Happy Fifth Birthday Creative Potager Blog

January 8, 2015 / Terrill Welch / 20 Comments

It has now been five years since the beginning of Creative Potager. Happy WordPress blog birthday to us!

What a journey we have had together!

(Open Studio is 24 x 30 inch oil on canvas and is a new work in the artist’s private collection)

This is the home of sharing this artist’s creative process inspired from her everyday life.

The underbelly of paintings are displayed in all their naked glory.

The design ideas for the fabric that covers these bare-bone canvases is the substance that has graced many of the 538 posts.

Photographs have captured long walks at home,

the rise of a super-moon

and meandering international travel.

And you dear readers have been so much a unique contributor through your comments and shared links. In this way, I feel Creative Potager is a community as much as it is blog. Thank you for being you. Thank you for your support, sharing and collecting of my paintings and photographs. More than 50 paintings and many more photography prints are now in private collections around the world. So, as much as Creative Potager captures a process, it also delivers results. You are so very much a part of making this happen.

But how can we celebrate today? Five years are a survival milestone for a blog and for a small business as an independent artist. How might we honour and recognize this moment?

Well, just as this blog is about the everyday life and work of an artist who frequently invites you simply to sit with her – maybe to celebrate we should do just that?

Feel free to pour a cup of tea and dig into the cookie jar while we reflect. Thank you for pausing with me. Thank you for celebrating this milestone.

Do you have a special Creative Potager moment or memory you would like to share?

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Creative Potager – Visit with painter and photographer Terrill Welch

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

For gallery and purchase information about Terrill’s photographs and paintings go to http://terrillwelchartist.com

Fourth Year Creative Potager Blog Anniversary

December 30, 2013 / Terrill Welch / 15 Comments

Just three days ago, on December 27th, it was the fourth anniversary of Creative Potager. During this four years, the space has shifted and changed with the patterns and needs of my life. We have shared much haven’t we? Blogging is sometimes a little like a public journal. It captures more than we intend because of the comfortable conversational exchanges. It doesn’t capture all of course. An artist has to have a few secrets. But it does string together my intentions, my focus, the main events and the rhythms of my work. Much has happened in four years and much has remained the same.

I still take you on long walks where the winter afternoon light is fine.

Quality photography prints available HERE.

Places where the Surfbirds entertain with flashes of white above the water.

Mallard ducks can surprise as I climb over large sandstone rocks along the shore.

Quality photography prints available HERE.

Places where trees embrace moments that we may not have noticed otherwise.

Places on a small island off the southwest coast of Canada where the sea is ever-present.

Thank you for walking with me this past four years.

Thank you for joining me in the studio to render these impressions from our walks.

Together, we have mixed paint.

We have brushed it onto canvases and gessobord.

We have pushed it around with a palette knife.

In a effort to render those walks and those moments, where the heart and soul is most alive, I have worked hard both en plein air and in the studio. And you have been the most gracious, supportive and encouraging of company.

Tomorrow, I shall post on the Terrill Welch Artist website my personal selection of the best thirteen of 2013 paintings. There were over fifty finished works to consider so it wasn’t an easy task to choose just thirteen. However, without hesitation I can say it was a good year and a year you were so much a part of making it so.

Thank you! You are one of the finest of Monday morning blessing.

This not the end of course, just a pause for acknowledgment before we proceed into 2014 which is shaping up to be a truly grand adventure. More about this next week.

I have no question today so I ask instead – What question do you most want to answer before the end of 2013?

Please note: The last four photographs were taken by photographer Allison Mullally at a recent studio photography shoot.

