Monday's agriculture website of interest: AGRICULTURE FACTS

Today's website of agriculture focus to share is the agriculture facts site from NC State University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. This site shares with users some basic information about farming and agriculture in the United States. One of their facts is "Of each dollar spent on food, the farmer's share is approximately 23 cents."

Cow Art and More artist featured in Florida design magazine

Cow Art and More artist Robin Maria Pedrero is one of the featured artists this month in Florida International Magazine's Art and Design issue. The feature includes emerging and established artists. This magazine serves an upscale, educated and well-traveled consumer, showcasing only the highest quality editorial content and advertisers. You can see Robin's information on page 68 of the online version of the magazine.

A conversation with Amanda Raithel: Part 11

What else do you do besides your art?

I work full time on a registered Angus farm called Herbster Angus Farms. My husband and I manage 200 momma cows. We also do a bit of team roping on the side when the cows are content.

Friday's website of interest to art enthusiasts: THE ART AND ANTIQUES DEALERS LEAGUE OF AMERICA

Knowing that many of the readers of this blog enjoy antiques and heirloom art, today's website of interest is the Art and Antiques Dealers' League of America. The Art and Antique Dealers League of America, Inc. is the oldest and principal antiques and fine arts organization in America. This group assists buyers in finding, purchasing and appraising works of antique art.

As a nonprofit membership organization, it is devoted exclusively to the best interests of dealers and buyers of antiques and works of art, and to the encouragement of educational and cultural activities in the arts generally. Each dealer member must be well-established, with art objects of the highest quality. Each member subscribes to and strictly observes the league's code of ethics.

Giving Thanks

On this Thanksgiving Day, I wanted to specifically thank all the farmers who helped to provide the meal for myself and many millions of Americans on this day. Regardless of what specifically you are eating on this day, human hands were necessary to grow, produce and process your meal. Farmers come in many forms, small to large, animals to produce, organic to conventional, in all parts of the country. Thanks to all of you for what you do!

Along that line, I would also like to take a moment and thank Michelle Payn-Knoper (@mpaynknoper on twitter) for organizing agriculture folks on Tuesday nights for the #agchat and #foodchat conversations. She has provided a platform for people with varying agriculture backgrounds and interests to come together and converse and debate about agriculture topics. I urge all of you out there to vote for her as the Mashable twitter user of the year. She's up against several big name celebrities and needs our daily votes to help her win!

A conversation with Amanda Raithel: Part 10

What advice to you have for aspiring artists?

• Work hard and practice.
  
• Find a niche market.
  
• Don't give up when you are rejected; art is subjective, and a champion of your work may be just around the corner.
  
• Try new techniques and talk to your peers in art whenever possible.

A conversation with Amanda Raithel: Part 9

What would you like to do more of in the future?

I'd like to work on a bigger scale and do more horse pieces in the future.

Picture credit: "Is He Lookin' Dad?", pencil on paper

Click here to learn more about this cow art show steer drawing