"Sherry & her secret blog"

One short year ago, there was a joke among my closest friends- it was about “Sherry & her secret blog”. I wouldn’t let them tell anyone I had one until it was going for a while I felt comfortable with it. It made a great joke, since the usual purpose of a blog is to be very public about something… and I wanted to, I just had to get my feet up under me first. So to begin with, I had a secret blog.

It has been a place for me to mutter about my creative process, remember things, hold myself accountable, ask you to hold me accountable & record my progress as a person who likes to make things & think out loud. I honestly didn’t think anyone would read it. (Other than my mom. Hi Mom!) I was really ok with that.

So imagine one day, about 6 months in, when I for the very first time decided to push that button on the behind-the-scenes dashboard that says “stats”. A little screen popped up: U.S. Canada. Germany. Australia. South Korea. Slovenia. South Africa. Japan. United Arab Emirates. United Kingdom.

Slovenia? Someone in Slovenia reads my blog? Maybe someone is as inspired by seeing bits of my creative process as I was after stumbling across my first creative blog. I still can’t believe anyone in any of these far-flung places would be interested in seeing photos of my half-finished paintings, but knowing that you do makes me happy. Over the moon happy, to be precise.

It has, artistically speaking, been a wonderful year & this little blog has been a big part of that. Over the last year, since hitting ‘publish’ on the first post, I’ve experienced an amazing amount of creative growth. Because of the blog I have started making things other than pet portraits, trying new things & adding different things to my Etsy shop. I started thinking outside of the proverbial box. Certainly I would not have had the confidence to apply for one of the instructor positions at ‘Painting with a Twist’ pre-blog.

The blog helped me become comfortable calling myself an artist, even if I don’t meet the predetermined criteria of some folks. I know it is a very big part of who I am.

So the blog has been a little bit magical for me. I wish I could explain why but I can’t…and although I’m certain the blog would still be written even if it was only mom reading it, it makes me happy to know that you are here. Yes, you. I’m looking forward to the next year & whatever creative magic it will bring. Hope to see you there.

Happy Blogiversary!

Image: M.Bartosch