As 2010 came to an end, as is customary with many, I looked over what I had accomplished. It turned out to be a busy year and there were times when getting to the studio was hindered by other obligations. But that being said, I still managed to create some new work and participate in a number of shows.
One of the things that I did want to accomplish, was to put together a more "professional" looking personal website; a place that focused just on my studio practice. I wasn't ready to invest in the services of a professional web designer just yet plus I wanted to be able to add material to the site without having to go through someone else. A couple of friends suggested that I check out WordPress.com so I figured I'd give it a try.
Now mind you, I'm a self taught computer user so technical things often elude me. Even though it took a bit of trial and error to figure out how to navigate the site and make it do what I had envisioned, in a couple of days I managed to put together something that works fairly well.
I chose a template that allowed me to have a static homepage; something that I felt was important for a professional appearance. Navigational tabs make it easy to move around the site. I was able to include all the components that a professional website would have; artist info, exhibition info and the ability to group my prints into categories. Listed as "In The Works", focuses on my current printmaking endeavors. It's nice to have everything in one place so that I can direct people, who are interested in my work, to http://melodyknightleary.wordpress.com/.
I'm not sure if I will keep two blogs going but we'll see. The bottom line is, if you want to set up a quasi professional site, it is possible to do it yourself. Hey if I could figure it out, anyone can.
Happy New Year to all and my your inspirational Muse be kind to you in 2011.
Hi, Melody,
ReplyDeleteYour new website looks really nice. And your work is so wonderful, it's nice to be able to look at it all. I've been playing around with the idea of creating a new professional website (I use Visual Server). I'd thought about Word Press, so it's good to see how you set it up. Been thinking about Artspan, too. So much work to make the move. I have a lot of new stuff I haven't put up yet because I keep thinking that I'll do it after I decide on a new website. I'll be interested to hear about other feedback as you receive it.
Thanks Barbara for your feedback. It was a bit of work to set up the site but I feel it was worth it. Once I figured out how to use Word Press it took me a couple of days of fiddling around with things to get the look I was after.
ReplyDeleteI'm happy to hear you're putting that new studio to good use. Don't wait too long to get that professional site up or you'll feel swamped with so much work to photograph and upload. Best Regards, Melody