It’s been a while. Did I get lost? No, not really, just stopped writing. When I’m writing books everything about my day seems to stay in focus. The book writing tends to keep me engaged and alert in all aspects of my life. Without that focus I drift.
So, I’ve been drifting. What have I found. I started a new activity. It’s a website selling stuff. The stuff is shifting some but mostly it is bags, totes, duffels, some apparel, posters, and some yoga items. Why. Mostly because I like to design and play with designs in bold striking colors. That is my art. This is some of that, but different—it is using all the tools including AI to create images. The images are more important to me than the products—so the bag becomes art. Is it art? Is it my art?
I really don’t know the answer to that question. My first reaction to AI creating something was directly related to writing. I was playing with the tool and discovered it might be more effective at writing than I was. Or at least faster! The more I experimented, the more I became disillusioned about my writing. Do we already have all the knowledge we will ever need and therefore, all new things will just be rehashed from past creations. AI will learn and spit out the next best seller based on parameters entered by AI “talkers”. No need for authors. Fast, easy, and cheap.
I started using AI images to add to this blog. That was some time ago. It was amazing. Enter words and there in an instant an image. The fascination with the process started to interfere with my writing. I became enamored with the non-creation of non-original art that was not my art or anyone else’s and was based on past art that was used without permission to teach a computer to create something new. It was wrong, but the results were so right—and inevitably better than my art, better than my book, better than my blog, better than?
So, I tumbled from the haze into creating bags using my art, and AI generated images. Probably no logic in that, but it’s a fact; I’m enjoying what I’m doing.
Will I write again? This post is part of that answer. You need to write to be able to write.
The web site is www.myusagifts.com. The company is USA Gifts. The focus was originally on southwest states and southwest designs. My fascination with New Mexico continues. These are printed products based on digital designs. I’m now creating looks to represent the states of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Texas, and Oklahoma. Six states that link southwest designs, Native American images, and Hispanic cultures into a diverse and dynamic grouping of products and looks.
Some recent responses from book readers to new customers have been both encouraging and heartwarming.
It is an ever-changing world, some good, some bad; but still a world we want to be in and find ways to be creative.
Ted Clifton's Grain of Salt Commentary 