A Year Ago April

In April of last year I was immersed in a painting for my friend’s 10th wedding anniversary. I really wanted to be able to show off the end result, and really had no way to do so. My website was seriously out of date, and reconfiguring it was likely to be a Herculean task. I didn’t even know what I needed to know.
I did not blog, nor did I know what a ‘blog roll’ was. (I did know that blogs were often a good source of various kinds of information.) I was not on facebook. I did not ‘tweet’ but I had spent some time on Twitter trying to figure it out. I did not know what a tiny URL or a bit.ly was. I did not know how to Share or AddThis. I had seen videos on You Tube, but didn’t realize you could collect them all in your own little ‘channel’. I had tried flickr, but wasn’t really aware of its possibilities.
In June of 2009 the Grand Experiment began with this blog. I intended to highlight artwork other than my paintings while researching new website possibilities. I joined facebook, and figured that out, sorta. I got an Open ID. I started tweeting as ‘moonflowrstudio’ (had to leave a vowel out due to character limits).(Ironically, there's no limit to the characters you can find there). I read blogs and tutorials on building websites. I downloaded software. I investigated limitless possibilities.
It took 3 serious failures, but I did manage to launch a new moonflowerstudio site in October. There are still things to tweak, but all in all, I am proud of it. When I step back and survey the little ‘moon-i-verse’ I have put together I find myself pondering. Where do I go from here…?
Ancora Imparo: I am still learning...
…I don’t have to decide for now…it's Saturday

I Blog, Therefore I Am

I seem to have too many ideas for one head. My right brain and left brain seem to have very different agendas, and I am oddly caught in the middle. The inner geek , despite lack of confidence and experience, has the challenge of mastering the fine points of website building. Well, yeah, I could hire someone. But how would I find someone who would understand the other part of this endeavor. That would be design, and they’d have to answer to the right side of my brain. I keep looking at the computer screen like it’s a canvas or a sketch pad. Which in and of itself is not a bad thing. But while I know what to do with a brush or pens or crayons et al, all I have to work with is these funny little buttons on a keyboard. I have spent this entire summer exploring what is truly within the realm of my possibilities. Some of it has been surprisingly easy; other ventures have left me vexed beyond my capacities. All of it has eaten away at my time and energy. Much of it has caused neglect to other priorities. You should see what’s piled up on my kitchen table. Um, no, you probably should not.
But there has been progress, and I have produced evidence to prove it. And I have also learned something besides the building of websites. Blogging is more than a journal. It has a therapeutic value in that it can help sift through the chaos, clarify some of the thoughts. I’m not sure if that is a left brain accomplishment, or an actual collaboration between both the right and left hemispheres. I am wondering if any other artists /bloggers have noticed this effect. Feel free to leave a comment and let me know what YOU think!