aisling

Right now, I'm going through my old coloring books and wincing at some of them. What seemed original and cool 10 years ago...? Ouch! Not great now. I'm downloading most of them in KDP, to see what can be salvaged from them, and republished as better coloring books.

Of course, this is a ridiculously time-consuming process, but necessary. I have far too many PDFs from way back then, and have no idea which represent the books that — until today — were still in print. (I'm unpublishing the worst of them, as I go along.)

Meanwhile, I'm getting back to mailart, starting with artcards. 

Basically, I'm starting with my basic "irregular blocks" pen-and-ink drawings, and printing a set of eight different designs... repeatedly. (Ultimately, I want to send out 100 different artcards — as mailart postcards — each based on one of the eight designs.)

So, the process is: (1) Draw the eight different designs. <- That's done. Then, (2) Print them on card stock, so they can be cut into ~4"x6" cards, and (3) I can alter them, making each card unique, original art.

Here's a graphic that probably makes more sense than trying to explain this in text:

So anyway... I'd like to mail about 100 of these in the next six months or so.

If you'd like to receive one, FREE, email me your snailmail address: [email protected]

aisling

It's Sunday and it feels as if... I dunno... everything is changing, and I want to say "in a good way," but — seeing the headlines — that would be illogical. (Yes, a Spock reference... I'm still an old-school Trekkie.)

But still, things feel as if they're in a rocky phase right now, yet the outcome will be better — and sooner — than we might expect.

Too "Pollyanna-ish" maybe...?

Today, I'm continuing to work on my Etsy shops. Four of them are "in progress," and I intend to launch all four at once. Each will be very different, and most people will be interested in only one of them.

Here's one of my most recent photos. It's of Nubble Light, a lighthouse off the coast of Maine (USA). I tweaked the photo to make it look a bit eerie and from an earlier time.

aisling

This weekend, I'm hoping to launch my "weird" Etsy shop, with photos (digital downloads) that may be too creepy for some... but fit the Halloween theme. And "dark academia," as well.

Well, maybe. We'll see what happens. 

I'm juggling that and two other Etsy shops, each appealing to (maybe) different audiences.

It's all part of becoming the breadwinner for our household, since my husband's career evaporated over the past year or so, partly due to digital media but mostly because AI can do it nearly as well. 

"Nearly" is the key term in his field — printing — as well as in many other areas. The backlash re: AI book covers and AI-written books...? Or even books that just sound like they might be written by AI...? Wow. Really... wow! 

I mean, AI is good in some ways; I don't know how disorganized I might still be, without ChatGPT. However, even if you overlook the weird use of em-dashes in AI-generated text, AI just doesn't have the quirky, sometimes-flawed sense of personality that "real" work (by actual people) has.

And, for me, those flaws and quirks are important, as they're unique to the creativity of the individual. And in the arts (music, writing, visual arts, etc.), I want to connect with the individual, flaws and all.

So I'm leaning into art and writing that are authentic. They will be flawed, but human, and I think my audience (wherever they are, however they define themselves, and whatever the reason they like my art) will appreciate that.

Anyway... that's what's ahead for my weekend. I hope yours is fun, relaxing, productive, or whatever you'd like.

aisling

Before we left for errands in Portsmouth, NH, we looked up in the sky and saw a mini-rainbow in the clouds. (Lower right side of my photo, just above the trees.)

It was lovely... almost magical. I hope it's a sign of brighter, happier days ahead in this country.

aisling

It's a grey morning in Ogunquit, Maine. My husband and I are in a "winter rental" here, and absolutely loving the salt air and mom-and-pop shops, the friendly/chatty people, white sand beaches, and... Well, you get the idea.

For those unfamiliar with "winter rentals," they're the FAR lower-priced rentals (homes, condos, hotel rooms, etc.) available during the months when tourism kind of vanishes in the northeast U.S. 

We're here for... I'm not sure how long. My husband is looking for work, after his job field (the print industry) changed radically after the arrival of digital media (affecting magazines, newspapers, junk mail, and even seasonal maps of theme parks), and AI can do many of the tasks he used to specialize in.

• (If you know of any New England print shops looking for skilled pre-press help, let me know. Note: "Pre-press" means that he takes a customer's ideas and sketches of what they have in mind, refines them so they look impressive, and resizes them so they'll fit the container, poster, brochure, label, or business card that the customer has in mind.)

Meanwhile, I'm re-energizing — and sometimes reinventing — what I do, all of it very creative. 

Yesterday, I was backing-up the collection of photos I've taken since we arrived back in New England (from Florida).

Apparently, I've taken over 4500 photos since early July. * blink-blink *

Here's one of them, photographed at "the Nubble," a lighthouse just off the coast of southern Maine:

And, reviewing my hoard of photos specifically related to Halloween, I found nearly 700 of them that I'll be working with in the _very_ immediate future.

So, with October nearly here, I was flying through emails and found one from LJ, reminding me that it's the anniversary of me starting my account here.

aisling

I'm trying to add updates here, at least now and then. However, it's easier to post at Substack (ArtAndOtherThings) and at BlueSky (ThatArtist) and other sites which I may phase out (like Facebook: Aisling D'Art). 

And then there's Patreon (AislingsArt), which I'm close to making one of my main social sites. And LinkedIn, which I really will add to... soon.

Anyway, we recently visited Disney World on a super-foggy day.  

aisling

I expected to think this was a stupid idea, and an overly complex camera. Well, the latter may be true, but this pink plastic kiddie camera may be more useful than I'd expected. 

Here's the link for you to see what I'm raving about... https://aisling.net/not-just-a-kiddie-camera/

aisling

So, if you're looking for me, I'm still online. I'm ThatArtist at Bsky, and — for now — I'm at Facebook as Aisling D'Art.  

I'm kind of amazed that LiveJournal is still here, but I'm also eager to connect with long-time friends. (And yes, I'm still married to the wonderful man I met here, over 20 years ago. Very much a "happily ever after" story... yaaayy for romance!)

aisling

The collages are moving to the Eibhlin.com site: https://eibhlin.com/collages/

I'm rather pleased with how this series is evolving. [Sept 2025 update: I've taken down the Eibhlin.com website, for now. I need to narrow my focus and complete more long-time projects on my to-do list, before launching anything else large-scale.]

aisling

Almost 20 years ago, I added my husband — then, a stranger over 1500 miles away — to my LJ Friends list.

We got to know one another, fell in love (during a year of online chats, long before Zoom, etc.), met, moved in together, and soon married.

We're still in "happily every after" mode. I'm still making art, but I'm also writing. He's still in pre-press, and — though the pandemic has kept us at home, mostly — we still get out for adventures, now and then.

You can still follow me at Aisling.net, where I'm posting lots of art again. (There are over 400 art-related articles there, now. I wrote all of them.)

If you're reading this and know me from way-back-when, I hope you'll leave a comment. 

I'll check back now & then, and enjoy the smiles.

Meanwhile, I hope you're safe, happy, and healthy. And enjoying the holiday season... no matter which holidays you celebrate, and what time of year it is as you read this.