Thomasin, all I can say is :sunnysmil - you are too kind!

I don't think I need any more on my plate then I already have! LOL

Sybilla,

Thank-you for your kind words.

I believe in sharing what I have learned. I walked around in a desert of ignorance for many years before the internet made it possible to exchange ideas. I remember just how grateful I was to find something so really valuable- how precious it was to me.

There are many other Fora that seem to have more participation and excitement- but look at the content and quality. Many people thrive on the in your face "your mother wears combat boots" kind of discourse. The boards light up and the brass knuckles come out. Contributors try to outdo themselves with clever repartee and downright salacious and pornographic comments. I lasted in one of those about two weeks and found I learned nothing at all.

We have a wealth of very fine artists here, not just moderators as members. I think they as well could start more topics- research them as well. Sometimes we have time just to referee.

Enzie,

If you pardon me- that is just the problem. You just criticized the Forum for being a bit slow. Criticism is cheap and easy- actually working to make it a more interesting place takes work from all of us.

Sharon, I agree talk is cheap!

A little sampling of my contributions, they speak for themselves...

Today posted in : Visitors' poll

Enzie,

I blush! :oops:

You have been one of our valued stalwarts. I wish others would take a hint!

More suggestions?
 

Dear Cynthia, Enzie, Thomassin and Sharon:

Thanks for welcoming my suggestions, which were just meant as ways to improve traffic and contributions on this fabulous site.

Sharon has been a very active moderator, as mentioned before, but I still think it would make a world of difference if Cynthia could "hook" a few more proactive moderators, who could get things moving again. Even if such active engagement was not part of the original moderator profile, as Cynthia reminds us, now might be the time to look into engaging proactive individuals. The difference between highly active SOG members and SOG moderators then would be that the latter commit themselves to *regular * contributions or interventions.

There are other rmoderators who have been highly visible, such as Mike McCarthy, who had a terrific thread on compositions, which he kept alive himself, even when members were not responding. Sharon, too, has been injecting similar information at times when there wasn't much traffic (and of course Enzie, in her capacity as member). But other moderators never or hardly ever show and are virtually invisible. Or they might at times briefly praise a member contribution, but that's about it. Just like a charity doesn't work when its volunteers are inactive, so this forum may be suffering from having some kind, willing but ultimately inactive volunteers around.

Sybilla

I infer that the rest of us are middle or lowbrow? I wish you hadn't remarked on this. Now Marvin is going to challenge me to a game of 3D chess, or (the Horror!) bridge.

As a Cro-Magnon brow, artistically speaking, I can yet imagine a number of reasons other than organizational failures as to why a regiment of the elite may not congregate in an internet forum to discuss the biz, and why it's much more complicated than just "getting better people."

1- They don

Steven I agree with all the points you have made, but there is also a lot to be gained. I am not going to attempt to draw a line between those that are at the top of the ladder and those which are awfully close and do comparisons by name dropping, because that leaves it open for a lot of debate. For the sake of argument, lets talk about the artists who have successfully sold their work in the past, have won awards, might be thinking of conducting a workshop or want to fill classes.

1. Forums offer a "stage" for sharing one's work and technique.
By doing so, any artist whose work is of a certain admirable scale, will inevitable gain a following of admirers. Admirers in turn translate to possible workshop participants.

2. It is a place where you can perfect your teaching skills. For those attempting to make the jump from painter to teacher, this is a perfect place to try out and see what works and what doesn't. Ideas can be gained on what issues to include in one's teaching curriculum.

3. A "world-wide" recruitment opportunity
I have organized several workshops for other artists in the past and I can speak from experience that it is not always easy to fill a room. It's not due to a lack of willing participants, but sometimes it is just hard to get the word out. When you hear workshop participants traveling through continents to attend a workshop, you also often hear that they saw the instructor's work on the net, often through forums.

4. New Client
Other artists can sometimes be potential customers. I have seen many an artist, who has purchased a painting from a fellow artist. A sale is a sale, after all.

Personal Fulfillment

1. Sharing your knowledge
I don't know why, but many artists have the urge to share what they have learned with others and a forum gives them a less structured and less time consuming opportunity then a full scale workshop.

2. Exchange Information
Technical discussions, new materials, news, what a fellow artist has done, etc. Unless you are a very active artist who mingles around a lot, it's a place to stay informed.

3. Learn new things
Yes, even the most accomplished painters out there need to be reminded that there are ways they can improve. Nothing is more deathly than a stagnant technique.

4. Meeting others
Even though darts fly at times and feelings get trampled on, forums also offer an opportunity to meet and converse with a lot of nice people who share the same goals. Even the "top brass" ;) might run into someone they would have otherwise never met.

5. Support
Some artists live in remote areas and have made friends on forums, gotten together outside of cyberspace. All people, no matter what stage in life they are at will have insecurities, feel beaten down and at a loss. It is always nice to find support in someone who actually understands what being an artist means.

In Paris, artists of the same school of thought would get together on a weekly basis, discuss, argue, share and help each other. We on the other hand live in a place, where getting together with a like minded person we can actually do shop talk with lives anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours away. And that's if we are lucky!

I believe that even the most accomplished painter can benefit by being a participant in a forum and I would love to see more participation.

No question that the forum provides those benefits to the members and the far greater number who simply come to read.

It's said that there's no better way to be sure that you understand something than to explain it so that another understands it equally well. "Distance learning," of which this forum is a kind, is a difficult way to teach some concepts. When I have critiqued a piece in the past, the motivation was partly selfish -- I was equally engaged in calisthenics to train or retrain my own eye and sensibilities as well as those of the work's creator. I learned something from the effort, or at least reinforced something, and that in turn made it easier for me to critique my own work. I didn't always do particularly well at it, but we're all learning as we go.

I also have benefitted greatly from Forum members' recommendations of books, DVDs and workshops, even if those authors and teachers have never been here "in person." All those materials opened up entire new practices and schools of thought. And I have stolen lots of great ideas from other members themselves, and learned from their example.

Though I have met very few Forum members in person, I have worked and interacted with many, over 4 or 5 or 6 years, which has created bonds of friendship as strong as those with people in my own real world (or IRL, as they say.) I "talk" to several people here more often than I do to some members of my immediate family. My son was in grade school when I somehow first "found" this site, and he's now in college. Only a lot of good will and a feeling of professional value received could make so many people stick around for so long, and it's something that is available to anyone for the price of admission (free). Yes, there is attrition, but there are also new members each week.

So, yes, there are lots of good reasons to be here, to be taking full advantage of what can be found here, and to use the Forum as professional leverage to get the word out about one's own work, workshops, philosophies and the like. My earlier post wasn't intended to muse about why people generally may be reluctant to join and participate, but only to respond to the narrower tacit inquiry as to why the Forum doesn't make an effort to have a greater number of "big names" on staff. (Since I haven't been "on staff" now for about three years, I don't have to ponder exactly how far below the "big name" standard I land, though I know it's a long period of freefall before impact.)