The Monumental Chore

I sent the last page over to my web guru today. What a job. I created and have been maintaining my website for the last eight years and it looks it. Hey, it was adequate back then. I'm just like every other painter, I just want to paint. The old website was so ancient and obsolete (I still used frames). What a job it was to overhaul it.

I consulted with an internet expert about the potential in e-commerce and came to the conclusion that I was really missing the boat of possibility. After I finally decided on the changes and asked myself exactly what I desired the website to represent, be, do and could it also clean my house, I made some sweeping decisions. I used to view the site as a "virtual portfolio" for prospective clients. No more. My web guru, Angee Chase of Webwrx, has helped me with a fresh presentation, beautiful clean design, PayPayl, forms, e-mail software Constant Contact, etc. She also designed a drop dead awesome logo that says ME and then some. It should be up in a couple of days. We'll still have to fine tune it and that's okay, it's going up anyway.

I dumped all the images that I didn't scan or have digital files made. On the new site, if it can't make money, it t'aint there. This is a commerce driven business venture, and I've also found myself overhauling other aspects of my business as well. Interesting. I never thought I'd jump into the fray like this, but I'm actually enjoying this marketing project. I'm reading related blogs, looking up resources for promoting and putting a good chunk of the evening studying ways to sell artwork.

Florida artists take note: I received a postcard in the mail about a 3-day professional retreat for artists in Florida funded by National Endowment for the Arts, Challenge America Program and Creative Capital Foundation in conjuction with the Florida Cultural Affairs Division. The application requirements are challenging such as an artist statement not only describing your work but also your primary motivation, your passion, where you want your career to be in five years and what you see as key opportunities/challenges relative to your artistic career. Not the same ol' same ol'. The retreats will be hosted in two locations with only 24 artists being selected per location. Of course, moi is game and going for it. I feel better prepared after spending a weekend at an intensive Bruce Baker conference last winter.