A return to blogging

Hello and welcome back to my blog!

Thanks for coming back and for being so patient during the four months since my last post.

I think the blog break has been good for me and it has been nice to be free of obligation for a while. That said, I really miss the contact with everyone and I'm hoping to get back to a more regular routine of posting now.

Despite being four months since I last wrote, the work on our unit is still underway. It has started so that's great, but it's been more complicated than expected. Hence the repairs are going to cost more, and we're still living under the same conditions as we have been since February.

Brighton Pavillion

We made the decision to take ourselves out of this environment for a while and so in August, we headed overseas. We spent a month in Brighton in the south of England and one week in Paris. We chose Brighton because it gave us a seaside holiday surrounded by history in a very arty town, without the challenge of managing a foreign language. It's also only 50 minutes by train to London. The holiday worked well for us, and we came back feeling much brighter and with more energy, which is just as well, because as I said, things haven't gone entirely smoothly with the work.


Over the past months, I've also put some energy into trying to understand how I need to pace myself in order to conserve my energy. I've learnt that it's important to build up energy before I spend it, rather than being active first, letting myself become exhausted and then having to rest up and recover. That process takes a lot longer to return to zero, than if I rest before and build a reserve of energy to use. Of course this requires certain amount of planning, a certain amount of knowing what is coming up, and life doesn't always give you that warning, but where possible that's the way I'm trying to organise myself.

Beachy Head - famous "jumping off" spot in Quadrophenia

Also, using a few different assessment mechanisms I've worked out that my energy is about 25% of what might be thought of as "normal". That may seem depressing or disheartening, but in other ways it has been very freeing. Information is power, and just having that 25% figure in my head allows me to be a lot more realistic about what I can expect of myself. It allows me to rest pre-emptively and not feel guilty, which believe it or not isn't something I've really been very able to do before. I've always felt that I have to keep going until I feel exhausted and then, and only then, was it okay to stop and rest. Now I know that that's not the case.

Bex Hill

I think the other thing that it has allowed me to do is to be pretty ruthless when it comes to prioritising, and it's been a bit of a surprise to realise that I hadn't already been being ruthless in this. I have been prioritising for many, many years obviously as you have to when have a chronic  illness but now I am really getting down to that one or two, or maybe three things, that are absolutely essential and give me the most pleasure. Those are the things that I can and will choose to spend my time doing. 

For that reason, I have to say that I probably won't be blogging at the rate that I have been in the past. I've been thinking that perhaps it'll be more of a monthly update, with maybe a smaller post  in between that's mostly images if I'm being productive. I really hope that you'll understand this and that you won't feel let down, or that the blog is diminished by this. I considered actually stopping blogging all together, but I realised that I have made so many great friendships through my blog and that the exchange benefits from being mutual. I could just visit your blogs but sharing something of myself allows you to come and visit here as well and helps the relationship to develop greater depth. 

Book sculptures used in a window display in a clothes shop in Paris

 

I'm very happy to report that since I returned from overseas I have started being creative again. I've been finishing off some projects that stalled about 12 months ago, so I'll be sharing them in the next couple of posts, and I've also got some things to share with you from the trip overseas. I met up with a book artist in Brighton which was very exciting and saw some great stuff in London, so that's coming up in this space very soon.

Where to next?

 

I want to thank everybody who commented on my last post and shared their thoughts on blogging.

I thought it was really interesting to see how many people started off on a particular path and how their blog had evolved and changed course over time. It highlights one of the major features of blogging – the flexibility inherent in it, and the freedom we can therefore allow ourselves.

Those of you who did make a comment last time, you may be surprised (or not!?) to hear that I made notes from your replies and drew up a list of reasons for blogging.

I would say the most popular reason was the “conversation” or personal connections that participating in the blog-o-sphere allows us to make. This is certainly the main benefit for me, and it is one that I hadn’t predicted before I started blogging. It’s an ideal solution in that it allows artists, who are often introverts, to converse about art and overcome “studio isolation”.

A lot of other reasons described by you coincided with my own, in particular using the blog as a way to share work because I’m not comfortable with more traditional modes of marketing.

Some of your comments have started me thinking. For example, Fiona remarked how the blog allows her to speak in the 1st person, where she sees her website as more formal and a showcase for her finished work. Also, a number of you talked about using the blog to show works-in-progress or as a studio workbook/notebook. And Ronnie (as usual!) threw out the challenge with her comment about her decision to offer work on her blog under the freer copyright of creative commons.

So where does this leave me and this blog? Well, I’m not sure, but certainly still here.

