Time to Get Rid of the Dust and Cobwebs

With the coming of a new year, there are lots of resolutions and commitments made to improve health, making new goals and promises to finally get organized.  There is just something uplifting and inspiring about new starts, new beginnings and new calendars.  It is also the perfect time to give your online presence a good cleaning up.

That is what I've been doing the past couple days.  It is important for me to maintain the branding I have already created for myself so I want to make sure that all my online platforms have a similar look.  I'm pretty happy with the changes I've made so far.

First, I'm still considering changing up my motto from "Telling Stories with my Paintbrush" to "Telling Paintbrush stories To Make You Smile".  I really like the idea of working the concept of the Smile into my motto.  From experience I have first hand observed over and over the reaction that my art causes when an individual steps into my booth or views my display and I can honestly say there is usually a smile involved. 

So let me show you what I've come up with for my website home page.  It is so important that the first impression you get is visually impacting.  You want your website landing pages to grab you and make you want to stay.  I'm hoping that from there the natural thing to to is to checkout the rest of my tabs and spend sometime in my gallery and not just immediately click on to the next site.

I've chosen Dancing Script as the font for my studio name and KG Be Still and Know as the second font.  It is really important that you stay consistent with the details.  I can make some adjustments with the layout of the artwork across the different platforms but the font needs to stay the same.

Here is an example of a page banner design that I created to use on my Facebook Studio page or on my Etsy Shop.  You can still see the theme remains the same.

business card front

Another extremely important marketing tool is that of your business card.  Here is currently the draft of what I have worked out for my new design.  I'm not quite ready to order cards yet so I will probably make a few adjustments.  I do have my phone number listed on the back of my card but covered it up here on my blog for privacy sake. 

business card back

So I encourage you to take some time to consider your website, Facebook Page or Blog and perhaps do some sprucing up of your own.    It is amazing how just a change of color palette, font choice or adding a few images can make such a difference.  If you don't have an online presence for your art or whatever creative outlet you do, then I encourage you to make that a goal for 2019.

Feel free to comment below or message me if you have questions about marketing.  Please consider following me on my Facebook Studio Page 

Why Do I Blog?

Blogging Helps me Stay Focused

I was asked the other day "Why do I think blogging is important for an artist?" I immediately replied, "Accountability and Focus."  Without a doubt I need this creative outlet to keep me on task and to stay focused.  I have always found that in my life, that  I worked best if I had a deadline looming.  Be it housekeeping (guest arriving for the weekend), business/professional (Financial reports due for the monthly board meeting) or creatively (what am I doing this week that I can blog about).

Blogging is like having an online journal where you can be yourself and share whatever is important to you with the world.  The goal of course is to create a fan base and that is very important as an artist.  I use Blogger as my platform and have posted regularly for a number of years.  It is free and really not that difficult.

Having a blogging goal of a minimum of one post a week keeps me on my artist toes.  I'm always creating or digging for interesting and fresh topics that I will be able to write about.  Usually the topic for my Julie Townsend Studio blog is of course my own artwork or current project such as teaching my art students or talking about something I have learned.

Blogging Helps Keep Me Accountable

As an artist, blogging faithfully and consistently helps you create a connection between you and your fan base. I'm huge into social media and blogging is just one of many avenues I use as an artist to make connections.  Blogging is a great platform for you to tell your story and potential clients are more likely to seek you out and purchase your art if they know you and your story.  If you are at all like me, I don't care how boring my day has been, I always perk up if I'm asked about my favorite subject - MY ARTWORK. That is a blog post start.  All you have to do is show a quality picture of your work in progress, your studio, your reference photos or even a picture of your dog and then talk about what is your motivation for this piece.  Readers WILL find that interesting.




This past week I make the decision to  launch a second brand new blog that I am SO excited about called "Embrace Your Creative Side" and I can't wait to really get it going in 2017.  This will be a platform for me to focus my attentions on more than just my artwork.  I will be blogging about before and after projects that are focused on improving my home decorating skills, creative cooking and for sure getting my "Awesome Grandma Act Together".  I want to throw myself into craft and art projects that include my growing group of grandchildren.  With all their Blonde Curly Cuteness, this blog is sure to become a hit and just think of all the memories I will be making in their lives.

Be sure and check out my Website and my New Blog.

Website Building for Dummies

I have for sometime used Weebly as my preferred website platform.  Generally, I am pleased with the overall look and functionality of my website and I stay diligent on keeping it updated.  I am always thinking of ways to improve it.  My website has undergone many major changes at different times and I'm sure it will be getting overhauled again in the future.  You learn as you go and I'm committed to being a lifetime learner.

One thing I did in the past year was start researching the website of other artists.  You know those successful artists that actually make a living selling their work.  I figured these folks had money to invest in having a professional design their sites and I could learn a lot just by trying to copy their look and incorporating it into mine.  Believe me I see plenty of artist at my level that either have no online presence or it is so poorly done that I feel sorry for them. I may not have the art sales I dream of but it's not because for a lack of effort.  I believe that if you BUILD IT THEY WILL COME!

