Posting Artwork Online

[Beverly]

I would love to hear the experiences of others who have either posted creative work online
or are considering it. There seem to be many pros and cons with each venue opportunity
that exists. I have been pondering for a few months now on where to put an online art
shop of my work and would love to hear the thoughts of others.

Even just talking about exhibiting your work in "real life" galleries, libraries, coffee shops,
would be fun to hear about. Or how it felt to exhibit it when you were taking art classes. Or
even here at CCS.

The process of doing art is very rewarding and healing, but sharing our gifts with others
can be as fulfilling, or more so. So looking forward to hearing what you all have to say.

"Flying to New Heights"
Digital art

[Beverly]

Hi Capitola Girl
Congrats about getting one of your creations in a major magazine, may I ask what your creation was and what magazine? A magazine, hm, now that's a whole different way of getting it out there. Today I set up some of my art/photos at a local library for the month of April. One lady came up to one of my photos, stared at it and then renamed it to something to her more personal liking. I liked that. She connected to it and really I think when we don't put our art out there, we lose that shared emotional bond. We talked a bit, I found out she liked colored pencil and we're going to get together and be creative someday. Her husband's real sick and she's longing for the healing that art brings. So I had no expectations today and walked away with a new friend. Wouldn't have happened if I had held back. One other thing, she asked if I teach. Quite a number of people have approached me about that, maybe it is something I need to consider. Someone once told me, "when you teach, you learn". Hm, sounds like growth to me. We shall see, in time, and I'm sure that would challenge my creative side!

[Joann Sondy]

I think the best venue is always your own, dedicated site. One that you can control in terms of content, presentation, etc.

I/we have tried several outlets but just recently returned to rebuilding our online photography (hubby) based on "integrity". What I mean by that is ditching cafepress and zazzle because we're not interested in selling coffee mugs and mouse pads.

We're going to try redbubble.com for the e-commerce backbone of new website currently in development. In addition to dedicated site + redbubble I/we will also have a presence on Behance, flickr and a few others just to take advantage of exposure aspects.

Some artists and crafters I know are have some success with Etsy. Also check out boundlessgallery.com and art.com

Bottomline: regardless of the online platform it ALL required a marketing strategy.

Joann

[Gretchen Heartaday]

I just posted an entry on my CCS blog about my recent positive experiences due to my art blog which is almost two years old now. Then I saw this discussion! lol

[DJ]

LOL...I was asking about exposure/selling opportunities on the web elsewhere on CCS, and here was a great list all along.

As for selecting a site, I guess it all boils down to the target audience you want for your particular product: utilitarian items like mugs or calendars/gift items/folk art/fine art/prints/jewelry/toys/ etc.

When I had my studio uptown, I had a tax prep man who made things easy. But now that I no longer rent a space, I'm not sure how it will all fit together on April 15th. :-)
Don't know if I want to jump into the commercial side of things again or not.
Does anyone have a "day job," but sell their products "on the side," so to speak?