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Creative Potager – Visit with painter and photographer Terrill Welch

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

For gallery and purchase information about Terrill’s photographs and paintings go to http://terrillwelchartist.com

Storm Watching – large contemporary seascape (terrillwelchartist.com)
Arbutus by the Trail – small contemporary landscape painting (terrillwelchartist.com)
West Coast Island Road in October – contemporary landscape painting (terrillwelchartist.com)
New Release – August Morning Reef Bay landscape painting (terrillwelchartist.com)

New homes for Art and other studio musings

October 8, 2012 / Terrill Welch / 21 Comments

Yes, a handful of new photography prints and original paintings have found homes recently. Let’s have a look at a few of these and just for fun, you can use the voice of the auctioneer as the gavel is slammed down if you like…

SOLD! Extra Large 20 x 26.6 inch Lustre photography print of “Arbutus Strait of Georgia”

Prints continue to be available at redbubble HERE.

SOLD! To the lovely buyer in Ontario Canada the 12 x 12 inch oil on canvas seascape “Gray on Gray in Blue.”

SOLD! To the nice couple from British Columbia Canada the 12 x 16 inch canvas print of “Orange Sun on the sea” paintography image.

Prints in various formats continue to be available on redbubble HERE.

Okay, now for the big one. Drum roll please!

SOLD! To the lucky buyer in British Columbia Canada the 36 inch or three feet square “Sea and Clouds” oil on canvas painting by Terrill Welch.

It often takes awhile to find the perfect home for my larger paintings as they are in the thousands of dollars to purchase. But it does happen, eventually. This is the largest in my series of “Squared to the Sea” series and was completed a little over a year ago. I will be sad to see it go but I am happy that it has found the perfect home.

Other paintings currently available can be viewed at the Artsy Home online gallery. And do try out the magnifying glass that is available. Most fun.

The past seven weeks have seen me away for from the studio for more than thirty days. My attempted solution of a new iPad with keyboard did not result in keeping us up to speed here at Creative Potager. My apologizes.

Thank heavens for Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus! Which brings me to some musing and contemplation about the purpose and future of this blog. So many regular Creative Potager readers are also connected to my work on these other social networking platforms which leaves me asking myself this – what unique purpose of intent does Creative Potager fill that is not happening on these other sites? Here are three observations I believe to be true:

1. Posts are easier to find and have a longer shelf-life on Creative Potager.

2. Images are more quickly and likely to show up in an image search when posted on Creative Potager so there is greater exposure of the work for new viewers to find.

3. Creative Potager offers a more friendly platform for longer posts and to profile new work, projects or initiatives.

But the most powerful pull to Creative Potager is it that pleases me to post here! I have a chance to engage with all of you in what feels like a more relaxed-tea-sipping pace than on the other platforms.

So we shall continue in a rather loose, as desired, kind of posting pattern. Yes, subscribing might be best if you don’t want to miss anything. For example, I am starting to plan a new version of the Salish Sea Sunday Savings events to begin before the end of October. These events are not to be missed as they only come around for a few weeks a each year – kind of like these golden plums in a new painting that was released today in the Artsy Home online Gallery…

FRUITS OF LABOUR is a 12 x 12 inch oil on mounted gessobord – available HERE.

For me, this still life holds the sweet warmth of summer sun and fresh pick fruit. One of my photography clients had asked that I photograph their farm and I have been observing and capturing the golden plums in this painting since they were blossoms on the plum tree. Though I primarily paint land and seascapes, still life and even some figurative paintings will sometimes show up in my work. In fact, expect to see more small still life studies in the months ahead. They offer a nice change from the cooler shades of the sea.

SPROUT: What creative musings are colouring your autumn foliage?

All the best of a Canadian Thanksgiving holiday Monday to you!

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com

Sold! Art and other adventures (creativepotager.wordpress.com)
Mayne Island en plein air painting morning (creativepotager.wordpress.com)
The Nurse’s Place Clinton B.C. – Plein Air painting (creativepotager.wordpress.com)

Twice Around

December 27, 2011 / Terrill Welch / 12 Comments

Today is twice around the calendar year for Creative Potager. As part of my seasonal rest period, I have not posted for 25 days. It has been almost a month since I entertained a sprout question or gathered together my thoughts for a submission to all you wonderful creative beings. Yet, I have been thinking about Creative Potager – about its purpose and how it provides a sustaining sense of direction and community for me and maybe even for you.

