Looking for a site to host an artist webpage, eh? 


I have had several e-mails from artists asking me about setting up a webpage and about my websites. Click on Read More for information about my choices. This isn't advice, just an account of what I use and why. 

I think of my art journal as fresh dialogue with my audience. My audience tends to be my mailing list, bloggers, other artists and people who google keywords. I use it as a journal, so it works well for me to keep track of events and my progress as an artist. I get about 100 hits a week, and most people visit at least two pages and stay for a minute. That basically tells me they are reading my entries and keeping track of my career. I consider that a success! This dialogue is part of the service I sell with my paintings.

blog
n : a shared on-line journal where people can post diary entries
about their personal experiences and hobbies [syn: web
log]

I use blog software called iBlog to create my online journal. There are many great blogging programs and tools out there other than iBlog. iBlog works great with mac applications, like iPhoto, so it is very easy for me to use. Here's the link to iBlog and an exclusive behind the scenes screenshot of this blog:

http://www.lifli.com/Products/iBlog/main.htm



I use iBlog with .mac for my art journal. I have a .mac account because I work on an iMac (don't worry I also have a PC) so there are certain advantages for me. One of the early enticements for joining .mac besides the mail service was the webpage option. I have made the .mac homepage work for me. .mac homepage assigns a long, complicated and horrible web address to iBlog. All of the .mac homepage stuff works that way. I think it is the biggest limiting factor for using .mac's homepage. The address it creates looks like this:

http://homepage.mac.com/lisareinke/B928712598/index.html

Not something you want to put on your business cards or can tell to people and have them remember. To make this work for me, I pay for a domain name (www.lisareinke.com) and when someone types in my domain name it forwards to my blog which I publish on my .mac homepage. I bought the domain name from http://www.godaddy.com. Now I can put www.lisareinke.com on my business card and all my customers have to worry about is remembering how to spell my last name.

Now, lisareinke.com is not a traditional artist website. It has many of the elements, like galleries, but it reads like a blog and doesn't come up as the clickable thumbnails of paintings with a page for artist information, etc. If you want something like that, you should consider investing in a different kind of html program to use. There are also lots of companies that host artist's webpages and many more that will help you create one.

I opted to use Absolute Arts and I haven't regretted my choice. Here are my reasons for being pleased with the service:

1. My site there gets about 3000 hits each month.
2. I am in the company of many excellent and renowned artists.
3. My customers can pay by credit card or paypal.
4. I sold a painting to a publishing company and also sold limited rights to its use.
5. They have a nice marketplace. It could use some fine-tuning, but it works.
6. I get statistics on my account.
7. You can buy a simple web address from them.
8. I can send e-announcements.
9. It keeps a guestbook and mailing list for me.
10. Sales are handled professionally and payments are timely.
11. I get more of the traditional webpage.
12. Shoppers can set up an account to store favorites.
13. Industry information on the main page is good.
14. I can submit press releases to Absolute Arts for inclusion on the main page.
15. It is easy to add paintings and information.

I do pay an annual fee for the service. Premier Status is juried, but you can get a free listing or pay less for basic service. They have made many improvements since I became a member and I am hoping they continue the trend. I would like to see them improve browsing the marketplace, sponsor some online shows, add some awards, and host art auctions in the future. We'll see.

For more information: http://wwar.com/ads/services.html
Absolute Art's main page: http://www.absolutearts.com/
My Absolute Arts page: http://www.absolutearts.com/portfolios/l/lisaanne/

Screenshot!



These are my only two sites. There are lots of good ones out there. I'm not going to do more than two, or maybe three, because updating and tracking information gets too cumbersome and I'm likely to have outdated information out there in cyberspace.

Good luck!

Lisa

P.S. I get a lot of technical help from my husband. I don't often need it, but he does have a way with computers. My advice, unless you are technically savvy, is choose something that is simple for you to maintain.  

Posted: Thu - August 4, 2005 at 10:08 AM          

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