I don’t want to be that person.

I don’t want to be the person that follows hundreds — dare I say it — thousands of blogs, yet reads nary a one. 

The one that pops in once every few months to quick read a few posts, only to gain zero knowledge of the person behind the posting.

I’m not saying we all should be best friends through our blogs. The world is too big for all of us to constantly connect. We’d be like a plate of fried eggs sooner or later, dry with only an over-cooked center to show for our efforts.

But I can’t help but hit the “follow” button when I follow a lead which leads me to more of what makes me feel good. Often it’s poetry, but lately it’s been crafts, photography — words and images that touch my center.

And I add yet another name I don’t get to enjoy as often as I should.

I don’t want to be one of those people.

One of those empty followers.

I want to absorb a bit of every post I read, understand and identify with some, be entertained by others. I want to nod my head in agreement or smile in reaction.

I don’t want to be one of those people who once a week go through their ledger and click on those who I follow and read a couple of their blogs before moving on to the next person. 

But I feel like one.

That’s why I tried not to follow too many people when I first started blogging. Some have stuck around, others have wandered down different paths. I wanted to show I was loyal to their following me, and returned the F in kindness.

Then I started discovering blogs through other people’s blogs and opened up a whole new world of creativity. 

How could I say no?

Thank goodness I am retired — I have a bit of time each day to at least read today’s contributions. 

Is this the kind of follower you want to be?

Is this the kind of follower who follows me?

Am I just a notch in someone else’s never-ending belt of a blog once read and soon forgotten?

And should I care if I am? At least I’m on that belt.

Then I look out the window on a Sunday morning, lovely music in the background, coffee perking, a day’s worth of creativity (I do my best to make housework creative, too) in front of me, and know that creativity often does not come with rewards.

It doesn’t always come with first-place ribbons or shiny trophies or extra dollars in your pocket for your labor. 

Creativity is self-rewarding. We create because it makes us feel good. If we pick up admirers on the way, that’s frosting on the cake. But it’s the actual high of making something out of nothing that is the thrill of the chase.

Thank all of you who read the Goddess, and thank all of you who just pass through and wave. 

We all are making the world a better place for each other.

Dasil (David Silva) is a professional, self-taught Mexican-born painter.

Born in Mexico City, Dasil has been a resident of Montreal since the spring of 2002.In parallel with a multi-year career in commercial photography, corporate communications, and television programming production, Dasil has developed a rich pictorial work, original and very personal.Once he arrived in his new adopted country, Dasil devoted himself to the development of his painting.Working with acrylics, oils and inks, Dasil presents imaginative figurative paintings, responding to a mix of influences going from surrealism to classicism, fantastic, allegoric or sacred art.The finesse and precision of his drawings are enhanced by the richness of the colors and hues.

This allows Dasil to share his passions such as music, mythology, and history.The whole of his work is meant to be a celebration of life.To the careful observer, Dasil offers fine composite and complex images, with hidden details and compositions that reveal a secondary vivid symbolism.More of David Silva‘s — Dasil’s — artwork can be found at http://www.dasil.ca/index_ang.html.

I have discovered something new — well, it’s really not new, but it’s taken front row in my realm.  I call it Sound and Texture Gratification.

There is something oddly satisfying about certain combinations of sounds and sights experienced together. There are communities known as “subreddits,” on Reddit such as oddlysatisfying that cater to this strange phenomenon, or apps like RubberBand Cutting where you cut rubber bands off of objects that my grandkids play all the time.

Think about walking on thin ice down a path and hearing and watching it crack beneath your feet. The perfect swirl of frosting on a cupcake. Cutting down a tall stack of thinly layered pancakes or phyllo dough. Textured paintings. Videos of assembly lines punching and folding and smoothly moving along.

You get what I’m saying.

Google “Oddly Satisfying” and you will get the gist of this enjoyable phenomenon.

I don’t know how to explain it. There is something oddly satisfying about certain motions and sounds that are perfectly in sync with your senses. I myself would rather bite through a stack of thin spaghetti strands than chew up one thick piece of pasta. Something about the click-click-click of going through the layers gives me great pleasure. 

It’s not every sound, every vision. It’s not the same satisfaction as looking at the red/pink colors of sunsets or the precision movements of a classical pianist. Those are different satisfactions.

I am talking about the effect of sound and/or texture and/or vision that  become three dimensional. The simultaneous sight and sound of glass shattering.  Perfectly round bubbles rising in a champagne glass. Rows and lines of things that blend perfectly into one another. Liquids that swirl into mesmerizing rainbows or the experience of running your fingers across corrugated cardboard. The sound and visual gratification watching thousands of precisely lined up dominoes falling. 

Our senses are magnificent transmitters. They send us pleasure on many levels all at one time, often overloading our personal processing centers. In a good way, of course.

If you have experienced what I call Sound and Texture Gratification, come along and share! We all love a good textile experience!