The year of 2011 has seen many paintings completed and photographs captured. There have been interviews and guest post on other blogs. We have entertained special Salish Sea Saving days, home studio tours and seen publications of work in brochures, newspapers and on the glossy front page of a regional magazine Island Gals.

There has been the release of my new book Precious Seconds – Mayne Island in painting and photographs which many of you now have in your possession.

There has been the successful STUDY OF BLUE solo exhibition with more than half of my original oil paintings sold and finding their way to new homes.

I have received recognition for my photography and won several website features. Paintings, books and photography and painting prints, calendars and cards have been sold to buyers around the world. The introduction of Google Plus has offered a whole new community of more than 10,000 artists, photographers and art lovers have “circled” my profile.

I have been invited by a new online Gallery ArtsyHome to show my paintings and my latest original paintings are now easily available for purchase by international buyers.

On all fronts, it has been a creatively successful fine art year for me, one where Creative Potager has been a central connection for sharing my adventures.

However, a question seems to be presenting itself without a satisfying or conclusive answer:

What is next for Creative Potager?

My Google plus has scooped up much of my Twitter community and its micro blogging with gorgeous image capacity makes separate blog posting less of a necessity and in many ways less of a hub for connecting with my much larger Google Plus community. My Facebook has always been about family and closer friends for but it is not really a place of deeper contemplation and creative connection. I link these readers to Creative Potager for this even if they reply on Facebook. Some of you are part of all of my various social platforms. Others connect only here on Creative Potager or in only one or two other networks. So there is always the risk of repeating posts for some of you and of missing out on opportunities for others. Each platform comes with its own time commitment which is starting to take away from, rather than enhance, my actual creative process. I know I must shift and change something.

What should I do?

Some ideas are taking root but nothing has grown large enough to be a distinguishable pattern of lines and shapes. So, though it is the second anniversary of our creative connection here in the blogosphere, we must be patient until such time as the flip-flopping musings inside my head settle into a discernible direction. In the meantime, I shall post more frequently in a micro blogging fashion that is dispersed across my various social networking platforms. As my readers, you can choose your favourite means of connection to engage in our conversations. It matters not really though I do like to see the comments directly on the blog post because they are more lasting here and it is easier to skip through to your own posts.

The “sprout question” will become more sparsely presented as simply “Sprout.”

I shall also add a “Seed” which is a seed for creativity, learning and discover. It is a study element that I am introducing into my upcoming year. I thought you might like to be privy to this “seed planting” as well. “Seeds” shall generally have links and will only share a snippet to entice further exploration.

Possibly, not all posts will have a “seed” or “sprout.” Some may only have a photograph, a paragraph or painting. We shall just have to wait and see. Posts will have no prescribed time of day or days of the week. By now I trust that I shall post regularly. I desire maximum flexibility to create and to connect with a spontaneity that keeps both fresh and engaging and exciting. This is built on my belief and trust that both shall happen without prescription because they do.

Intention: For me, according to the answer to my I Ching question, this is anticipated to be a year of modesty and moderation. It appears to be a time of balancing extremes and harmonizing interests and requires a modest and sincere attitude and the limiting of obvious excesses while exposing myself to new areas of experience. This is also a time of conflict, external or internal, and one of spiritual maturing. It may lead to reconsidering my original premise. My intention is to be open, curious and unattached to what I know to be true so I can explore and honour what is yet unknown to me. Oh where might this take us? It promises to be a grand adventure.

As the sun comes close to setting on 2011, thank you so much for being and continuing to be part of my creative journey.

(image may be purchased HERE)

As we shoot for the moon…

(image may be purchased HERE)

with our arms full of flowers…

(image may be purchased HERE)

Sprout: What is currently soft and undefined in your creativity?

Seed: What new might we learn about composition? Has it changed through time? Are their histories of creativity that have handled composition with different views? These are the questions I am musing about as I begin my next painting. Let’s start with a good grounding in the basics of composition that are available on wikipedia.

