Today I’ve been blogging for 10 years. October 9, 2008 I put my first Roz Wound Up post,
You can read my first post at this link.
I started with a product review and I’ve been reviewing products (99.9 percent of which I purchase; but I’ll always disclose if something has been sent to me) ever since.
For the first year and a while after that I posted everyday. Gradually I fell into a Monday, Wednesday, Friday posting schedule which has pretty much lasted to the present day. Upon occasion I’ve taken a short Hiatus. But even when I do that I can’t quite keep away from the blog—I write short posts that refer back to older posts that I think newer readers might have missed.
I’ve written 2,376 posts, and several more reference pages in the past ten years. Over two million words. I get a little tired when I think about that—No, just kidding. I love writing and to me writing the blog has really been a form of letter writing, something I’ve done since early childhood because of all the moves my family made.
During the past ten years I’ve written about nature journaling, visual journaling, book arts, color theory, bicycling, television, movies, bread baking, gay marriage rights (which I support), the Minnesota State Fair, Carl (and Carl Too), Dick’s eyebrows, and hundreds of other topics that you can find listed in the category list of this blog.
Over the years I’ve illustrated my posts with my paintings and sketches. I think the paintings and sketches make the blog look “festive.” The subject matter tends to be wide, but unvarying in some respects: dogs, birds, other animals, men with beards, people I sketch when I’m running errands, people I sketch when I’m watching TV, sketches of friends and family. I’m always sketching so it’s fun to post sketches, even if they don’t topically match the post’s topic. I feel it helps readers know what I’m up to. On the other hand often the images I make suggest a topic for me to write about—simply because I want to tell you how fun it is to work on a specific paper with a specific pen; or because while creating that painting I thought of something I hadn’t thought about before, or wanted to look at that thought more deeply.
I write posts like that because I want to share the fun of drawing with others. I write posts because I’m an inveterate letter writer and I like to write about what I’m doing and thinking.
I actually started the blog because long before I had the blog I belonged to a number of online groups and I was always getting the SAME questions over and over, “What about this pen?” “Which papers do you bind with?” “How do you draw live animals like you do at the Fair?” and so on.
I simply got tired of the inefficiency of writing the same responses over and over to different people. But I wanted to share the information I’d discovered through experimenting.
A blog, I thought, would allow me to write something once, answer something once, and then move on to other things.
Well as far as art materials go, good luck with that. They are always changing and in the past ten years they seem to be changing at a faster rate as companies gobble up other companies and change products to be produced more efficiently or with less expensive ingredients, thus downgrading the product.
Despite changes the blog has allowed me to cross-reference my thoughts about products, and it has become a useful tool when trying to explain things to people. (Though people asking me a question and receiving a list of 5 blog posts all over 3,000 words probably don’t feel the same way!)
And as for the non-art-material related posts, well life is always changing.
I’ve written a lot about my family and this year we lost my mother-in-law Phyllis. That was a very difficult change for me. It is difficult to lose someone who believes in you and always has your back. I suppose that sounds selfish, but it’s the way I see it. And I’m comforted knowing that Phyllis knew I had her back.
This spring I actually thought of wrapping up the blog. I had just finished two years of stress attached to something that had always only been a joy. But I was able to start fixing some of the problems that changing the blog design and host had generated. And blogging became fun again.
But after ten years you need to take stock. That’s why I thought about ending the blog. I still think about that some days. The funny thing is that even as I thought about ending the blog I made plans to start a new blog creating a new domain name and brainstorming what would be on that blog.
Then I started to think about how this blog, cataloging as it does “my many enthusiasms” could contain pretty much anything, so there wasn’t a need now to quit this blog. All that was needed was to remain open to the changes that life is bringing.
That’s something that we all have to do every day in life.
I hope going forward some of the changes in my life and on the blog will still bring you back for another look.
To all of you who have been reading all along, or even part way through, but have shown up regularly to comment and let me know what a post has meant to you, thank you.
