I had hinted before that the change in design here was the harbinger of more drastic, and I hope profound things to come here at Sillyness.  I guess it is time to talk a little about that now.

To really have this story hit home, you need to know a bit about who I am, and where I have come from.  While in college I studied art, not because it was the only thing that I could do, but because of all things that I could do, it was the one that promised to allow me to communicate with people long after I had passed on.

You see to me, art is about dialogue, communication; art creates a unique, unrepeatable conversation between the artists and the viewer.  There is no other experience quite like having a painting/drawing/sculpture speak to you the first time.  To stand before a Monet and be speechless or to be lost in the tranquility of a Flemish landscape.

That is what I wanted out of life, to create art that resonated with people, to create conversations that challenged and stretched the viewers perceptions about themselves and the world around them.  That was until I had reached the third year of my training, after that I wanted nothing more than to forget art and do something else entirely.

I was burned out and disillusioned by experiences with other students and some of the faculty to the point that I couldn't stand to even smell linseed oil, or to sharpen a pencil.  I left the world of art determined to never look back.

The thing is, if you are an artist you can never really leave that world behind.  You find that your passion has a way of finding other outlets.  And so it happened with me and web design.  Web Design became my artistic escape, and outlet that was safe and not burdened by harsh memories and old wounds.

It was glorious.

And so, for five long years I designed, coded and designed again, never once picking up a piece of charcoal or a brush.  I was content to exist as an artist on this digital plane, and forsake that which I had once loved.

But you will find as you get older that our lives are governed by seasons; times for forsaking old loves for new ones, and then times for returning to that fertile ground of our youth to reclaim that which once had brought us so much joy.  Earlier this year, around the time that I found out I would be a father the seasons began to change.

What had been so easy for me became a source of frustration and disappointment, all the while I was thinking more and more of painting and drawing... the empty spaces on my walls were screaming to me to fill them up with color and form.

After much wrestiling and soul searching I have decide to answer that call.

So this is the deal people, I am going to stop designing here.  I only have the energy and focus for one artistic expression at a time apparently.  I become consumed by what I am doing so thoroughly that I am not able to even think about anything else.

For that reason I am shifting the focus of Sillyness to content; I am going to settle on a design, one not of my own making, and just write.  I am excited and scared by this admission, since it means that I am going to be handing over the visual identity of Sillyness to another person essentially.  But the more I think about it, the more that I realize it is the right thing to do.

I am very impressed by Joen's work as well as what Mike has been doing visually with K2, so I am probably going to combine the best parts of both, with a little of my own personality thrown in for spice, and leave it.

This should be an intersting time in my life as an internet personality, but I think it will play out to be a great and rewarding transition.

Let the transition begin.