Our first request for input is to ask you to answer this question:

When was the last time you looked around and said “It just doesn't get any better than this!”? Where were you and what was going on around you? You know, the person who can say that the most times in their lifetime has won!

Share with us by email. We will print the best replies.

Here’s an example of what we mean. While thinking about this question, I came up with an answer of my own:

Today, I got a lap-desk and figured out how to work with my laptop computer outside in my garden. Wow - I love creating this magazine and I ADORE my garden. I have a great swing with padded cushions that is about the most comfortable place I have ever “planted” myself. As I look up from the keyboard, I am looking across an expanse of flowers at the low adobe wall which surrounds my courtyard and which is turned golden by the afternnoon sun. Above the wall, hummingbirds are visitng the bright red salvia flowers and various wild birds are feeding at our feeders and drinking from the birdbath. Beyond the wall are the 10,000 ft peaks of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains (Southern Rockies) which have snow on them, because it has finally rained here. The mountain peaks are set against the most brilliant blue sky which is full of fluffy white clouds today - and no smoke finally - the rain has helped put out some of the devastating forest fires that have plagued this beautiful place this spring. And, curled at my feet is my greatest gift of all, my beautiful Siberian Husky, Raven, who has fought her way back from death’s door, and whose every snort and snuggle is a treasured moment. Perhaps it takes some adversity to realize and appreciate what is really wondeful in our lives.

All I know for sure is: it just doesn’t get any better than this!

Our emphasis is on new directions, so we would like to see new techniques and new uses for tried and true art supplies. For example, Mary Todd Beam (Celebrating Your Creative Self) has sure taken some new roads with gesso, no? And gesso has been around since art has been around (well almost - there didn't seem to be any gesso involved in prehistoric rock art, but then, we can't know even that for sure).

So, email us with article ideas and we'll talk about it. You will only need to submit the parts and communicate with us, and we will edit them into a cohesive whole that fits our magazine.

We think that can happen through some exciting advertising - exciting because ads here in virtual space can be more interactive, more fun, and offer more direct feedback to companies - lots more room and use of color. But when we talk to these manufacturers of new and exciting art supply products about advertising, we want to be able to say, “We have 9 jillion readers every month” or something like that. How will we know that number? Can't just count the “hits” as many people do, because every time you turn a page or click on a link, a “hit” is recorded. So we thought and we thought about how we could know you are out there, and we came up with the brilliant idea that we could just ask you to tell us.

You only need to do this once: please email us by clicking this link. I Am Here.You can add a comment if you like, but you don't have to - just hit Send. Your email will land in an e-mailbox set up just for counting our readers. We will not give your email address to anyone for anything, and we won’t use it ourselves to bug you. We have better ways of bugging you!