You’ve helped the blog feel exactly like it has always felt: like I am writing letters to friends who may or may not be interested in sketching or art materials, but are happy to know what I’m up to, and happy to know I’m occupied—because that keeps me out of real trouble!
Life changes for all of us.
We don’t know what the changes will bring. I’m still working out what the next few months will look like for me.
I know that in ten years your lives have changed as well. I hope you’ll continue to stop by now and then and check in.
If this is where we part ways just know I enjoyed writing to you.
I will always remember the first eight years of this blog fondly, and always be grateful to the folks who stuck to it when behind the scenes it was in turmoil.
And I wish you well in life, wherever life takes you.
I just thought it would be good if I stopped and said that, at least once every ten years.
Now I’m off to sketch.
Thank you so much for dharing all these years, Roz. Sketchbook Skool introduced me to your blog, and your writing has always been fun to read and a great educational resource. You have been so generous in sharing a window into your life, in a particular time and place. You once write that drawing is a form of love, and your blog has demonstrated that over the years, especially with “the girls,” and your family—always with a lively eye and frequently a humorous edge. I wish you many years.
It is always great to see a comment from you Julana. I appreciate it. Thank you for getting how I feel about sketching!
Roz, Your blog is a treasure and always has been. I have learned so much from you. I would love to know how you use Sktchy. I don’t really get it, though I confess I haven’t spent much time trying to figure it out!
Thanks Faith, it has been fun to get to know you from the “yahoo groups” days! Thanks for continuing to stay in touch!
Don’t over think Sktchy. It’s simple. You have an iPhone or an iPad and you can get the app. (It doesn’t work on other platforms). You enter the app and create an account for yourself. You scroll through the gazillion inspiration photos that people post for artists to create with. You pick a face with a beard (if you’re me that is). You draw it any way you want, with whatever media you want, having fun as you do it, and then post it on Sktchy to share with the muse whose photo inspired you, and anyone else who stops by.
That’s literally all there is too it.
If you’re working on a particular illustration and want a person looking “scared” for instance you can do a keyword search and incorporate that face into your illustration. You can use the muse photos for commercial work based on the posting agreement for photos.
I think that most folks on Sktchy just use the app for sketching practice or to do illustrations for self-promotion in their work but who knows. I don’t see everything. I don’t even know how many folks are on the app!
People have liked my work and I go and check out their work. Or I have a few moments and run through the feed of posts to see what people have been doing and “wow” works that strike me. It’s fun to see what people are doing with different media and there are lots of really talented artists on sktchy working in a variety of media.
For me Sktchy became a resource to use at the beginning of 2017 when I was stuck inside the house with what was to be a rather protracted series of illnesses and accidents. When I couldn’t get out to sketch at the zoo, I just pulled up the faces and sketched something that appealed to me.
It’s not as fun as drawing from real life, but if you are shut in, or you’re somewhere there aren’t people (because lately I’ve been in some people-less waiting rooms) it’s great to have something to sketch.
If you aren’t either of those things then you’re beyond fortunate and you can look around and sketch from life whatever you have at hand.
But it’s nice to have a fall-back.
That’s all.
Don’t over think it.
Just have some fun.
Thank you, Roz,for all your sharing. I for one,never miss your posts. Always informative and fun!
I hope you don’t stop,but if you do,I understand.
I especially loved the the eyebrow updates. And Carl!
Take care!
Thank you Cindy for “getting” the eyebrow updates!!!!! And Carl. Both Dick and Carl (and Carl Too) are very patient with me, when I write about them!
I have been following your blog for a few years now, not from the beginning but probably about about 7-8 years. It is what made me want to take classes with you and that has brought inrichment (autocorrect changed that to indictment – yikes!) into my life in so many ways. I look forward to seeing where this blog takes us next
Tyanne, thank you for reading, and it has been a pleasure having you in classes and watching your practice grow and become a part of your life. I love how you continue to show up. I always enjoy seeing your pages!
