Hi Jake,

Good to hear you`ve been busy as a bee. Not need to appologize man, you`re one of the most participative members on this site, well that`s my view anyway.keep well. nelson.

Stephen Fitz-Gerald
I admit I haven't posted a thing since I deluged everyone a couple of months ago.Even though I have many new,albeit smaller projects.I've been Scared I might unwittingly offend some folks again. I too check this site everyday .It would be my favorite forum if there was more interactions,posts,etc.
The recent gliche with posting may be the cause for some of the stall.

Please don't be scared to post! Seeing what others do is a very valuable source of inspiration for some one like me.

If some one is offended by seeing too many photos of great work on a web site dedicated to art then the problem is theirs!

Stephen Fitz-Gerald
Thanks T. Bourke for your vote of confidence.
I'll try to limit it to one a day,until things pick up.That seems a fair compromise.
Hopefully that won't be too much...

Hi Stephen,

I do not agree with your posting only one pic/day. You`re an intelligent guy, so don`t feel intimidated ok. I love your work, and love strawberries too...lol. Nelson.

Dang Nelson you got the worms a stirring.

Lets see why do I not post much........what happen to being friendly and joking around?

Seems kind of one sided action out there sometimes.

I get plenty of emails from folks on this site that have questions but they do not post them here. Must be something.

www Metalrecipes -- heat and beat to the desired shape, repeat as necessary.
warren

I get the same sort of thing, Warren - why do you suppose that is? I do think it would be more valuable to everyone if these questions could be asked and answered on the forum, so more could benefit from them. Do you have any suggestions to help make that happen?

Rich

When I write a letter to the editor in our local newspaper I usually ask at least a half dozen readers what they thought I meant by the content of my letter. To my amazement I hear comments about things I never wrote.I believe this phenomena, anticipatory set,applies universally.My favorite application of this human trait is an envelope with a wire/rubber-band /washer gizmo that when handed to an unsuspecting person unwinds and rattles against the paper. You create the anticipatory set by talking about the rattlesnake eggs in the envelope.The person(victim) will practically load his/her pants.
Nelson's observations and suggestions could be interpreted in many different ways.I am sure that he would have framed his comment in a more careful manner if he suspected that what he said would be offensive.
My personal take is that Nelson meant well and was trying to look for a loose wire. I base that on Nelson's history of positive comments.
Life and all its facets are cyclic.
Peace, Love, Metal
Frank

The two-dimensional nature of this medium certainly seems to foster misinterpretations at times. That's why I have a tendency to include disclaimers whenever I write something that i think has a likelihood of being misunderstood or taken in a way I didn't intend. Even that doesn't always do the job. For that very reason, I try to be slow to take offense and encourage others to do the same.

I agree that Nelson probably meant well, but hollering that the sky is falling isn't what I'd suggest as a way to elicit valuable responses. Too often, the messenger gets trampled by the mob rushing to the exits at the first mention of fire, so to speak. Or people get defensive and that usually tends to hamper effective communication. Most of us have computers that have spell check and grammar check, but they haven't yet come up with "effectiveness check." Sure would be a great thing, eh? (grin) I know I could certainly use it!

Thanks for your thoughtful insights, Frank.

Rich

Hi bro,

Thanks my friend, you`re one of my advocates, thanks...lol.
Nelson.

It's good to stir up the bushes at times and I appreciate Nelson for doing the stirring. But I have to say that the ArtMetal web site is a totally volunteer effort. There is no paid subscription. The content is generated by the community.

Rich is the one person we should all be thanking. For if it wasn't for his daily moderation, you would not be seeing many posts and you would be experiencing the spam which is rampant on the web. I want to personally thank Rich for his time and his great knowledgeable responses to the many metalworking questions being posted.

I personally have not been active because I have been involved in a new career in documentary filmmaking. I've been going to school at Duke Center for Documentary Studies. Plus, my 90 year old mother is now living with me and I'm having to refinish some of my rooms in my house. Actually, I've been busier in the last couple of months than I have in a very long time. I will post a short video of one of my documentary studies assignment on a separate post because it has to do with the recession and artists. Actually there are three metal artists in the interview.

Anyway, as I said earlier, the content provided on ArtMetal is user generated. It's only as good as what is being uploaded. I believe ArtMetal is still accomplishing its mission.

Thanks to all who believe in open source!

Hi Chuck, well said! I have had many of the same thoughts. I love the site and have learned much from it. It is an incredible resource for those of new to metal with questions. I have noticed the lack of feedback lately and have not posted much because of that but it doesn't keep me from checking the site daily. Thanks to Nelson for opening this topic. Lin

Hi Chuck, well said! I have had many of the same thoughts. I love the site and have learned much from it. It is an incredible resource for those of us who are new to metal and have questions. I have noticed the lack of feedback lately and have not posted much because of that but it doesn't keep me from checking the site daily. Thanks to Nelson for opening this topic. Lin

Hey Chuck,
Shame on you, not participating, lol.Just kidding. Thanks for your words and keep coming, and please DON`T hessitate " to speak up and say what you think" ... nelson.

