Artists Website Starting From Scratch.

Artists Website Starting From Scratch. 

I set out to create an Artists Website that offers more than just the average and Starting again from Scratch seamed like the only way to make the website different from the normal artist offerings online. 

As an Artist Just having a website is not enough. Most of the time spent is trying to promote what yourself as an artist and surprisingly little time is actually spent painting….  This ultimately this has led to a number of Changes of Directions needed to achieve this aspect of Marketing myself as an artist. 

The Studio at Hylands House is just a starting point, being in front of the general public has dramatically altered some of my perceptions and I am constantly surprised and delighted by the reactions that the Paintings have on the average individual in the street, even if they would not normally understand or appreciate Abstract Paintings. 

As an artist its Fantastic, I am Creating New Paintings that are Brilliant, Meeting New people and possibilities, Communicating with other artists, Growing in confidence, Selling Work and a whole lot more besides, but the hours Im committing to the studio comes at a cost. I have neglected Facebook, Blogs and even the Artists Website I have struggled with for so long.

Creating the new artist website has seamed to take for ever, especially when you're doing it in your spear time and along with all the trials and tribulations, problems of computers, Lost and corrupted files and suchlike it dose really feel like that. as much as anything the more i have learnt has led to changes in direction and starting from scratch for the new artist website  

What is it that you want your website to do? 

The first question any web designer must ask is what is it you want to achieve. Just like any website, The Website has to be interesting, simple and easy to navigate. Do you want Your Artist Website to :

• Sell Paintings? 
• Promote and Show your Work? 
• Create a Buss and Interest in Art? 
• Capture Email and contact information?
• Sign up to social networks? 
• Inform and educate?
• Or something else?

It might be all or some of the above, but no mater what it is you want It is vital that a high volume of hits are required to achieve your goals. A website without visitors is pointless. Getting your website in front of enough people requires getting a balance of content, keywords and quality webpages that rank highly enough on Google is harder than it sounds, just throwing a few pages together online and hopping for the best just won't cut it.   

Thankfully there is a lot of help and information available online, but it still requires a huge amount of investment in time and effort to create all the original content in a way that is simple and strait forward for even the average man in the street, to understand and Appreciate the Modern art I create. This process is finally getting to a point where I can truly say that I have crated a really useful and valuable artists website from scratch.

Every painting in the website has useful descriptions and explanations, there are helpful Art Articles and a Sketchbook page offering unique insights into art and painting, along with information about my role as a Resident artist, the studio at Hylands House, contact information and how to buy paintings and much more besides. I still have much to do but hopefully in the new year or by spring at the latest the website will be ready for launch fingers crossed. 

update on MJo-ART's web-site and studio improvements

Time has a way of flowing like the flood of a river, at one moment is sedate and peaceful or at others a torrent of force and surging energy that threatens at every moment to carry me away or engulf me. So it has been with me and my recent endeavors.

Since just before christmas, time has been my foe and adversary, however The new web-site is taking shape with better content and a more comfortable lay-out. I can now say that within a few months I will be able to set a launch date which I expect to be some time in the summer or sooner if I can find some quiet time to reflect on those niggling wordings that still don't quite sit right on the page.

The improvements to my studio are also going well now after I have solved some problems with damp and moisture during that cold week or two of snow and ice which got into the plasterboard and brought the ceiling down. Mmmm...More expense and effort involved but it is now all painted and I am moving forward with grater purpose than before.

I seams that it has been so long since I last painted but that is the joy or bane of being an artist in today's modern world You must at times devote your self to the mundane of Marketing, self promotion, web-design, writing and business planing along all manner of other things rather than putting paint on Canvas.

Adding and Improving links

I have not been feeling very well for a while "got a cough to my cold" as Forest Gump put it so eloquently in the movie. However I have not been Idle and sitting around feeling sorry for myself (with "Man Flew"), instead I have spent my time doing research and adding or improving links to my website. Content might be the flesh on the bones of websites but Links are the life blood of the Internet allowing users to follow threads and develop or gain new knowledge. This is all part of my plan for the new and improved website which is slowly taking shape with lots more new content, paintings, information with HTML coding and all fully Search Engine Optimized to enhance my visitors experience of the site...