Roz, your blog has done more to inspire me to sketch and journal than any other resource, and often your thoughtful posts about handling ‘life issues’ have inspired me too. Thank you! I am so glad you intend to go on blogging (though I would have understood if you had felt it was time to wrap it up too).
Thanks for your kind words. I’m so glad that the blog has helped you and your sketching practice. Thanks for reading!
8 years or 10 years? Whatever, the point is I love your blog. I have been following since the start of Sketchbook Skool and truly appreciate this resource. Your current posts are engaging, and if I run into a sketching or book art question your history is the first place I look for an answer. I’m afraid I’m not a big commenter, but I want to be sure you know I very much appreciate your willingness to share!
Eight really fun years for me and two years of stress, but I know that in another 10 years the 2 blip years will be just an expensive joke I laugh about, as I’m laughing about it already. (And I think in that 2 years of stress I’ve written some of my best posts so that’s something for me to be happy about.) Thanks so much for reading along. I’m so glad you enjoy the posts and are able to find answers in the archives!
Kim, sorry for the additional confusion. Another long time reader wrote in and pointed out that I had a typo in my date for the first post. I’ve corrected it. The first post was October 9, 2008.
Roz your posts are like letters from a treasured friend. A talented friend wholly generous with her insight and skill. Because of you I have a daily drawing habit that brings me a quiet joy every day. Thank you
Thanks Barbara, I hope that’s the case (letters from a treasured friend). I am so glad that I’ve been a part of helping you build a daily drawing habit. It’s my goal!
Congratulations on your 10th anniversary as a blogger Roz!! I have been reading every one of your posts for almost 5 years now. I have also mined your historical posts for inspiration and valuable materials reviews. No one has done more to advance my art than you have, even though we have never even met in person, THANK YOU for having shared your many enthusiasms all these years!
Thank you Paul. I’m glad you have found the blog useful and I feel grateful to have met you through our correspondence. I love knowing about your art adventures (including your photography! Which as you know is an enthusiasm of mine in that I have so many talented photographers in my life, and include you in the group). Thanks for putting up with the bossiness!
OK…so I’m a lurker. I always read your blog postings. I also “found” you through Sketchbook Skool and look forward to your fun, interesting, challenging, erudite (thought I’d throw that word out there) postings. I never miss them. I didn’t realize you had been with this a full 10 years….that’s eons in blog-time. Congratulations! Thanks for sharing……all your many enthusiasms.
Thank you for your generosity, Roz. It absolutely boggles my mind. When will you teach another class in the Twin Cities?
Thank you Kathy. I wish I could give specific dates for local teaching right now, but things are precarious because of elder care. Dick’s dad is doing OK, but he is very frail at 97 and he is where my focus is right now. If I set up an in person class and something happens to him I’d have to cancel the class and I’m not willing to disrupt people’s lives like that. But if I am teaching online and there is an emergency I can still respond to student questions using the iPad in the hospital. So for now it’s simply the way life is going. But thank you for being interested. I’m teaching and speaking at SketchKon in November, but that will be my only “Live” event, I hope for years to come. And then I’ll start a new phase of life…but right now I am really trying to show up in this phase and stretch myself.
Roz, the first time I saw a sketch of yours in Danny ‘s book, I was hooked. I leapt at the chance to learn from you in SBS. If you wrote one book, or a dozen, I would buy them all. I haven’t read every post, but I always check in – now that I get blog notifications by email, and see you on Instagram, I feel comforted in knowing I can easily access you and your prodigious talent. I’ll always be grateful for the spark I rediscovered in my own career when I lucked upon you. Cheers to Years , however they unfold!
Sheryl I’m so glad that I was able to connect with you through one of Danny’s books and Sketchbook Skool. Thank you for your interest in what I write. I’m so glad that I’ve helped you in your rediscovery!!!
