Art [ahrt] –noun – the quality, production, expression, or realm, according toaesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance. – Dictionary.com

Current scar, center of palm

A milestone! This is my 200th blog post for Photo Anthems Blog. I don’t really have anything special that I had planned out to commemorate this feat. I didn’t even realize it til I was getting ready to do another post. So, no fan-fare. No pomp and circumstance. No fireworks, sparkles, confetti, or song. I do give you more images of Dominique and that’s better than all of that stuff.

The hand is getting better. (Somebody tell me the left pointing chevron scar looks cool). I’ve still got rehab, but at least the bandages are off. I keep something on it to protect it just because if I don’t, I’ll forget about it and do something stupid. I have a history of re-injuring recently injured ailments. Sometimes, its just because I push my recovery. Well, most times, actually. For this time around, I hadn’t had the bandage off and sutures out for an hour before I forgot about it and…well, lets just say it was a painful rest of the day. The meds weren’t giving me ANY relief, if  that gives you a further clue. So now, I figure something preventative on it to remind me of the consequences of forgetting might be an exercise in wisdom.

I’ve recently deactivated my account at deviantART. So in case you’re looking for me over there, I’m out for several reasons, but mainly it simply wasn’t a good fit for me anymore (if it really ever was, that is). I can’t say the site has done much in terms of promotion for me. And for me, it really wasn’t about all that. I liked that it was a good place to look at new art of talents I came to admire. I’ve made some friends there as well. Virtual though they may be, there was mutual respect and admiration. The main kicker for me was that I was REALLY getting tired of looking at lewd, crude, nude art that was nothing of the sort, whatsoever. Yes, I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder and art, by definition is a subjective term that has yet to be defined universally. I know for fact, that there are some people who disagree with my own artwork. I understand and respect that. For me, dA was just getting beyond my personal tolerance and appreciation. In that world, you have to take the good with the bad and to me, the bad was outweighing the good. 32 to 1.

There was also too much stolen art. I found myself getting riled up every time I was able to discern who was presenting their own work and who was just copying web images and including them in their own profiles. The assumption is that you create your own profile and share your own work. Often you’d read some of the comments where other’s recognized the stolen work and the profile owner admitted to it, but didn’t call it stealing because he never put his own copyright notice on it. He was just “sharing”, but also never crediting the owner. All too often these would be pornographic images or women spreading themselves. One user in particular justified his actions as such. ” When I post my own work, nobody visited my page or left comments. I posted these shots I found on the web and I’ve gotten a thousand hits in a few hours.”

I don’t thing the dA moderators or administrator do enough to protect artist’s work and they certainly don’t police the site for violators of their own rules quickly enough. I’d see lewdness on display for days on end before or IF its ever taken down. I think it was maybe about a year or so ago that I began to notice more pornography businesses creating profiles and promoting their websites to get you to click over for MORE porn. It was quickly becoming an environment that was no longer conducive to my own interests, entertainment, or appreciation. Several true artists I will miss and I actually hope I am missed as well. I can still be followed on my blog, however. I can’t say being a member on deviantART was worth the time I spent on it over the last 3 years. Maybe I’ll change my mind after I check back in a year or so to observe any changes. For right now, I’m moving on. To those of you who followed me, I’d really appreciate you following me on this blog. Keep in touch. Drop me a line