illusions of grandeur

custom owl family (Dad, Mom & little girl) collage - vintage papers, ink & gouache - Susan Black

There is no right or wrong
only make & do

A petite art manifesto - unknown author


Illusions of grandeur : the Branding of 29 Black Street - Part 1
(file under true confessions & aha moments)

A few years into this blog, I'd say around year 2 (we'll be 5 years old this July 13th ), just after I'd become completely addicted immersed in the amazing & fantastic land of blogs I began to dream, hope, pray, want my blog - this blog to become one of those famous blogs - you know the ones with hundreds of comments on occasional posts, the kind of blog that has monthly visits in the 100's of thousands. Oh yeah, I had some big time illusions of grandeur - that my blog, and me & my world and my hopeful creative empire would become a go-to destination, much talked about ... and as a result of this fame would of course come fortune.

I wanted, craved, dreamed for my blog to become like a Posie gets Cozy, or a Black Apple and that my thousands & thousands of followers would become so enthralled with me, would hang so on my every word & every photo that they would wait with baited breath and great anticipation, then rush out to buy & clear out my etsy shop whenever I announced a new (tres occasional at that time) creative offering - it seemed it was happening for other bloggers why couldn't it happen for me ? I just needed to land on that right thing, idea, product ...

Ha ! that's not at all how things have turned out. After nearly 5 years of practically daily blogging - which I love & am grateful for - such an amazing visual & written record of 5 transformative years of my life - I have around 100 daily visitors, many who land here quite by accident, down a wrong google search path turn. But ... & a very big but - by way of a quite recent succession of domino effect events & realizations, a bonk or 2 on the head + a few aha moments I'm realizing through this amazing & ongoing evolution/revolution of me, my blog & my work/career want-a-be creative empire that - this daily photo blog isn't who or what I want to be known for anyway. Shut ! Up !!

My obsessive photography habit has been pushed to the back burner of late & replaced my this amazing new big pile of creative design/illustration paying work. After slogging away creating things feeling like I didn't have a clue who or what I was creatively or who I might become, who I wanted to become as an artist/illustrator (I knew that that's who I wanted to be)- what was my style, my niche ... my groove ?? I felt lost, all compounded by not making a living so my creative vision was constantly being filtered through the "will this sell & can I make money from it" lens - trust me - not a lens that's helpful I realize in hindsight because finding your own authentic creative voice is what you're looking for. But how do you do that ? make + do & don't judge, just make & do some more.

What's emerged from my recent 2 year struggle (& it was often very much a struggle) or as the Prince would say my ever constant "bold & persistent experimentation" is that I'm beginning to see not only who I am creatively but clearly where I want to go with all of this. That's branding - who are ya anyway ?? having an identity, understanding who you are & having a map of where you want to go. Doesn't mean you can't veer off the toad or take a detour here & there - but ya can't get where your going until you figure out where you want to go.

I took the amazinh e-course Hello Soul, Hello Business which helped me tremendously (under statement, understatement) uncover, discover the "who" & "what" of me & 29 Black Street, it encouraged me to dream big & set blue-sky goals. That course was definitely the fuel behind me creating this 3 page promo piece (& sending it out with individual cover letters to 24 of my big fish dream clients). The confidence that I've obtained from seeing this piece come together, along with the almost immediate positive response(s) I've received from a handful of those dream clients (with work, projects, licensing gigs + more work) is amazing & I'm embracing the whole shebang whole heartedly. There is a much bolder, braver & committed  step to my day to day creative life here at the teak topped desk + I'm having the most fun I can remember + I'm beginning to really make an honest living (again) - doing what I absolutely love. Hullo !!

More on the branding of les new 29 Black Street ('cause it hasn't even begun) coming soon in Part 2