Tag: WordPress

wORDPRESS WOES

Posted on by omordah1

Figuring Out WordPress

I’ve been using WordPress for sometime now, and I’m embarrassed to say that I’m only now discovering how to use different aspects of it. In my defense, I have to say that this platform has never been the easiest to navigate, at least not for me. I’ve used various other platforms and have never had the the kind of issues I’ve had with WP.

For example changing the color or size of the font. It’s taken a while partly because I was so busy, but I had a few minutes so sat down and made a concerted effort to figure some things out. As you can see I have figured out a few. I have not however, figured out how to change the color of the “add title” section. In order to change the font, one has to go to the first “block”.

Changing fonts, in any way, should be easy. And for me, as an artist and highly visual person, this is important to me. But it isn’t easy to navigate to where you do so. Finding where was even harder, and it shouldn’t be. Why isn’t it right there, on the same page, set at the top?

I even googled it, as trying to follow the instructions on the actual platform hasn’t worked. Unfortunately, neither did any instructions on Google. How did I figure this much out, you may ask? Basically, just hunting around, and sheer luck. (I’m sure to some others it was no problem at all. )

So I’m playing around with it a bit. I’ve always considered myself pretty capable when it comes to using computers, so this has been fairly annoying for me. But maybe it is me. Has anyone else had these issues? Maybe I’m just spoiled from using other platforms that are, to me, much more user friendly. For example when writing paragraphs, if I start one, and then decide that I don’t want a new paragraph, it is not easily deleted, leaving a gap and the user info on the page. It’s just not intuitive. On a recent post that was basically just a few photos of my work, I wanted to swap out one of the photos. One is normally able to “replace” photos, which I have done in the past. However, this time, it kept glitching, turning what should have been a quick ten minute post into an aggravating thirty minute, task. And this wasn’t the first time something like this happened. I know that one could always speak to an admin, but I have not found this easy either on this site, haven’t always had the time, and frankly past experience has taught me that this is rarely helpful. I write quickly and am able to get my thoughts down quickly so have just used things as they were.

To be honest, the main reason I’ve stuck with WordPress is that one, I was too busy to try out another site, (“the devil you know”). And two, more importantly because my daughter had designed and put together the main page and font for me early on, and I want to keep it. I also get discouraged with WordPress, because even when I was faithfully posting on here on a regular and often basis, as well as interacting with others, I’ve only ever had a small amount of actual feedback. (I am very grateful to those who do!) But for the effort I put in, it doesn’t feel like much bang for my buck, so to speak.

But for now, I will continue on with WordPress (regaling those few who are paying attention, with my artsy life.) If you’ve read this far, thanks! And see you next time. 🙂

Kindly take a look at my other art sites; @susanm.l.mooreartist on Instagram where you can view many of my art pieces. And etsy.com/shop/omordah where you can purchase some of my art pieces. Thanks! Ciao for now.

A Not So Wordless Wednesday

Posted on by omordah1

Hi All! I hope this finds you all well. I normally like to post a “Wordless” Wednesday, but as it has been some time since I last posted I felt that I should bring everyone up to speed first.

About a year ago I began to take solid steps toward moving. For anyone familiar with this process, You know that it sucks the life out of every waking, and sometimes sleeping moment.

As this was about the twenty fourth time in my life to do so, I consider myself an expert. That’s not to say that there weren’t extenuating circumstances. Because there most definitely were. Without getting into all of the excruciating details, suffice to say, there were many circumstances.

This was my ninth time selling/purchasing, and my third on my own. Listing my home, searching for another in the terrible market that is the county I live in, was an exercise in blind faith. As it happened, it did work out for the best.

My last home was in an area recently overrun by, what we refer to, (with eyes rolling), “the baseball people”. If you’ve ever lived in an area where it suddenly becomes a tourist trap revolving around something you have zero interest in, and the folks drawn to it act obnoxiously entitled, and have zero regard for your home or town, you’ll understand the eyeroll. For us, the only good thing that came from this invasion, was the increase in property values.

Even in this economy, my little house was a rare commodity, in good shape, with a nice private yard, close to the happening venue.

With the small windfall, I was able to purchase a house in a cute, artsy village not too far from some of my family. The ‘artsy’ part is especially good for me, and the bonus is I was able to semi-retire. It also happens that Nikki and her guy love it here too.

The sale and purchase as always took longer than we would have liked and at the time I was still working. This made “creating” nearly impossible as I was exhausted.

I’ve been in my “new” (200+) year old cottage for seven months now, and officially retired for four months.

