I could just stand here for a week. Seawind Condos, 17th Floor - Gulf Shores, Al

This is the view from where I am, Gulf Shores, Al., on a photo assignment for a condominium owner. Ah, yes. The life of a photographer. The other side of the coin is that it’s the only time I’ve ever gotten an assignment quite like this. But I’m still enjoying it, and getting some nice shots, and even posting.

ArtNELA has sort of taken on a small life of its own in the art community, and for that I’m really happy. I started it on Wordpress.com because I figured it was the easiest, free option, and it was, but I quickly found out there’s a lot I can’t do when the site is tied in to Wordpress.com, so I’m going to be moving the site to my own host very soon, which involves setting up a new domain, revamping the site a bit, and pulling out my thin wallet to pay for my new self-inflicted freedoms. Yes. It’s a little time consuming, so I haven’t been posting as often as I planned.

One of the problems currently is that I can’t post more than one image at a time, which ends up taking hours if I have more than a few shots I’d like to get online. As a photographer, of course, I always have more than a few shots … and I also plan to include a lot of artist-submitted images.

Another problem is that I can’t post video to the Wordpress.com site, and since I planned on posting video, well, it’s off to ArtNELA.com we go.

That, by the way is the, uh, site for new site:  www.ArtNELA.com

I do have a few posts in progress and they’ll be up as soon as the new site gets out of the incubator. I went and saw the Jekyll and Hyde musical at the Rose Theater, for one thing, and have written about seven pages already just from the first act … I think I’m going to start over and stop fiddling around with trying to be some sort of serious critic, which I am neither terribly serious nor a critic, nor do I want to be. Don’t critics go to purgatory for some time? That’s what I heard.

Here ye, here ye: the hip crew over at Delta Style magazine have asked me to come aboard as a columnist, writing a monthly bit that coincides alongside ArtNELA. Oh boy oh boy. Yet another chance to spew forth my writing all over the place.

You may have noticed there’s a new page at the top, Current Events. This is where I’ll post details and updates for awards, special events, art competitions, etc., mostly just more of what you came for, plus extra stuff that doesn’t need a full post but does need a mention.

Thanks for all the input and comments, please pass the site to all your friends, it will be growin’.

Welcome to the launch of ArtNELA, the blog for arts and culture in and around Northeast Louisiana.

Please read the About page first.

The plan is to cover everything within a couple of hours driving distance of my home base, which should get me to Ruston and Shreveport going west, Delhi going east, and other locations here and there. I’ll have three or four suggested key activities listed on a regular basis, along with reviews of art openings and events, and, if I can swing it, brief interviews with artists. I’m also planning to include descriptive articles with photos of events I’ve been able to attend. I’m excited about this blog because it finally gives me a chance to do three things I enjoy, all at once: write, shoot photos, and travel while exploring into the art community. Okay, maybe that’s four things. I also like fiddling around on computers. Five things. Ah, it’s all coming together, now, just like the oracle said it would …

Tonight’s suggested event, and the catalyst for the creation of this blog, is being held at the Masur Museum of Art, June 27th, from 6-8 p.m. Pieces from around the country will be shown at this opening reception, for the museum’s 46th Annual Juried Competition, which drew in submissions from all over the country. Work from over fifty artists, chosen by NOLA curator Miranda Lash, will be displayed from June 30 to Aug. 15. I have a panoramic photo of the Afton Villa Plantation that’s included in this particular show.

There you have it. The first update to a blog that I hope will become a pleasurable go-to spot for anyone trying to figure out what to do and where to go for some art in Northeast Louisiana. Check back and see what’s going on. I plan to update this site as frequently as I can find activities and culture going on around here.

I have built it. They will come.