Three Years
Structures #15 ©2005 12"x 13"
Blogiversary
Today marks the 3 year anniversary of my first blog post, which roughly corresponds to the purchase of my first digital camera. According to wordpress this is my 425th post.
Some numbers (because I like numbers). Assuming an average posting time of 45 minutes, which is probably on the low side, I’ve spent at least 320 hours writing blog posts over the last 3 years. That’s an average of 107 hours per year.
In comparison I spent 865 hours last year in my studio and probably around 1800-1900 hours at the day job and at most 20 hours watching TV shows for the year.
What I’ve Learned
After all that time I feel I should have some profound words of wisdom about blogging so I thought I’d make a list of what I think I’ve learned during this process. You can decide if it’s profound.
- I make a lot of typos.
- I rarely feel a need to correct typos that are not found within the first hour. I appreciate all my kind readers that gloss over my mistakes.
- There are 2 types of posts that generate a lot of comments. Those that stirred up controversy and those that were very honest about my work and myself in a way that is somehow universally felt. I prefer the later and have been looking to avoid the former as it causes me to feel unhappy.
- I’ve learned more about myself and my art through my consistent writing on the topic than through just about any other method. I have no plans to stop anytime soon.
- I feel I belong to an amazing community of artists as a result of my blog, which makes this an extremely rewarding experience.
- I change my mind a lot. If you read this entire blog you’ll see at one point I strongly advocated using the term quilt. I now use the term textile painting. The old me would have had an argument with the new me. The new me isn’t concerned with defending my choices nor getting others to agree with them or even like them. The only post I have ever deleted was on this subject because I decided I didn’t need to explain myself and it was generating controversy I had no intention of stirring up.
- There is too much stuff in my sidebar. It makes me feel claustrophobic. When I redesign my blog very little will remain in the sidebar (much of it will move to separate pages – like the archives). It’s part of my decluttering – it’s invading all parts of my life. Simplify, organize, categorize, only keep what is really serving me and get rid of the noise.
- My categories and tags are a jumble. They stress me out sometimes thinking about which to pick. This tells me I need to rethink them all. I think simplify, organize and declutter will be the motto here also.
- My cat likes to sit on my monitor while I blog and she puts her paw down over the screen when she wants attention. Actually, she’s not particular, I don’t have to be blogging for her to do this. She’s just as happy interrupting my reading of random wikipedia articles.
- Forcing oneself to be profound when writing a blog post doesn’t usually result in a very high quality post.
Structures #15
The above piece was included in my very first post. It’s the one and only Structures piece that has hand sewn surface stitching. The piece sold during the opening night at Quilt National 2005 from the gift shop to the collector that purchased my piece in the show, Structures #31. He had me sign the back of both of them in sharpie marker. Kind of freaked me out.
Check out this detail image of the stitching. I think it turned out totally cool.
Tomorrow is the artist reception for my show, Markings: Repetition and Pattern. I’m super excited! I can’t wait to see all the work hanging in the gallery.
Posted by Lisa in: About Me
Tagged: blogging, decluttering, spam, structures series
Happy Blogiversary!!!
And congratulations on the opening of your show. Have a great reception!
I love this picture of your first blog post. Beautiful work Lisa.
fun post too :) Have a fantastic time at your reception!!!!
i lurk here often and comment less, but i have always admired you consistency and work. the stitching here is indeed very cool. happy 3 years and wishes for many productive years to come.
jude
Congratulations on your 3 year blogaversary!
I enjoyed reading about what you have learned.
Have fun at the opening tonight!
Thanks everyone. Jude – thanks for delurking and comments.
Pam – the reception is tomorrow afternoon. Gotta bake cookies tonight. Yummy.
happy blogaversary! wow three years… you are an inspiration, thank you!
I LOVE Structures #15. I have tried something similar about 20 years ago. I like the concept of filling in space with a really textural hand-sewn group of various color stitches. Looks like shadows and light. I love all of your pieces but this particular piece is stunning! Have a great reception–wish I could be there but I am too far away.
This piece is profoundly beautiful. The stitching adds levels of transparency and subtle movement that could not easily be achieved in any other medium. One of the many reasons to work in textiles! I can see that the time involved would make it a bit prohibitive to do these on a large scale, but I sure would love to see some more!
Congratulations on your anniversary. I’ve learned so much from you, and are proud to count you among my friends. See you tomorrow!
Oops–meant “am” proud. What a maroon!
Congratulations Lisa on the show and your blogiversary. I’ve been inspired by your work and your words since the first day I discovered your blog. Thank you! xo kathy
ps. I love the pattern made by the archive list but mine need to go too! Enjoy every minute of the opening.
so true – trying to be profound rarely succeeds. I’ve learned the hard way. Blog writing often reminds me of my AP English course in high school, where we’d get 20 minutes a class to write something deep and witty about some random topic. Oh the garbage we’d generate! (hey there’s an idea –AP Blogwriting classes… Hmmmm.)
I’m new to blogging and am still discovering my voice. You have already been a great inspiration in the process, Lisa. I appreciate the way you open your own journey up to us. In particular, your posts that are “very honest about my work and myself in a way that is somehow universally felt” really touch a chord in me. And I’ve also enjoyed “meeting” Christine Kane through your posts on using ideas you’ve learned through her. It’s a good thing you have no plans to stop anytime soon, because I look forward to reading more! Happy three years… and many more (as the old birthday song goes…)