lately there have been conversations popping up about the world wide web and its influence.
things like the popularity of etsy (not to be the one to bite the hand that feeds me) and whether it helps or hinders the indie community: the hierarchy of sellers according to popularity--to clarify, this is just part of human nature and is NOT AT ALL IN ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM INTENDED TO SAY THE OWNERS/DESIGNERS/EMPLOYEES OF ETSY ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS!!; the influence of one designer on another in fairly obvious ways; or simply by making the smaller world larger and the larger world smaller.
the subtle way a streamlined design blog can convince you to want more and more (whether on a simple level of the expectation of an instantaneously desirable home, or plain and simple consumption)
Or, perhaps, the whole thing can be summed up as saying: creating a much larger level of consumption and the resulting high school feeling: I want to be popular.
I don't want to continue limiting my art simply because it seems too much like so-and-so over at www.blahblahblah.com.
In an effort to simplify, I resolve to:
Spend 2 days a week on etsy. This means shop updates and shipping will only be on Mondays and Thursdays.
My sidebars will be reworked and links will be updated.
Get back to nature. That was the intent of this blog--to chart garden progress and to keep home reno projects updated. . . that's what I need to get back to!!
Push my work a little less in the public sphere but explore my interests much more deeply.
Remove contacts on flickr that clutter my creativity.
5 comments:
I was having this issue with Etsy. I was selling only plants and seeds and was frustrated and then realized that I needed to refocus. I'm updating tonight and tomorro with a few things and I"ve decided I'm going put stuff up anyway. My blog is my blog and it is what it is. I like your blog! ;) You were the nice one who sent me seeds when a random commenter commented and wanted to share in the joy of gardening! :)
I wrestle with all of these things too. I feel like sometimes there are the popular crafters/artists on flickr or etsy and you want to so much to be IN that circle , run with that crowd And be successful for just being you JUST like HS. I think time away and a bit of refocusing is always good. A friend of mine...carmen of sweetpetite.typepad.com just came back after a looooong hiatus. I missed her but she really needed it.
Etsy is hard to, as your stats are there for everyone to look at and when you don't sell as many things as others you admire you feel like a failure. I find this "business" to be so cyclical and random at the same time. My sales on etsy/private/wholesale are picking up now. Why? I have NO clue?!
Good luck with your discoveries...I bet you will find your work becoming more personal and better because of it!
good for you.
it's easy to get swept up - but it's also good to re-focus....
be well
ahhhh, my thoughts exactly. :) Get back into nature. Refocus. Deepen everything personally. Spend more time being quiet instead of rushing around from one thing to another, trying to "make it." Enjoy my life.
Thanks for the great reminder this morning. I'm going to go on a walk!
PS- check out keri smith's blog post on the same sort of thing: http://www.kerismith.com/blog/archives/000518.html
Thanks everyone. . .Misti, I think that part of what I need is to get back in the earth, do some digging and get dirt under my nails. That's the best isn't it?
Stephanie--exactly. I usually have a little nagging in the back of my head to stay true to myself, but sometimes that nagging actualizes into taking a broader look and DOING something about it. I didn't care for the HS hierarchy then, and I don't want to fall prey to it now!
Thanks, Lisa. Trying to refocus and then MAINTAIN focus!
Jess--I don't check in on Keri's blog daily, just every once in a while, but I poked my head in over there yesterday right after I wrote this. Perfect timing. Enjoy your walk and appreciate the gorgeous colors of the leaves right now!
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