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News from Earth and Fire I can't ask a question and then not listen to the answer Two weeks ago I asked you for suggestions about what I could do to improve the website, and I received many excellent suggestions. I've spent the last two weeks working to implement some changes that I think will address the thrust of what I heard from you. Whiz-Bang Technology!! The biggest change, and the thing I've spent the most time on, is the pictures. Going forward, I will now take several images of each pot from different angles, and give you the opportunity to click on an image that is of interest to you in order to see the larger image. You can also click through the enlarged images of each pot without closing the floating pop-up window. (If you have problems using this feature, please let me know.) This is a very snazzy feature and I'm really excited about it. It is, however, extremely labor intensive. Where I would have processed 8-10 images for an artist's page, I'm now processing over 50. For each image you see on the page, I had to process two images (the one you see on the page and the larger one that appears in the floating pop-up window). I'm not complaining -- I'm explaining. I went back and re-did the pages for some of the artists in the March Forth show, but then had to interrupt that process so I could get the next show ready. My plan now is to go back and try to finish those pages. A note. Since I do not use any artificial lighting to take my pictures, I'm at the mercy of the natural sun conditions each day, and my limited skills as a photographer. The first day of the March Forth redo project, I took about 75 pictures while I had light. When I went to process them, I discovered that they were all extremely "blue." The images themselves weren't horrible, but that blue is really dreadful, and I have to apologize for it. I felt the greater good was having the floating pop-ups available for these images and to move forward with the project. I have since found a more reasonable setting on my camera, and the pictures are getting better. It's all a bit of an experiment until I learn how/when to take the best images in my new setting. The pots in the March Forth show will be available for probably another two weeks. The pages for Sam Taylor, Aaron Sober, Sequoia Miller, Kent Harris, and Willem Gebben have all been redone. I'm going to try to get Jane Spalding, Michael McCarthy and Kirke Martin's pages done this week. A little extra touch Another little theme that came up in the responses is that you like the personal touch, both in the newsletters and on the website. To further that, I am also going to make a personal comment about each and every pot. I promise not to do cookie-cutter "This is a lovely pot. You must buy it." types of comments. In some cases, I had some fun with the comments, and I hope you'll enjoy reading them. Earth and Fire Rewards I will be sending out voucher codes via email as a little Thank You for your purchases over the last quarter. Promises going forward One thing that came up in trouble-shooting the floating pop-up technology, is that the underlying structure of my website is outdated. Since it was created circa 2003, I guess this isn't surprising. I am looking into updating the structure, but I promise the simplicity and ease of use that so many of you have commented on will not change. I promise to figure out how to make the thumbnail images on the pages look more uniform. In the new structure (whenever it is implemented) I want to add the ability for you to leave your comments about the newsletters or Today at the Gallery. I promise that I still will never call Today at the Gallery a blog. Which brings us to Today OK, I think I've about covered everything. It's time to unveil the next show. This month, I've got three artists who are new to Earth and Fire, and one familiar face. Are you caught up reading Today at the Gallery? Back to the Newsletter Archive list Contact us to join the mailing list or inquire about a specific piece.
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