begin again

City of Newburgh, 1940's, 20"x24" made up of 6 panels, acrylic/canvas

There's really no way for me to un-self-consciously start up my blog again without acknowledging the -ulp- four months that have gone by since I last posted. It wasn't intentional, as in, let me regroup or take time to clarify my intentions or make more work or any such excuse. No, just the same old, one week became two became a month became four. But I regret this lapse. It started (or stopped, I should say), I suspect, as a reluctance to repeat myself here after three years of "Look, I'm in another group show/ I stacked a lot of firewood/ I read books/ I made new prints/ I organized a show of 50 artists at my gallery/ I made calendars/ I'm in another group show/ I made a thing for an event/ I painted more stuff/ I drove and took pictures."
Which, far from a reason to shut up, could have nudged me to broaden my activities, except- surprise- these reports are actually why my blog exists, as a method of communication to others and a record for myself that's smoothed out and cinched in for general perusal. When I went too long between posts, I missed doing it. I didn't stop painting or exhibiting, but it's sobering how easily I could tell myself that blogging 'doesn't matter' because time went by and things were ok without me going on about it. I am remembering now that 'ok' isn't enough and shouldn't be. No one will ever make as big a fuss about me and my work as I, so- very needlessly to say-  it is up to me to create the content.
A couple months ago, someone did contact me to ask if I was ok, since I hadn't posted in so long. Embarrassed, I typed "yes.." and went back to posting a blink-and-you-miss-it update on the mixed bag that is Facebook. Then last week, a discussion at a BeaconArts board meeting about using our website to generate connections in and beyond our community by sharing content from local creative businesses and artists' blogs made my sheepish-artist ensemble complete. I had been ba-a-a-adly negligent for too long. Time to begin again. Or tomorrow, tomorrow is fine too.