Hi everybody.
Rich this is nothing personal against anybody. In my view too, you do a very good job. If we disagree on some approaches, well that`s fine within such a plural world. In regards to what may be considered positive or negative, it`s so relative, perhaps more a matter of personal convenience, or style others could argue. It`s difficult to disagree that the worms could get a vigorous stir or a more gentle one so to speak. Frankly, I wanted to make sure the idea was not to tickle them, but rather to disrupt their doing, lol. For the sake of simplicity, I`m not quoting all the people answering this blog, but as we read them, it becomes obvious that beyond the summer break, and the Stephen issue, there`s some apathy taking place from way back. So as stated “something is going on”, that many people either drop out partially o completely from attending this site. That`s exactly the point. There have been various posts directly related to the issue. My call is for us, and by us I mean everybody on this site, as we should make a contribution to overcome this lack of METTLE (sounds as METAL). Mettle to interact more effectively, mettle to propose improvements, mettle to accept hard critics without that be considered an offensive comment. Some people expect the “oh how nice your work is” type of comment all the time. The other option is that because we don`t dare to make a seemingly hard statement at times, we just don`t say anything. Gee, ignoring someone like that is the worst insult that someone posting may get. Here`s where using the word being RIGID may apply. Meaning lack of flexibility, which is the ability to manage the so called positive and negative comments. A shut door, or locked, I consider it rigid, so I `d rather see it open, or opening and closing…in an alternate manner. Sorry if this sounds as a wrong analogy, hope you know what I mean. Perhaps, including some sort of compatible discussion, contest, or what have you. I don`t know. Maybe some ways to get out of this crisis or any related matter…, might be an alternative to generate more interaction within us. Regarding being offensive, sorry if at times I have, and hope I have apologized, but in this particular case, being offensive never crossed my mind, as it could have resulted if I`d have thought I didn`t give a hood, so F… them! No, that`s the easy way out, the no effort, mettle lacking attitude. How could I within myself be comfortable with a situation for which I contribute nothing, but to worsen what I don`t agree with in the first place? It really takes creativity beyond pounding some metal into art, to come up with brilliant ideas to overcome boredom and promote participation, doesn`t it? No pain no gain. Let`s not assume everything it`s ok in the forum, you guys have said so, and I agree. Nowadays, things call for changes, improvements, not apathy. The whole world needs changes, and ARTMETAL is no exception. A matter of attitude, and realizing there`s a problem to solve; next step is finding out how, but in any case efforts are required. And so we need to get our butts moving, they`re too comfortable just observing and doing nothing about… This guy is so offensive isn`t he?, and perhaps negative! Nope, I mean good and many of you know so. Thanks to all, and hope the worms wont get me now …LOL. Would love to hear suggestions, and I will think of one too after you. Best wishes. Nelson.

PD. Quique, good luck with your new and interesting career, please drop by Artmetal to at least say hi.

hi...

Hi
It is difficult some time for me to comment but I always feel good to read all these disscutions, thank you all for genrating such a disscutions.....!!
Moti lalwani

It was a scary topic to run into...
dead?
No....not hardly...
I've been arting solidly since the first of October..
it's been years since I had a run like this..
it's like I'm leaking art...
and with this very slow computer..
on a dial-up, land line connection...
which has been slowing down!
I only have so much time I'm willing to give up
in front of this infernal device.
Yes, I'm missing conversations...
and communications..
but, this can't be helped.
I think the shorter daylight hours will promote more
activity.....
but, for now..
I for one, can only check in once in a great while.
It's interesting and nice to read that others are busy too..
Noo...not dead...
not at all....
I've not looked..
but, is there something in the member adjustments that would allow for an announcement at my email address whenever there IS a posting?
That would be something that might help me stay a little more in touch with things...
right now, I check by coming TO the ArtMetal website...
Can postings be sent to my email address?
I know..
it's probably all found somewhere on this web site..
right?
Linda
http://lindakelen-artings.blogspot.com/

You can subscribe to a blog or thread by using the link at the bottom of a post -- "subscribe blog" or "subscribe post." Manage your subscriptions by clicking on "my account" > "my subscriptions." There you can also add categories, content types, and an RSS feed. I think that's mostly right, there may be more you can do, or other ways to do it.

http://www.artmetal.com/blog/webminster/2006/05/subscriptions

There are point s I agree and disagree with...
I don't think ArtMetal is dead but we all have to make a concise effort pump some new energy into it...
I for one am at fault as I have found Facebook and spend time there...but I love Art Metal , it was my first blog site and I have learned so much here and made some wonderful friends, some of whom I've met in person...I promise to be more active....I find that response to work posted is definitely down...so if no-one comments , you get bored...
Also posting way too many pictures is detrimental to the site..post a few at a time, otherwise other people's posts get lost....so consider that. It's not that we don't want to see the work and in Stephens case ,his work is amazing and inspirational. We have a lot to learn from him. Again when there tons of post by one person...everyone else gets lost in the shuffle...My two cents...for what it's worth...
love all you guys out there...a special thanks to Enrique and Ritch...SteelyJan

SteelyJan good point about posting all of the images. What I am not sure of is why are they posting them. Is it a way to put their work on the web and hoping to sell or get work? Not too many visitors come to this site looking to buy.
It would be nice if folks would put a little description of their image, maybe a little bit about themselves too. I know I am not going to make a comment unless I know what I am looking at.

www Metalrecipes -- heat and beat to the desired shape, repeat as necessary.
warren