Well, here we are. It’s been a while since I wrote much of anything that wasn’t an announcement or a list of shipping deadlines, so I’ll ask for your patience as I return to form as a blog writer. As an artist who has built most of her platform using social media, blogging for art purposes is new and weird for me. I’m not a teacher. I don’t have earth shattering things to discuss. I don’t like sparking debate. And I sure don’t enjoy trying to come across as an “expert” in something where I’m clearly…not! So what on earth do I plan to share? Honestly, I have no idea. But…I’m also a millennial, and we built our online presence with blog posts and journals. (Anyone still have their LiveJournal posts? How about my Xanga kids? I know you’re out there!) So without further rambling…let’s chat. *Cracks Knuckles*
Why I'm Blogging Again:
Why have I decided to return to blogging, even when social media is still around, still relevant, and still how so many other artists are building their platforms? The easy answer is…because social media is a pain in the ass. If I’m going to do something that’s a pain in my ass, I want it to be something I own, have control of and not worry that the platform is just going to *poof* disappear or suppress my content because the algorithm doesn’t like it anymore. Relying on social media is not something I want to continue doing. It’s shifting in directions I don’t care to focus on (I despise reels and video content), it’s difficult to gain any kind of traction or momentum when trends are always changing, and as I said - I want a place that’s MINE. I don’t want to be renting space from someone else who may or may not let my audience see what I create. Not to mention the current shift in social media culture and exploration of new platforms. I’m not learning six new platforms and starting over. I won’t do it.
The Struggle of Social Media for Artists
Touching on the idea of trends and how they’re always changing a little bit more, if you’re an artist who’s truly creating because you love to create, you love art and you want to express what you feel inside, the concept of being “trendy” just to get your work seen…it’s almost in direct opposition of what we are trying to do. I mean, remember when acrylic pours were EVERYWHERE? Every artist tried them (including me) and for a moment, all of our content was seen! And then the trend died, and here we were - artists who bought all this paint for projects we didn’t even really enjoy doing, just so we could actually get our content seen. No, sorry, I’m not doing that anymore. I’m an artist who plans to stay true to myself and paint, draw, create what’s in my heart and mind. What I do isn’t always going to be trendy or what everyone wants to see, but it’s what I LOVE, and I want the things I LOVE to connect with the people who LOVE THEM, you know? I'm sure if you're a creative trying to build a following on social media (or have in the past) you can relate!
What to Expect from Me Now:
So let me answer the big question - am I leaving social media and trying to go at it with blogging only? Oh absolutely not. That’s not what’s happening. I’m not leaving social media. What I’m doing is refusing to chase views, chase likes, chase shares and appeal to an algorithm. I will continue to share things on platforms I currently use (which include: Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky) though my time on there and efforts on growing are going to be much less than they used to be. It’s still a place you can follow along, and to the regular viewer not much will change. So if you follow me on any of those platforms, it may not look much different. I am in a beta testing group for a few of these newer platforms that may or may not be released, and if any of them do prove to be worth my efforts, I will share those with you. I do have a YouTube channel, however there is nothing on it. Maybe I’ll start that one day when I feel like I want to do video of some kind, but that day is not today!
My Blog Goals / Authentic Connection:
I do have a goal with trying to use this blog more often, however. I do want to communicate better with you through text. I want to talk more about inspiration. Share details about my work that a social media caption can’t quite capture. I want to return the skills of reading, thinking and analyzing to what I share. Less instant gratification and more true feeling. I want to make things that feel good to me and share them with people that are genuinely interested in reading them. I want to stop feeling like I need to create everything and caption everything to make it “viral friendly.” I want to MAKE ART and not “create content.” My goal is to actually connect with my audience in the way that has always felt authentic to me, and sometimes it really does take a rambling few paragraphs and not a two sentence, emoji filled caption on a small post you’re just going to scroll past anyway.
Naturally, I understand that this is going to be a new challenge. But it’s a challenge I’m willing to take. We have been so conditioned to digest what we see in small, bite sized pieces, and never take the time to think anymore. I know it’s true for a lot of the social media audience, and I know it’s true for me. It’s been a long time since I’ve written things like this. I got to a point where I didn’t even want to write post captions longer than a sentence or two because my brain couldn’t focus on it long enough to get it right. Not to mention, half the captions (and images…) I see are AI generated anyway. And I can tell you one thing, while I might have experimented with it in the past, the more I learn, the more I hate it. (When you know better, you do better, right?) So in a world of AI generated captions, short bursts of content, I want this blog to be somewhere that is free of AI, free of “viral clips,” and full of real, honest, human-generated text with real feelings behind it. You’ll see an em dash, yes. But because I learned how to use them in school. And you’ll see a sparkle emoji because, once again, I am a millennial and you will pry my favorite emojis from my cold, dead hands!
Ultimately, as it has been from the beginning, my goal is that you get inspired by things I create. Whether that’s the art I make or the words I write, I want that to inspire you to do something. Create art of your own, pick up some of mine, start a revolution, or just live as your authentically wonderful self and explore who you want to be.. I want you to understand who I am and how I work. I want you to see my process and understand why I make the decisions I make. I don’t want my authentic being to be a mystery. It should be easy for you to tell who I am as an artist and as a human being. And of course, I want you to have a way to continue to follow along with this art journey even if you personally are choosing to step away from all social media.
If you have made the decision to delete, deactivate or even just take some time away from social media, trust me - I get it. I hope you choose to continue to follow along. If you want more than just this blog, don’t forget - my VIP list is still active, and all of my important information, new pieces, announcements and even some interesting snips of this blog will be in there. So make sure you’re on it!
So happy new year everyone - I’m thrilled to be starting this new direction with you!