One of the things I find myself doing quite frequently when working with artists on their websites is asking them to remove artwork. This is usually met with a little resistance, particularly if the paintings are still available.
I understand the thinking: surely the more paintings you have on your website, the more opportunities you have to sell something?
I'm not convinced this is true.
Think about the experience of walking into a beautiful gallery exhibition. The work has been carefully selected, there is room to appreciate each piece, and you leave with a fairly clear impression of the artist's work. Now imagine that same gallery with every painting the artist has made in the last five years on the walls.
It's a very different experience.
I think artists sometimes confuse their website with their inventory system. Your website doesn't need to document every painting you've ever made, or even every painting you currently have available. Its job is to present your work in its best possible light, help people understand what you do, and make it easy for someone to take the next step if they fall in love with something.
Consider showing a really beautiful, cohesive selection of your most recent work. Include a few sold paintings, too, so people can see that your work is finding homes. Give your visitors fewer decisions to make and more opportunity to appreciate the individual pieces.
And remember, removing a painting from your website doesn't mean you've removed it from the market. You can still sell it, and there are some really lovely ways to introduce additional available work to interested collectors.
Sometimes the best thing you can do for your artist website is a really good edit.
If you have a Squarespace website, and you’d like me to help with your edit, check out more information about my live website help sessions below:
This listing can be purchase in advance, or I can send an invoice following our 90 minute session.
How it works:
1. Ensure you have a Squarespace site (I only work on Squarespace websites)
2. Book your 90 minute slot here: https://calendly.com/alissasexton/website-refresh
3. Give me administrator level permissions on your site (Settings —> Add a Contributor —> add alissalsexton@gmail.com)
4. Prepare for your call by writing down any questions for me, or bringing examples to show me during the meeting.
