by Susan Lobb Porter | Blogging |
True Confession: I thought I was making things better.
Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!
OH. MY.
Somewhere in this world, that’s polite lady talk for, well…a word polite ladies don’t say. Ever. But I say it all the time. But not here.
You know how last week I said I was rebuilding my art site? Well, I am. And now it looks like I’m rebuilding Arty Life as well. Because it’s like, y’know, I don’t have enough to do…
At least that’s what the Cyber Gods are thinking. I will not bore you with the technical details–mostly because I build websites by the seat of my pants and I don’t know what the technical details are.
Well, yes, I do. Sorta. After spending the better part of the day messing around the back end of the site, which sounds every bit as dirty as it is, I discovered (through the magic of google and support forums everywhere) the oh so recent update of wordpress does not sit well with my premium theme. Among other things.
Oh, I lost you already, didn’t I?
Okay, so I’ll give it to you in non-technical speak–the dog ate my homework blog. Left it torn in iddy biddy little pieces with sidebars missing, pages missing and turning up where they don’t belong. In short, left it looking like crap.
Sigh… I can fix it. I CAN. But not tonight. I’m going to bed. Arty Life will be back next week. And she’ll be better than ever.
And so will I.
G’night.
xoxoxo
by Susan Lobb Porter | Art |
Oh my sweetums, this weekend I figured it was time to put on my big girl marketing pants. Either that or rent a storage unit for all those paintings crowding me out of Studio Grande.
As much as I love painting, as much as I paint because it’s either that or go crazy with pent up creativity, it’s NOT a hobby. Let me repeat that. It’s. Not. A. Hobby.
First thing I decided to do was rebuild my website. No, no, not Arty Life. Arty Life is technically my blog, even tho it’s a website unto itself. I decided to rebuild my ART site, the one that no one ever sees or goes to because I pretty much did everything wrong.
I don’t even go to it. How bad is that?
I don’t even have a link to it from Arty Life so you guys can’t get to it either. Unless you have ESP or something and know how to find it in the tangled cyber world of the interwebs.
I’ve been putting this off since forever because, OMG, it seemed so…daunting. Like, where do I begin?
So I began with a list. A one step at a time list. The first thing on it was research. I began by going to Alyson Stanfield’s site, Art Biz Coach. I’ve never met Alyson (yet!) but holy crap, the woman is an amazing resource. Just by spending an hour or two reading her blog I came away with so many technical things I need to implement. Simple, common sense things like my name should be on EVERY page of my website. In the text, not just the header, because that’s how the search engines will find it.
My name wasn’t on any page, imagine that!
Ah, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. I have a whole list. And Alyson, if you’re reading this THANK YOU!
After I gained some clarity on the technical what-I-need-to-dos, I began looking at other artists’ sites. Looking for design ideas, for how they put things together, organized their sites and presented their work. Because design was # 2 on my list. And after some cherry picking I came up with what works for me.
I’m in the zone. And now I’m in the process of putting it all together. I spent hours tonight–hours, going through photographs. Sorting what I have in the studio. What I want to offer on the website, what I want to offer as prints. What I thought was going to be an easy-peasy weekend of uploading new work with price tags has turned into a huge undertaking. HUGE.
But I’m up for it. And by the end of the week I’ll have at least some of the portfolio selection up. Imagine that! You won’t have to scroll through back posts of Arty Life for an occasional glimpse of finished art. You’ll be able to see it all in groupings that make sense. Painted Women. Beloved Beasties. Red Things. Landscapes…
So come back next week and I’ll give you a tour. I can’t wait to show you!
xoxoxo
by Susan Lobb Porter | Art, Life, Photography |
If I took a selfie right now you’d see that I’m wearing my barn jacket over a hoodie. Real attractive, like a pale blob of Playdough. Or an albino bear. You’ll have to trust me on this ’cause I’m NOT gonna take that selfie. And if I did, I wouldn’t show it to anyone.
Did I mention I’m wearing this designer outfit indoors? Yep, sitting in on the sofa in the living room, dog by my side. One dog. The other is shunning me for the comfy chair.
Got a fire going in the woodstove and even tho it’s chilly outside, it’s actually quite warm in here. But I’m dressed for the wild winter because, well…because it’s THAT time of year… Daylight Savings Time.
The dark side of the calendar…November.
What can you expect from a month that STARTS by celebrating dead people. I mean, like on the very first day??? Besides face paint and partying, that is.
Come to think of it, that part, the party and dress up part, was pretty cool.
November really isn’t that bad. It’s got a bright side. Instead of salads I’m making soups. Got persimmons on the counter. And apples and pears. Winter squash. Root vegetables. Think cinnamon and ginger. And pots of beef stew.
Hand moves. Art Happens.
SLPorter
Short days, long nights…psssft. No problem.
I’ll just go in my studio and paint. Call me when it’s spring.
by Susan Lobb Porter | Art, Arty Inspiration, Girlfriends, Inspiration, Photography |
If you read my blog last week, and I sincerely hope you did, you will recall that I was in Texas. There are not many reasons a fresh veggie lovin’ liberal from northern California would visit the land of everything-deep-fried-including-Oreos, certainly not for the foot long corndogs or the politics–no, no–NOT the politics, but I had a VALID reason to go to the lonestar state, the BEST reason of all … I’m a grandma.
Now go read that post so you can see how seriously I take this grandma stuff. You have to do that so you can understand how leaving the munchkin would’ve been hard, would’ve been devastating, would’ve broken my heart in a thousand little bitty pieces…if I didn’t have something to look forward to…
A side trip to Las Vegas to visit an old friend. A friend who knows me well enough to know that rocks and sun and light and big sky would feed my soul. Feed hers as well.
It was a quick visit, 48 hours, nearly every one of which–when we weren’t sleeping—involved driving around the desert.
Chasing the sun.
And falling in love with a landscape stripped down to the basics. A landscape that makes you reach deep inside and pull something out you didn’t know was there. Something...holy.
Long before the gamblers, the silicon titties, the wild and frantic seven deadly sins check-list that is the Vegas strip, long before that, THIS was here.
And the ancient ones who painted their lives, their gods, their hunts, their stories on the walls of rock were here.
I’ll be back. I HAVE to go back. Have to experience this more deeply. I want to camp. And hike. Take photographs. Make art. And I want to share this with you. The seeds of a workshop have been planted.
Now I just have to figure out the logistics.
And listen to da muse who was WAY inspired. Inspired enough to play with charcoal on a whole ‘nother level.
Primal # 1. Susan Lobb Porter. Charcoal on paper
Primal # 2 Susan Lobb Porter. Charcoal on paper
You up for joining me? It will be quite the arty adventure! Promise, really. Pinky swear even.
As always, would love to hear what you have to say in the comments below.
xoxo
by Susan Lobb Porter | Family, Life |
She’s a newly turned 4 year old. The Energizer Bunny in a princess dress.
There are no off buttons. None. Nada.
I’ve been visiting for her birthday, cementing my place in her consciousness by being the one who wears princess dresses. Just. Like. Her.
I’ve done my best to keep up.
We’ve jumped in the Bouncy House.
Played games.
Hidden from the world in the castle -that-is-a-tent.
And then, because it’s something grandmas do, I passed along my wisdom and taught her how to take photos with my iphone. Which she did. Often.
So she could take pictures of me.
I’ll be getting on a plane soon and going back home. Home to a husband, a couple of dogs, the horses and the cat. Going home to my job. To my studio. To-do lists. Marketing plans. To my life a couple thousand miles away from hers.
I’m going to miss her, oh how I’ll miss her. But I’ll be back. Got some more dancin’ to do.
