the work which I'm posting here so you can get a chance to read it even if you can't make the exhibit:

Sitting on a hill in Norway many years ago I realized most intensely what it meant to be a human on this small planet. As I placed my hands on the cool granite, I could feel the roots of it stretching right to core of the planet. I realized that no grand skyscraper, no massive man-made earthwork, indeed nothing that a human hand could ever make, could ever match the magnitude of the scope, depth and complexity of this planet.

Every day I wake...and look at the world around me. I see the movement of whole continents—only alluded to by the earthquakes that can, in an instant, destroy a city that has taken millions of human hands hundreds of years to build. I see oceans of water sucked into the sky and brought down again in great floods. The strength of nature—rock, water, fire, and air—is greater than anything man will ever create.

Every day I wake...and I also see the amazing flight of a sparrow—weaving its way on unseen zephyrs. The glitter of sunlight on the water—both directed by and, at the same time, refashioning its path through deep gorges. The beauty of a flower-—magnificent in both form and endless variation. Even at the smallest level of detail I see amazing structures and endless variations on a theme.

Whether one looks at the macro scale or the micro one, the wonders of this planet are overwhelming. The billion variations of living beings—self-directed, self-evolving, totally dependent on each other—dance throughout their lives intertwined with each other. We have only the vaguest guess of the complexity within. It is almost beyond the grasp of human imagination to understand just how the health of a single one-celled organism, or the contaminants contained in even a single teaspoon of water, spells out our fate as much as a major hurricane or a hurtling meteor could.

My artwork is a constant exploration of these wonders. The forms and shapes of nature, the colors, the complexity and endless variations are all my inspirations. To see a field of flowers is magnificent, but to get down on your hands and knees and thoroughly explore the astonishing beauty and complexity of just one single petal starts you on the road to a greater understanding of how important it is to stop and think how our actions affect everything on the planet. Even more important is to realize how each action we do can come back on us a hundred-fold.

The intense blue of the sky that hugs our planet, and the endless variations of the blues in single flower, will always be more beautiful and more precious than the deadly glow of a gas flame.

Vote for me

As promised, here is the link where you can see and vote on my entry to Consumer Union's "Dangers of Debt Image Contest" on Facebook: http://apps.facebook.com/dangersofdebt/contests/76203 My entry is entitled "Credit Trap".

The Sketchbook Project

I've just gotten word that my sketchbook has been checked into the Brooklyn Art Library. My entry is one of over 10,000 which are in "The Sketchbook Project" which was organized by The Art House Co-op in Brooklyn. All the sketchbooks will be available to be viewed at the library, except when they will be on tour! They will be leaving Brooklyn to travel to cities all over the U.S. this spring. I'll be posting some of the sketches from my book, as well as tour dates, soon. Meanwhile, you can visit my page on the Art House Co-op site at: arthousecoop.com/users/jimharper3

Credit Trap

The drawing about credit cards is finished, and I've sent it off to be judged. I'll send a link where you can view it, and vote on it, in a few days.

And away we go...

So this is the standard first blog post: "This is my new blog and I don't have anything to say yet." I don't see why I should deviate from established standards.

I am working on updating my Web site (www.jimharperdesigns.com) and I've decided I'll try creating the News page on Blogger, and this is the result.

I am an artist, and right now I'm working on an drawing about credit cards. Yeah, I know. They're flat and plastic--whoopie. I think I've got some good ideas for it, we'll see how it turns out.

If you're interested in seeing some of my work in person, I have two paintings from my Flora series in The ARTS down in Corning, NY, right now, and I'm one of the artists in the Sketchbook Project 2011, put on by the Art House Co-op in Brooklyn, NY. I haven't heard that they've gotten it yet, but I know it's probably one of those thousands which are sitting in mailbags waiting to be opened.