WWW.DONNAJCARTY.CO.UK

Yes, that's blatant self-promotion. Hey, my welbsite has been up for a week and, fed directly into Google, it comes up with two citations, one from here. Donna J. Carty comes up with nothing recent at all. I'm still alive and kicking. I've improved it a lot over the week it's been up, following every suggestion given to me by the folks who I e-mailed an announcement of its existence. Well, almost every suggestion. I'm only a novice website builder and don't know how to do some things yet. Since I've got Dreamweaver for a week more, I want to concentrate on making changes that will improve its functionality, for me, not for the viewer. I want it to attract customers for what I make and for classes and particularly for costuming possibilities. I want it to bring in show invitations, invitations to demonstrate, invitations to learn, invitations to collaborate, to upgrade my profile as an artist. That's just what I immediately think of. There must be more uses for it. So if you happen to read this and know anything about these things, help me out with your suggestions, will you?

So what now?

I've considered changing the name of this blog, but I'm not sure how to change its address, so perhaps I'll leave it. After all, everything that I do in the UK will be somewhat an outgrowth of my first experience as an artist here.

Also, I am submitting an application for a small job at NSAD. They need a 5 hr per week technician for the textile workshop. I would love doing it and could continue doing everything else, maybe even cut down my hours at my other job--maybe.

I'm probably going to say some things in my application that they won't like very much though. About how I would be a good resource for the students on how to go about using what they've learned to make a living after school. Apparently they don't like to think much about that.

So, I'll talk about what I'm managing to do in the arts these days.
First, I submitted a proposal to the Norwich Fringe Festival and it was accepted. It'll be a large "beaded" fringe for the entrance. I'm trying to make my "beads" recycled things of one sort or another.

Second, I've got a website. It's www.donnajcarty.co.uk and it's still very primitive. Just went up yesterday and needs a load of work, but getting it up will motivate me to do the work to make it better. Don't expect big improvements in the photos until I take my digital photography class. In my opinion, digital cameras are harder to learn than film cameras, at least when it comes to trying to make clear photos of jewellry. There's just so much of a sequence of pushing this and that instead of a simple screwing on of a macro lense and turning some dials back and forth. I think I'd like a cross between the two. One which, say, had a keyboard where I could type in the focal length and time of lense opening, but the picture would be recorded digitally so it coud be optimized on a computer.

And I'm going on the radio to talk about my work. I earned this by being such a big mouth. My friend Felicity Withers (www.blueshedbeads.co.uk), if I got the URL right, submitted a survey to help our local makers organization provide good selling opportunities. We hope for things like a standard booth size and electricity and maybe tables and a backboard to rent. A lot of my ideas of what is desirable came from my long-term participation in the Mountain State Art and Crafts Fair, which has it right in a lot of ways. Anyhow, apparently I was articulate enough that they decided I'd make a good prospect for a local radio interview. (It's probably generally admitted that I'm not a prime candidate for a TV interview. Camera-ready I seldom am!)

I never did have any show of my AA2A work. Just as I finally pushed the issue of when the photos should be done, things started happening in my household that took huge amounts of my time. I will finish the pieces in any case. And there's no way I can lose what I learned doing them, or the inspiration I got for other work. But I suppose that could be another reason NSAD could turn me down for that mini-job. I am trying to get better at following through. It has always been a failure of mine on many levels. I think I'm getting better, but I'm still a long way from perfection.