Full Page Advertisment; Southwest Writers (600+ members)Newsletter (Sage) March, 2008/archives. |
My articles published 200+ websites |
To all the young people out there...STAY IN SCHOOL! Jerry Aragon/The Humor Doctor humordoctormd@yahoo.com |
Believe In Yourself! .. |
I was asked the following question by a neighbor of mine: "Jer, did you have any hesitation or second thoughts about building your website, and showing your work to the world.? "Not at all," was my reply. At the time, I couldn't wait to get my hands on that mouse and start dragging and dropping those text boxes and splashing the page full of color. Going into all this, I had a lot of confidence, and I'll share two important points that not many people are aware of.. First of all, and as a woodcarver, I had already participated in over 40 arts and crafts shows all over the state of New Mexico. For those of you who may not be familiar, the state of New Mexico is blessed with thousands of talented and accomplished artists and craftspeople. There are dozens of arts and crafts shows to participate in, as well as many galleries to show and sell work as well. To go before the public, at large shopping centers; hotels; convention centers, etc., is much more difficult than building a website, where you never see the faces of the visitors. It's not easy to build up the courage required to put all your work up on display, where hundreds, or maybe thousands of people will see what you can do with your hands and your mind. Not easy at all. So, because I had already participated in over 40 shows, I already had the confidence I needed to build my website. So, I have a big advantage over many people who have not done what I have done, and it's a big plus for me. And, yes I had my share of bombs during this time, but that will be another article! So, I want you to know, that if your struggling with your ideas; your website; your book; or any other project you may be working on...I encourage you to keep going. By participating in all those shows, it took me years to get the confidence I needed; to get better at my work. Secondly, and this has to do with composing a page...filling it full of text; graphics; borders; mortises; corners, and so forth. Before I even bought a computer, I had already composed over 200 pages on paper...yes on paper for my wood carved scenes. Over the years, I carved everything from owls; to a Manger Set; human figures of all kinds; and wildlife pieces, too. Many of the wildlife pieces were photographed outdoors and I'll give you a few examples. The gray owl was photographed in a pine tree to give the photo more realism. The Snowy Owl was photographed in the snow, with the mountains in the background; A worm, wearing a football helmut, was photographed at a local golf course, with the green showing in the background. And,a wooden trout was photographed at a local pond jumping out of the water, etc. All of this took extra effort to get the pictures I wanted. Briefly, as I composed the page, I would take the photo of the subject...lay it on the page; place the decorative corners or borders, the headline; caption; clip-art, or whatever I was going to use; Everything is done on a standard size page; 81/2 by 11. So, the point I'm trying to make here, is that I had quite a bit of experience in composing a page, which took me several years! to do over 200 pages. And, guess what? Some of my early pages were dreadful...just awful. I kept about ten of them, as reminders, so I can see just how bad I really was...and I was pretty bad! The clip-art was all cramped together; not enough "white space"; crooked lettering; the corners didn't go with the subject, and the mistakes went on and on. But, little by little as the months and years went by...and remember I said months and years, I got better and better! And finally, I've been in the humor business for over 40 years, so for those of you who may want to be funny overnight...think again...it's not going to happen. You're going to have to pay your dues in the School of Hard Knocks just like I did. I've been in the wood carving business for over 20 years; I participated in over 40 shows which took several years; and, as I said earlier I composed over 200 pages on paper, which took several years, too! So, if you're having trouble with your projects, and you think it's taking too long. Or maybe, you feel like you don't have the skills or talent to accomplish what you would like to do. Or, maybe you feel like you're lacking in confidence and skills...remember...Rome wasn't built in a day! If you want to achieve your goals and dreams, you must continue on...practice; practice; practice; do it over and over again until you get it better. Surround yourself with postive encouraging people, and more than anything else... Believe in Yourself! |
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This is a family website! |
"There are alwars flowers for those who want to see them" Henri Matisse. |
To all the young people out there...STAY IN SCHOOL! Jerry Aragon/The Humor Doctor humordoctormd@yahoo.com |
.Get inspired...get motivated...get going! |
Copyright; Jerry Aragon; 2007 All Rights Reserved |
My articles published 200+ websites |
Full Page Advertisment; Southwest Writers (600+ members)Newsletter (Sage) March, 2008/archives. |
