Unique Internet Presence for Artists

December has arrived and this region is still full of sun and warmth. Part of it is great and very pleasant to walk around in t-shirt but I am afraid it is all at the expanse of the water reserves that are almost empty.I am still moving in all directions with somewhat desperate attempts to build myself a half descent blog but so far I can’t really say I am very successful.I roam around the blogosphere and find great bloggers with focused intent and powerful messages that really inspire and uplift but what I am looking for is something of course that I would like to become and be. That is, a combination of inspiring and talented art, creative and original thinking, sound, non- aggressive marketing and a touch of spirituality. Maybe I am asking too much and maybe all of these things I need to unfold within myself slowly and with enough practice, patience and good will, they will fall into place, naturally and gracefully.As I continue to build this blog, I am realizing that much of this process of building, designing and assembling content, is a lot like art making. All of the same principles apply.Building a unique internet presence is not that simple but I firmly believe that it is an extremely important enterprise for artists that want to escape the drudgery of always being dependent on good will of some sort of Establishment. Be it an important collector, a museum, gallery or auction house, it always has too many strings attached.So, in my opinion, it is very important to develop a strategy that can enhance the creative process trough bringing awareness to that place where our creative process begins which is the inner communication. Writing a blog enhances this inner dialog and at the same time it has a potential to build a real audience. That in itself has a great potential not only for profit but actually reducing the dependency of the artist on the “Rich Patron”. At the same time, a successful blog has a great potential for a wider recognition.Like many beginning bloggers I have also  many questions and puzzles ,some related to the technical aspects of site building and management , issues of design, understanding elementary code, css,seo etc. As I keep searching for answers  for the specific issues that concern the building process on the technical level I also ask myself more general questions related to the core principles that that are more  of philosophical nature and do not necessarily have an outward expression in the general design of the blog . Some of these are:Should I talk about Art, or just shut up and do it? This issue is actually the very first issue every artist that creates a blog has to ask herself, since this determines if there is going to be a blog at all.Many artists hold this opinion that art should be done within the silence of one’s heart and mind inside the sanctuary of the studio space and it is not be revealed to the uninitiated public as this tends to reduce the depth and quality of the work.There are numerous references to this world view according to which the Mind strives towards serenity in a meditative silence and every attempt to verbalize thought is a sort of intrusion and distraction.There are many variations on this theme and few of the famous ones include Leonardo Da Vinci who is quoted to say:” It is a supreme misfortune when theory, outstrips performance”. In a more modern version when Eli Wallach as the “Ugly” from the “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” exclaiming from the bathtub “if you want to shoot, shoot, don’t talk”.What is the balance between wanting to be popular and generate a lot of interest and traffic and at the same time preserve the artistic integrity which is not concerned with being nice, being “special” or provocative.How much to reveal about myself? This one I guess is something that concerns every blogger and it is interesting to read other people’s opinions and ideas on how they maintain balance with this issue.One of those people I have discovered yesterday at” Penelope’s Trunks Brazen Careerist” place and her frank openness helped me much as I was reading her blog.Another big one for many artists including myself is the issue of money.Should I monetize my site or leave it as a place to showcase my art and express my thoughts, feelings and events in my life.Promotion. How to promote yourself naturally without becoming overtly narcissistic.All this and much more are the issues that concern me at this stage and I must admit that there is something very positive about the need to answer all these question as frankly as possible, since any attempt to evade them will definitely show in my opinion not only in the sincerity of the content but even in the general feel of the design.As I enumerate the many issues above I realize that each of them could be a topic of a post in itself.And since part of my aspiration with this blog is to reach out to the millions of artists all over the world, I think it could be interesting to try to make a small research on these issues that I think concern artists today, in the age of intense communication.