About two months ago I began to feel settled enough to start painting and sketching again.

Here are a few of my recent works, I hope you enjoy them.

Autumn Morning Ride
“Two Months Tuesday”
Tree of Time -Based on a large, ancient topiary tree, this is not bonsai as it is about 20′ tall!

There are a few more, but I’ll save them for next time. Best to you all, catch you next time!

Decisions, Decisions

Posted on by omordah1

After being home due to Covid19 safety issues at my place of work, for some time, I now find myself searching for work, at an age when I should be planning my retirement. I won’t go back to my previous job as even in the best of times, it is a dangerous, mentally and physically exhausting job. I continued to work at my art, upping the game as much as possible in order to somehow make a living at what I know I am very good at, and love.

“The Maine Event”

Contrary to all of the hype, although it seems that the art world is thriving, I would say it is just the opposite. Inundated with kitschy and an anything is art attitude (which honestly who can say?), it is harder and harder for people to dig through the logjam to find the truly good, or even what they would like to own. But we artists carry on, as it’s in our blood, and do whatever it takes to get our work “out there”. Aside from trying to survive, we truly want people to enjoy our work. We want it to be seen.

The job market is very tough right now, also contrary to what is said. The one good side effect is that some employers are starting to understand that they have to offer a fair wage. I live in a small town where the jobs are either medical, retail/restaurant, or college with a few office related options. For two of those they require specific qualifications, for retail you have to have low self esteem or massive desperation, and for office jobs, mostly luck and to be quick. I managed to find one that appealed to me, as I am also a writer. But it is only part time, and seems that it will mostly be filing. Oh and just minimum wage, and no benefits. I find out tomorrow if they are interested in me, but am I interested in them? Yes it would allow me more time for my family and art, but it really isn’t enough pay, as well as the filing aspect along with being in a very tiny office with two other people.

“RUN!”

While trying to decide what to do in regard to the office job, if offered, I did the usual pros and cons thing, which includes the fact that I am the major bread winner in my household. I also did the asking the universe what I should do, thing. The office position should seem perfect, but something just doesn’t feel right about it. And that’s not good. It could just be normal hesitation due to having been out of work for so long. But I don’t think so.

Then the universe did something, I received a request to do a commission. It’s still at the very early stage of price negotiation etc. But having it pop up like that when it has also been a while for that, makes me hesitate even more about the office gig. Some might say, “a bird in the hand” and all that, and “do both” (which even five years ago was no big deal…) but something tells me to trust in myself, and do what feels right, and not get into a situation where I’m trying to do it all, for minimum wage. I guess another night to sleep on it might help.

“Macro Dream”

Thanks for reading my art life ramblings. Stay well!

If you are interested in commissioning a one of a kind art piece to treasure, please contact me. You can DM me here on WordPress. Or DM me on my Instagram page ( which I tend to be on more often) at, instagram.com/susanm.l.mooreartist . You can also purchase my art on Etsy at etsy.com/shop/omordah

I would love to hear from you!

Going Down To The Crossroads

Posted on by omordah1

No, not that crossroads. Though the “devil is definitely in the details”. Being at a crossroads with your art, or writing, or whatever creative things you do, is always a nail biting, angst ridden moment. And hopefully that’s all it is, a moment, a short period of time in your life where you may be questioning your creative ventures, your style, inspiration, or if you even want to continue. It can be a confusing and scary time.

OK so zombies may not be the best example, but they are scary and confusing.

In the course of my career as an artist, I’ve had many of these crossroad moments. In particular ones that in hindsight seem to coincide with that seven year evolution we all go through, uh, every seven years. (Proven, look it up). Not that I don’t have other “moments” in between, because I do, and have. But the big ones do fit that pattern. Currently I am going through it again. I should have realized as I have had a hard time concentrating, and finding inspiration, or ambition. At first I blamed it on this last, long year of Covid19 and isolation. You have to feed the beast, and being home all the time is not conducive to that. Hence my thinking that that was the only reason. It is a huge reason, but not the only one.

Recently, one of my adult children mentioned during a conversation about eye glasses, that she was “old” and her “eyes are sensitive now.” What the what?! She’s 35. And when I said that ‘I never really felt old until this year’, she sent a shocked face emoji. Humm. At any rate, that got me pondering, as us old folks will, that perhaps it isn’t just the plague causing my lack of inspiration. And doing some calculations, I saw that yes, I’m starting a new seven year cycle. I’ve embraced and been known as being an artist, nearly my entire life. If I don’t paint, or sketch, then who am I? Just another faceless person in the crowd?

