Almost to the day, one year ago, friends came to visit. They both had blogs- one a photographic blog, the other a politically focused one. I’d read theirs and enjoy them but never thought of authoring one myself.
I didn’t even like the WORD blog. I knew it was an acronym for web log but to my ear it sounded more like a blending of ” blah and gag “. Not an attractive imagery, wouldn’t you agree?
My laptop was seized over breakfast one morning and the birth of St. Croix-nicity began.
Apparently friends don’t let friends go without blogs.
Mary Schwalm, a great photographer, set up the banner photo at the header. Her blog is a quick study- just great images, little text and very sharp, hip titles for her photos.
Judy Wolfe– whose movie reviews, photos and art pages and political insights I’ve loved for years, manned the keyboard and I had the pleasure of just answering yes or no to questions of layout, structure, gizmos, widgets and links.
I’ve been visited by people in:
Islamic Republic of Iran
Slovenia
The Green Zone- Iraq
Viet Nam
Bangladesh
Belgium
Japan
Portugal
Turkey
Five thousand eight hundred sixty two visits and 33,972 page views.
Brilliant outreach for someone who dislikes flying.
Amidst those 5,000s’ have been some wonderful exchanges of information, encouragement, tips, and generous sharing among and between other artists. The feedback, the teeth gnashing frustrations of scraping yet another surface, the light-bulb of an a-ha moment, and the connection to people otherwise unknown to you is the joy of this blog and the exoneration of those two kitchen witches who started me on this journey a year ago.
Am I ever grateful.
Two days from today those same two harbingers of fall visits and blog hostage taking, are coming back. I’d hoped to finish another painting before they got here but got only as far as the drawing:
Taken from a photo I took last weekend at one of our farmers’ markets.
Another Work in Progress, he’s got great shadows and lines but the painting will have to wait until these two conspirators leave.
This years visit will be the G7and G9 summit- Canon Camera owners all of us. They know how to use them, I’m just learning. I’m expecting 6 days of de-briefing in the kitchen but thankfully, no Katie Couric interview…….
Asheville: The North West of The South East 