The Artist and the Geek

So in addition to an obsession with fused glass, I am a geek of many trades.   I'm a hobby level camera geek, I have a mid-level DSLR that can keep me busy for days if I find the time.  I am a wannabe car geek, I love to keep track of the newest cars out there and dream of owning the great sports cars.  Finally, and most relevantly I am a tech geek.  I really am an engineer by training (BSEE and MSCS), and I do use those skills to keep a day job that pays for the required parts of my life.

So why is this interesting?  I take advantage of the camera geek part of my brain by trying to improve my ability to take pictures of my artwork (and kids, and nature, and vacations).  I got the DSLR a year ago and with the help of Gwen I've been able to learn enough to take many of the web shots.  Glass is trickier than it sounds - lighting and glare are challenging.  Of course, for a jury picture Gwen is far far far better than I am, and she gets stuck with that job.

I'm not quite sure how the car geek comes into play, but its just a weird fact about me.

The tech geek is far and away the most useful.  I have created websites for myself and my friends for years.  I keep my web skills close to current just because it lets me keep my own site evolving.  Of course, most of the bells and whistles just make for an ugly cluttered site so I try to exercise restraint before actually publishing the pages.  I've always used analytics tools to track traffic on my sites, and I have a decent grasp of Search Engine Optimization (SEO).  Now that I've put my pieces up on Etsy I've discovered a whole new world of web tools! Using some nice applications that other folks have put together I have linked Etsy, Facebook and my own site so that my pieces for sale show up everywhere.  (see the sidebar on this page!)  The analytics tools let me track site visits, purchases, favorites and when I've been featured on Etsy's front page.  It seems there is a whole new industry out there that lets the geek in me give the artist a much better chance at being noticed.

It's good to be and Artist and a Geek!