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com

Life and the Bounty Hunter (creativepotager.wordpress.com)
Studio Tour Tomorrow (creativepotager.wordpress.com)
Third Thursday Teaser (creativepotager.wordpress.com)

Studio Tour Tomorrow

November 11, 2011November 11, 2011 / Terrill Welch / 16 Comments

I am almost ready! Tomorrow, being Saturday November 12, 2011, it is the annual Artisan Christmas Studio Tour on Mayne Island. There are eight Studios, two craft fairs and six shops participating. A few places are even going to be open on the Sunday as well as Saturday. Look for the red brochures at the Mayne Mall or drop by my Studio in the morning after 10:00 am. I can give you a brochure to get you started on a day of creative delights.

Here is a photo showing from last year’s Creative Potager studio opening to warm you up to the idea…

To find la casa de inspiracion, our home and studio, pick up the Mayne Island Community Chamber Brochure on ferry or at one of the local shops. Creative Potager is number 35 in the white square near the centre of the island. There are yellow signs to guide your right from where you turn on toWood Dale Road which is just as you come off the ferry. Just follow along until you get to 428 Bowsprite Crescent. I am looking forward to seeing you between 10:00 am and 4:00 pm.

There will be several new original oil paintings, photography prints and greeting cards showcasing our lovely west coast and Mayne Island.

For those of you that are too far away to drop in, please feel free to browse my online gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com It is almost the same as coming by except you have to get your own cup of tea.

Sprout Question: What are you preparing for?

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com

PRECIOUS SECONDS – Mayne Island in paintings and photographs (creativepotager.wordpress.com)

SEA AND CLOUDS original oil painting by Terrill Welch

October 14, 2011January 15, 2017 / Terrill Welch / 18 Comments

About a month ago I set a day aside to paint a new work SEA AND CLOUDS. I had completed the underpainting already and it was simply sitting there in its 36 X 36 inch glory tempting me to pick up the brushes.

It was a big canvas and the day was pleasant so I decided to work on the side deck. I have a rather odd approach I guess to setting up my palette. I start fresh each time and choose all the colours I am going to use before I start painting. In this case I used one of my photographs as a reference point. From there it is a matter of mixing which I often do on the canvas as much as I do on my palette. So here is what the paints look like as I start painting.

Next it is a matter of getting some paint on the canvas.

And a bit more I think…

and some more paint!

Three hours later I start to build up the image.

I work without thinking – breath after breath I move the paint with brush and palette knife over the canvas. I move the canvas to avoid shadows. But at last I must stop. I am out of light.

I move the wet canvas to another deck and capture a late-in-the-day image of the painting in progress.

For the past month I have mused and walked by this painting almost everyday. What is it that I need to do? What will pull these pieces together into a completed work? Oh I grumbled and I worked on photographs. I thought and then one day it came to me. I knew exactly what had to happen. I set aside the morning and finished the painting.

SEA AND CLOUDS 36 X 36 inch oil on canvas by Terrill Welch

Update October 6, 2012 : This painting is now SOLD. Other paintings currently available can be viewed in the Artwork Archives online Gallery HERE.

Sprout Question: How long have you waited for the right combination of information to finish a creative work?

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com

Five new plein air oil paintings by Terrill Welch (creativepotager.wordpress.com)

The everyday with photographer Jeff Stroud

October 11, 2011October 11, 2011 / Terrill Welch / 34 Comments

Photographer Jeff Stroud has been a regular reader and engaging participant from the beginning here on Creative Potager. In fact, our connection goes back to an earlier community where Jeff introduced me to his online storefront at redbubble. I trust that you shall enjoy this feature interview with Jeff and the opportunity to get to know him better.

Jeff Stroud’s photography is one of common everyday nature, places we walk, places we drive by, our garden, our local park, and our neighbor’s front lawn. Yet there is nothing common about Jeff’s photography itself which is imbued with a sense of nature’s essences in all its purest forms.

