Answering Reader Questions

"Silence is a true friend who never betrays."
~Confucius

 

Today I am answering reader questions, so let's get right to it!

1.  Do you have plans to show us how you make digital collage paintings?  By that, I assume you mean show you the steps in how I arrive at a finished piece of art work.  While I have not made a step by step tutorial, I have, on Nine Acres Designs Facebook page, shown you the beginning vintage photo that inspired a portion of a collage.  Also, I have at times, listed the general steps I have taken in order to reach a final product.  But because when I work I work very visually and by trial and error with different techniques, I have not made a tutorial as each piece does not follow the same workflow.  Maybe one day I can screen shot each of my steps as I go through my process, but to be honest, it distracts me from what I am doing and slows down that creative thought.  We'll see!  Maybe in the future!

2.  You speak of "God" and "Creator" a lot.  Are you religious?  That is a complicated question.  Yes, I do speak of God and my Creator a lot, but no, I am not religious.  The world religion leaves a sour taste in my mouth because my individual private beliefs don't fit nicely into any religious denominational box. While I was raised Southern Baptist, I have much experience with many other religions through friends and I have, over the years, taken pieces of each of these belief systems and created my own beliefs. Instead of religious, I prefer to call myself spiritual.  To me spirituality is my personal relationship with God.  I know this isn't a clear answer, but there isn't a way I can describe this close personal matter any clearer without sitting and chatting over a cup of tea, which I would be happy to do with anyone who is further curious about my view on this topic.

3.  Where did the name TraceFace72 come from?  Haha!  I never would have guessed someone would ask me that.  Well, it comes from my brother during our childhood.  He, being my older brother, wanted to torture me, his little annoying sister,  in any way possible when we were growing up.  So, one of the things he discovered was that calling me Trace Face made me mad and sometimes even made me cry.  So, of course, he did it more and more.  When I began my new blog (I've been blogging now for about 10 years on various blogs), the name Trace Face popped into my head as a nickname.  I added my birth year to the end and I had TraceFace72.  

4.  You used to do a lot of photography.  Why don't you anymore?  I still do photography.  I knew a few years ago that photography was becoming very saturated since everyone was buying digital DSLR cameras.  I knew I wanted to differentiate myself more from what everyone was doing so that is when I began exploring digital art...textures, collages, painting, etc.  So, I do still do photography (I am a real estate photographer by day) but I just don't show a lot of it on my blog anymore...I prefer to creatively express myself through digital art instead. 

5.  I heard you teach photography workshops.  Are there any planned for the future?  What about digital collage painting workshops?  Yes, I did teach beginning photography workshops, however, since becoming so very sick with Lyme, Bartonella, and Erlichea, I have not taught any more workshops.  While I love doing it, it takes a lot of time and energy, both of which I do not have right now.  I will never say never...so it might happen in the future, but there are no immediate plans for either a photography or a digital art workshop at this time.

6.  How is your overall health right now?  I noticed there is not a March update on your Lyme tab.  You are right, I haven't updated my Lyme tab with March yet, as I have been so crazy busy.  I will say that each day is a struggle.  I have really good days when I feel as if I am normal again, but there are bad days that remind me that this is a long-haul sort of situation.  So, I will just say that while I have made significant progress, there is still a long way to go in healing.  I am not sure I believe I will ever be completely 100% "normal" again, but I always hold out hope.  Right now I am concentrating on correcting a severe bone infection in my jaw that will require surgery and a bone graft.  That surgery is scheduled for mid-May, so I am trying to maintain good health to help the outcome of that surgery be the best it can be.  I have a checkup with my LLMD on Monday, so I will be discussing where I go from here as far as treatment for the tick born illnesses.  Hopefully, I will get a chance to post the March Lyme update soon.  

Thanks to everyone who sent in questions.  I didn't answer every single one, but I would love to do this again in the future!  It is fun to see what you all are curious about and I am happy to answer questions.  So, if you have a question for me, just email me using the sidebar.  Look for another Reader Question update in a few weeks!  Happy Tuesday!