You don't have to send it

Real live conversation - remember it? Not a text, not an email, not a post. 
A quote attributed to Randi Zuckerberg, sister of the famous guy: "If you're going to put something in writing, make sure you would be comfortable if it was reprinted in a newspaper." 

Texting, emailing and posting have a double edged weakness:

• They remove personal interaction. Vocabulary, gestures, responses, emotions, you get those things in a face to face. By default, words decrease with tiny keys, abbreviations, and aware of it or not, that decrease carries over in live conversation. Eyes tell the brain so much about another person; the keyboard simply cannot compete with that kind of input.
• They are essentially permanent. That written message becomes a forever traceable record. Where a spoken conversation between two people may be misstated or misinterpreted, the actual words are just a whisper of a memory. They can be forgotten, even denied. But put it in writing, and they are forever, around for anyone to see. Write something wrong or hurtful? A reply to all broadcasts those words. Or that text message may be forwarded to 300 people. And post or social-media-it, the results can be heartbreaking.

I love email, prefer it to phone calls. I'm not a quick thinker, so writing time to get the words right. It lets me communicate at a time of my choice. Sometimes it even lets me vent, knowing that I can backspace all those angry words away: the send button is an option, not a have-to. Better than email, though, is a give and take conversation, two people talking, responding, working through a problem or just enjoying a fresh idea. Caring and interested in the other person.

LinkedIn expert, Melanie Dodaro takes Zuckerberg's caution one more step up the ladder:  "I would even go as far to extend this to cover pictures, videos or any other form of media that can be attached to you in any way. Not only is it important that potential clients aren't seeing anything negative, you really have no idea who is looking at that stuff. It could be a new girlfriend/boyfriend 10 years from now, a competitor, potential business partner…anything is susceptible to go up in smoke once you hit that "Post" button, so be absolutely sure you want it out there."

The Whistling Ducks and Artists

Sofia, Pastel, 12x16, by Carolyn Hancock

The whistling ducks live and socialize alongside the pond created between two fairways behind my kitchen. Lots of whistlers. A couple of months ago, a neighbor started putting feed out every afternoon. Can you guess?  the number of whistlers multiplied.

After yesterday's heavy rain, they separated into groups. One group in the middle of the fairway, one group of the same size at the edge of the pond. And then the aloof group of loners, maybe half a dozen, spread out, distance between each of them. Watching the three separate groups, I related their actions to the diversity in artists.

There's the group in the middle, joiners, waiting close to the feeding station, thinking something will just come to them, someone will give them a meal.

There's the group of doers, foraging, pecking in the ground for their own meal, knowing survival is up to them but not knowing if they will find that special delicacy to fill a hunger.

Then that ultimate group, the loners, going it on their own, doing things a little different, fending for themselves, willing to take a chance.

2004 marks 20 years since I began my art journey, and I've been in and out of all three groups. Am I a successful artist? No, in the sense of monetary achievement. I was lucky in the beginning to live out of the country with a group of people who felt a kinship with the my artwork; it struck a memory of travels they themselves had taken. And they had the money to purchase artwork. Back in the States, exotic locale paintings and realism held no sway, people wanted abstract or artwork they didn't have to emote with. So I changed groups.

I painted flowers and landscapes, subjects that provided an easy connection. I worked hard at it, and I think ultimately that the "worked hard" showed through the painting - the emotion was not there.

And that brings me back to the question: am I a successful artist? Yes, in the sense that I have rotated through the groups and circled back to being myself, part of that group of loners. Successful in that I know that my heart and passion lie in painting people. Successful in knowing that I am willing, maybe even eager, to look into different methods of applying my pastel, in seeing the subject. Successful in finally understanding that those threads of feeling I had in painting a character are the very same ones that cause a person to cross the room to look at my work - and those only exist in my figurative work. 

The Big Reveal | Carolyn Hancock Blog

The Big Reveal | Carolyn Hancock Blog

Every painting has a story. Sometimes the story is obvious from the composition or the subject matter. But sometimes behind the scenes is not obvious, and the artist seldom gets to do the big reveal. 

I lived out of the country when I started painting. My preference even then was to paint people, and every one of the paintings originated from a trip to another country, a different culture. And behind every painting was a terrific story that would likely not be communicated.

A couple of weeks ago I was digging through links, tracking things I liked, when a restaurant photo stopped my fingers. What were those little circles, one on each item of food? I let the mouse float over the icon and, Wow! Fun idea. It was like a commercial, "I want one of those."

Old Halo is my first attempt with this new way of telling the story behind the painting. Give it a look and let me know if you like it. Click this link, give it a moment to load, then hover over or touch the icon.