I am a member of a wonderful online community called The Bliss Guild, which is a group of women who are pursuing their dreams (bliss) through their own businesses.  This group originally formed in response to Victoria magazine’s The Business of Bliss, a book highlighting women who had taken their passions and turned them into profitable businesses.  I joined this group in January of 2007, just after I determined to learn web design and start my own online web magazine called Charm & Grace.   Since then I have been pursuing my dreams of doing artwork through web design and, as I have shared with you here, more recently through fine artwork.  It is such a blessing to be a part of this wonderful and talented group of women.  I have learned so much from so many who are part of the Bliss Guild community, and I am excited to tell you that right now on the Bliss Guild Blog I am the featured member. So, be sure to stop by and read my interview to learn all about my “bliss.” 

It has been nearly a year since I started the Charm & Grace website.  And while my blog has seen quite a bit of traffic over the months, the main website has not been profitable.  It tends to have a good bit of traffic, but it hasn’t been as financially successful as I need for it to be.  I put Google ads there hoping to generate enough revenue to pay for the hosting and justify my time in writing and design on the site.  I am now in the process of reevaluating that concept.  I lean toward revamping and refining the site, so that in the future it won’t take quite so much time to update the articles.  There are so many things going on right now, I just haven’t had the time (and believe me it takes gobs of time) to do a winter 2008 issue of Charm & Grace.  I hope to have a spring issue, albeit pared down and reconfigured, out sometime in March.

Having said that, today was a day to experiment with my new paint brushes and watercolors.  After a fun day of playing with paint, I am glad to sit down to the computer and share with you what I’ve been up to.  (No I have not made any progress on the comment spamming, although I have spent quite a bit of time trying.  I will let you know when I get a solution.  Special thanks to Karla and Bebe for your great suggestions.) Anyway, since I am now back to doing fine art, I will also be looking for a way to coordinate my creative pursuits with my web design.  This is all such a wonderful opportunity to learn new things and new ways of incorporating all my artistic endeavors, and I really am excited about what the future holds. 

Color is an amazing thing, and for me, being able to play and experiment is just such a blessing.  And it’s something I haven’t afforded myself the luxury of doing in quite some time.

On a side note… a few days ago I was looking for a container to hold and sort my brushes, when I had a wonderful inspiration.  I had purchased this lovely tulip vase last summer and haven’t used it very often as a vase.  When I saw it I knew that it would be the perfect (and very aesthetically pleasing) brush holder.  I love the way the brushes look held so gracefully by the creamy white vase.  Blessings and hugs…