Isn’t social media supposed to be all about connecting with others and getting to know each other better? Are we forgetting how to interact with each other because it is too bothersome to click one more link? I am always willing to expand my horizons so I decided to introduce the blogs of some artistic friends and some others that I recently interacted with or found online.

Deanna from Studio Deanna has been my partner in crime in my recent endeavours to learn more about blogging. Blame her! It was actually her idea, but I knew that she was right as usual about the need to learn more. She has greatly changed her blog design lately. Check out her plans for a crocheted garden in Australia and drop her a line if you have any suggestions. She would love the feedback. She is part of the Art Byte Critique group with Lori Ono, Marie Wintzer, and Arthur Huang who have all been mentioned earlier.

Blogs by some other friends of mine include those by Nancy Orlikow who is a painter and art therapist; Joei Lau who is an art journaler, events planner, and art educator; and Solveig Boergen who is a photographer specializing in portraits. There are many more people of course but I will gradually introduce those over time. Another time I will start exploring Flickr accounts and the beautiful photos taken by some other friends there.

In my recent searches I have learned that it can sometimes be difficult to find blogs of other artists. I guess they are mainly analogue like me or the are working in the studio instead of at the keyboard (something that I should be doing). I did stumble upon The Art Professor by Clara Lieu, who is actually an art professor at the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design. her figure drawings are amazing! It was refreshing to see her work after browsing through many photography or mixed media sites. Those are not necessarily bad but her work struck a chord with me. She also kindly answered my questions about her medium of choice after I posted a question. I never would have guessed that she used etching ink to draw on plastic. She also likes to get rough with her drawings and paper is just not strong enough to take it. A woman after my own heart!

I also found a few illustrators who are bravely trying out the digital world. Basically Emily is an illustrator who is trying to make a living as a freelance artist. Oops! I typed Bravely Emily first because her website’s name has brave in it and that is what she is for going the freelance route. I sent her a message to commiserate regarding the frustration in trying to get photos to look like the actual artwork. Another illustrator who uses the blog format but more for a portfolio than for any writing  is my amazing friend, Louise Rouse. Her work has a lot of humour, and some postcards are available at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Ueno, Tokyo if I recall correctly.

I also interacted with a few people just for the sake of being friendly. Anita’s Owl Creek Bridge has an appropriately creepy but quirky header for a blog with some wonderfully geeky posts. For something a bit different, I started following Harsh Reality by a self-designated opinionated man. That he definitely is! Yes, the grammar in the URL is not correct, but I am willing to let it slide if you are. He was many young Korean children who were adopted by Americans. I have been to his hometown of Busan countless times as well to an orphanage in Korea, and I have friends in several countries who have adopted children with ethnicities different than their own. I also have friends who have adopted Korean-Japanese children in Japan where they are usually regarded as of Korean descent, not Japanese. The man is not shy. He has a powerful voice.

I think I have done a pretty good job at spreading my wings and widening my horizons, don’t you? Nobody could ever accuse me of being a social wallflower! Who knows? If you send me a message, we might become friends too. Let me know what you think.