I have started work on a website, and I feel that once that is up and providing a professional window on my work, I will probably feel more free to be creative here, to have some fun and allow this blog to be a little more organic and responsive to daily life. While this space is my sole professional face online, it does need to meet certain criteria (or I so I’ve thought). That said, I suspect any changes here will mostly be along the lines of a gentle pulling into shape, rather than any significant surgeries!

 

More soon!

Why do you blog? The million dollar question.

 

I’ve kind of fallen into a bit of a blogging funk – hence, the lag between posts.

Interestingly, I’ve noticed that I’m not the only one in the blogosphere who is feeling this way. One artist who blogs wonderfully, sharing her life and inspiring many, spoke about the possibility of opting for a monthly newsletter instead. 

110 comments later!!! she was left with no doubt that others still valued her blogging efforts most highly.

Loads of comments are definitely a wonderful reinforcement, (I love ‘em just as much as the next blogger) but my question is more about what you want to share in your blog and why. Yes, this actually is a question, I’d love to know!

I am sure that there are as many reasons to blog as there are bloggers, and they are probably all valid.

Originally I started out wanting to show what my life with cfs was like, without specifically describing symptoms or gory details too much; more of an illustration over time of what was lost and what was gained.

Next came my masters, and that seemed a worthy process to document in a blog. And since finishing that two-and-a-half years ago, I’ve been blogging about the art I make and see around me.

Earlier this year, I realized that while I am still learning (I’m sure I always will be) I have reached both an age and a stage where I wanted to share what I know. I’m not in a position where I can run classes or workshops, but I thought that perhaps the blog could be honed to work more in this way. By confining myself to posts that might interest book artists, and working a bit harder at the research background and structure of the posts, perhaps I could offer something worthwhile.

Unfortunately, that level of blogging isn’t always sustainable for me, and while it’s great fun while I have enough energy, it just becomes something else I feel guilty about leaving undone when I am unwell.

So just now, blogging has become a bit of a chore for me. I’ve thought about trying to turn each post into a piece of art in itself, rather like the beautiful posts on Speak Without My Voice and The Floating Bridge of Dreams. I’m still thinking about that option, but I can see problems with that too.

In the meantime, I know that after 5 years of writing in this space (yes, I’m amazed how long it is, too) I have built up a wonderful, inspiring, international network of bloggy-colleagues. You feel so much more than mere cyber-friends. You feel very, very real, and although I may be casting around for a direction for the blog just now, you can be sure that I will remain connected to you.

Watch this space!

An Epiphany

It is approaching two years since I started blogging, initially in fits and starts, but I think I can say I am a dedicated blogger now. I wanted to share with you something that I have realised through the blogging community - and that is, I am part of a group of people called artists.

In the past, I have had a tendency to think that only someone with a recognisable name could call themselves an artist. I think this idea developed in two ways. When I was growing up, it seemed that everyone my mother spoke about was "tops in their field". Occasionally she would refer to "the also rans", but obviously with derision. It seemed to me that if you weren't "tops in your field" then you just didn't rate a mention. You didn't exist.

So subconsciously, I felt that to be adequate, I had to be the best. I had to be known. But through the blog-o-sphere, I have realized that there is a huge pool of very talented people out there, whose lives revolve around art. They make art, they think about art, they show their work, they sell it, some even make their enitre living from art. They appear on Flickr, on Etsy, they have a blog and/or a website, some have work in local stores or galleries, some even send their work internationally. All these people are part of the community of artists. And some of these people connect with my work, and feel sufficiently moved to write and tell me so. And this is how I know that I am one of them.

For this I say a heartfelt thank-you to anyone who has left a comment for me, and especially to my regular visitors. I send you my love and warmest wishes across the land and sea. Merry Christmas!

Yay! An Award!

Many, many thanks go to cusp over at L'Ombre de mon Ombre for this much appreciated award. I can't say how much this means to me... It seems to me that the generosity and goodwill generated by the internet is one of the most positive things happening around the globe at this point in history. And I'm really honoured and excited to be a part of it. Warmest wishes and heartfelt thanks to everyone who has visited my blog this year.

Poll Results In

From the Rubbere Figures site:
http://www.nicholsoncartoons.com.au/cartoon_5183.html
(without permission but with no mal-intent)

It's about a month since my little blog survey closed, and it is terribly slack of me not to have made some comment before now. First of all, I want to thank every one who voted and/or emailed or left comments for me. If you missed the survey, you can see the original post here.

Rather like the recent Australian federal election, the results were overwhelming. Another "Ruddslide", as they are now known out here.



And the readers resoundingly voted to keep the blog as it is... 84% in favour, 15% against...(hmm, not sure what happened to that missing 1%??) That is, not to separate out the cfs-related posts from the art ones. I really thought it would be much closer.

