One step forward, one step back

Each year I show the predictions I made about the previous year on my blog.

So what were my predictions for 2012? Here are the things I stated I planned to do:

1. Continue to make meaningful art and show the process along the way.

2. Create at least one tutorial each month.

3. Interview one artist a month.

4. Interact with my blog readers and followers (just as soon as I have a working computer, that is).

5. Create one assemblage each month.


1.  I continued to make art.  Some of it may have been meaningful, some of it not.  I've always believed in the adage that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  Often, the pieces I think are the worst, are given rave reviews by my readers and followers, while the pieces I've felt the best about don't get many comments.

2.  If you included some of the altered book lessons I created, I believe many of them could be called tutorials.  And, as always, if I create something, I fully explain how I made it.

3.  I did not have time to interview any artists last year.  I had hoped to do so, especially during AEDM (Art Every Day Month), but when my computer or possibly browser stopped allowing me to see links, including the ones I created on this blog, I ran out of time to interview anyone.

4.  Some days I'm really, really good about getting around to everyone, while others, I can't leave comments.  I'm trying to correct that problem, but so far, everything I've done has been in vain.

5.  I may not have created an assemblage every month, but I created at least one, and often more, mixed media pieces each month.  To prove that, I want to share some of my creations from 2012.

(A quiltlet I created in January, 2012)

(An ATC sized book I made over one weekend in February, 2012)

(Mixed media art created for a challenge in March, 2012)

(My bEARTHday feast, April 22, 2012)

(May, 2012 was all about the garden because I was busy getting ready for company)

(Beginning in June, 2012, I started taking day trips, like this, my first one to Newton, KS)

 

(This is one of the Summer of Color entries I made in July, 2012)

(August, 2012 had me creating many signs using buttons in exchange for tutorials)

(In September, 2012, I compared similarities between how I altered fabric and paper)

(During October, 2012, I created a wall hanging I called "Sun Feathers" 
after I received the feathers in exchange for a tutorial)

(In November, 2012, I participated daily in AEDM, and finished my AB classes when I created the covers)

(In December, 2012, I created and mailed art journals to several friends) 

I hope you enjoyed this look back.

I would also like to make a few comments about blogging in general, and my blog specifically.

Once again, I need to repeat that I am myself. I make no pretenses that I am someone I am not. I am reasonably articulate, write with passion and occasional humor, and love mixed media art and fabric surface designs. Other than that, I make no claims (except that I need a much better camera!).

Add to that, the fact I tell it like it is. If I make a mistake or something turns out wrong, I don't rewind the day to make it better than it was. I let everyone know what to expect. After all, if it can go wrong, it probably will, and I will usually cause and report it.

I have learned to make things my way. Due to a limited art budget, I seldom have all the materials needed to complete a project I want to work on. That means I must improvise. In fact, sometimes I don't have any of the materials I need! If that's the case, I start with the original instructions and find similar materials. From there, I usually follow my own rules, often hoping for the best, and offering alternatives in the form of a tutorial.

Although this is primarily an art blog, I also add a few (and sometimes more than a few) times I go out and about. I also add photos of my home and yard.  I used to wonder if these were distractions to my art blogging and tutorials, but, after reading the number of comments I get from these ventures, it seems they are popular with my blogging friends, followers, and occasional visitors.

Which leads me to leaving comments. I get so infuriated when I have to type in those senseless words blogger loves to frustrate us with just to leave a comment. I usually get them wrong and have to reenter a new sequence. Oftentimes I learn the comment will be visible after someone approves it. Why not just let us "publish," since the author must approve it anyway!

Speaking of leaving comments, if I visit your blog, I leave a comment. I don't expect you to know I was there if I don't let you know I visited . To me, it is courtesy. And I love it when people leave me comments. However, one thing I probably will not do is reply by e-mail. I much prefer a blog reply and that means on your blog, not mine. I don't expect you to return to my blog to see what I have written in comments that might or might not pertain to you. If I must make a correction or addition to a tutorial, I do it in a blog post, not in the comment section of my blog. 

And finally, I still cannot leave comments on blogs with embedded comments.  I've tried different browsers, and nothing has helped.  To see how to change your embedded comments, please scroll to the end of this post to learn how to change them.

And that is my take on blogging, which hasn't changed much since 2006, except for how I leave comments on others' blogs.


Now for 2013:

My word for 2013 is DOCUMENT.  The nicest thing about this word is, it can be a noun, where three of its meanings are writings that provide information, a written account of ownership or obligation, and anything serving as a representation of a person's thinking by means of symbolic marks, which in my case comes from my keyboard.

As a verb, this word can mean to record in detail and support or supply with references, something I always do.

As for my intentions/predictions/resolutions:

1. Continue to make art that I hope some will find meaningful and show the process along the way.

2. Create at least one tutorial each month.

3. Interview one artist a month.

4. Create several mixed media pieces each month.

5. Create at least one scrappy journal each month.

Now that I've written them down, I have to live with these resolutions/predictions.  Join me on January 2, 2014 to see how well I lived up to them.  In the meantime, join me during 2013 for some hopefully fun, and occasionally inspirational, times with Bleubeard and me.