Eight years ago after attending a Shamanic workshop and the practice of Reiki, a nature-based healing process, Jeff picked up a camera and has followed his bliss ever since. His approach to photography is one of gentle reverence, beauty, and honoring of nature as a life force. The purpose of Jeff’s nature photography is to share the beauty that is all around us – the beauty and life of trees, flowers, water, and sky.

(image may be purchased Here)

It is with great pleasure I bring you my interview with Jeff and a few images from this talented photographer.

What is the one thing that you would like readers to leave with after reading your interview?

What I would like readers to leave with is a deeper sense of what creativity can be for us in our lives.

What is your best kept secret (s) of creative success?

I don’t think it is a secret, but creative success is just allowing ourselves to be creative. Creative with our everyday lives. I create publicly with the exhibits of photography that I have the honor of being able to pursue.

What is your first creative memory?

Drawing, when I was a child I drew.

Where or when do feel most inspired?

I feel most inspired in nature, yet I can be and will be inspired when I get out of my head and come from my heart or spirit.

(image may be purchased Here)

Who are your creative mentors?

You! Terrill, you inspire me by your constancy in your expression of your art, and your ability to promote through your blog and other sources that are always stimulating. Also, Neale Donald Walsch, who has used words in the form of a book to create change in our world. This has given me a whole new perspective on the way I approach life and living. I am just discovering photographers and artist, and their influence has begun to express itself in my work. I hope.

Geesh thanks Jeff! It appears we are mutual fans of each other’s work.

What are you celebrating today?

I am celebrating today, right now, this moment!

If we could assist you with one thing this week that would make a difference in promoting your creative work – what would it be?

Follow my blog, join my redbubble site.
What is next?

I am hoping to get another First Friday exhibit which will be in a gallery in Old City Philadelphia. I have two pieces into the Philadelphia Photographic Society’s 149th year members’ exhibit, which is held at the historic Plastic Club in Philadelphia. I will also have at least 5 pieces in Deptford NJ Galleria exhibit in December 2011.

How are you going to get there?

By producing the best work/art I can. By being part of the art community, attending gallery openings and meeting other artists.

Tell us – what headline will we be reading in the New York Times about you five years from now?

If it is the New York Times, I must be true! Ha! That Photographer Jeff Stroud has a month long exhibit in such-and-such gallery. Jeff’s photography captures moments in nature and in everyday life as if it is blessed with spirit, and from the photographs we have seen he does just that.

Who and what would you like to give thanks?

I am grateful to you for hearing my call, for asking me to do this interview. I am greatly honored. I am grateful to my muse Nature spirit who allows me to “make” photographs that express the beauty even in the dying!

(image may be purchased Here)

Jeff’s Sprout Question: How do YOU feel about promoting your art?

Ah, you offer us a good tough question Jeff. Thank you Jeff for allowing Creative Potager to shine a light on you and your photographer. I wish you a much success in the future.

Dear readers speaking of promoting my art work, this coming Sunday October 16^th from 3:00 – 4:00 pm P.D.T. is the second of three Salish Sea Sunday Savings events here at Creative Potager. A special post announcing a draw for those who subscribe and spread the word will go up on Thursday October 16, 2011.

Our regular Creative Potager blog will be posted on Friday.

Best of the week everyone and I look forward to having you drop by.

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com

First Thursday Teaser (creativepotager.wordpress.com)
First Salish Sea Sunday Savings (creativepotager.wordpress.com)

Port of call – Mayne Island

June 3, 2011June 22, 2011 / Terrill Welch / 14 Comments

Near Mayne Island while traversing the inside passage from either direction, the Gulf Islands B.C. Ferry vessel loudspeaker will crackle. The captain then announces variations of “We are approaching Villiage-Bay-Mayne-sland. This is also the transfer point for passengers going to…..” This last part of the announcement changes depending on what ferry you are traveling.

It is pretty hard to miss your stop. But knowing if you even want to come or how to get this far in your trip can be a little tricky. Fortunately, our Mayne Island Community Chamber of Commerce makes it easier.

Regular Creative Potager readers may recognize the photographs on the front panel and the inside of this four-fold brochure. Yes, they are mine.