Of course, unlike Australian elections, it wasn't compulsory to vote. In fact, there were a little over a dozen respondents. I was a bit surprised by that as according to my stats, I get that many hits daily, so really, very few visitors voted. I'm not sure what this means, but maybe people strongly feel that what you do with your blog is your own business, and not for them to comment on??



Everyone who wrote to me was so wonderfully warm and caring, and I have never felt more accepted for who I am than your replies made me feel. I have really come to feel part of an online community and when I am too unwell to see my friends locally, or to participate in all that socialising entails, the true value of my virtual friends is at its most sustaining.

There were lots of pearls of wisdom in your comments and I recommend you take a look here to see more. However there were three things that cusp said that made me think, and I hope she won't mind me repeating them, because they can apply to anyone.

1. You are as you are now.

2. You cannot live your life waiting for... (in my case, my health to improve).

3. You have to have dreams.

The other point, which was raised by both PWCFS and those lucky devils who are healthy, was that it does the world at large a lot of good to hear about life with a chronic illness (and if this information was separated off into another blog, they might not bother to follow it up). So anyway, thanks again to everyone who "played" - I really enjoyed hearing your thoughts!

Finally! A customized banner!

As you can see I have finally managed to upload my new banner and sort out the problems with the blog title i.e. make it go away. I originally put the banner together in March but when I tried to upload it, the title text sat on top of it. I don't know HTML or whatever language Blogger uses now, and despite searching for help online I couldn't find the exact code I needed.

Today I had a look in Blogger help and found two really good blogs which help out people like me - the ones who want to blog, care enought to want their blog to be individualised, but know nothing about coding. Freevlog is really about video-blogging, but includes this great video-tutorial which takes you through the banner thing step-by-step. The Dummies Guide to Google Blogger (Beta) is exactly what it says and also covers customizing your banner/header as well as loads of other things. You could really spend an awful lot of time adding "special features" to your blog, but I'm happy for now just to finally have my banner afloat - so it's back to the printer and my book....

Focussing My Blog

Too much time has passed since my last entry. I could blame my health or blame the weather here in Brisbane (it's been 30 deg+ and 60-70% humidity this past week) but I think I really need to acknowledge that the real reason is that I haven't recognised the value of blogging and made it a higher priority.

Regular readers will know that I am off to Melbourne for supervision for my masters in just two weeks from today...so I have been trying to make a start on as many works as possible so I have plenty to share and discuss. I figure I will be able to get more feedback if I have a number of works underway rather than a couple completed or nearly completed.

This is quite demanding but also very exciting. At the beginning of a new work you have to really start focussing your ideas, select media and process, not to mention run around for any supplies you don't have on hand. There is a lot of testing to do, as well as a number of decisions to be made. And I am loving it!

Along with just doing the work, I do feel that I can gain a lot by documenting this process as thoroughly as possible. This will help me with my thesis writing but my research background also suggests that it will be useful to my practice - it is so frustrating to look at an example of something that you love and want to re-create and not knowing how you did it, or alternatively making something which fails, only to realise you've done that before and should have remembered! Such a waste of time and energy - things that not only I frequently run short on...

Then today I received my weekly update from Alyson B. Stanfield, an art business coach who writes the Art Biz Blog. If you are interested in taking a more professional approach to the business side of your art, you should check her out. I'm not a paid up subscriber, but her site, blog and newsletter offer lots of useful free advice and tips.



I am not really a big fan of the idea of life coaching or business marketing, (just another of my hang-ups - I value humility in this age of "put yourself out there"). Consequently, I am actually at a bit of a loss when it comes to knowing what to do in this area. Somehow I stumbled onto the Art Biz Blog around New Year and Alyson got me in by suggesting that readers write a summary of their achievements for 2006. That sort of task is always fun and encouraging, so I did it and followed up by signing up for the newsletter - much of which I find useful and relevant to me.



Anyway back to today's update -it is about focussing your blog! Alyson introduced the artist, Margaret Short who started documenting her current project in her blog, Fine Arts Blog. I'm not a painter but I adore painting and I find this blog fascinating. Another of my absolute favourite blogs is Woodblock Dreams by Annie Bissett. She documents her explorations in moku hanga, traditional Japanese woodblock printing.



This has made me realise what sort of blogs I like - the ones that teach me stuff, especially if it is something I dream of trying some day. So this is what I would like to do with my blog - focus on documenting my masters work and share some of the techniques I use. And to do this I really do need to post more regularly - perhaps 2 to 3 times per week, especially at this time, when I am testing so much.



So you can look forward to more output from this little blog, and as a teaser, I'll finish with one image. This is the middle section of a sculpture I'm working on. It's only one piece of a larger multi-piece installation with the working title "Cocoon". It's made from japanese paper, beeswax, acrylic gel and shellac. More to follow...