I’ve joined a few Artist communities in the past in an effort to connect and share my work.

It’s been rewarding at times. I’ve met several people in the past whom I’ve grown rather fond of.

That said…as I’ve worked hard on my own sites I’ve left some of those communities by the wayside. Perhaps it was a matter of stretching myself too thin across too many platforms, or perhaps it was a matter of not feeling like I could contribute “enough” if I wasn’t present enough.

Either way I’ve decided to explore this avenue of community and networking within the art communities and see if I can, once again, contribute to the online art movement.

I suppose it would be easy to say that it’s all part of the “master plan” of promoting my work but I think I need to approach it in a different way this go around.

In the past it was all about sharing my work, getting my stuff seen, but this time, I’ll work on this website with more focus.

In conversations I’ve had with a few people I’ve been told, in kind words, that perhaps I’m a better curator than an artist. Maybe better isn’t the right word for it. It’s possible that my “giving nature” is what makes me enjoy sharing other artists’ work.

I do that often on my photography tutorials blog, but really haven’t done that much on this blog, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned in the past three years of blogging it’s this: People appreciate giving more than asking.

While this space has been a place for me to share my art and my photography, as well as my occasional off topic ramblings, I will now venture into showing off artwork from other artists and talking more about art and photography in general.

So what are some of the better online art communities out there on the Interwebs? What makes them so special? Where are the best art conversations taking place?