The future has arrived... today

July 6th will mark the official 7 year anniversary of when I started this blog. This week marks the 7 year anniversary of when Hubby and I formally filed and formed our corporation, Rosehaven Cottage Inc. with me as the CEO and him as the VP-of-everything-else. We had the foresight to know that we needed to incorporate and created a corporate "umbrella" for my creative pursuits that would follow... but that's about all we could foresee.  

Seven whole years is the longest I've ever "worked" at one job. I started this creative journey fueled by the creative spark digital photography had re-lit within me after I'd been on a creative hiatus for a while. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do along the way or what I wanted to grow into becoming. I simply knew that I wanted to create beautiful things to be appreciated and consumed visually by others.

I am a classic introvert by nature (as many bloggers are) so I spent years trying to hide behind the moniker "Cindy at Rosehaven Cottage". It was easy to write blog posts about my garden so a large portion of my posts were focused on the outdoor life. Writing about our house, Rosehaven Cottage, was easy too, so I shared some of our DIY adventures here too. The title "Rosehaven Cottage" became synonymous with gardening and home improvement and "Cindy at Rosehaven Cottage" was seen as a "garden blogger". The audience that this blog attracted ended up being more interested in my green thumb and sledgehammer-wielding skills and less about the creative career I was building and very passionate about. 

Like many things in the digital realm, blogging has gone through evolutions and I've seen it go through a few in the seven years I've had this blog. The current trend in blogging is leaning toward catching and retaining readers with slick Pinterest-ready posts full of helpful tips or with attention-getting titles that lure a reader to read the blogger's personal insights, philosophies and musings. Several big-time blogs have had to revamp their way of doing business in order to remain financially viable now that content is often generated on mobile devices that don't accommodate sidebar advertising. They've had to resort to embedded advertising within blog posts to keep generating revenue. And none of that is what I'm really focused on in my "real life".

What is my "real life"? Some of you may already know the answer to that question but some of you may not. Here's the answer...

I am a professional photographer, artist and graphic designer. I am a business owner (technically a "CEO"). My business is about creating visual images that:

• have been licensed to appear on stationery you might have seen when you were shopping for just the right card for a special occasion. 
• are sold as canvases, fine art prints, cards and cell phone cases
• are sold as digital files to other creative professionals that incorporate my work into their own work like websites/blogs, advertising, publications, crafts and derivative art 

For the past several months, I've been at a professional crossroads regarding this blog. I am at an exciting point in my creative career where I am seeing my dreams becoming realities. This is wonderful but it has created a conundrum I've had to face. As a creative professional whose work is of a visual medium, my online presence (some call it "brand") needs to remain professional. My online posts can't just be an open garden journal. They can't be filled with personal musings that I then wish I hadn't published a week after I have. And I also cannot hide behind the moniker "Cindy at Rosehaven Cottage" and be taken seriously by my creative peers and mentors.

This is why I've spent the past couple of months creating and fine-tuning a new online presence at www.CindyGarberIverson.com. It is a cohesive and responsive format so anyone can enjoy it on a smartphone, a tablet or a desktop computer. And I have integrated a blog into the design that I will be posting to regularly as I release new work. Coupled with social media like Instagram (where I'll still share some photographic snippets of what's happening in the garden), I am embarking on a new blogging journey that will be all about my creative pursuits and passions. If you follow me on Pinterest, you can be a fly on the wall as I gather inspiration for new projects and you can watch the early stages of my creative process "real-time" (so if you start to see me pinning lots of photos of vintage sinks you can bet that it has something to do with what I'm working on at the moment).

I'm finally doing it. I'm finally being what I always wanted to be when I grew up. As one of my favorite songs by The All-American Rejects (on the Meet The Robinsons soundtrack) says... the future has arrived!

The future's arrived

Nobody can doubt

The future is what everything's about

It's better for you

It's better for me

It's better than what everybody thought it would be

It's time to create

Time to grow

If you're feeling right

The world

Yeah she's changing

And life's rearranging

Don't it make you feel alive?

The future has arrived

See you over at CindyGarberIverson.com

Small but sweet celebrations and milestones... ripe plums and a blogiversary

Among other bigger celebrations like the U.S.'s Independence Day, this week brought with it some smaller celebrations. Every year I look forward to the day that I can pick the first ripe plum off our Santa Rosa plum tree. This year it happened this week. The sun-warmed sweet-tart juiciness of the first freshly picked plum exploding in my mouth (and running down my chin a bit) was even better than the big showy fireworks on July 4th.

Another smaller celebration happened today when I marked the 5 year anniversary of this blog. I can't believe it's been 5 years. 

In many ways, it seems like that much time cannot have passed since I first ventured into the blogosphere, timidly sharing the first photos I took as I was trying to reclaim my inner creative core after years of dormancy. 

In other ways, it seems like there's been so much that I've packed into 5 years... so much growth, discovery and learning that couldn't have happened without the benefit of so many amazing creatives that share their work and passions online and the technology that makes it all possible. I feel richly blessed to be a creative soul on the earth at this time in history... so blessed.

