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Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Morning, Sunlight and a Blog Tip

"Morning has broken like the first morning... Mine is the sunlight... " Cat Stevens
Popcorn Sky Morning
The photo in this artwork is one I lucked into quickly one day as we were out and about several months ago. I am always taken in with capturing light and cloud formations whether painting or photographing. This is one of my favorite cloud formations, I call it a popcorn sky or a Georgia O'keeffe kind of sky since she painted them. I played around with words and a favorite song, a meditation of sorts, and various art materials to inspire my creation. It's a page that I'll bind into a book full of altered photographs.

I am taking an online class from LK Ludwig about techniques for using your photos in your artwork... very fun... Perfect timing for me as I have been in a very introspective phase, a time for changes and examining choices, and what better way than to sort through old photos and take new ones too.

Another Blog Tip
Did you ever land on a blog or website that looked interesting, then found yourself waiting while your computer seemed to be in an endless loop of cranking and loading up their site? I have and I can say, I won't wait around too long... I'm not sure what "too long" is, but I do know, it's annoying and the average person just isn't going to linger.

SO, here's a nifty thing I ran across recently... a way to test your blog and see just how fast it loads up. When I tested mine, it was running a good 18-20 seconds to load the page. After looking at the test results data, I made a couple of adjustments: 1) decreased the number of posts showing on a page to 5 instead of 30, and 2) removed a cute little sidebar enviro icon that was chewing up loading time. Results: my blog page now loads up in 5-8 seconds, I try it at different times.

So, here's the link to Pingdom for this free test (and I am totally not affiliated with them). Just enter your URL and click test now. You'll get a report showing how long each item takes and the total.
I'm beginning to feel nerdy.... but I hope this is useful for you.

13 comments:

layers said...

Yes, this is a beautiful sky image-- very unusual and I can see why you would be inspired by it..
I have noticed-- when I go around to other blogs-- that those that have music attached that just starts playing as soon as you click on it-- slows it all down-- also if there are too many youtube.com videos-- music seems to take time to load--

HeartFire said...

Donna,
Something about skies, that wide open feeling over me, often it looks like a moving piece of art, a painting that brings me joy.

Yes, I think the music ones and videos must take longer...

Four Seasons in a Life said...

Greetings Delorse,

I love clouds. I have always felt they were messengers from other parts of the world. I guess it has to do that when I was a child I loved looking at clouds and imagining what they represented.

As for the link to test ones blog I greatly appreciate. Most of the time to load a blog is due to the various links and items on the sidebar. Also the masthead is a problem when it is not saved to its lowest possible kb size.

Another major problem are all the youtube videos and soundtracks.

So now i am off to test my site.

warmest regards,
Egmont

HeartFire said...

Egmont,
I hadn't thought of clouds as messengers, but yes, they definitely could be. I too remember lazy warm summer days as a kid laying in the grass imagining shapes in the sky.

Let me know how that test works for you. I really appreciate the other ideas you listed as potential areas that slow down uploading a blog... maybe I'll add them to my next blog tip in case people don't read this comment.
Peace & Happy Drawing to you,
Delorse

JonesMoore Studio Art, Lisa JonesMoore said...

Wonderful journal page!

HeartFire said...

Thanks Lisa, I think this is one of the shots I showed to you before I worked on it... it was a lot of fun enhancing the colors in the sky!
Delorse

Anonymous said...

You have a beautiful blog. Your pictures are really good.
J

HeartFire said...

Comments appreciated J, thanks.

Catherine Anderson said...

Delores, this image really speaks to me. The clouds are magical and I love the border you have around the photo.

HeartFire said...

Catherine, thanks so much, your comment means a lot to me, you are such an excellent photographer!!
Delorse

Seth said...

That sky is incredible. A beautiful shot which must have been magical in person.

HeartFire said...

Seth,
It was, you know I carry my camera everywhere. We were getting in the car and I as I looked through the windshield, I thought, WOW, I have to catch a picture. There were lots of cars & buildings & hard to get a good shot, but I ended up liking the strange angle of the post with wires, kind of like a web or link to the God-light....
Delorse

Anonymous said...

You have a beautiful blog. Your pictures are really good. J