Lisa Call

Structures #84    ©2007    7"x23"

 
Over at Laketrees, Kim Barker has compiled a top 101 artist blog list, based on technorati rating.

A blog’s rating/ranking is calculated as follows (or was when I last saw a note about how this was done): For each in bound link source, 90 days old or less, a blog gets 1 point – total up the points and that’s the blogs "authority rating". The "technorati ranking" is where a blog falls in the big list of all blogs. These numbers go up and down daily as the inbound links age and new ones are added.

I check technorati every so often to see what the inbound links are around in case I miss an important tag (I still owe a 5 random things about me list for stacers). But I never paid much attention to how I ranked in the specific world of art blogs. According to Kim’s list my blog clocks in at #9 of the blogs she identified as being by an artist.

Did I need to know this information? Did I want to know?

 
If I drop down in the list does it mean I’ve become boring? If my rating goes up does it mean you like my new haircut? Do I write and link to others just so they write about me and link back to me? The pressure.

Should I jump on the art link cloud viral tagging started by Casey over on the colorist to get even more links even if it’s not about content and just a link farm?

Okay – I admit – I’m clearly bad at the marketing game – maybe this is what we are supposed to do.

 
Instead I’m going to try to ignore this and just write what is authentic for me to write and not worry about who might or might not link to me as a result. This is the advice I give others – don’t waste time worrying about all that linking and concentrate on content. I believe it is content that keeps people around – not marketing hype or popularity. I read blogs that I find interesting, not ones that other people find interesting. Content is king (or make that queen).

I write my blog for me – because it helps keep me focused and on task, because I learn about myself and my art by writing about it, and because I’m basically a geek and this is the socially acceptable way for geeks to communicate.

If all my inbound links disappeared tomorrow I’d still blog. If noone read what I wrote ever again, I’d still blog (although I’d probably spend less time fixing typos and poor grammar).

This blog, while I suppose a potentially great marketing tool with my popularity, will never be thought of as such by me. I know Alyson, I just don’t get it.

 
The above piece was made a few weeks back when I was making small work for the holiday art market at the arvada center. I hadn’t yet hit upon the idea to make 9 similar pieces and was playing around just having fun.

In my dreams all 9 pieces will sell opening weekend (it opens thursday) and they will call me up and ask for more work, and I’m all ready with new pieces. Maybe if I did more marketing (like sending out the flyers that feature my work to my mailing list) I’d succeed in my goal. Sometimes I am my own worst enemy.

Structures #90    ©2007    12"x12"

 
This morning I finished the final 2 pieces for the Arvada Center Holiday Art Market.

Structures #91    ©2007    12"x12"

 
I had my kids help me pick an arrangement of the 9 pieces and we decided on the one below. Both made comments about the work not looking like my normal work with the earth tones. I thought about doing a few pieces in those colors but it didn’t feel right with the very geometric graphic designs. They lost their impact in softer colors.

Structures #90, Structures #86, Structures #85
Structures #87, Structures #88, Structures #81
Structures #89, Structures #91, Structures #82

 
I need to cut the boards and make tags for the work. The tags have to be attached to the work and visible. I’m thinking about printing the information on fabric and pinning it to the bottom edge so it hangs down below the work to minimize how much they interfere with the compositions. Then some paperwork and they are ready to deliver tomorrow, right on time, hurray. The show opens on Dec 6th.

I’ve already attached a sleeve to the back of each them. To hang I slip a wooden slat with holes drilled on each end through the sleeve, nails are put in the wall and the wooden slat is slid over the nails.

This is the back of Structures #89 where you can see the sleeve. The fabric on the back is a piece I painted and stamped with thickened dyes years ago. The backs of these small pieces were a good place to use this fabric that is too small for much else and not the type of thing I use in my artwork anymore.

Structures #88    ©2007    12"x12"

 
The 6th and 7th of nine pieces I’m making for the Arvada Center Holiday Art Market.

Two more to go tomorrow and I’ll make my deadline.

Structures #89    ©2007    12"x12"

Structures #86    ©2007    12"x12"

 
The 4th and 5th of nine pieces I’m making for the Arvada Center Holiday Art Market. I didn’t managed to make a piece on monday, tuesday or wednesday but finished #86 yesterday and #87 today. That now leaves me with 4 more pieces to complete before monday. It’s going to be a busy time the next few days.

Today I rephotographed the first 3 pieces posted earlier and they look much better. Amazing what a little day light can do. Although we’ve had snow most of today so the daylight has been pretty dim.

Back to the studio in hopes of getting 1 more finished this evening.

Structures #87    ©2007    12"x12"

Structures #85    ©2007    12"x12"

 
The third of nine pieces I’m making for the Arvada Center Holiday Art Market.

I mentioned on friday that one of the pieces in this group of 9 I really loved, this one is it. While I like all of these small simple compositions, there is something about this one that makes me very happy. The proportions, the shapes, the not quite perfectly straight lines. It just went together perfectly for me, something that isn’t always possible as often I struggle. These rare gifts, when the work just makes itself, are much appreciated.

I was tempted to skip posting an image today since I didn’t get the piece finished before leaving for Kansas early Saturday morning. It’s been a long weekend with a lot of driving and I had a long list of ‘must do’ items for this evening. I didn’t get far on my list but I decided I couldn’t give up so quickly on my goal to finish and post one a day. I’ll have to put in several hours tomorrow to get the 4th one completed.

Structures #81    ©2007    12"x12"

 
The second of nine pieces I’m making for the Arvada Center Holiday Art Market.

Today image and yesterday’s were taken with a flash so they are less than optimal. I depend on daylight for my photography so a few months of the year are a struggle to get any images because I leave for work just as it’s getting light and it’s dark by the time I get home. I’ll retake photos of these pieces when I get some daylight time in my studio but for now I wanted to get this photo posted.

[Update - images replaced 11/23/07]

Structures #82    ©2007    12"x12"

 
This is one of nine pieces I’m making for the Arvada Center Holiday Art Market. I have 2 pieces completed but most have a least somewhat of a start. I ended up working late every night this week for the day job and I’m still the bottleneck according to my manager. Hm. Bummer for that. I did everything I could, now I need to focus on my life and let work fall apart (as if working hard 40 hours a week is bad). Last night the server crashed again and I wasted an hour waiting for it to come back up. Just how stupid of a waste of time is that? I wonder why I get so caught up in this craziness.

Repeat after me…. Work is not more important than my life!

 
Back to art.

These pieces are due at the Arvada Center on the 26th, my plan is to post 1 image a day until they are finished to keep motivated on this project. I’ll be out of town this weekend for another memorial service for my dad but this evening my goal is to finish the third and put up postings for saturday and sunday so I make my goal of one image a day.

Each piece will be 12" square and my goal is that they look somewhat reasonable together. I’m not happy with a few of the designs so I might toss them out and start fresh on them.

Making these very simple geometric compositions is a lot harder than I thought it might be. I spend a lot of time cutting and recutting as the small size really emphasizes the mistakes in proportions. It’s all to easy to make something that is just down right boring. Happily I have one that I just love. It’s awesome when that magic happens.