This Old (New Again) Blog

I'm playing around with this old blog, trying to decide whether it is relevant any more. I have actually combined three (yes 3!) blogs into one here, so if it seems wide-ranging, that's because it is. It brings up a lot of fond memories for ME, with it's chronicle of my personal and creative journey. I don't know whether it matters to anyone else.

So, what I am thinking I will do is just make these entries for me. A digital artist's journal I guess, with some of the personal thrown in, because none of us is just one thing.

I'm doing some different kinds of creative work these days. I used to do a lot of consumer photography - portraits, weddings, events, and older posts reflect that. I loved (loved loved) my clients and the wonderful connection that happened in a session, and when I look through my old portfolio it's like browsing a family album. But now I'm focusing on some different kinds of creating, that are also loved, and fit my life better. I do have some special projects planned (that's right, you'll see it in the blog).

I'm not usually out there with the personal stuff, but maybe sharing the why matters. I have lived with CFIDS (Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome) since 1993. It's such a long time that it's the only life I know now, and I've long ago accepted the changes it wrought (not without kicking and screaming, I can assure you). The key to living with CFIDS is pacing. I can have it all, just not all at once. In fact, more like one at a time, with rest days in between. I had it pretty dialed in. 

But, as I have gotten older (gah) it has changed. What was once primarily fatigue and nausea is now fatigue and body pain, and now I address it as Fibromyalgia and arthritis. THAT has required a whole new round of adaptation. I have found that long days on my feet, miles of hiking, getting up and down and up and down... hurt. Long hours of photo editing are painful and my hand goes numb from holding the mouse. My muscles have gotten tight and I have a fierce case of plantar fascitis that defies normal remedies. It's all just... ouch.

Fine then. I'm no one trick pony (I love it when talk turns to ponies, I'll be talking about the real ponies here too!). So what AM I doing? 

Still some photography. Fine art photography. Documentary and journalism photography. Landscapes. I still find a happy place with camera in hand. I'll share photography here, on my website, and on a new commerce site where you can buy prints, cards and such.

I'll keep writing. Because god knows I won't shut up. Less journalism with deadlines, more personal work. 

I'm neck high in home design at the moment, which harkens back to older work renovating homes. I LOVE architecture, love it so much. I don't have much talent for arranging tchotchkes but I can visualize spaces like nobody's business. 

We are rebuilding an old mobile home on our property and I am incorporating some design ideas that have percolated for years but I've never had the right place to use them. And we were smack in the middle of remodeling our bedroom and bathroom when that started, and it will be so lovely. More on that later! 

And I'm doing what can best be called Paper Arts. Mixed media, collage, bookmaking. Plus a little fiber art and fabric manipulation. I am so excited about this! My head is filled with many lifetime's worth of ideas and I can't wait to share things in progress. Even if it's only with me. 

So what's to come?

More regular blogging.

A new, revamped website.

A commerce site for photography and prints of artwork.

Sharing on facebook and instagram (of course!). 

See that photo above? A mixed media piece is being born.