Website Feedback Please

I looks very beautiful, Petra. I like it!

You've put a lot of thought into this Petra. It has all the main elements from what I can see ... including the contact form on the front page at the end ... I like that ... a lot !!

There is a lot of space for the eyes to rest and that is most important .... too much clutter people scan and move on. I like how you keep it simple and keep your stuff in front of the buyer.

These are my first thoughts .... hope this is helpful.

Petra,

I think your website is exceptional. Easy to navigate, clearly laid out, pleasing to look at!
Great job!

I had some browser issue and couldn't see the blog. But I too agree is very good.

I would change your about me statement to exclude the law career. Although you can in practice be both an artist and any other career, on your business site you should be all about your art.
-- mary ellen anderson

Overall, your site is okay. I'm bothered that your portrait is facing out of the page. I'd rather see you facing the text. Instead of "Picked Paintings," maybe try "Selected Paintings." I'd also consider losing the portrait section of your gallery page, as these aren't as 'nice' as your other subjects. People aren't often interested in portraits of people that they don't know or recognize. Also, maybe not include a Blog link until the blog is ready.

Congratulations, Petra -- your new site looks great!

First, for some reason, I can't access your blog.

Also, I'd change your photo, which is used on two different pages. As you have it now, your photo is staring off into empty space -- literally turning your back on your site and information. Instead, you should be looking toward the information on your pages. I'd say either swap the photo to the right side of the page with text on the left, or use a photo where you're facing the other direction.

Best of luck with your new site! :-)

Petra, regarding my comment above, perhaps the easiest solution would be to simply flip your portrait left to right, facing the text; which I think belongs on the right side.

Petra, I really like the page, I think you did an excellent layout and most of all I like that it's uncluttered and easy to navigate. I also liked the large images on the slide show, I much more want to see images, in the case of your website beautiful paintings rather than busy text, so that caught my attention right away, if there would have been a lot of text I would lost interest and clicked away with out exploring further .The only thing I would have done different is chosen a different domain name, the reason is that with a good art related keywords domain you have a much higher chance of getting type in traffic or search traffic than using your own name, your name could be splattered on all your pages anyway, but the most important thing in having a website of your own is getting traffic. The world might not know who Petra Terslova is and type your name in there search but they know Fine art, Art business, etc...gets searched far greater amount of times.

I think it looks great

I would flip the portait so you are looking right, as others have suggested.

Also, your Artist Statement is written first person, and your Artist Bio is written third person. I'd keep them the same. My preference would be to rewrite the Bio in first person.

I think you got the contact information spot on, it can take ages to find contact details on many web sites. Overall very bright and very breezy, that suits the style of your work, which I see includes churches - get a little more exposure by reading details in the "Christian Links - on the Web" discussion at the link below:

http://fineartamerica.com/showmessages.php?messageid=1983574

All the best
Geordie Gardiner

I'm glad you mentioned that, Rick. For anyone interested, here's a useful link for help with writing a bio:

http://www.finearttips.com/2011/10/how-to-write-a-bio-that-gets-read/

I write in 1st person for casual, online bios; 3rd person for more structured bios for galleries and other exhibits, and juried submissions.

Everything looks great.. very clean and easy to navigate. When I clicked the blog link the main picture for the blog was a broken image and did not open even after refreshing my page... maybe its Chrome that im using or maybe the link to the image is bad.

Blog page works OK for me using Firefox.

Thank you for all your helpful suggestions. I´ll definitely do something with the photo. However, the most important – the navigation and design seem to be ok. Thank you :-).
I´ve read so many “how to write a bio and an artist statement” that I´m rather confused. I´d done some research before I came up with these texts. Some art-marketing consultants such as A. B. Stanfield advise to write a bio in the third person while an artist statement in the first.
You´re right that the domain name is not very good for search engines. I´ll have to specify the keywords.

"Some art-marketing consultants such as A. B. Stanfield advise to write a bio in the third person while an artist statement in the first. "

........but if you put them on the same page, it reads a bit strange. Can you put them on different pages? Or combine them into an artist statement?

I like the large print, the bold colors, and the simplicity. First impressions are very, very important and your site is attractive and invites a closer look. Well done!

Petra, you've done a great job on your site. As others have mentioned, your front page portrait should face the copy. Rather than flip the portrait, I would swap the text and portrait positions (place the photo on the right).

Definitely leave your law career IN. It is immediately unique and sets you apart from other artists. In just four words (master´s degree in law) you add depth, accomplishment and intelligence to your biography.


Dan Turner
Dan Turner's Seven Keys to Selling Art Online

Agreed, Dan. I was surprised at the suggestion to remove that information.

Thank you Dan and Wendy. I probably wouldn´t have become an artist if I hadn´t gone through such a demanding study. It is an inseparable part of my life and partly explains the WHY I started painting. I´m happy about both painting and studying :-).

As Murray mentioned above... "Picked Paintings" doesn't look right...or it just may be to an American's eye ;)

In any event....Bravo!

and moving the head shot looks better now.

As far as the first person/third person thing.... Yes...it can all make you crazy...that's why you should just do what you want and forget about what the "bio experts" say.

When a buyer refuses to buy art based on the first/third person business...I'll listen to the experts. ;)

That stuff is old school thinking from the "gallery world", etc. and their promotional material...buyers could care less. IMO.

Not so sure about adding the "lawyer" to the bio..Most people expect artists to be "single" minded ...also a lot of people dont like or trust lawyers...Why add an element that could alienate some potential buyers.
The site is very attractive and easy to navigate..I think you have done a great job!

Petra,
Your work is beautiful and I really like this showcase of your talent; so much so that I'm now inspired to totally revise my own website. I see you've already incorporated some of the earlier suggestions and so the only two cents I would add is that maybe you could also show the dimensions of your work in inches (perhaps in parentheses) as well as centimeters and include a currency conversion widget so those of us in countries that are metrically-illiterate and Euro-challenged would instantly know the sizes and prices of your work without having to grab a calculator or shifting our attention off-site to determine that sort of thing.

Personally, I think it's important for the world to know more about an artist besides dry facts like how many galleries they've been featured in or awards they've won. Your other fields of interest and past history (and even country of origin) can't help but influence your worldview as reflected in your art and should be noted in your bio. For me, the more I know about an artist, the better I can appreciate their work because I can at least attempt to see it in their context. I can't imagine how that can be a bad thing. I grew up while Jimi Hendrix was alive and loved his guitar playing. Much later in life I discovered all those bizarre guitar sounds he's famous for were his holy grail attempt to mimic the whooshing and other sounds he heard while jumping out of airplanes as an army paratrooper. Now I love his guitar playing even more!

Besides, like you, both my father and brother were/are lawyers, too....

Great job!

Hello Samuel, thank you for your suggestions. I´ll consider further changes. I also agree with you and some others that people like to know about the artist´s life. I think that it will help them remember me. I am happy that my web encouraged you to innovate your own site!
Thanks very much for your compliments on my work, too. My art has just been accepted by the Artist Info online gallery. I´m over the moon!

Judy, to judge people according to their profession or interests....oh no.

I think everything looks nice, easy to navigate. Your portrait should be alittle smaller, other then that it really likes nice.