I have added links and uploaded pictures to places like My Space, Local artists, Digg, and Devaint art to list just a few I have also put together a new free website on snappages as an experiment both to test the simplicity and applications of the platform, as a number of people have asked me for different ways to develop a web presence that is free and easy to use. Clearly this is not the only place you can get a Free website but many sell advertising space or have banner advertising which in my opinion down values any site. This Snap Pages site took me an afternoon to put together and I have to say that it is simple and effective, although it lacked the flexibility that I have become accustomed too...Anyway give it a look and let me know what you think.  


A link to: My site on Abstract and Modern Art 
A link to: Snap Pages for Free websites

Hope and the essence of life it's self

This post has taken a long time to write it has been a long and difficult and personal challenge to compose forcing me to confront many difficult issues.... so where to start! well since this financial recession started which I have to admit has had a huge personal effect on my both personal and working life drawing me away from painting and imposing financial restrictions that challenged my core beliefs, attitude and sense of personal value

last year was the worst for me! It forced to take a Job for a time as a chief just to put food on the table and keep the wolf from the door, the emotional and psychological effect was devastating at a creative and imaginative level drawing me away from painting, drawing and any creative act’s, even activities like reading, writing and play where affected. For a time I believe that I had lost hope its self….. But art and the very act of painting is what makes us alive it drives the soul and feeds the mind it is the blood that courses though my veins it is the very essence of who I am…. Without it. I am nothing!

Finally I can now, with all honesty say that the worst is over. I have begin work on improving and enlarging my studio space although this might take some time as it is economically restricted to a degree. I have started work on updating my website Mjoart.com with a new layout, copy and images. I am also helping a number of individuals and business with marketing and web design projects that all involve creative applications and solutions. I have become involved with Marketing and website of a local cleaning business D.K.M. Cleaning in Essex and is doing very well and I am writing. Writing about all sorts of things, things that I had never seen myself writing about such "Small business websites!" on Hubpages.. But I have! I am writing about myself, about self help and improvement, about marketing and business, and about art, painting and the essence of life its self.

But best of all I am Painting and Drawing.

Discovering myself again

Its been some time since I had the chance to write anything for this blog which I have found very difficult from a personal point of view. It forced me to review a number of aspects of my day to day life and all the feelings that are associated with that. The simple fact is that I injured my eye and also had to weather the recent financial storm that threatened to overwhelm me.

The injury to my left eye has left a permanent scar on my retainer along with a 2mm cataract which has affected my depth perception and light tolerance making it hard for me to focus for prolonged periods resulting in a deep sense of frustration and self doubts that I have struggled with.

As an artist I fully except that financial security will always be a challenge however I found that the recent extreme financial climate forced me to go out and find a job just to keep the wolves (banks) form the door for a short while but even part time employment drained me of enthusiasm and inner energy that any creative activity and self motivation demands.

As I became accustomed to the fuzzy and blur of my eyesight and have driven the monsters from my door I was approached by a friend seeking to exploit my skill and knowledge of internet and design to create and develop a website for their new business venture. She was putting together a cleaning business and after showing me the numbers and business plan I quickly got involved in this enterprise as the marketing Director.

The resulting web-site www.dkm-cleaning.co.uk has for me proved an enormous success in creativity, design and confidence offering as it does the chance for its clients to improve the quality of life and huge time saving benefits that such a simple act of cleaning someone's home really has to offer. I personally am delighted to say that even with my limited knowledge of the internet I have managed to create a web-site that is ranked on Google and achieves good placement (page 4) on Google and (page 1) on Yahoo which is already winning customers for this growing domestic cleaning company.

Now I feel that all my trials and tribulations in creating a unique artist website to promote my work, paintings and artistic beliefs is an accomplishment that I can truly be proud of as a creative process in its own right.