My Blog Turned 4 Years Old Today . . .

Tumblr notified me via email that this is the 4th year anniversary of me starting this blog. It’s really incredible to think that much time has passed and also feels like no time at all.

The reason I started a blog was to motivate myself to keep working and to keep posting work that could lead to dialogue. Either a dialogue with other artists, or people who like art, or just anyone. Really, the goal was to make sure the conversation didn’t stop.

This blog was meant to serve as a digital sketchbook to keep the ideas flowing, help document shows I have, where my work is being featured, and to help keep myself accountable to creating in general.

In addition to my own work, I’ve also tried to keep a conversation going by featuring other artists who’s work I know either by knowing them in person, or having gone to see their exhibit. This started out as Mentor Mondays and Featured Friend Fridays and eventually led to one of my current projects: My Friends Make Art.

Beyond the obvious, I think it’s incredibly important for artists to keep a documentation of their p rojects, process and final works. Not just have examples of their work, but to have them write out their struggles; what they’ve learned along the way – what they recommend, etc. If you are in a creative field and don’t have a blog, or a vlog, or whatever – I highly recommend you start one. It’s so easy nowadays to find a plug and chug outlet to document what you’ve done in the past, what you’re working on, DIY guidelines for other interested artists, what you want to do in the future and also so you can look back and see how you’ve grown.

By utilizing something as accountable as a blog for my sketchbook/visual diary I’ve learned several things about myself as an artist. The first is I enjoy discussing the artist’s intention in conjunction with the audience’s interpretation and I find writing these observations down to be incredibly helpful in the creation of my own work. Much like a sketchbook, not every post on a blog has to be a finished, polished idea. In fact I’ve started just posting moments here and there in order to either give myself a push to see it in a different way or to have it as a note for later. Finally, always carry a sketchbook or camera – because the opportunity to create is always present.

Looking back on the 4 years of postings on this blog I’ve created a list of 10 of some of the most popular posts from the past four years:

10. GLASSES [AN ABSTRACTION] || January 24, 2014