Template- Weebly has a great many website templates to choose from.  Using a template already designed doesn't mean your website is going to look generic or cheap.  There are plenty of ways to customize the overall look and feeling of your website with custom banners, unique colors and market specific apps.

Since my main focus in my artwork has a strong country and western flavor, I loved that Weebly finally has a old wooden fence background template to choose from.  It is perfect and I LOVE it for my website.  I'm glad they have added a ton of fresh graphics that weren't available when I first started my website.  I also picked a simple white to surround my artwork.  My work is colorful enough and since I love to frame my artwork with a thick black border I think it gives a nice clean look that doesn't compete with the main thing I want you to notice-MY ARTWORK!

Home Page-  You have maybe 2-3 seconds to capture your audience and that is why your home page is SO very important.  I noticed that many artist websites that I looked at had just a few works displayed or perhaps a fast moving gallery that showcased their best pieces.  Usually their name and contact information might also be reflected on their home page.  That was pretty much it. So armed with that I made some major changes.  The bio and artist statement has no place on the home page.  Just beautiful and colorful artwork to entice the viewer to take a closer look.  (Sorry for the blurry iPad screen shot photos(

This is my Home Page of my website at JulieTownsendStudio.com

           My Home Page

ABOUT JULIE- My second tab is called "About Julie".  This is important for any potential customer to be able to learn more about you in depth.  Upon hitting that tab my artist bio and statement will appear.  A side note about this bio- It is important to get a good photo of yourself.  No matter how you feel about it, you are the product and people want to know you personally as the artist.  I had taken a webinar by successful artist, Lori McNee and one of the biggest takeaways that I learned was the importance of using the same well-done profile picture on every social platform.  This profile picture was taken by a fellow photographer artist, Marie Davis.  Several months ago she offered to take free head shots for any gallery artists to use on the gallery website.  This picture turned out well enough that I decided to use it on everything.  This is called branding yourself and I can't overstate the importance of this. Facebook, Blogger, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, Google Plus, Etsy and this website all have the same profile picture.  I even find it very important to have this picture hanging on my gallery wall.  Facial recognition is key and I think I'm the only artist at City of the World that has a picture of myself hanging on the wall.  Sad because I think this is extremely important.

VERY IMPORTANT- GET A GOOD PROFILE PICTURE TAKEN!

I use the same profile picture across all social media platforms

On this page I have it separated into my Bio and my Artist Statement.  Both are very important in understanding who I am as an artist.  If you don't have these written down somewhere I want to urge you today to get working on them.  There are plenty of examples and templates online to assist you and you can always edit make changes as you get more experience.  

My Bio and Artist Statement

Under this tab I have 3 tabs to choose from.

Three Tabs Under the "About Julie"

RESUME- This is a listing of awards and important recognition that I have received since being an artist.  Now most of them are pretty lame compared to many successful artist that have been on their journey longer than I have but you need to keep track and now matter how small add it to your resume list.  It is a great visual of your journey and will help you see your progress as an artist.

CURRENT GALLERY REPRESENTATION- It is important to give your website visitors the ability to visit your work in person at all the galleries that you have your work hanging in.  I've included their address, phone number, contact person and their website.  They market you and it is important that you in turn market them.  It is a two way street and you should at every chance give shout outs and tags to these establishments that let you hang your artwork on their walls.

BRAGS AND NEWS- This is the area I have designated to list quotes and comments from previous collectors or art admirers as they have talked about my art or about me as an artist.  If someone is attracted to your artwork it is important that they know they are not alone and that there are many that feel strongly about what you are doing. I also list awards, past and upcoming events that I am participating in.  Some of the information listed is repeated in my resume but this is in a more informal with colorful pictures and larger font.

GALLERY- Probably the most important tab next to Contact Info-  All your artwork showcased online in one area.  By far this is the place that takes the most work.  I am going to dedicate a second and maybe third blog on this topic.   I will try to share all the steps I go through when adding a new piece of artwork to my gallery. It is a bit involved so watch for my future posts on this subject.


Here I will just state that I have my gallery broken into a number of categories to help a visitor perhaps zero in better on what they are specifically looking for in the way of art.  9 categories to be exact.  I know I'm probably excessive and obviously one painting might be present in 2 or 3 galleries but it's not too much work to add them in multiple places and I will  talk about more in future posts.
1.  All My Available Works- "Whole Enchiladas" 
2.  Down Country Roads- My newest collection all in one gallery
3.  Landscape and Western Gallery
4.  Fur and Feathers Gallery
5.  My Sketchbook
6.  Cowbells & Country Store
7.  A Little of This and That
8.  Poems and Other Silly Things (My collection of poetry)
9.  Gone But Not Forgotten (gallery of sold items that are still available in prints)

 JULIE'S ART BLOG- Yes this blog is connected to my website and visa versa.  I spend a great deal of time blogging about my art and I think it is important that I give my website guests a chance to fall in love with my blog and the same for those blog readers.  

CONTACT INFO-  You have to let them contact you via email.  VERY IMPORTANT- you must reply in a timely manner.

SHOPPING CART- Weebly has an interactive store that allows you to sell items just like if you had a brick and mortar gallery.  You just hook up your paypal account, answer a few questions and then start adding products.  I will talk about this more under one of my future blog posts.