Earlier this year I was asked by a chamber member if I would consider submitting some photographs for use in the brochure. There had been a community-wide call for submission. I hummed and hawed feeling that my images are not really marketing sunshine and fun. They are often quiet, subdued, reflective and moodily dramatic. Since most of my photographs are taken in low-light during fall/winter or during the bookends of a spring or summer day, I wasn’t sure what I had to offer. But I agreed to let the committee have a look at my redbubble portfolio. To my delight they chose these two images. This is the second time this year that my images have been requested for promotional purposes – a pleasant addition to my artistically aimed photography.

But you might be saying “where is Mayne Island anyway?” The Chamber brochure has a pictorial answer on the back panel. Off the west coast of North America, snuggled into a cluster of Canadian Gulf Islands and the United States San Juan Islands, that darkly coloured island is home.

Now I bet you want to know exactly where Creative Potager is on Mayne Island – right? If you open up the brochure there is a map of the island. I love the crunchy tactile unfolding of maps. This brochure has a particularly satisfying soft and earthy feeling to the touch.

Creative Potager is marked by a white-squared number 35. See it there, just below the Mt Parke Park signage near the centre of the island.

The white-squared number 35 Creative Potager home studio is open by appointment.

The best way to get a home studio tour of our timberframed strawbale la casa de inspiracion is to email me at tawelch@shaw.ca .

You will need a brochure, or wait for the chamber website to be updated, to know exactly what else is marked on the map. I can tell you that yellow-squared numbers are accommodation, green are farms, orange real estate, red services, and white shops and galleries. If you would like your own brochure it will be on the ferry or drop me a line and I can mail you one.

My STUDY OF BLUE solo exhibition of 15 original oil paintings, opening Thursday June 30, 2011, will be held at the yellow-squared number 9 and blue-squared number 17 which is the two listings for the Oceanwood. One is for accommodation and one for the restaurant.

Fly into Vancouver or Victoria in British Columbia, Canada, rent a car, catch a ferry and you are here. It is just that easy. During the busy summer season it is recommended to make reservations for the ferry from Vancouver to Mayne Island and for accommodation while you are here. I look forward to seeing you sometime soon.

Best of the weekend to you!

Sprout question: What is your creative port of call?

STUDY OF BLUE solo exhibition opens Thursday June 30, 2011.

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com

Another Weekend, Another Island (myonepreciouslife.wordpress.com)
A Friendly Farm Gate Chat (creativepotager.wordpress.com)
KEEPING WATCH original oil painting by Terrill Welch (creativepotager.wordpress.com)

Surprise!

April 29, 2011April 29, 2011 / Terrill Welch / 10 Comments

We have been working hard this week with many of you sharing through twitter, facebook and your blogs Monday’s post “Quit Fracking with Our Water.” If you read the comments, you can see all that has been done. Thank you, thank you, and thank you! Your support, engagement and sharing of your circumstances and findings are just what was needed.

So I just had to pull a face and lighten us up. Actual this is a face of mine I keep on file. It is also the one that Laurie Buchanan requested I post a couple of weeks ago. I keep it for just such occasions. I keep it because taking ourselves and life too serious to often can lead us to believe and act like we are all going-to-hell-in-a-handbasket-before-sunset. Not true… it just feels like that some days. So this is my face for warding off the evil face of hopelessness. I am grateful for today.

We have worked hard and now it is time to play so we can come back and work hard again another day. But before we go, have I told you recently how much I appreciate each and every one of you? – because I do 🙂 Thank you, always, for being part of the Creative Potager – where imagination rules.

Sprout question: When was the last time you pulled a face for the fun of it?

And as I close off, my heart goes out to the people of Alabama and other States as they start to recover from this week’s deadliest tornado outbreak in almost four decades . Sending light and energy.

