We all learned to write them in art school- the Artist Statement. Talk about your influences, your subjects, your themes, etc, etc. This is all well and good and it’s very important for an artist to have a well written artist statement. But, equally, maybe even more important, on your website is to include what we at Art Studios Online refer as a Statement of Technique. Remember, the internet has opened up a whole new world of art buyers- people who may not know what egg tempera, batik, anagama firing, or fused glass are. It is incumbent on us as artists to educate the general buying public as to why handmade items and original artwork are so special. We need to give them a reason to turn away from massed produced home decor items sold at big discount stores and get them excited about buying from real artists.
I usually do several art fairs a year and I find that my sales are always better if I engage the people who come into my booth and explain to them that “all of my pieces are sculpted by hand out of a stoneware clay which is very similar to the dishes they use on their table. I don’t use any molds and the process for each piece is a multi stage one. I start with a moist clay…” I could go on but you get the idea.
Your website is an oppurtunity to do just this, engage visitors to your site by including information about your process. Talk about your work in plain english and define any technical terms you use. Some people like to give the history of their process, others like to explain how they’ve adapted it to their own needs, others simply want to show the care and effort that goes into each piece created. The idea is to share a piece of your life as an artist with the buying public. It really helps to get people excited about what you do and makes them want to buy into your life as an artist. Everyone likes to have a story to go along with a purchase.
Several members of the Art Studios Online community have done this and I think it really adds a great deal of substance to their websites.
ShimmeringGems.com where Terri Helmer explains the history of dichroic glass
BowledExpressions.com where John Showalter discusses spalting, cavitation and other factors in the wood he uses to turn bowls, vases, etc
PatMalcolm.com where Pat discusses Egg Tempera and why it appeals to her



This is a matter of personal choice. I, personally, like the idea of an artist having their portrait on their website. I feel like art is such a personal commodity (after all aren’t our buyers purchasing a bit of us when they buy a piece?) that a little insight into the artist’s life is warranted. It’s like a personal introduction to the artist and it makes the whole transaction seem less anonymous.
It absolutely matters how your website looks. It’s great to think that the artwork speaks for itself. Unfortunately, as is the case with most things in life, presentation matters.
No, your website doesn’t need to be expensive. You can get a pre-designed/template website very affordably. This can get you a professional looking website very quickly.
Great! Me too. And so do millions of other businesses and websites. Searching for generic terms like “Artist”, “Painter”, “Sculpture” is tough competion. Google has many factors that determine what shows up in your search results. One factor that everyone likes to refer to is the Google