Being an artistic blogger

SOMETHING that I have always thought goes well together is a blog and an artist, be they a painter, sculptor or photographer.

But despite France being home to many artists there are not that many showing off their work and offering advice and tips to willing amateurs.

One site I have recently crossed is that of Leslee Carsewell, who hosts yoga and meditation classes from her property in Dordogne, in fact Leslee has two blogs up and running.

Her first is for the property she has that sits within her MetaVacances website that tells of her time spent in France during the months she spends there.

Leslee’s writing is full of the joys of discovering French life, and a piece she writes about returning to the property from the US almost bursts with giddy excitement at being back in France.

Her second blog-style site is Mind on France, which displays Leslee’s photographic talents as she walks around the Dordogne countryside and along the river.

At the moment the site is being used as a shop, giving visitors the opportunity to buy prints, but I think it is seriously underselling itself.

It is clear that Leslee enjoys writing and could quite easily add a little context and story to many of her photographs, giving people a chance to see behind the picture.

Also the comment facility on the site requires people to register, which will clearly put visitors off adding their own thoughts, but making it easy to get involved with the site is a great way of attracting visitors.

If you are worried about nasty and abusive comments appearing on the site all blogging software allows you to moderate them, so you can easily ensure stupid messages never see the light of day.

And to boost this community element to the site Leslee could offer articles on photographic techniques and other advice, which would soon see the site become a resource.

These are very minor points though and both of Leslee’s sites are good examples of how to attach a blog to both your business and passion.