Sunday, July 27, 2008

27th July 2008 - Who's made a mark this week?


At some point today or tomorrow, the 300,000th visitor to this blog should arrive. I'd give whoever it is a prize if I could identify you but sadly that's not possible. Instead I'd like to say thank you to all those people who have visited my blog in the last two and half years and ask you all to participate with me in a mutual whoop for this blog making a mark on the blogging world! Whooooooooooooop!

I'd also like to shake you all by the hands as you're speeding up my stats! There's a very pronounced explonential curve to visitor numbers:
  • the first 100,000 arrived June 2007 - and took 18 months
  • the next 100,000 arrived by February 2008 - and took 9 months
  • and this last 100,000 has taken just 6 months!!!
When I unpack the cumulative total and look at the data on unique visitors for each quarter since 1 January 2006, you can see that the apparently smooth line actually has a few ups and downs along the way.

There are some pronounced seasonal changes to blogging visitors and for anybody wondering where everybody has gone - we're in the middle of one of the holiday dips right now!

I think I've often commented on how I really only start to take a new blog seriously after it is 3 months old. Blogging on a regular basis and getting to 3 months old is a really major feat. I've never sat down to investigate the numbers but I think 70-80% (if not more fall by the wayside in those first 3 months) and quite a lot more only manage to post to their blogs on a very sporadic basis. It's a big change in life style and way of doing things and I was very definitely hooked in that first 3 months.

Getting to 300,000 visitors or 3 years old are a couple of other major benchmarks in a blogger's world. I reach 3 years of blogging in December this year but I'd like at this point to congratulate all of you who were already blogging before I turned up - and who are still blogging on a regular basis. You were my inspiration when I started and provided the impetus for me to keep going.

For everybody who'd like to know the secret of getting from 3 months old to 3 years old I've included a tip in my 'and finally......' section today.

Art Blogs
i haven't actually seen my dad in about six months. and so, like no time has passed, we pick up where we left off, fighting for air time on the only three subjects: art, painting, writing. once in a while we drift over to dogs and vegetables.
Sarah Genn
Carluccio's, 12 West Smithfield
12" x 16", coloured pencils in sketchbook

copyright Katherine Tyrrell

Artists
  • This is an interview with Henry Moore's only child Mary Moore about The Moore legacy. It's an interesting comment on the problems of an artist becoming wealthy in their own lifetime. There will be a new exhibition in the Autumn of previously unseen work 'Henry Moore: Ideas for Sculpture', Hauser & Wirth, 15 Old Bond Street, London W1, 15 Oct-14 November. Meanwhile Moore in America can be seen at the The New York Botanical Garden until October - and images of the exhibition can be seen by clicking the link.
  • Jonathan Jones (The Guardian - Jonathan Jones) wrote yesterday about the art collectors who are defying critics in 'I know what I like' - which includes comments on Jack Vettriano, Beryl Cook and Rolf Harris.
  • The Washington Post has an interesting article last week about a Master Swindler - who produced Vermeeers
Art Business & Marketing
My new test involves Facebook’s “Fan” pages. Just as you can “friend” an individual, you can “fan” a brand or person you like
Ed Terpening
Art Competitions
Art Education and Workshops
Art Exhibitions
Art Materials and Supplies

Swimming against the tide
8" x 10", coloured pencils on Saunders waterford HP
copyright Katherine Tyrrell
Book reviews
  • My post on Friday was about Alfred Heaton Cooper and The English Lakes and my review of the book which contains 75 paintings by Alfred Heaton Cooper. Several of use were diverted into a small rapture about the Heaton Cooper Art Gallery and shop in Grasmere! For those who love the Lakes do take a look at the prints of paintings by Alfred and his son William - links are in the post. Much better than photos or postcards!
Colour
Websites & blogging
  • I apologise for the haphazaed service this week to all of you who receive this blog each morning via a Feedburner email subscription. For some reason, Feedburner has chosen to drop all the Feedburner e-mail subscriptions from the total (top right) TWICE plus has sent new posts out late. I think Feedburner needs to buck its ideas up! The curse of google acquisition strikes again.............
  • Can I recommend subscribing to your own blog using the subscription facilities you offer. That way you can spot when something goes wrong.
and finally.......

The secret of remaining a blogger once you've become a blogger is to remember you need to take a break every once in a while! If you don't the result is blogging burnout - not a pleasant sight or experience!

I try to schedule a week off every once in a while. However this summer I'm going to try something a little bit different. For the next 5 weeks (until the beginning of September) I'm officially putting myself on a "go slow" so I can do other things including getting out and about a bit more now that the weather has improved.

That means I'll still be blogging......but not so often. It'll be more like every other day or every 3 days. It's like having a fortnight's holiday - but spread out. However I suspect I might end up with a great big long list of draft posts............

Some of the posts might just refer you to a blog on my Travel Sketchbook blog where I'll be recording days out - starting today with another trip to Great Dixter which we did on Friday. I'm pleased to say that walking around gardens is just right for those of use who need to exercise dodgy feet.

The Rother Valley from Dixter
8" x 10", pencil and coloured pencils in Moleskine sketchbook

copyright Katherine Tyrrell

10 comments:

  1. WHOOOOOOOOOP! And congratulations,
    Katherine, on your 2 and 1/2 years and 300,000 visitors. Not surprising,
    as all of us fans know who try to keep up with you on a daily basis. It is a rich diet of information that you share with us, and often I have to return to a post to get it all digested.

    So thanks back to you-- 2 and 1/2 years worth.

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  2. Congratulations on reaching the 300K mark! Your blog is one that I read on a continuing basis. It is so packed full of luscious info.

    Thanks for all your hard effort and work.

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  3. Congratulations and have a great time on your daily outings. I spend way too much time on the computer which I need to devote to producing art instead of reading about it. But the internet has given me a vast amount of art to see and learn from.

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  4. Thank you for writing about our gallery, it's great to be on such a popular blog where we will get lots of publicity.

    Thanks again! Flo

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  5. Hi Katherine,
    I take my hat off to you for this achievement and your dedication and commitment. It's an immense effort not only writing so much interesting info but also collecting and researching all that stuff.
    Do you ever sleep? Whenever I go to your blog there's plenty of new interesting stuff to read.
    My congratulations for this phenomenal achievement!
    Warm regards from Munich,
    Petra

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  6. thats really great and you still have all the excitement evident in your posting. Congratulations

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  7. Katherine, I am a new reader of your blog and (as I remarked in my blog post) appreciate your thoughtful, well-researched and comprehensive articles. Thank you for providing this valuable resource.

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  8. Belated congrats, Katherine! I'm out of town all this week, with limited net access. You have achieved so much in the past almost three years and you should be very proud. I was so glad to read that you're going a bit slower this summer. Many of my art blogging friends and I have wondered how on earth you've kept up the grueling pace and very quality of your posts. You've been Superwoman, but even superheroines need a break. Enjoy your summer!
    (Oh, and thank you for the mention, too!)

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  9. congrats Katherine! though I have limited the amount of time I now spend on the web and so have not been reading as much here, instead mostly peeking at your drawings, definitely reason enough to visit! beauties beauties all, congrats and when I'm back in shape I'll catch up on all the great info you work so hard to provide, thanks for it and all!

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  10. Congratulations, Katherine! Amazing numbers, but not surprised, you continue to post wonderful information.

    Thanks for mentioning my blog and Facebook page.

    Cheers!

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