Welcome to the Featured Artists page. Here creative professionals share their experiences and give some advice on how they navigate the web!
What is your name?
Stephanie Chambers
Describe your creative practice. Are you a visual artist, musician, craftsperson, apparel designer, blogger, etc?
Visual Artist – Painter
How does social media affect your practice?
The goal of my artwork is to communicate something visually to its viewer. Social media is a tool that brings my artwork to an audience, both existing and new. If I didn’t have a website or other online platforms I can’t imagine being able to reach the same amount of people. It also introduces my artwork to new audiences that would never see it if traditional methods still existed such as people in other countries or different demographics – people that I would not necessarily think to be promoting to.
Do you promote your work via the Internet? Why do you use the internet?
I do. It’s the best platform for my work to be seen by as many people as possible. Without the internet, artists would have to rely on the old system of gallery representation – client lists and postcards in the mail. The internet allows my work to be seen by people outside this spectrum, which I love. I don’t make art for a specific group, so I’m happy it’s not exclusively seen by one.
What are some websites, social networks or other digital media that you find yourself using, loving and/or lurking on a somewhat regular basis?
Kickstarter, Society6, Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, Tumblr, Etsy.
Are there any creative people [visual artist, musician, craftsperson, apparel designer, blogger, etc] who are using web platforms in a particularly interesting way?
Right now, I’m more inclined to go to social media platforms and not individual websites or blogs, so the people I follow I see through their social media. Allison Weiss is a musician who uses social media really well.
Are there any websites/ web platforms that you have found to be less helpful, not as interesting or even taboo for creative people to use?
There are a lot of websites for artists to put their work on either to promote or sell products. For a long time, CafePress seemed to be the only place you could post your work to have it printed on all kinds of products. The design of their website was horrible and so was the quality of their products. I think it was taboo to have any work on there. Then Society6 was launched, which is a very nicely designed website that does the same thing as CafePress, but on high quality items without poor web design.
When I graduated from college ten years ago,portfolios.com was really the only place for artists to post portfolios. There are so many terrible portfolio sites with poor navigation, design and curation. It used to be that it looked bad to have your work on a group portfolio website and best to have your own url. Then Behance showed up and did an amazing job of allowing students and professionals to have online portfolios without any taboo.
What advice would you give to artists, musicians, bloggers, and online retailers?
I try to stay consistent and focused. I’m not always able to reach that goal, but I’ve found it works best for me in getting my message out there. Also, don’t be negative online unless it’s a big part of your brand. One of my favorite galleries/creative platforms has a Facebook account with a lot of followers. The founder often posts about random personal things and treats it like a personal facebook account (reposting memes, etc.). Often their posts complain about things or are negative. It’s turned me off to their gallery because it makes them seem unprofessional. So I guess my advice would be to keep business and personal separate in that way.
What is internet? 