Birthday present
 

Okay, the re-opening of the Forum has nothing to do with my birthday, even though the dates have coincided... But, it reminds me - and should remind us all - that the very existence of this Forum is a gift to us as artists. It is a gift to all who uphold true craft and skill in the arts, whatever your aesthetic may be. Let us not take it for granted.

I have learned a great deal here. And I am not just referring to technical things, nor insightful forays into art history with regard to the portrait. Those things are here for all to see, and are thankfully archived like a wonderful encyclopedia of portraiture and painting. What I hadn't counted on learning about was pride, ego and disaffection. This is an arguable point, but recent disagreements have had little to do with learning and teaching, therefore - nothing could be gained by them, save the forming of factions and cliques.

In this day and age where kindness and comportment are no longer rewarded (as hostility has become sport and prime-time entertainment), it still does not give us the "right" to conduct ourselves according to vox populi. If we are to truly uphold the ideals of craft and skill in the arts, then we are no less obliged to put forth these things in a manner befitting their importance. By that, I mean professionally, if not humbly; with the intent to teach, and not lord it over others with less skill or knowledge.

My thanks to Cynthia and the Moderators for their time and efforts. Again, I speak for many in my sincere appreciation of your gifts.

Very well said, Rob. I sincerely appreciate your post!

I totally agree, thank you.

Allan

I have to agree with Rob. I think it

Well said
 

I am so very grateful to have the forum doors opened again.

Cynthia, I would guess that this sort of thing will happen again. Although I certainly hope it doesn't. Will you consider just closing the topic or temporarily banning the offending party(s) rather than shutting down completely? It must be very frustrating for those of you who donate your time to have to deal with unpleasant issues.

I love this forum and the insight it provides. I am very grateful for the work that goes into maintaining it.

I was a little shocked to see the meager list of members who have donated thus far. My donation was very, very small but I was convinced that many others would contribute and together we would provide the funds that were needed to keep this forum alive.

Thank you, everyone for your input and expressions of appreciation. There were 4 or 5 more donations between the time the doors closed and now.

Cynthia, as Tom said, after the twentieth time it just gets to be too much. Normally I would not have shut things down completely, but I needed a break from this and time to sort through things. It's unlikely I will completely shut it down again unless there's maintenance going on, or as happened a couple of times, a hacker.

I can attest, firsthand, to the professionalism and import that Cynthia places upon portraiture in general, and specifically, upon her own business, including this Forum. I also know how very stressful it is for her to have to get side-tracked in order to put out fires.

Rob, how very gracious of you to have started this thread (hey! Happy Birthday!) . Despite the difficulties of the past days, in many ways I think the events have resulted in a clearer understanding about the role of this particular Forum, and the setting of good policy to advance that role.

Tom, like you, I have valued my participation here tremendously, both in what I have learned, and in the people I feel that I have come to know as friends, whether or not I have actually met them face-to-face.

Thanks, Cynthia.

Very well said to all above.

I can't thank Cynthia enough for what she has given us all in this Forum. I do my small part as one of the Moderators just to give a little bit back because of what she has given me.

Quite literally, this Forum has been life-transforming and career-creating. Less than four years ago I really had very little clue how to paint (I thoughtI knew how!) and I had very little in terms of professional experience. Now I have a consistent one year backlog of portrait work, have had opportunities to have my work featured in the media, and now have contracts with some very high profile clients, too.

I owe ALL that to this Forum, truly. Thank you, Cynthia. I do hope, after all that you've done for me, that I'll finally get to meet you and thank you in person at the PSA conference this year!

HI All
 

Some thoughts that relate to this thread -

1.) Thanks Cynthia - I think you made the right move for the site and yourself buy putting SOG on pause. As mentioned above, I was appalled by how short the list was of donating contributors, and ashamed more names were not on it, including mine. I, like probably 90% of the readers here have $ issues, but I think we all need to make the commitment to carve out SOMETHING over the next month to show our support to the value of this site.

