where to begin
Firsts and Beginnings |
mixed media on canvas, 2016
I have to admit. I googled “what to write in your first blog post.” I probably have 50 ideas swirling around in my head for what to write about eventually. But what should be the focus of that First one? Does it matter? Will anyone read it anyway? Should I treat it like a more detailed version of my bio page where I reveal my life story and how I got here? (My gut told me “probably not” on that one). Or, should I just dive right in to my list of ideas and ignore the fact that it’s the First with a capital F? I had way too many questions. You can see why I resorted to googling.
“Write about the one thing you know more about than anything else.” That sounds good. I could do that. I recently led my first official watercolor demonstration online for East Valley Artists and it was a hit. But does that mean I know more about watercolor than anything else? I’m not sure I even know the criteria for determining what one knows BEST.
I’m interested in all sorts of art making, and my interests span music, design, DIY, and home decor too. I’m just getting started doing art professionally. And while I’ve studied painting on and off for most of my life – and my recent demo was a definite confidence boost – I’m not sure I even want to pin watercolor down as my #1 thing.
In fact, after a decade-long career preparing patent applications and responses for submission at the US Patent and Trademark Office, what I know more about than anything else might be calculating the due date to respond to an Advisory Action or tracking cited references in a spreadsheet. I’m pretty sure NO ONE visiting a creative blog wants to read about that.
“Start at the beginning of your progression story. If you’re going to blog about parenting, write your first posts about pregnancy,” I read elsewhere. This could work. I just need to start at the beginning. Sounds simple and logical.
But where is the beginning in my case? I reflected on my goals for this blog to see if that would reveal an answer.
1) to introduce my work to the world on my own platform, with unrestricted space to describe my processes in planning and executing creative projects
2) to encourage others to think and act creatively, inspiring them to find their unique style at home.
Both of these things are ongoing processes that involve building and practice. There is no real beginning or end.
Each visitor will come with a different level of experience in art and design, and each will have a different level of familiarity with my work. This is a good thing. I hope to take each visitor wherever they are – from an experienced artist to someone just discovering the color wheel – and show them things they may not have seen or thought about before. There is no chronological order in building creative muscle.
“Write about a common problem that your target audience might encounter.” I thought about questions I’ve been asked over the years. “How do I hang this painting?” “How do you find so many treasures at the thrift store?” “Who is your favorite artist?” “Where did you develop your decorating style?” These are all questions I’d like to address in this blog at some point. But none of them seem important enough to come First. It wouldn’t feel right to make my First Post about something random. Am I building it up too much?
In the end, I just started writing. Maybe relaying what I just went through would be interesting enough. Maybe it’s a lesson in problem-solving or brainstorming. Maybe I’m just rambling. Whatever it is, I’m glad I didn’t just blindly follow suggestions I found online.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m sure I could have made some or all of those suggestions work. But the more I thought about it, the more I felt this anecdote could set a tone for the blog overall. I went about it in a way that mirrors my method for creating in general. Do a little research, see what’s out there, see what others are doing, then find my own path.
I hope you’ll join me as I figure out the rest!