A big Congra Rats to you, Roz, on your 10th anniversary as a blogger! I have learned so much from you, your classes and your blog. You are not only a real inspiration and an incredible teacher. but you are a very fine writer. I loved reading your first blog and seeing how that has evolved into the multi-faceted site you have today. It’s so easy to navigate and your indexing would put Encyclopedia Brown to shame. I love how you test materials and share those results on your blog. I’m so grateful that you share your knowledge, skills and life with us! Thank you!
Thank you Zeke, your opinion on this is very much valued and appreciated! (I do love to cross reference!!)
Congratulations on 10 years of blogging! I have followed you for many years, and always look forward to whatever you have to say, whatever topic you share. Your personal journey with elder care coincided with my own, and that was and has been deeply moving, and greatly appreciated. I value every comment you make on every possible kind of art supply, and really give you much credit for keeping my own art practice alive. When I’ve felt uninspired and unenthused about everything, I read through your “letters” and get a swift kick to get out a sketchbook or a piece of paper and just do something! I’ll be a fan and a reader for as long as you choose to keep writing. Thank you so much.
Gail I’m grateful you have been reading along and that the eldercare posts have been helpful. I think we all need to talk much more about this experience which is touching so many lives. And I’m glad the other posts can get you into action. We all need to keep going with those things like art which give our lives interest and enjoyment and satisfaction and also stretch us. I’m so glad I could help you keep that practice alive. Thanks for reading and your kind comment.
Congratulations, Roz! Ten years of blogging is a real achievement. I came to your blog after seeing your sketches in Danny Gregory’s book. I was so energized by your style of sketching, and your style of writing has kept me coming back to the blog. You’ve packed it full of so much great information about art practice and about life. I always love the eyebrow updates. Here’s to another 10 years!
Thank you Beverlee for you note. I’m glad that you enjoy the eyebrow updates because I am still struggling with them!!!! There well be more!
Roz, I’m relatively new to your blog (and classes) but you must know what an inspiration they are to me. Your joie de vivre, even in the midst of personal pain (as in the death of Phyl), uplifts me when I also feel the weight of life. Your recent post on eldercare was particularly helpful as I enter this phase with my own parents.
Please continue, and write about whatever you damn well want! It’s all good.
—Karen V.
Thank you Karen, thanks for going on the journey with me and Phyl. I think we all have to face these issues at some point and I think when we share them it helps us all see the universality of it. Thanks for reading!
Dear Roz,
Ten years is quite a milestone – congratulations! I “met” you through SBS–not that long ago, but I appreciate your info, humor, sketches, glimpses of everyday life, and everything else. What I’ve learned is that it is ok to change, evolve, grow; it’s ok to like or not like a pen or type of sketchbook because it works/doesn’t work for me; it’s ok not to please everyone. I’m looking forward to seeing what’s next!
Corinne
Thanks so much Corinne for reading and letting me know the takeaways you have had from the blog. I think growing and evolving is so important and it has to come from within us and not be driven by others. I’m so glad that you are working from that base.
I followed you years ago. Then life happened – my mother went into board and care, I got sick, sold my house, changed email addresses, and lost touch with your blog.
This weekend I was at “art camp” and met a woman who has just recently begun sketching and journaling. I brought in my Cathy Johnson books to share with her and was reminded of your blog posts and all the information I had received from them. I shared this information, too.
I’m so happy to have found your blog again. I’m trying to get back to my sketching and journaling and your blog is a wealth of information, and just plain inspiring! Thank you.
Betty, I’m sorry to hear about your mother and your own health issues and know all of that is difficult and disruptive, but I am so glad that even though you weren’t still reading the blog you were making art! I’m glad you’ve found your way back. I hope you keep making art!
Congratulations on 10 years of producing such an informative and interesting blog, especially in the past couple of years. I always check for it every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday even before I get the email. You have such an amazing ability to educate and inspire through your writing, your drawings and paintings, your humour, and yes, a bit of bossiness. Thank you for all you’ve put into the blog, and also your amazing organization that enables readers to look up any topic easily.