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island,British Columbia,Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com

Be Patient (creativepotager.wordpress.com)

Over eighteen thousand visitors

September 22, 2010September 22, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 20 Comments

Yes, over eighteen thousand creativity seeking visitors have been to see Creative Potager since the beginning of the 2010. To be exact, there had been 18,086 when I checked and 8:00 am PST this morning. After 141 posts and 2, 262 comments it is time to pause, celebrate and offer thanks to these regular Creative Potager supporters…

Laurie Buchanan: I don’t think Laurie has missed even one sprout question. She has faithfully come by and offered her heartfelt answer no matter what the question. Laurie has cheered, encouraged, engaged and inspired me to reach and stretched. We have been connecting online even before Creative Potager existed – in fact for years now. I consider Laurie a colleague and a friend though we have never sat across a table from each other in the same time and space. Thank you Laurie for being Creative Potager’s most regular sprout responder. You can read Laurie’s even day posts at Speaking from the Heart where there is a Colour of Wellness class under way.

Jeff Stroud: Jeff is here leaving comments and sharing almost as often as Laurie. He is a soulful and thoughtful photographer that never takes the easy road just because it is there. Jeff introduced me to the redbubble storefront through his photography a couple of years ago. Jeff has his own growth question for contemplation on each of his post at The Reluctant Bloger that will add another boost to your creativity. He is a passionate practitioner of Julian Cameron’s The Artist’s Way.

Kathy Drue: Kathy is a blogger extraordinaire with her Lake Superior Spirit blog receiving 64,311 visits since the beginning of the year. She often appears on the front page of WordPress and is interviewed from time-to-time about her blogging experience. Writing is Kathy’s passion and photography her supporting anchor. I am proud and thrilled that she finds the time and interest to drop in to Creative Potager.

Sam Juliano: Sam, like Kathy, is part of the blogosphere elite with his Monday Morning Diary posts at Wonders in the Dark sometimes receiving over 2,000 visitors in one day. Oh! Fair warning, horror films are the focus of current reviews. Remember it is make up. Each week, from almost the beginning, Sam has visited Creative Potager and reported back with a live link to his readership. Not only that, he did a full interview post Artist and Nature-Lover Terrill Welch: Mayne Island’s resident ‘Creativepotager” this past August. Sam will always be noted in Creative Potager’s hall of fame for his generosity, warmth, intellect, and inspiration for the arts and in particular film.

Jerry Shawback: A self-portrait artist, Jerry doesn’t always leave one of his reflective and thoughtful sprouts but I find him everyday in my tweet stream. He is passing along the latest post or just mentioning Creative Potager as he goes about retweeting from his outstanding list of artist and writers. Jerry is one of the reasons that about 40% of Creative Potager visitors come from Twitter. Some of these visitors leave comments but many more simply read, then tweet the link out to their tweet friends. Jerry is an important part of that exchange. Jerry is another artist and painter that I feel a deep resonance with and you can see some of his work at his profile on TheWhole9 website. His dedication is inspiring and his work shows this commitment to daily practice.

Leanne Dyck: Leanne is a fellow Mayne Islander who takes every possible opportunity to send a “shout out” on her website OKnitting.com or on her blog Author Leanne Dyck about Creative Potager or my recent solo art exhibition. She leaves sprout comments as time permits as she is a full-time writer meeting deadlines for manuscripts and revisions with publishers. It is a joy and a pleasure to have someone who lives just down the street drop in online, connecting my virtual home with my physical home.

Kimberly Grady: Kim is a butterfly sprout responder that brings her transforming presence as she is inspired. It might be here or it might be a comment on Facebook but wherever she shows up, I am always glad to see her and enjoy her unguarded reflections. She may visit her blog Butterflies Are Blue if you leave a comment…but again, she just might drop by and comment on your blog instead. Whatever, happens I know Kim will be inspire you to be genuine, to be yourself and to be creative.

May I request dear readers is that you visit these generous and gracious individuals and leave them a comment of thanks for helping make Creative Potager the inspiring garden of creativity that it is?

Thank you, dear friends, for hanging out with me in my creative kitchen garden.

Sprout Question: Who would be the top seven on your list of creativity supporters?

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Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada