1. Amazing customer service.

I’ve been with Bluehost for around 5 years, so I’ve called their technical service center a few times (to say the least). It was always for something I couldn’t figure out, but their service center always seemed to help. I live in Utah, so it does help a bit knowing that when I call it’s technically a local call

2. Unlimited addon sites.

This is probably one of the features that blew my mind the first time I found out. With my one Bluehost account I can host unlimited domains. Um ya, unlimited. Right now I have close to 10 sites on this one account. I host a site for my mom, my dad, my little sister, my little bro and a bunch of friends. They love it because I don’t charge them anything.

3. Unlimited email addresses.

Along with getting unlimited domain hosting. For each of the domains you host you can have unlimited emails. For example, my site, I could have an email that says rob@theartofrob.com (which is my email), I could have info@theartofrob.com, contact@theartofrob.com, jokes@theartofrob.com, and so on. If you were setting up a site for multiple artists, each artist could have their very own email. Pretty cool, huh?

4. Unlimited hosting space.

Just like the other unlimited features, this one is amazing too. There is one small caveat, they may let you store as many GB as you want but there’s a file count limit. It’s really not that big of a deterrent though, because all they do is stop giving you their complimentary backup service. So in a nutshell if you’re only hosting one site, you’d probably never hit the file count for a while. If you’re planning to host several sites, and they’re each WordPress installs, you’ll probably hit this file count fast. No worries, stay tuned, because I’ll show you how to backup a site by yourself.

5. One free domain.

Come on this can’t be for real? That’s what I said. If you haven’t registered a domain yet, you can do it while you’re signing up for your Bluehost account. If you already have one registered, you’ll still get a free domain after setting up your account.

6. One click WordPress install.

Ok, this may not be a reason why I won’t leave Bluehost, but it is why I chose to host with them. I’m becoming more and more tech savvy, but when I first signed up for Bluhost I didn’t know how to install WordPress on my hosting account. Well, with Bluehost I didn’t need to know, they have a simple one click system that installs WordPress for you. You click one button, and a minute later your blog is live. I seriously loved this, it takes all the hard stuff out of setting up a self-host WordPress blog.

7. Easy control panel.

When I log into my account, I really like how everything is laid out. All the icons are easy to understand, and they’re all grouped into categories. Also each category can be closed, so you can collapse any groupings that you don’t use or go to often. This makes your control panel even easier to navigate.

8. Extra affiliates.

It seems like Bluehost is always offering new deals with other companies. Right now they’re offering a free SEO (Search Engine Optimization) service including link building (The more people link to your website, the more Google will rank your site as important).

9. Video tutorials.

If you’re like me, when I was starting out, I didn’t know anything when it came to website hosting. Never fear, Bluehost has one of the best video libraries I’ve seen. It’s not flashy, it’s just straight to the point…instructional. So when I needed help setting up my email accounts, I watched a simple video and then did it myself…no phone call to tech support needed.

10. Can’t beat their price.

Well out of all the features this one by itself was reason enough for me to signup. Right now I pay $5.95 a month. Are you kidding? I love how cheap it is per month. Unlimited addon domains, unlimited email addresses, unlimited hosting…I haven’t left Bluehost for this reason only. Bluehost does charge a year at a time though, so when they do ding my credit card it is once a year. It works out to be around $75 each time. I’m ok with that, since I have 8 to 10 sites on one hosting account. That works out to be $1.60-something per site, per month! Nice!

Again, I hope this post helps answer a lot questions you may have about hosting, and who to go with. I understand as an artist, one of the last things you want to worry about is hosting a website. That’s ok I felt that way too.

Feel free to check back often, I’ll be posting tips and tricks to get your artistic online presence cruising. Or to make it even easier, sign up for my free newsletter. Each time I post something new, it’ll come directly to your inbox…for free!

This post does contain affiliate links. Clicking them does not affect your price, but I do receive a small compensation. Thanks in advance for supporting me and this site. I hope this post helps! If you have any questions please feel free to leave a comment below.

Finding time to paint or simply just work in my studio is hard. It’s mostly hard because I want to spend time with my little kids when I get home. I want to play games, read books, and do art projects with them. By the time we get them in bed there isn’t much time left in the day to paint.

Just a few months ago, while I was working on an art project with them I realized that I was kinda working on my art too. (Sometimes I think my brain isn’t at full speed, because I’ll get an idea and the very next thought after that is why didn’t I think of this a long time ago.)

So instead of working on the kids art projects at the kitchen table (away from my art), I moved them to my studio (the unfinished room in our basement). While they quietly worked away, I was able to get in some quality time too. Even when a conversation did spark up, we were still busy working on our paintings.

At the end of the day we all had fun spending time together.

When I first moved them downstairs with me, I just found a random table for them to work on. Since then I bought two sweet tables at Ikea for an awesome price. Ikea also has a bunch of great art supplies for kids too.

VIKA AMON/ VIKA CURRY
$19.99

We got these chairs too, but just because we liked them. You can by two tables for the price of one of these. If you do get these chairs be sure to get a seat pad. You’ll need it for the “undercarriage”.

JULES
$34.99

Have you tried Ambient? For me, it’s the most inspiring. I’m addicted to it, but just like all genres there’s good and bad. So, if you listen to some and don’t like it, try some other artists.

I recently found this cool batch of songs. Each song is by a different artist, and each was given an instagram photo to inspire them. Let me know what you think!

Click here to download the free MP3 album, Instagr/am/bient, or stream it directly from the player below.

For the original post and full story check Instagr/am/bient

Usually I don’t sponsor anything unless I believe in it/love it. So you may be wondering why I’m sponsoring a vegan blog, you heard me right…a vegan blog. We’re both not what most people would consider a true vegan. I guess because when you hear the word “vegan” you might think of someone who religiously believes you shouldn’t kill anything. That’s not us. For starters I still need my slab of ribs once in a while, but she has convinced me of the health benefits.

Believe me, she hasn’t brainwashed me either.

I really do feel differently since we’ve been cutting back on meats and diary. I’m less tired, and have more energy. I’ve also been losing a little weight.

Anyways, vegan is really besides the point. The recipes she posts on her site have been taste tested by us. I can honestly say I’ve loved everything she’s posted so far.

When you have a free moment you ought to check out Teryn’s vegan food blog at basilandcloves.com

BTW, let her know how much you love the photos…I help with that

It’ll come in spurts. I won’t get any spam comments for a couple days, then BAM! 20 comments outa nowhere! Sometimes I’ll read a few, just to add a little humor to my day. Ultimately the thought always runs through my head, “why did anyone spend even two seconds developing a spam script to do this?”

It seriously doesn’t make any sense to me.

Just last night as I was deleting all the spam I received, another thought went through my head. I wondered how much of my own spent effort could be compared to SPAM!

What do I spend time doing that is…

Mindless, robot-like motions.

Sometimes driving in my car is one of the few places I get to think, but everyday I make the same commute back and forth from work. I can honestly say that most of those drives aren’t productive. Typically my brain is simply just checked out.

Wasting other people’s time.

We’ve all been in a conversation that is “one-sided”, you know what I’m talking about. It’s where the other person thinks you’re into the topic, but you aren’t, and they just keep talking. Well not only have you been in one, but I’m sure we’ve all been the guilty party a few times.

Could be better spent doing something more important.

I can always go for a good round of Angry Birds…I’ll just stop there. Entertainment is fun, but it can easily become a way to escape reality.

Feels productive, but really isn’t.

How often do you check your email? I know I get in the habit of checking it even though I know there’s nothing worth reading.

With limited time during the day, my goal is to always eliminate as much of this junk as possible. Just like spam in your inbox, wasted time can fill your day. This year I’ll be aiming to plan each day a little more carefully.

What’s your solution to be more productive?

But it’s good to do a little of it, how else can you grow?

Well, at the beginning of this year I really wanted to get back into my art. With a full-time job, and a growing family, this wasn’t easy. I found myself going long stretches without spending anytime on it. Then I would go a week waking up at 4 am and going to bed at 1 am. Then it would be two weeks off and a couple days on, then three weeks off and a one day on, until I found myself completely unmotivated to paint.

Half way through the year something clicked. It hit me, this wasn’t working. Art was supposed to be fun, but it was feeling more like a chore. So I decided to try something different. Instead of cramming random hours in at a time, I’d do something artistic everyday and only spend 30 minutes.

I learned a few things from working this way:

1. I finished more artwork by consistently spending 30 minutes everyday, then I ever did spending a couple hours here and there.
2. Art became fun again, mostly because I was doing it everyday.
3. More sleep! Pacing yourself not only works well in a marathon, it works well in life.

All in all, 2011 gave me the Focused-Short-Burst Method! I’ll be taking this into 2012, with the hopes of building on it.

I believe that not only can everyone be an artist, but that everyone is an artist. I believe this through and through, in my soul. It’s not because I went to school and learned something. It’s not because I’ve seen artistic talent in every single person living on this earth. It’s because I’ve felt it in my heart. I guess you could compare it to a belief in a particular religion. Many times you can’t explain why you know something, it’s just a feeling you have in your heart.

When I hear someone (another “artist” or “creative” person) proclaim criticism that a certain someone is not an artist or shouldn’t try to become an artist, it puts a nasty pit in my stomach. To me, that is a type of elitism. Often this seems rooted in someone feeling as though they were born with a natural gift, or that they had “succeeded” as artist. They feel a sense of entitlement, to pass judgement on who should and shouldn’t create. Why? Why should that thought even exist…in anyone?

It’s in our nature to create. It’s our very nature to create life. We are each born with minds, minds that spawn thoughts, thoughts that generate change, and change that organizes things into existence.

No one should ever pass final judgement on another. Those that are religious would believe final judgement is reserved for only one being.

So instead of saying “You can never be as good as that person” say “Keep working”, or “Wow, you’ve come along way”?

And for those that have been told “You can’t do it”, simply reply “Who are you, to tell me I can’t!”

If you’re an artist, creative person, or just a person you’ll appreciate the thought provoking commentary about this digital world we live in.