I wanted to take some time to describe my journey as a creative thus far. I’m an ink and watercolour artist at the core – that will not change. I’ve kept sketchbooks of my ink work for over 25 years. My journey as a creative entrepreneur includes this core element, however – the adventure has just begun.
What is Alyinwonderland.com? I was fortunate enough to receive early feedback on my website, and a theme that kept emerging was that my ‘titles’ for my menu weren’t clear enough. Also flat out people asked me: “Why do you need a website?.” :/ Good points and questions.
I started my website in 2016-2017 and at the time I felt it was important to continue to practice making ink and watercolour artwork. I’m a maker, a do-er and a thinker. These three elements of my personality lead me to want to create one consolidated place for my work and efforts. Any other motivations were blind to me at the time. It was a step – step #1 in building a new occupation for myself.
The name AlyinWonderland originates partially from a childhood nickname from my early years living in western Canada. One of the first ‘feedbacks’ I had from peers happened in Kindergarten. I apparently looked like Alice in Wonderland – and if spoken quickly, ‘Alice in’ sounds like ‘Alyson’. I was also told that I wondered a lot and I loved going on adventures – if even just around the school yard. I always seemed to have a creative idea that I shared with others with the main goal being fun and gaining new experiences.
I adopted the name ALY on social media years ago– shorter, easier and I guess a persona at first. After spending some awesome years working in the financial industry as Alyson – I did want a change… ALY it was. I added ‘in Wonderland’ as tribute to those early years described above. The name mixes my contemporary online identity and also grounds me in the past and core personality traits. I thought that this was a good place to start, again, the rest was a blind leap.
SO why did I need a website? I naturally create content, you do as well – we all do. I felt that I wanted my content to have one home so I decided for simplicity’s sake that AlyinWonderland.com would be my home base. Again, step #1 and a blind leap.
As for site navigation issues (your titles aren’t clear etc.), I thought about it for a while and added a ‘flip title’ to the icons. However, I’m a visual person, so the site reflects uniquely how I view the world. Wouldn’t life be boring if all websites were the same-ish? I so far have kept the highly visual aspect of my site as is – What do you think? Would you change it?
I’m at the beginning of my creative journey and I’m so happy that you’re here on the ride with me. I literally learn apps, programs and design tools daily. I push myself everyday to produce, refine and broaden my artistic acumen. I have as of this writing over 30,000 viewers for my content on a monthly basis. That’s the size of my hometown when I was 9 years old. I’m happy to date with my progress. At the core of what I’ve done and what I’m doing is – change – and I’d like to share that with you. Unique and measurable change at midlife…it’s scary to leave a steady paycheck and go off into the unknown, but here I am doing it. I’ve read some great books along the way and tapped into some great resources that I’d love to share with you. Have you thought about next steps? Retirement living? Hobbies? Expanding your knowledge? I think this is something you can expand into. I wouldn’t advise a clear break with what you’ve been doing – it’s a shock. I read a great quote in a book recently that said: “if you want to become an artist full time…get a job.” – lol – it is true, I believe to live your best life you need to segway into it. Let me know if you’re taking steps to learn something new or planning on expanding a hobby, I may be able to refer you to some resources that I used – whether it be a career change book, really awesome calendars to plan your time or courses – online or in person. I’d love to share your next steps with you. Feel free to respond to this email – I love receiving emails…really! Lol.
Please stay tuned – the best way to do that is to connect to my Newsletter here.
Take care, until next time,
Aly.
