My digital presence (RVJart.com, This Speaks My Mind, Facebook) are coming up on the 3rd anniversary of their birth. It has been an interesting journey. I have become a writer and learned computer programming. I have widened the circle of interest in my work locally and globally. I have sharpened my abilities and discernment in communication and expression of the written word.

As with any new enterprise there are always high hopes for success. As well, there are ideas that didn’t turn out as expected. The most difficult thing is getting the public to engage with the content that I put up, to take the time to think about the images and ideas. All websites have to deal with this issue.

First I will use Facebook as an example. If I post a photo, I will consistently get 10 times more traffic than if I post a link (even if it includes a photo) to This Speaks My Mind or RVJart.com. Readers are willing, for the most part, to share a photo more than an idea and don’t tend to click links that leave Facebook (cheers if you are one that does!).  I don’t know if this has more to do with my ideas or the culture of Facebook?

Secondly, This Speaks My Mind shows what is going on behind the eyeballs. The ideas that percolate behind the process of creating the artwork that you see on RVJart.com. I have written 90 posts on this blog. Here are the top 10 viewed posts to date:

1. A Visual Valentine
2. Creativity Continuum Theory
3. Beast of the Northern Wild
4. Ode to a Camera
5. Meet Jane Katherine
6. Monday Moonday
7. All you need is art
8. The Idea of Color
9. Art, accident vs. intent
10. Octavio Paz and the war on drugs

A varied grouping, some dealing with paintings, some photos, and some ideas. Following this blog is an investment of time but you get more understanding of my thought process and work.

Lastly, RVJart.com has well over 100,000 hits to date and has steady traffic. Unfortunately this has not translated in a lot of sales to patrons that I don’t already know. It has made it easier for folks to see and purchase work that live distant to Vermont, but most of these patrons are already collecting my work. One benefit is that I can show my work to anyone, almost anywhere, on the spot.

The promise of living off of a virtual gallery is still not at hand for me, in spite of the fact that it cuts the cost of buying my artwork in half (no middlemen or gallery commissions). Que sera, sera…

Over the next few months I will be re-evaluating my digital presence. If you follow these pages you may notice some changes. I welcome your input.

I do thank you for your support, feedback and patronage over the past few years.

The featured image is a work in progress, Moonset 214, a continuation of a series of moon rises and sets over the past few months. Here are two others;  Moonset 5,   Moonrise 91.