Monday, April 26, 2021

Maybe I’m Back

 This last week was the SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) online Conference. It was good in just so many ways that I’d have a hard time explaining, except to say everybody needs to find their people and hang out with them for a week, even if it’s online. So very good for the soul.  One of the best things among many good things was the keynote talk by artist/author Austin Kleon, who talked about his artwork and its quilt connection and about making art and about writing—all in such an upbeat, inspiring way that I wanted more. So this morning I went searching for his website and his blog and I was not disappointed. He’s been blogging about as long as I have, but he didn’t peter out like I did. He says:

“One little blog post is nothing on its own, but publish a thousand blog posts over a decade, and it turns into your life’s work. This blog has been my sketchbook, my studio, my gallery, my storefront, and my salon. Absolutely everything good that has happened in my career can be traced back in some way to this blog. My books, my art shows, my speaking gigs, some of my best friendships—they all exist because I have my own little piece of turf on the Internet.”

And that paragraph brought back everything I loved about my blog. It brought me so many friends and opportunities. I can’t even count them, but they include TV shows, writing for magazines, the whole 12 by 12 project, including the book, the exhibits, the wonderful people! My writing improved. My thinking changed. I grew. I changed. I found my voice.  I’m not sure why I got away from it. Austin Kleon also said something like, “people think you write a blog because you have something to say, but, really, you start a blog and find something to say.”  So true. When I was blogging regularly I was aware of the world in a way I hadn’t been. I was observant, watching for what Ray called “blog fodder” but also what delighted me in big or small ways. I miss that. Maybe I can get it back. Maybe I can’t...

And now, because I can never bear to publish a blog post without a picture, here’s a little drawing I made of myself. 

I know, it doesn’t really look like me, but that’s not important. I quickly traced over a photo, without lifting the pencil—all one continuous line. (To be accurate, it is a digital drawing, so it was an Apple Pencil—). It’s a good exercise in finding the important parts and leaving out the rest. Make of that idea what you will. Try it. 

11 comments:

  1. He almost made me think about getting back to blogging too. But you did it!

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  2. You words, your work, your travels and your thinking have always been a source of inspiration and good solutions to me as I have read, and often reread, your blog. This one is no different. My blogging has been more and more sparse. Recently I reread several of my own and I was shocked at how much I cherished what I shared and wished I had not stopped. I have tried to start again, and again, but never seem to stay with it for very long. My words so often do not seem worthy of the space or time. Thank you for putting loving, human thoughts to a page with such honesty and strength - again!

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  3. Welcome back. I've missed you.

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  4. Nancy Albright8:03 PM

    Still here, ready to read you.

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  5. It is so wonderful to see you here again! And I love the photo. It is good practice for free-hand machine quilting!

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  6. Diane Howell8:49 PM

    I love reading your blog.

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  7. Good to see you back. So many people have stopped blogging, but I see a trickle of people making their way back. It has taken a lot of emotional effort for many individuals to get through the past few years, perhaps blogging has become a lower priority.

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  8. Overtime many of the blogs I followed seemed to drop off, including yours. Yet I continued to check in frequently and was pleasantly surprised to see this post. I hope you will stay with it. I never started to blog thinking what did I have of interest to say. Now I wish I had just to have the record of my projects, events, ideas and thoughts that we sometimes forget about over the years. I hope you continue to post as I have always enjoyed your comments and artwork. I am curious about Austin Kleon now.
    Cheers

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  9. Overtime many of the blogs I followed seemed to drop off, including yours. Yet I continued to check in frequently and was pleasantly surprised to see this post. I hope you will stay with it. I never started to blog thinking what did I have of interest to say. Now I wish I had just to have the record of my projects, events, ideas and thoughts that we sometimes forget about over the years. I hope you continue to post as I have always enjoyed your comments and artwork. I am curious about Austin Kleon now.
    Cheers

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  10. Thank you for your return to blogging. I have always enjoyed reading your blog.

    I was thinking - before I heard Austin Kleon and Lisa Call's lectures this past weekend- that I truly missed blogging. I missed it as a visual record of my thoughts, actions and art throughout the year. Maybe it's time I jumped back in the deep end :).

    Welcome back.

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  11. I loved hearing Austin say his blog was his sketchbook. It really made sense to me, and now I don't care who reads the Pixeladies' blog. It's just a sketchbook.

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