Blogging

Wow. Great timing, Google. (See my previous post.)

I started my first blog, on Blogger, about 19 years ago. It was a private blog for my extended family about the birth of my son. I don't think I maintained it for long, but it was the start of a new form of creative expression for me.

Since then, I've had blogs (and newsletters) about faith, barefoot running, poetry, and now visual art. It's a form I keep coming back to, and it's become part of my creative practice.

I'm happy to see people returning to blogs, even if only in small numbers. It's bringing back the quieter, more personal side of the web again. I hope more artists, in particular, do. There are so many benefits, and Instagram seems like a lost cause now.

Happy Blogger Day!

I periodically relisten to this 2020 podcast interview with Lisa Call, a contemporary textile artist living in New Zealand. I love Lisa's work (I've met her and seen it in person at an art fair), and I find it inspiring that she continues to blog as an artist, even as many others have given up.

Finding an online home for your creative work can be hard. You want it to feel right. But so many platforms, for one reason or another, just don't.

At some point, though, you have to settle on one so that you can focus on your actual creative work. It's too easy to let the search become a distraction and even an avoidance tactic. It's often been that for me.

Thankfully, Scribbles feels very close to what I've been looking for: a low-key, nicely designed, fun place to be. I love all the whimsical design elements, but also the editor, the thoughtful settings, and the Explore feed. It feels like the right mix of things for me.

It also feels like a good companion to Buttondown, which I've been using for a while now for my newsletter.

So, what I'm saying is, I no longer have any excuses for platform hopping. It's time to get back to artmaking, and writing about art and faith.