Who?

This is the first of what I hope are many blog posts and years of “The Blog of an Aging Artist in a Modern World. “

If this is the first time you have visited this blog, it is an extension of the community I hope to build on Patreon, but with a different focus.

It is hard to be an artist later in life, but not impossible. I was born before cell phones, before cordless phones (if you know what that is, LOL!) Personal computers were not in existence. Internet? Definitely not. I remember the big box in the living room with the moving and talking pictures, a tv. Mine was black and white, not color. Rabbit ear antennae sat on top of it, sometimes with foil wrapped on the ends of the antennae in a futile attempt to get better reception.

I’m not ancient, but old enough to make being the artist - entrepreneur business side of art - very difficult. Here is a little secret for the younger generation… enjoy how that brain works now. It will not process that way forever. I did have two ischemic strokes a while a back so that may have something to do with how mine works. With that said, I have always been … how should I say … a bit eccentric.

This is the introductory post for “The Blog of an Aging Artist in a Modern World”, so I do not want to dive too deep today into my world. Let’s get to know each other a little:

Born: In Texas. Left and followed my husband around the world while he served in the US Military. Stopped making art to raise a family, and started a home daycare where ever we were stationed around the world. Grew apart, divorced. Raised the kids in the area they knew and had friends, Tennessee.

The kids grew up, and I went overseas as a missionary for 8 years. Experienced two strokes while on the mission field, wrapped up what I was doing on the mission field, and a year later moved back to Tennessee. All along I would draw and use my art skills a little here and there, but now it seemed time to make a career of what I love to do.

I love to experience the outdoors, wildlife, drawing, and watercolor painting. This is what I do now. Even though I stay between my two kids, I am determined to figure out the modern artist life and make a living with my artwork…. watercolor wildlife and nature art.

Whew! That was a fast bio, but why bore you with all the past details? This blog is about today.

Today I paint full-time and make a small part-time income. Why? I’m still trying to figure out websites, modern marketing, social media, blogging, vlogging, crowdfunding, Etsy, Patreon, acronyms like POD and KDP, online vendor applications, email service providers, and Skillshare, just for starters.

Right this minute I have figured out how to create images on Canva, and how to format this blog and its posts. For the first post, this will have to be today’s format. I did figure out how to turn the text black, but I would like it darker. Next mission is to watch YouTube videos and learn how to make this blog look nicer.

Signing off for the day. —-joy