I Sing the Art Blog Electric

Howdy.  I'm checking in from grey and rainy Los Angeles.

I love rain and I like a change in weather once in awhile (unless it's one that causes my allergies to flare up).  I know our garden enjoys it.  As just one example, look how happy this lemon is?

This post does not carry the art pictures I took a few days ago, because I have yet to download them.  I will, though.  I'm actively arting, and I'm really enjoying it, since I began a major revamp of my studio, which includes throwing at least a third of my supplies out or giving them away, and even encompasses taking out useless furniture and removing closet doors.  I may paint walls.  Not sure, yet.

maybe I'll wait until it's dryer...

Thanks to my peeps for your supportive comments over the past few posts!  You guys look marvelous!  I'm slowly catching up on blog visits, and you all seem as busy as I am and very creatively focussed.

Speaking of blog visits, I've been thinking about the nature of the blogging community for many months, now.  It's swirled around in the transom of my mind.  But recently, a couple of other bloggers have focused my thoughts even further.

I probably can't really add much to their already eloquent reports, but I do have a thing or two to blab.   As someone who enjoys the immediacy of Twitter and Instagram for entertainment purposes, I don't really enjoy them for artistic purposes.  What I learned quickly years ago is that social media are for socializing, and also for marketing, but not for the dissemination or discussion of art.  I don't use social media for artistic purposes, nor do I use it for relationship purposes.  They are purely for snippets of entertainment.  I spend a minute here, a minute there, when I have time.  Some days I don't use them at all!

As for the giant, Facebook, I can go weeks without going there.  I have an account under an alias solely for the purpose of keeping up with news from various animal and science and culture groups.  I don't invite my friends and family to join me there because I can't absorb the onslaught of information there, the chain of new 'friend' requests, nor be responsible for responding to all of it so that I don't offend anyone.  I do not seek out 'friends' there, nor do I communicate with family there.  I find it depressing to try to keep up with it, or any social media, for more than a few minutes at a time.  It rewards me very little, and wastes my valuable time.

Another thing I learned about social media in the age of the portable device, is that it is about the furthest from social you can get, and here's why.  Because anyone can post a photo from their phone, and get their tweets from their email account, that person never has to actually READ their Twitter feed, look at their Instagram feed, or respond to anyone else.  So many people I 'followed' on Twitter were not there except to market what they are doing.  They couldn't care less about what I'm doing.  Many of those people I have 'unfollowed'.  And those I still follow for entertainment, and those who do actually interact with me, are not doing so to share or discuss art in any substantial or beneficial way.

and they can't really give Scout treats

Social media is for entertainment.  It's not for community and it's not for the advancement of my art knowledge or skill.  Maybe others of you have had a different experience.  I'm just saying that to seek more than entertainment from social media is to leave me cold.

Now, I come to the subject of the humble... blog.  The blog, at its best, IS for interaction.  It IS for community.  It IS, in the case of the art world, for learning and discussion of art and creativity.

That's why I feel it's very important to not just post a blog link to Twitter or Facebook (which links I, for one, will follow when I have time), but if you wish to do that, it is also your responsibility to GO ONLINE and READ blogs.  Comment on blogs.  Allow others to comment to you.  And, if you're actively making art, foster artistic advancement by being responsive to others about your art AND about their art.

Social MEdia are about the ME.  The art-blog community is about the US.

Now that I've pontificated to my own liking, I want to alert you to the link on my left sidebar, entitled Seth's Art Blog Directory.  Seth Apter has done our work for us, as usual, and created an easy reference for us to learn, share, and grow in the art community.  He's not snobby about what types of art people create, so there are many venues to explore and select as destinations.  Check it out, if you like sharing about art and fostering the community.

Okay.  I'm busy now.  I have to go paint!

what rain doth usually do