Rebrand: Pen-Scribbled Stories
In Which the Artist Fumbles Around with Administrative Stuff
I’ve been mulling it over for months as I’ve seen my artistic proclivities shift and change to include a wider expression of arts: in short, I’m looking at rebranding my site -- you may see “Pen-Scribbled Stories” now instead of “Heather in the Blue Mountains,” and a new domain (URL) will be following.
The Thought Process:
When I started this Substack in February last year, I really didn’t have a plan and didn’t know much about the platform. I made a lot of assumptions about my own artistic direction and the direction of the site, my art business, and, well, a lot of things.
And in the last year and a half, a lot has changed!
“Heather in the Blue Mountains” feels more like a strict biopic, which isn’t exactly accurate or authentic, as I prefer the focus be less on me and more on the art. Additionally, sticking with straight representational art had begun to feel restrictive in some ways.1 I’ve moved and grown and matured creatively, picked up skillsets I’d dropped (creative writing!), am learning new ones (illustrative storytelling! storyboarding!), and to be honest, found a lot of joy in the process. I find myself ever more enjoying the spark of “what if…??” when I see unusual terrain, imagine far off places, or ponder the macro world under our feet, and deeply enjoying discovering the answers to those flights of fancy. It’s like a homecoming in the best way, a rediscovery of the sheer joy in and love of creativity that I had as a grade-school child.2
Stories are everywhere, whether they are true tales of the wondrous God-breathed Creation surrounding us, or tall adventure yarns about crossing galaxies. Stories are stories, whether they are sketched in color or penned in prose.
Hence my wish to rebrand as “Pen-Scribbled Stories.” Because why limit the creative flow God has seen fit in His magnanimity to grace me with?
The Nitty Gritty:
It’s my hope that the rebranding process will go smoothly — but it’s tech and gremlins are a thing. 😂
I plan to start switching things over on Monday the 16th of June. If you notice anything wonky, please leave a comment and I’ll try to get it fixed ASAP.
The new URL will be penscribbledstories.com
With luck, the old URL (bluemtnheatherarts.net) will be set to redirect to the new address. It won’t expire until March next year, so there’s no rush to get bookmarks updated.
If you are subscribed to emails or through the Substack app, access will remain uninterrupted.
Onward and upward!!
—Heather
Great artist and author Howard Pyle is famous for advising students to not let reality kill their imaginations. He isn’t the only one; many notable and talented artists and illustrators have spoken about the ‘dryness’ of strictly representational art. I guess I’m in good company??
I am reminded of that C.S. Lewis quote, “I wrote this story for you, but when I began it I had not realized that girls grow quicker than books. As a result you are already too old for fairy tales, and by the time it is printed and bound you will be older still. But some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.”
I suppose at a fresh 40 I have indeed reached the age where pretense and people-pleasing has fallen away to reveal my childhood enthusiasm for the mythic, mystic, and fantastical. Praise God it happened while I am still relatively young! The next fifty years or so are going to be a HOOT!
Hey thanks for the restack, @Thomas Salerno !