Oh my sweetums, this weekend I figured it was time to put on my big girl marketing pants. Either that or rent a storage unit for all those paintings crowding me out of Studio Grande.

As much as I love painting, as much as I paint because it’s either that or go crazy with pent up creativity, it’s NOT a hobby. Let me repeat that. It’s. Not. A. Hobby.

First thing I decided to do was rebuild my website. No, no, not Arty Life. Arty Life is technically my blog, even tho it’s a website unto itself. I decided to rebuild my ART site, the one that no one ever sees or goes to because I pretty much did everything wrong.

I don’t even go to it. How bad is that?

I don’t even have a link to it from Arty Life so you guys can’t get to it either. Unless you have ESP or something and know how to find it in the tangled cyber world of the interwebs. 

I’ve been putting this off since forever because, OMG, it seemed so…daunting. Like, where do I begin?

So I began with a list. A one step at a time list. The first thing on it was research. I began by going to Alyson Stanfield’s site, Art Biz Coach. I’ve never met Alyson (yet!) but holy crap, the woman is an amazing resource. Just by spending an hour or two reading her blog I came away with so many technical things I need to implement. Simple, common sense things like my name should be on EVERY page of my website. In the text, not just the header, because that’s how the search engines will find it.

My name wasn’t on any page, imagine that! 

Ah, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. I have a whole list. And Alyson, if you’re reading this THANK YOU!

After I gained some clarity on the technical what-I-need-to-dos, I began looking at other artists’ sites. Looking for design ideas, for how they put things together, organized their sites and presented their work. Because design was # 2 on my list. And after some cherry picking I came up with what works for me.

I’m in the zone. And now I’m in the process of putting it all together. I spent hours tonight–hours, going through photographs. Sorting what I have in the studio. What I want to offer on the website, what I want to offer as prints. What I thought was going to be an easy-peasy weekend of uploading new work with price tags has turned into a huge undertaking. HUGE. 

But I’m up for it. And by the end of the week I’ll have at least some of the portfolio selection up. Imagine that! You won’t have to scroll through back posts of Arty Life for an occasional glimpse of finished art. You’ll be able to see it all in groupings that make sense. Painted Women. Beloved Beasties. Red Things. Landscapes… 

So come back next week and I’ll give you a tour. I can’t wait to show you!

xoxoxo