Much like the sweet juice of the plums bursting as I take a bite, I feel like once I decided to take a bite out of life the, sweetness came pouring out in abundance. And like the time it takes for the plums to ripen as it hangs on a branch soaking up the heat of the sun, I needed time to reach the point when I was really ready to embrace being a creative professional. I needed the heat of my trials too. It's all part of making life sweeter.

 The first plum always seems the sweetest. But then when Hubby and I have the opportunity to sit and enjoy the plums together, sharing the moment, then the fruit seems sweeter still.

Blogging is the same way. It's so much sweeter because I share the experience with others. Thank you to all of you for sharing your words, lives and friendship with me for the past 5 years. I'm looking forward to another wonderful 5 years spending them with all of you.

Creativity's journey

The background photo in the above piece came out of an old family photo album and really was taken in the 1950's in San Francisco.
The illustration is a watercolor of my own creation.
I'm hoping to do a full series called 'Frisco in the Fifties because San Francisco and its history are so dear to my heart.

I am coming up on the three year anniversary of this blog and also the anniversary of me embarking on the journey of self-discovery and re-awakening the artist within that had stayed dormant for a decade.

The journey has been interesting thus far. It's far from over. I don't think it ever will be... thankfully.

I'd never been very open about my creative process (I'm really a cynical introvert by nature). The blog changed that... a lot. I think it has forced me to create differently and explore niches and avenues that I otherwise wouldn't have.

Hubby is convinced that all artists are "tortured souls" to some degree or another. I admit that I have my fair share of artistic torture and angst. Here are some questions I ask myself that probably other creatives do too...

When I'm tortured about submission rejections of my work I ask,

"Do I want to be a trend-chaser or a trendsetter?"

When I'm tortured about my agent not calling or emailing I ask,
"Does it matter if my art sells?"

Or I ask,
"If I license my artwork, have I sold out?"

Or this is a favorite,
"Does anyone like my work besides me?"

When I sit in front of a completed painting I really like, I ask,
"Where did this come from?"

The funny thing about blogging my creative journey and deepest creative musings is that its out there... in perpetuity... for all to see. That's pretty scary, because if my creative journey suddenly takes a detour or a complete U-turn, readers that are "along for the ride" may feel like they're getting whiplash. Of course, those that are creatives themselves know exactly what's going on because they do it themselves. At least I hope they do.

"'Frisco in the Fifties: Shopping at I. Magnin" is available in fine art prints and canvases by clicking here

Swimming in a sea of lilacs

Many years ago I had a horrible virus that settled into my lungs and ended up as a case of "walking pneumonia". Little did I know at the time that the virus also settled into one of the discs between two vertebrae in my back, causing degeneration in that disc. When my doc discovered it over a decade later, he was puzzled. The disc that showed degeneration on the x-ray is one that rarely experiences degeneration because it's the transitional disc from the lower to upper vertebrae and doesn't usually get injured. After some detective work, it was determined that the bad respiratory infection almost 15 years prior was the culprit.

Over time, the disc has caused me issues, causing the pain to get progressively worse. By the fall and winter of 2008-2009, I was having to cut back my gardening activities significantly and was desperate for relief. When Hubby received a small-ish annual bonus from his employer last spring, he was generous enough to use it to purchase a hot tub for me so I could find some relief. Thanks to hydrotherapy in the hot tub, my pain has decreased so significantly I am able to work in the garden again this year and once again do the things I love to do. Even though I promised to do the water condition maintenance in the hot tub, Hubby has also sweetly done that for me too. And when I need some hydrotherapy he gallantly removes the cover for me so I don't strain my back. I know it probably sounds like I'm gushing, but my husband really is an amazingly giving man (who is probably blushing right now).

Fortuitously, the largest of my warmer climate lilac bushes has grown into a wonderful tall screen between the deck and the neighbor's yard right where the hot tub is located. When I sit out in the hot tub, this is the view I see right now (see below)...



When I sit in the hot tub, I feel like I'm swimming in a sea of lilacs and can't get enough of their wonderful heady fragrance or the gorgeous sight of their amethyst blossoms. Can you tell lilacs are my favorite flower?

Hubby and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary this past Saturday. When he asked me what I wanted to do for our anniversary and wondered if I wanted to take a little overnight getaway somewhere, I seriously considered it. Then I said that I'd rather spend the money on something for the garden that would be permanent (my motto is, "Don't give me diamonds... give me garden tools"). Of course I already had something in mind. I've been wanting to build a raised pond basin in a spot that has drainage issues anyway. I usually reuse materials from around the garden, but this time I didn't have enough and needed to splurge on retaining wall blocks.

We went to Lowe's on Friday evening and got all the blocks we needed (72 to be exact). I had planned to unload all the blocks from the back of the truck on Saturday and do the wall-building myself while Hubby did whatever he wanted during the day. But again, my chivalrous husband insisted that he would do the off-loading out of the truck so I could focus on building the basin. By late Saturday afternoon, it looked like this (see below)...



I definitely couldn't have tackled this job without the blessing of the hot tub or the tremendous help of my sweet husband who was willing to spend our anniversary doing this (which I know he really didn't want to do but did anyway).

Lest you think I'm completely unromantic... after getting ourselves cleaned up, we went out to dinner for a "proper" anniversary celebration. Hauling rocks, building a pond, and then eating a nice dinner... that's my kind of anniversary.