Tumblring along 2...

It was good to hear how others feel about Tumblr and what it offers and how they use it. I definitely agree that it's not all that intuitive if you just land there and can't understand how it works - it takes a while and trial and error; and we don't all have that much time or energy to expend on yet another interwebby platform.

I promised to talk some more about the good the bad and the ugly of Tumblr as experienced by my friendly questionees and to also consider the vexed question of 'photo/picture pilfering' and the like.

In response to what they like most about tumblr, Ronnie mentioned that she might stumble over stuff that she wouldn't ordinarliy find and each questionee spoke about the opportunities tumblr offers to come across interesting things and to discover artists unknown to them; and a couple mentioned how easy it was - no pressure, no writing.

Leslie said "It's where I swoon. It's where I collect art" which I loved - that sense of a personal digital art collection.  Robyn spoke about getting lost in her own world and how much she loves her archive page - "a huge mosaic of ... whatever makes me feel alive".

And both Robyn and Leslie mentioned how it is still about connecting with other artists who are on your wavelength; and that tumblr offers an opportunity to learn more about those artists, what moves them and speaks to them.

The idea of learning about what we each respond to, and of learning about how other artists see their world were benefits of the almost totally visual format of Tumblr, and in addition Ann mentioned how useful it was to see  how other people respond to our own art when we post it.

The top of my Tumblr page earlier today

When asked what they like least about Tumblr, there were a couple of issues about the admin of the platform (it overloads sometimes, and they send you emails when somebody re-blogs your photo or starts following you which can clutter up an inbox and be annoying). For a few of us, the fact that sexually explicit sites are available without warning around their content has been a bit of a concern, as is when these sites start following you. You have to be vigilant to check new followers and block them if you don't want these sorts of folk to appear on your blog.

Sloppy referencing and not linking or acknowledging information properly was a real concern for Ronnie and a few of us noted how easy it is to spend a lot of time tumblring along.  For Leslie - the fact that there is no dialogue or conversation has been interesting; meaning Tumblr blogs tend to lack the depth of our other blogs.

My Tumblr archive so far for June

I also asked folk how they handled the permission to post or posting of images with links or references. This is one of the areas I have never felt totally comfortable with over at Tumblr, and I was so pleased the questionees shared their thoughts.

Everybody agreed that it was about each of us behaving with respect, honesty and integrity; and that we should all treat people as we would wish to be treated ourselves.

Always link to the person and give credit to the artist were agreed by everybody. For a few of us, if we see an image by an artist we know that is not credited, we go in and make the link and credit.

The way Tumblr usually allows for an automatic link is a real positive of the site; but some tricky people circumvent this by posting the photograph somewhere else first, then link to that intermediate posting; leaving the real artist's credit way back where...not good form.

An informal set of rules kind of appeared:

For most of us if we are re-blogging an image, we simply re-blog it;
If we are posting an image from the public domain we post it with correct links and credits; and
If we are posting from a personal blog however, we ask permission first.

Thank you again to Robyn, Leslie, Ronnie and Ann, and to others who have joined in the conversation; I've enjoyed pondering and learning alongside you.

My Tumblr archive for a quieter couple of months

Tumblring along...

As I write this I am wondering about etiquette again.  What's the etiquette of writing about one blogging platform on another blogging platform? Sigh. Too much for me so I'll go ahead and do it anyway.

I have enjoyed having a tumblr blog for quite a few months now and have managed to overcome the addicted-ness that came with early use.  I continue to enjoy exploring the images and links that are there and in my own time and own way.  Nonetheless I got to wondering how and why other folk use tumblr blogs and I asked a few of my favourites some questions which they were kind enough to answer.

My questionees were:

• Leslie Avon Miller who blogs at texture shapes and color; and tumblrs here;
• Robyn Gordon who blogs at Art Propelled, and tumblrs here;
• Rhonda Ayliffe who blogs at art & etc, and tumblrs here; and
• Ann Symes whose website is here and who tumblrs here.

When asked why they had a Tumblr blog they spoke about being able to discover and share images and quotes that they loved; as well as having a place where they could easily store inspiring images in one place. Rhonda (Ronnie) got into tumblr when she discovered an image of one of her works had gone semi-viral and she wondered what it meant to be popular when you had nothing at all to do with the posting of the work! For me, I like being able to explore lots of beautiful images, without having to engage with anybody, or get emails or notifications. I choose when and how I interact.

In thinking about how they use tumblr and what they use it for, Ronnie indicated she is experimenting with it, to see what information related to her current art research she might come across or stumble-upon. For Leslie, it's her on-line inspiration notebook, whilst Robyn finds scrolling thru it in the morning is a good way to get into work mode, and that it's also a means of unwinding after working all day. Ann uses it as an on-line scrapbook and reference book. I use it as means of collecting inspiring images and quotes - visions that calm me and that I respond to. I also do a little self-education thing where I then ask myself questions about what it is I am responding to - why does that piece appeal? etc as I try to learn more about art and myself.

©2010 Fiona Dempster - a dash of hope and courage

I think there is more than enough text here to digest, so I will finish up for the day here. The next blog post on tumblr will look at what the lovely questionees like most about tumblr, what they like least about tumblr and how they manage the posting and permission part of sharing all those images.

It would be great to hear from others what they think about tumblr and/or how they use it...feel free to add comments, drop me a line ... it's good to get the conversation going!

A facelift for my blog!

After talking to myself about it for ages, pondering, and then tentatively exploring possibilities and options for quite sometime, today I finally sat myself down and said "you have an hour to redesign your blog"!  And I pretty much did within the hour.

I was too scared to publish it at first, but then played for another hour and got it to where we are now. Phew.

I am not sure it is finished - lots of opportunities for fiddling and fine tuning I think, but the new look is trying to bring together the identity; and make things look a bit similar.

I mentioned we had new business cards, the website is underway here; and the soft grey is going to play a part in an ongoing way.

I have also introduced myself to tumblr, courtesy of Robyn Gordon from Artpropelled; who wrote this post which got me intrigued (enchanted, besotted, addicted...).

I think about tumblr for me as a modern day version of cutting out images from magazines and sticking them in my book.  My archive page is restful and soothing (for me) and each of the images speaks to me. Quietly.

Burnt text ©Fiona Dempster