Susan, thanks for reading, and for putting up with my bossiness!!!
Hi Roz – delighted to be part of this journey with you! I love your language-loving polymath ways and therefore look forward to any enthusiasms you choose to share. I will admit that I’m hoping for a ‘non-sequitorial’ tutorial on making fabulous whole wheat croissants!
Ah, the whole wheat croissants!!!! I need to get Dick back on finishing the breakfast nook so I can have my kitchen back!!!! Those were good croissants. While you are out and about stop at some antique marts now and then and poke around for a glass rolling pin that has a screw end or cap of some sort so you can put ice it in!!! It’s essential. I think they might be available new, but I have always had great luck finding them in collectible “stores.” Thanks for reading the blog. I’m so glad that you enjoy it!
Hi Roz,
Congratulations on 10 years. I just love your blog. It is the place I come to when I am down, or need inspiration. I first meet you in 2014 in the first Sketchbook Skool class and then noted you were in one of Danny Gregory’s books. I read each postings and do a lot of research on your blog. I mostly get inspired from your words. I have taken online classes with you and have maintained a daily practice since 2014. However, I don’t post my work. I have mixed feelings about posting. I love supporting other artists who posts. I draw and paint for the enjoyment and I draw for me. It is the one thing that is constant. So when other aspects of my life seem out of control …..art is my anchor. It is a safe place to arrive at. I am glad you will continue to blog, although I would understand if you stopped.
Thank you Carmel. I’m so glad you found me through SBS and Danny’s books. I have so enjoyed working with you in class. I’m glad that you have art as an anchor! I think it’s essential. I’m glad that you so clearly know your art is for you. I don’t think it is at all essential to post art on the internet. For some people it becomes a destructive time waster or takes them on paths with themes and materials that are driven by others and not their own creative engine. I think it’s good to be wary and to look at those feelings one has about posting. There are other ways that the art can be shared in our lives too, simply by the way it fills us emotionally and spiritually, and then how those aspects of personality get shared with others in our lives. People often don’t realize it but if we stopped doing art our relationships with them would also change and that has nothing to do with whether we share our art or not. I hope you keep up your thoughtful ways and give yourself what you need out of your art practice.
Roz, Thanks for all that you do on this blog, it is marvelous to read and to do research on and your sketching is a true inspiration. Thanks for your honesty and being so generous with your sharing. May we enjoy another 10 years!
Your fan, Frank B
Thank you Frank for your devoted readership and your always delightful emails. I always appreciate hearing from you!
Congratulations on reaching the 10 year anniversary for your blog, Roz! I’m so glad you decided to continue your blog. It is a wealth of knowledge and, while I don’t comment as often as I should, I so enjoy reading your posts.
That said, I do understand some of the feelings you had as I still don’t feel like I’m fully back on track with my blog since my Dad was diagnosed with Parkinson’s and eventually passed. The book — Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant by Roz Chast — which you recommended in your Elder Care post helped me so much. I have read it cover to cover numerous times as it is full of laughter and even tears.
I look forward to many more posts from you. I love your down to earth approach and the many topics you cover….SO inspiring!. You are one of my favourite bloggers and online teachers. Thank YOU!
Cheers,
Serena
Eldercare has a way of knocking our other plans aside Serena. I’m glad that post where I mentioned Roz Chast’s book helped you. I’m sorry your father has passed. Humor is what gets us through the toughest things in life. I think eldercare also changes us in profound ways. It helps us reassess our priorities. I’m sure that’s why you still don’t feel on track with your blog. I hope you are finding new paths that resonate with you.
I think I am just realising that myself, Roz. An old friend feels I am still in the healing process after losing my Dad which is why I still feel a little lost. Yes, new paths with a new fresh outlook sounds perfect to me. Thanks.
Serena, I think the grief process is more protracted than people really discuss or allow for in our super fast world. I think your friend, who knows you well from observation is probably very correct. Just keep checking in with yourself. Make sure that you are doing what you need to do to take care of yourself, but also allow time to stretch and do some trial projects and posts and such. In those ways you’ll get some self-nurturing back from both directions.
