Tricks - A Journey

As some of you might have noticed a couple of weeks ago I suddenly disappeared as /staff from Shadowness. I would like to clear this up and explain why I had to leave as Staff from Shadowness and how I'm back with the best art-loving team on the web.





The new Shadowness V9 started around January of this year, and at the same time I was asked to fill in an application to become a volunteer with another art community. With some pushing from friends who were involved with that community, (volunteers who wanted me to join them) I was quickly taken on at the start of the month of February.

At the same time I was also a Staff member for Shadowness, due to my seniority on the site, having been with them for longer than 8 years.
My duties included coming up with interesting ideas for the site-development and helping bug test so that new users wouldn't have many problems. I also helped to promote the site which included posting Shadowness news articles on various sites.

One such article - Shadowness: A home for Artists by Artists got the eye from staff members of the site on which I had recently volunteered. I was quickly pulled into a conversation with two senior staff members, one of whom told me that because I was a volunteer for two art communities, I was in direct conflict with an NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement) form that I had signed. It was because of this that I was given the choice of staying as a volunteer at either Shadowness or the other art community.





Now, some of you may be wondering why I didn't stay with Shadowness?

Well to put it simply, I felt this would look bad, having only been on the team a short period of time. It was a great opportunity to be part of such a huge art site. I also didn't want to let down the friends that had pushed for my acceptance as a volunteer.

However, last week I was dropped as a Volunteer from that Art Community.
Many people have asked what happened, and why I was only a volunteer for such a short period of time.

To be honest, it was a mix of things and problems with a few attitudes in that other community. Due to an issue with one member there, the administration deemed I had handled it poorly and as such, it could 'add to the fuel of recent criticism'. It was also deemed to be in direct conflict with the 'Core Values' of this other site. A few days after the incident, without warning, I was removed from the Volunteer team.

This is vastly different from Shadowness, where the Staff and Members get on equally with each other and respect opinions, give us ideas to work on and have a fun attitude.

I personally don't feel what I did was wrong, or in conflict with the Volunteers "Core Values" at this site. I feel it was more of an easy excuse to remove me from the team because of my Shadowness Involvement.

Through my experiences being on Shadowness for such a long time, I find that I had made the wrong choice originally. Shadowness is my first home as a Designer and being involved in the process of helping it grow and become much more than it was and it is what I should have stayed with.

So, coming to my senses, I immediately got in contact with Meng and the Shadowness Team to ask if I could return. I am very thankful to them all for wanting me back and giving me a second chance to help you and show you just how good Shadowness can be!





You can all expect new news articles from me once a week, with a range of things from the latest Shadowness Contests to Tutorials on Page Customization and also some personal Competitions from myself.

Thank you for reading and to you all.