Don’t worry, I haven’t gotten to the point of no return. As a matter of fact, I never really stopped painting or sketching. It just hasn’t been at the same level of intensity. I have been feeling somewhat directionless and all over the place. I’m sure I’m not the only person feeling this way. It has been a tough year for everyone, and many of us must be feeling at loose ends.

As with everyone else, I have been impacted in ways I didn’t foresee. Plans, important plans have had to be put on hold, possibly for a few years, possibly to never happen, and this has been difficult. Many toxic things happen on a daily basis in the world. As an artist, in a family of artists, I know that the impact of this toxic world hits us deeply, making creativity that much harder to attain. It’s hard not to be affected. It’s hard not to engage, or see it. But for us creatives, it is vital that we learn to do what we can to help, and not absorb all the toxins, because that causes us to become immobilized. Add to that the seven year metamorphosis, and you can see my dilemma.

As I sit here writing this, it feels a bit cathartic, like getting it out, writing about it helps. Yes, I have been painting and drawing things aimlessly, but maybe that’s good. I’m still working at it, and perhaps after I’ve had some time to just play around with it, something will kick in, and I’ll know which direction on that crossroad to follow.

Thanks for visiting and reading my blog. Stay well. If you are interested in any of my paintings or would like to commission a piece, please DM me, or go to my Etsy site, at etsy.com/shop/omordah I’d love to hear from you!

The Disenchantment Of Marilyn

Posted on by omordah1

OK, before I get into this Monday morning rant, I will say that I have nothing against Marilyn M. She is an icon. But there lies the dilemma. I do or at least have come to have a mental fatigue when it comes to art pieces of her image. (This would be a good place to upload a picture I’ve done of her, but I haven’t, and I won’t.)

Random pic of a Mandalorian, Grogu snowflake I attempted to make. (Not Marilyn).

It seems to be a right of passage for many artists, to create some image of Marilyn. They then post it to whatever social media of their choice, to a rousing chorus of pedantic accolades. I’m not covetous of their work. Without sounding conceited, I have gotten to a point in my own artistic career, where I feel I could do a reasonably good image of the great lady. I choose not to. I get this ugg, rolling my eyes kind of feeling of tedium when yet another artist’s rendering of her pops up. Good grief. I do apologize to any artists who have done so, I’m sure you’re a great artist. And I also choose to be the kind of person that praises and uplifts other artists, so it somewhat pains me to reveal this abhorrence.

Current WIP (work in progress), not M.M.

So please, for the love of all that is holy, and unholy, stop! Just stop rehashing images of Marilyn M! There are millions of other possible options to use as inspiration for your wonderful art!

When I was very young, my parents, Mae and Tony, owned a small corner grocery store in Albany NY. I remember it well, even though by the time I was almost five, we had moved on from it. It was my earliest home, and even though it was hard times, (beginning of the Civil Rights movement, as well that my parents had to work early in the morning until late at night.) We lived over the store, in a flat, and didn’t have much, but I still look back on it with very fond memories.

WIP not M.M.

I mention this, because, my mom, when she wasn’t running the store, helping customers, restocking etc. would sometimes read a magazine. I remember she loved Marilyn M. Years later she would mention Marilyn fondly. But not the movie star Marilyn, the Norma Jean, Marilyn. She must have felt a kinship to the real Marilyn. The one that was misunderstood, as she too had been in her own life. So I get the fandom, maybe at a deeper level than a lot of people.

Details of a painting I recently completed. You guessed it, not Marilyn.

Norma Jean had wanted more for herself, and sadly fell prey to the enticing life of a star, and the sometimes horrible people surrounding her. At heart she seemed like a really good person.

We all know her story, and can find out information about her, probably by the boatload. But in the end, I like to think that she would have wanted to be remembered for more than just her looks. The constant reiterations of her image, to me don’t do her or the artist justice. End Rant.

PLEASE READ! Due to a glitch between Microsoft, and Word Press, I never received the commission quote requests sent to me starting from 2019!!! I must apologize for this. I am so sorry if any of you have tried to reach me for a quote! I now have access and have begun sending out notes to those who are listed. It’s a long list. If those who did contact me are still interested, I will get back to you asap, as well as set up a time frame for those interested. Again thank you so much for your patience and understanding!! Please contact me at sumor4@yahoo.com

I’d like to thank everyone for your continuing support. Liking and following this site, my Etsy site, etsy.com/shop/omordah and susanm.l.mooreartist on IG , helps me to grow my art life and I appreciate it more than you could know!