Speaking of Names

Okay, now you know where "Maloha" came from.

When I first created my website (heartspiritstudio.com), I tried to get my name as my domain name - but it's already taken.  Turns out that Todd Rundgren's  long time friend and tour director is also named Mary Lou Arnold (http://rockshowcritique.com/2016/01/interview-todd-rundgrens-tour-director-mary-lou-arnold/). The domain isn't developed, it's just parked, but not available for sale. I tried maloha.com - but that's taken too.

Now what?  I use a lot of heart imagery in my work; heart, art, heART, you can see how that evolved. HeARTSpiritStudio sounded right to me, so I went for it. Oh, and in case you're wondering, the 401 is from my anniversary - Rex & I got married on April Fool's Day - but that's another story.

Recently for yuks and giggles I did another domain name search, and marylouarnoldart.com is available - should I go for it? I'm not so certain that a change is necessary, but it would probably be easier for people to find me and my paintings on the web. That, along with the fact that I need to let people know I'm out there!

Do you have a website, and if so, how did you arrive at the name if you were lucky enough to obtain a domain with your name? If not, how did you decide on your brand, your name?

Comments welcome!

~Mahalo~

Are you Hawaiian? (it's all in the name)

I get asked that all the time because of my email address and how I sign my paintings.

Mahalo is a Hawaiian word meaning thanks, gratitude, admiration, praise, esteem, regards, or respects. According to the Pukui and Elbert Hawaiian Dictionary, it is derived from the Proto-Polynesian *masalo.

Maloha, on the other hand, is how I sign my paintings. So where the heck did "that" come from? Well, my name when I started painting, was Mary Lou Harris. I signed a few paintings that way, but it just seemed too long for a signature, so I tried to come up with a shorter signature. I finally arrived at Maloha, which is the first two letters of each of my names MAry LOu HArris = Maloha.

Fast forward - I got married. Luckily for me, I married a man whose last name is Arnold; so I didn't have to change a thing - now I explain that it's MAry LOu Harris Arnold = Maloha.  

So, that, in a nutshell, is why I sign my paintings "Maloha" (I'm not remotely Hawaiian - I vacationed there once tho)

I'm revisiting my blog - it's been a long time, and a lot has happened over the past (I was going to say "few") but it's been 7 years!!!

I've always found it a little difficult to talk about myself, but here I am, and I'm going to make it work this time.... so bear with me while I get my feet wet in the blogosphere, again.

~Mahalo~