Roz, you are an inspiration and a pillar – thank you for all these years of sharing your writing and drawing! I will steal the idea of “writing letters to friends who may or may not be interested in sketching or art materials, but are happy to know what I’m up to, and happy to know I’m occupied—because that keeps me out of real trouble!” for those who ask me why I sketch (“it’s the same thing you drew last week!”) and post (“so how many subscribers do you have?”) 😉
Thanks so much Nina. People who don’t blog, or don’t enjoy blogging don’t really understand why we do it. Or why we sketch!
Your blog is darn useful! I found it by accident looking for an opinion on some art paper. I’ve forgotten which paper it was but you panned it. I’ve been a fan of yours ever since.
Thanks so much Margaret. I’m so glad that you find it useful as that’s what I hope! Thanks for letting me know.
Wow! Congratulations on 10 years of blogging . Like many others who have written, I found you through SBS, and although I don’t have the ability to read all your posts (my capacity for screen time is rather low), I check in regularly, and often when I am feeling a bit blah or unmotivated where either your words are like a tonic or I just get so interested in something you write about that I am ready to dig in to my art life again! I have loved your courses and want more…
Have gone through my own elder care journey and found your posts on the subject to ring so true and ease the deep ache I carry from that time.
Thank you for all you share, especially yourself!
Lillian thank you for your readership and presence in my classes. I appreciate it. I’m glad the eldercare posts have helped in your journey.
Nary a week feels complete without a deep delve post, or three, from you, Roz. Congratulations on ten years’ blogging — I’ve been a reader for almost as long, and hope for many years more. I found your site as I returned to sketchbooks and art supplies, and all things I used to find fun but neglected for one year too many, and your posts were a treasure back then, and continue to be. Now, as I progress in my own journey with eldercare for my father, I echo many comments here regarding your generosity in sharing your experiences with it: they are invaluable, encouraging, and emphasizes precisely the importance of daily art practice, most especially in difficult times. Cheers to you, and may many more words flow from your fingers and all your glorious enthusiasms.
Mia, thanks for hanging in there so long as a reader. And I wish you all the best as you help your father at the end of his journey. I think you will find it changes you in profound ways. Keep sketching to help yourself during the process.
Congratulations on 10 years, Roz! Though we’ve never met, I can say without reservation that you are one of the most generous people I know. Your zeal for sharing your wealth of knowledge with other artists is unmatched. You are the epitome of a true teacher. I’m so grateful that I found my way to your blog via Sketchbook Skool, and I hope to benefit from your wisdom for many years to come.
Pam, thanks for the lovely and kind compliments. I just put it all down to being bossy, but I am glad you think otherwise and have enjoyed the blog!!!
Roz, I will always think of you, in the most affectionate way, as “the wise old crone” of the art blogosphere! I have referred countless people to your blog when they need information about an art product or just some basic slapping around about why art is an ongoing process and not a product. Congrats on the first 10 years, and I look forward to hearing about whatever comes next.
– Tina
Thank you so much Tina for the support in spreading the word, and for finding the blog useful. I don’t know how wise I am but I sure am having a lot of fun with my art and I hope people can follow that example!
Your blog is a treasure. Full of trustworthy information on art supplies and techniques not to mention the prods to keep on working without self-criticism. Besides that it is a visual treat.
Thanks Diane, but I think you’re a bit biased!
Dear Roz,
Ten years and so many blog posts – as a (sporadic) blogger myself I am in awe of your dedication. Your posts are informative, funny, sometimes sad, thoughtful and inspiring.
Like many others I’ve learnt so much from reading your blog and taking your courses.
Thank you.
Thanks so much for your kind comment Carol, it means a lot to me that you have found the blog worth reading!
Congratulations, Roz. I came for the art, but one of my favorite posts was about how to keep yourself fit as one ages.