I've been here a while. Not as long as others but longer than some. I have stuck with it through thick and thin and am very happy with my modest success here on this blogging platform.
Before discovering Steem I wasn't much of a writer/ blogger. because I spent most of my time working in the visual arts and the thought of sitting down to write filled me with dread. Writing doesn't come easy to me but one year on steem has thought me that I do have a story to tell.
I was introduced to Steem (actually Steemit) while sitting on a beach in Sondervig, Denmark by 
Intrigued, as soon as I got back to Ireland I signed up and waited for approval. This gave me time to see what it was all about before jumping in head first. It took a couple of days to be approved and then I began my adventure.
I spent a bit of time working out how to make my entrance. Making a few comments on other peoples post and searching for others with similar interests. Luckily I found that there were other Irish people here 
This was the second Meetup of 
Introduction of Daniel Doyle Sculptor and Film Maker to Steemit
Then I waited, Wondering how I would be received or would I fall down the cracks of the introduceyourself tag. I was elated to get 62 upvotes and what really blew me away was the welcomes I got in the way of comments. I was off to a flying start.
My plan for steem was to use it as a way to document my work as an ephemeral sculptor. The blockchain will now give it permanence and be a place where hopefully others can find out about me and my work long after I am gone. I also hope my young son will find it interesting.
Mostly I have been documenting my sand sculpture which is helped by the hundreds of photos I have taken over the years. I started by showing my favourites which are from recent times but soon realised I should go back to the start and begin at the beginning. Here is my first sand sculpture
My introduction to sand sculpture- sand sculpture
Impressive or what?
Before I gathered too many followers I didn't want to blow my wad and have none of my more recent work to show. It was good for me to show these works while not too many people were watching.
Along the way I also showed many snow and ice sculptures I have made but sadly, in general they were not very well received.
Perpetual Evolution - ice sculpture
I really didn't mind these times when my posts failed to hit home or where lost in the feed. For me I was looking at the whole thing like a learning experience and as I learned how to interact with steem and the people here I knew that is is all a bit hit or miss, with a large dollop of luck thrown in. I was learning to write and find my voice and to me that was the important thing. Like learning a musical instrument it is nice to learn while there aren't so many people around. However, the interactions with other steemians along the way spurred me on,
As I said it is all a bit hit and miss but I did get some successful posts along the way, when they were discovered by some great curators.
With the below post I think someone from 
A dragons tale - sand sculpture
I was very impressed with all the developments that were going on using steem as the backbone. Dtude is very exciting especially seeing the mess that Youtube was becoming for content creators. I uploaded a few of my own videos although now they seem to be just buffering when I try to play them. I'm sure wth these new technologies we can expect a couple of glitches along the way.
Glitch - short film
Not just wanting to show my works in sculpture and film I also began to show thing that I was working on in my new workshop. I've been making alot of woodworking projects and it was nice to share the progress using the Steepshot app.
All glued up and clamped - Woodworking
The community aspect of steem should not be under estimated and I have liked, when I could to take part in some of the challenges inspired by other users. This has also got me thinking of other things I would like to post about which are not related to art or my work in general. Writing a post for me can be something I muse over for ages before putting finger to keyboard and these things can lead me to write some very personal things which I would never have shared on centralised social media. I am starting to enjoy writing for the sake of it.
Five facts about me
The community that I have discovered here on steem is what keeps me coming back for more. There are some very talented writers and artists showing amazing work. I count myself lucky that I am slowly but surely making a name for myself here and have been honored by the interest in my work. I have heard it said that Steem is the gateway drug into Crypto and for me personally I've found that the case. Having invested nothing but my time I have been able to build a little investment of Steem as well as other crypto. Now it is quite small but being able to start with nothing and mine with the proof of brain that steem was advertised as is giving me and many others a possibility of having an active interest it Crypto in general.
With all the positive things around steem there are also (in my opinion ) some negatives. Soon after I joined here was a hardfork 19 which gave a feeling that the beta symbol under the Steemit logo was just a temporary thing and that improvements were coming fast from within Steemit inc. Now to be honest it is painfully slow and I think this is leading to certain folk really gaming the system. There have been promises of new community features and SMTs for ages now and they still seem nowhere near. I don't mean to bash anyone but come on, don't say you'll do something and then make us wait months and months for it to happen. especially when so many developments are happening by great programmers within the community with no pre-fanfair.
My greatest annoyance is the rise of bidbots and vote buying. I know , I know , people can do with their stake what they want but I believe these action definitely hurt the community spirit on the platform and have made a mockery of the trending page. For new users I can understand why Steem would come across as scammy.
I will continue reading and posting on steemit even though I think there are certain issues needing urgent addressing. For every user trying to extract as much value from the network as is possible there are hundreds trying to create a place where things work as intended. The quality posters will hopefully start to be rewarded when the community feature is deployed and maybe, just maybe the a hardfork will come along that shifts the balance of power.
Thanks to all who have supported me in this last year especially the 1480 that clicked my follow button. You have given me a new outlet for my creativity and brain power. Stay tuned, lots more to come.
Yours sincerly
Daniel Doyle
AKA Ammonite