Here is a video that is “oddly satisfying” …

https://www.instagram.com/metdaan.cakes/

No sun outlasts its sunset, but will rise again and bring the dawn.
~ Maya Angelou

This is the downer part of being a creative sprite.

My application for my first Starving Artist Art Fair was turned down. 

The woman I was in contact with was very nice, very supportive. The jury preferred that every piece of my artwork — Angel Tears — should be hand made. 

I get that. I knew that. I know all of the hard work that goes into making something from scratch. That’s where the blood, sweat, and tears come from.

I chose to use a combination of purchased items and assemble them to my own specifications. The entire process is mine, just not the physical pieces.

The woman who sent me my rejection email suggested I try the smaller, local art fair across the street from their bigger one. Same day, almost same place.

Probably the best suggestion I’ve had all year. And I’m going to do it.

I would imagine many of you out there go through the same amount of angst, pride, doubt, and excitement about every piece you create. 

Why am I doing this? Making this? Making this particular style of this? Is it any good? Who would want to buy this? Can the purchasing public see this flaw or this wrong flash of color or this odd texture or this slipped stitch?

Your first rejection. Your first return. Your first complaint. They didn’t like it. They hated it. They hate my work.

I went through this same angst, pride, doubt, and excitement with every piece I wrote, too. My fear of never being published, never being read, never being understood. I write and delete and edit and throw out chapters and stanzas and stare at my computer screen and watch kitty videos.

Why do I put myself through this? This up and down, heart-and-gut-wrenching doubt about my beloved product?

I am happy to say that I ignore most of those wasted emotions lately. I plan on sharing now rather than hope for tomorrow.  I believe my writing is that good. And now my crafts.

Do you believe you are creative?

Do you enjoy what you do?

Do you like your end result?

Are you willing to work at getting your art out there?

I am excited about trying a smaller venue. Face it. I’ve never offered my art before to the public. Ever. Not my writing, not my crafts. 

I’ve never offered my dreams before, either.

I love the feeling creativity gives me. It lifts me. It’s therapy after a crazy day or a depressed night. I enjoy working on something that started as a thought in my mind and evolved into something tangible. 

Don’t let a road block in one direction stop you from turning and going a different way. There are dozens of ways to get your work out there. It doesn’t have to be a sales route. It can be work shared with friends and family, shared online, on a blog, or in your own online publication. You can enter half a dozen art fairs, craft fairs, or start your own art fair or a neighborhood art fair.

If you love what you do, don’t give up.

I’m not!

Creating dark, atmospheric art is not as easy as one would think. It’s more than black backgrounds and scary faces. It takes thought, planning, and the right mixtures of a blend of greys, blues and blacks.

This is something Eva Mout at Ursus Art does well.

Eva does marvelous portraits and photography, but there is something about her shadowed art that calls you in and makes you ask questions of the dark. Here is one of her most recent paintings and blogs, Spirited Off:

There are many more delights on her website, Ursus Art. You really should take some time and wander through her rich variety of creativity.

Tiffany Arp-Daleo has spent over 20 years painting, and has probably spent more time than that in being an art lover. I just love her bright, colorful work. At Tiffany Arp-Daleo Art, she is always experimenting with new colors, new paints — so much fun! 

Her latest blog, Create and Inspire, talks about creating cards using mostly watercolor and alcohol ink, a little acrylic, and paper cut-outs. Here is her current project:

How could not love those colors?

Take some time and wander through Tiffany’s blogsite. Her work is bright, inviting, and full of life.

It’s almost that time again. Ring out the old, ring in the new.

I thought I’d catch you all before the actual EVE and DAY come along, for who knows where we’ll be and what we’ll be doing.

With the pandemic, not much, I’m afraid.

But I was wondering what thoughts and plans you have for the New Year.

I don’t care much about letting go of 2020 — or 2010 or 1999 or any year of the past. Those are done. Gone. Finie. Good or bad, you can’t do anything about them. 

But what about 2021? It’s an open slate. Virginal and ready to be marked up, explored, and turned into something magical.

I myself have slipped out of the writing mode lately, having replaced it with arts and crafts. Making crystal windcatchers. And reading. And audio readings (at the moment I’m into free H.P. Lovecraft readings on HorrorBabble).

So my plans for 2021 is to keep making windcatchers and hope that art fairs make a comeback this summer. I’d like to take a whirl at showing off my wares.

I also think I’m going to change my WordPress plan so that I can offer some of my novels to the public for free. Look. No one is going to publish them, I don’t know if anyone will even like them. So why not offer them to my followers and see what they think?

I don’t make New Years resolutions anymore — haven’t for a while. Too easy to break, too easy to bend them or walk around them.

But I will make a point to spread the magic of creativity out there more. I love the feeling that being creative gives me. It empowers me, it transforms me, it humbles me. 

Everyone should feel so good!

So ……..what are your thoughts and plans for 2021? We’d all like to hear!