The first time I released a portfolio website was in 2004, and the Internet was a different place then. Just to give you an idea of the evolution of this website in particular, I’ve made up a little visual.
There were many trial designs between those above, as well as the occasional printed portfolio, but as you can see there have been a lot of changes over the years. This year especially has many changes in store for LeliaThomas.Com.
Dear Diary: It’s not you. It’s me. I think we need to go our separate ways.
While this is still very much a personal site, in the way of publishing my artwork to the world and expressing my views, this site is no longer about diary-like life stories. I enjoy reading about the daily lives of others, and it was fun to write about my own life over the past four years. Now, though, I feel I need to change the focus of this website, to better direct myself toward my true passions: art, new media and education.
Changing Focus: Promoting art and creativity.
LeliaThomas.Com has never ventured far from the artistic realm, nor will it. My portfolio, while likely much easier to browse now, is not incredibly different from the last time you might have seen it. What’s changed, rather, is my focus to promote art in other people’s lives, instead of just focusing on building it up in my own. That’s why I have released most all of my art and writing under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial Share Alike license. These pieces are now available, in high quality versions, through torrents, and I will be making them available elsewhere (e.g., Archive.org, SXC) in the near future. Doing this allows the creative community to play around with my work and remix it. It will also give those interested a little insight into how I work; I have even gone so far as to add my Photoshop PSD files in the digital art torrents. For those who work really hard on their remixes and wish to use them commercially, I am more than slightly open to the idea, provided you ask for permission.
This desire to promote creativity is also why I’ve created the remix section, the art resources wiki (note: this wiki will probably change to a different service), the art-related YouTube playlists, and The Artistic Bent (TAB) forum community.
This blog will partially focus on indie art and how Internet tools and a digital air of openness are reintroducing commons. As corporate and lobbying giants like the RIAA and the MPAA have interfered with more people’s lives, are behind the erosion of some of the laws that protect our civil liberties and have continued to eat away at the public domain, I have become increasingly concerned as an artist and citizen. I think one of the only ways to combat what these industries have done to us, our societies and our creativity is to take more control of our own works and dare to share them, whether that results in significant monetary benefit or not.
I don’t intend to shy away from commercial or mainstream artworks in this blog, by any means, but I will be addressing these legal issues on a regular basis, as I believe they not only negatively affect artists, but also whole cultures. The changes in this website are just my little contribution to the fight.
Changing Focus: Studying the wonderful, wild world of new media.
A topic I frequently discussed on previous versions of this site was that of mainstream media, and how many articles and news segments are brazenly illogical, blatantly emotive and sometimes more than just bordering on falsehoods. I could easily dedicate a whole blog to these atrocities, but I fear it’d bore you and might very well give me heart attack. Taking that into consideration, I think I’ll stick to more interesting and typically more positive issues, namely those concerning new media.
I’m not interested in making this site into another techie review blog. There are far too many of those, anyway. I am, however, interested in studying the new technologies that come out, how they might affect our every day lives for the better, and the odd and creative ways in which they can sometimes be used. There is a lot to be studied and a lot of potential for many tools that have already been created, not to mention those that are being thought up as I type this. When I began writing online, there was no Flickr, YouTube or Twitter. The web is bigger, louder and more beautifully designed than in the past. At present, many of these new tools get slapped with the “waste of time” label more often than not, but I think we need to look beyond videos of cute puppies and the stalking of old classmates to see what might be done with them. Innovative technology abounds, and I hope to promote open discussion (and the occasional debate) about what it might mean for our future, particularly when it comes to creativity and education.
Changing Focus: Wanting more out of the learning experience.
If you followed this blog in the past, you’ll know that I feel modern education fails us in numerous ways. Whether it’s ripping us off, failing to keep up with new and helpful technologies, or not allowing individuals to grow into themselves, most educational systems and institutions produce far more unsatisfied or confused customers than people who are interested in going on a lifelong adventure of learning. Rather than just critiquing this ailing industry, I feel those who are interested in education should discuss and promote ways in which we might improve the system. As this website is particularly interested in art and new media, I plan to talk about how we might enhance the learning experience for all ages by utilizing creativity and existing technologies in classrooms and everyday environments.
Open to your ideas, works and links.
One thing I want to stress in this relaunch is that I am interested in hearing from you as a reader. If you know of something that might fall into the three broad topics above, please send it to me either by way of the contact form, by emailing (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or by chatting with me on Twitter.
Hope you enjoy the new site! Please comment!
This blog entry is under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial No Derivatives license. For more information about the terms of reusing this entry, see here.
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Tagged under: new-media, art, education, leliathomas.com
1 Comment
Roam2Rome on Jun. 13, 2009 at 01:14pm
Welcome back!
I’m a big fan of well designed sites that are ahead of the curve, and this is one of them. From the forums and art resources wiki page, to the cute lens flare on top; it’s creative down to the smallest details, and promotes creativity in others. Love it.
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