2.) As I don't stop by too much,I wasn't aware of the tiff that was happening to cause this "time out" of SOG, but I would like to say that, as I read the announcement by Cynthia, I could predict in my head who the personalities were that created the problem, and sure enough, to my disappointment, I was right. To the "experts" on this site I would like to point out that I would never take a workshop from someone who has developed such tunnel vision as to argue to the point demonstrated here. If I sign up for a workshop, it's to learn what you know, not to become who you are. If you demonstrate here that you can't even find room to appreciate another experts' approach, then that tells me you would probably lack the respect for my right to have an individualized approach either.

3.) On the positive side of this little drama, it 's nice to continue to see, through SOG, just how many people in this world who are deeply impassioned by art as we are. We are all wonderfully and tragically infected... congratulations to us ALL.

Yes, Rob, Happy Birthday. I was so enchanted by all the other things you said, I forgot to wish you one.

Thank you everyone! I appreciate you too!

Well, thank you for the birthday wishes. The icing on the cake (pun mildly intended) was seeing the positive additions to this thread. You are all wonderful artists - but I see you are wonderful people. The latter makes the the former count for much more.

Linda Nelson! You need to stop by more often! :)

I'm in agreement with all the elegant and eloquent comments made so far, and looking forward to a kinder, gentler forum.

Jean

Ditto!

Happy birthday Rob, I hope it was terrific!

Belated birthday wishes, Captain Rob!

:cool:

Thank you Elizabeth and my most esteemed friend and colleague Linda, Duchess of Stand Oil. :D

Linda, my birthday wishes includes your convincing Bill Whitaker to get a summer place here in Maine. Tell him I'm some wicked good at cookin' lobstah, ayuh! (Even though that reads like a Maine accent, you have to say it with a New York accent.)

Thirty-four years completed. A Ste.-Emilion Bordeaux from a good year is near its peak of maturity at 35 years. I guess I'm more like Vintage Port. The '27 Taylor is just comin' round ;)

I, too, would like to add my thanks to Cynthia and all of the moderators for their generousity and to all of the members for their contributions of experience, knowledge and goodwill.

Upon first reading of the closing of the site I couldn't help but feel its loss and, soon realized how much I have come to depend on this site for guidance and my growth as an artist. Upon further reflection I also realized how gracious I am for this site and how it helps me in my growth as a man.

I also have learned from contributions here of how humbled I am when I consider the company I am in and sincerely thank all of you for allowing me to be among you and to participate in the forum.

As a relatively new member I am, in a way, grateful for the temporary closing of this forum as it taught me a boundary that I needed to learn.

Again, thank you, Cynthia and all of the moderators.

March 8th is the Intl. Woman's Day.
Best wish to all women!
Guan ying, who has a thousand eyes and hands, is in the image of a woman. This remains me of many women, Cynthia is included.
http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/~cwachan/Guanyin.html

Happy Birthday, Rob!

Ditto that, Pat!

Just want to let all of you know how much I too appreciate this forum, and the incredible withdrawal brought on by having it down even for a couple of days! :bewildere

Thank you Cynthia for all you do! Thanks and much appreciation to all the moderators and for you fellow artists who so generously volunteer your time and expertise for the benefit of us all.... AND who raise questions, concerns, opportunities for critique, etc. that afford us all the opportunity to learn.

Oh... and a belated Happy Birthday to you Rob! (Boy you managed to wrangle a ton of birthday wishes out of this -- sure hope your birthday lived up to it! :) )

WOOHOO! Awesome!

:thumbsup: Thanks Patricia and Terri! I think this year is going to be amazing with all these good wishes from all these excellent artists!

So far since Sunday morning:

- The forum re-opened :D
- I sold a painting (it was a wee painting of a glass of whisky in front of one of my cloudscapes).
- And I won the deciding singles 4.5 league match for my tennis team in 3 sets against a 25-year-old.

A good year so far! Your wishes sure helped! Thanks!!!