You don't? Did you read yesterday's post? Did you go to the Flickr page to see all the pics? You didn't? For shame! Drop and give us twenty, then go look at the pics. Yes, right now. We'll wait...
Okay, now do you remember Lindsey? Good. Let's continue.
Lindsey is a full-time, working artist. I had a chance to chat a bit with her and no joke, she may have changed my life. No, she didn't give me a new DSLR. (Drat!) But she did tell me about her artistic journey and, I have to tell ya, Lindsey is living the dream!
Originally from England, Lindsey now lives in the San Bernardino Mountains, right here in SoCal. She paints landscapes and wildlife. To do this, she has to research her subjects. That means travel -- lots of it! Lindsey's been around Europe, East Africa, and North America. She's gone out into the wilderness and had some dangerously close encounters with the residents. (Lions, and tigers, and bears, oh my!) Ya, she's like Adventure Woman, out in canoes and blazing trails and all that amazingly cool stuff. Sound exciting? Oh, ya! But it wasn't always gallery exhibits and art festivals. Nay, t'was not!
Lindsey told me that although she now has her paintings in museum exhibits and her work is sought after by collectors, she went through the whole "starving artist" thing in the beginning. "Poverty," she said. For a good fifteen years. But she'd always wanted to be an artist and didn't want to do a "day job" gig. This meant she had to be ultra-entrepreneurial. It was hard work, finding ways to earn a living with her art, but it allowed her to pursue that dream. Now, she's living in a beautiful, scenic town and still making art every day. Inspiring, is it not? (sigh) It makes me all misty...and kinda makes me want to kick myself at the same time.
Since way back, I've had a thing for photojournalism. (Must've been watching all those episodes of "Lou Grant".) But even after doing really well in my (optional) photography and journalism classes when I returned to college in the mid-90's, I didn't look into it as a career; I quit taking pics consistently about a year later. Stopped writing, too. Tim, who's always loved photography and basically taught himself the art of it, has been clicking pics ever since he learned how. But like me, he never made it a career. We just went through life, did the day job thing, like everybody else. (Well, except Lindsey.) We still had our dreams, though...but what it took to get those dreams out there was to find the kindred spirit that would say, "Hey, I've got this idea...what do you think?" Enter Tim, stage left, and Lisa, stage right. Boom! Ideas collide -- and fuse.
Now here we are, doing this PhotoBlitz.US experiment. Part creative outlet, part career exploration, part fun, with a dash of salt and a pinch of oregano, this is something we're doing to find out if it's something we can do. We're thinking, creating, learning (lots of learning!), and trying to figure out how this can be something we do every day, all the time. PhotoBlitz.US is our passion. It's our art. It's our "thing". We give up sleep. We constantly ask ourselves how we can make it more awesome. We live it. Not full-time yet, but maybe someday. In the meantime, it's our bliss and we're chasing it! And you know what would really help us out? Make some noise! Sign up as a Follower. We're not starting a cult or anything, so don't be afraid. We're just curious cats who really want to know who's joining our adventure. And post comments on what we're doing that's cool, what you like, ideas for other Blitzs, or things you want to see. (Unless it involves us wearing chicken costumes and tap dancing. We do have our limits.) Remember, as much as this is our thing, it's your thing too. So join in, participate, have some fun with us. Though there can be too many cooks in a kitchen, there can never be too many Blitzers at the party. And this is, collectively, our party. Wooo-hooo! Follow Your Blitz!
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