Artist's Statement

I have been so busy with work and the end of the year, just thinking about blogging is exhausting. In my guilt I started thinking about why I blog. Like many, I started so my friends and family could keep up with me and even see some of my art. Since then I've made many more friends than I could have ever imagined. In fact, tomorrow I'm attending City of Dionne's SoCal Bloggers' Luncheon to meet and mingle with girls I've only chanced to be virtually acquainted with.

I've often read on your blogs your apologies for not being able to post, and I know how fickle we readers are: when someone stops posting what we like, or posting consistently, we quickly lose interest. Why should that concern me if I am doing this for those who are already my friends?
Art. It all comes down to art. If I am truly honest, I could say it's also about money.

I am an artist, not a marketer. I'm not a businessperson who knows how to market herself, nor do I have the resources to hire someone to do this for me. I hardly know how to market my Etsy shop. The funny thing is, I know that this is exactly where most of my artist friends are. It's too hard to do the business, so we are content to paint in our homes, giving work away or tucking it under the bed for "one day when..."I certainly have made a few great friends, several of whom love and support me, many of you are wowed when I put up a new painting, but I'd hardly say I've made a steady income from my work. But I'm not ready to give up. This is often a conversation I have with my husband, and he is just as frustrated as I about how to do it, but neither of us knows what to do. But I'm not ready to give up yet, I keep plugging away.

I love painting teacups for you, carving handmade stamps for you, making felted bowls and pouches for you, painting your walls and your portraits. I love it. I want to do it more.

I also want to inspire you. Some of you who read my blog have told me that I've inspired you to be more creative, to be craftier, to try something new...And truthfully, honestly, that's probably the best part. That's also why I teach. I've had students ask me to make something for them to purchase from me, and I always respond by telling them I'd rather TEACH them to do it themselves. Then there's the student who will never go on after my class to do anything in the field, but if I've taught them to use their BRAIN differently, to learn to be creative problem solvers in life, then I've done my job. I don't mind if they don't become artists.

So at the end of the day, why do I blog?
1. To share my life with my loved ones
2. To help my artistic career
3. To inspire

If someone can inspire another, there's no telling how far-reaching the impact can go.Why do you blog?
Who has inspired you?
What new thing are you going to do this week, this month, this summer?