Creating a website as an artist isn’t just about putting your work online—it’s about creating a home that reflects your creative identity. As someone with a background in computers, integrative health and now returning full-force to art, I’ve found this process both exciting and unexpectedly complex.
Years ago, I built my health coaching website—olivedodd.com—using WordPress. I poured my heart into designing it and still love its look and functionality. Naturally, when I wanted to create a space for my art, I hoped to simply add a subdomain or branch off from that site. Unfortunately, my current hosting plan didn’t support that option.
I got creative and made a “division” homepage, letting visitors choose between my health and art offerings. It was a clever solution—mostly. I created separate page templates for each area, but I hit a wall with the blog layout. WordPress pulls from a single default blog template, and unfortunately, that means the art blog looked too much like the health blog. Not ideal when you want to express two very different energies.
FASO
So, I began experimenting with FASO (Fine Art Studio Online)—a website builder specifically for artists. I’ll admit, the creation process is refreshingly simple. I appreciated the ease of uploading artwork, setting up portfolios, and integrating marketing tools. Even better, FASO offers built-in Print on Demand services and artist-friendly newsletter tools.
But here's the trade-off: while FASO is intuitive, I find its standard templates a little... plain. As a creative, I crave a bit more visual personality. I can enhance things with HTML (thank goodness for my old programming skills), but I miss the full visual control and design freedom I had on WordPress.
Tip if you're starting out with FASO: When picking a template, you can change the color palette, but not the overall font style—good to know before you commit to a layout!
While I do find the templates a bit plain for my taste, I’ve been able to sprinkle in some HTML magic to liven things up. Still, I miss some of the full control I had with WordPress. It’s a bit of a toss-up: do I spend more time tweaking my site, or more time painting?
Inventory Management with Artwork Archive
Another tool in my toolkit is Artwork Archive, which I use to track every painting—where it is, where it’s been, who's showing it, and even sales history. Its inventory management features are powerful—upload artworks, log exhibitions and loans, track locations, generate reports, and manage contacts all from one platform.
It integrates with websites —you can embed your public portfolio into your site via a gallery widget. You can check out my public profile here: https://www.artworkarchive.com/profile/olivedodd
However, while I love its backend capabilities, the look and feel of that embedded gallery lacks the visual flair and personal style that a fully customized site offers.
So now I’m at a crossroads.
Do I want to invest the time to deeply customize a site again, or lean into the simplicity of an artist-first platform like FASO and focus that energy on creating more art?
Each has its perks:
- WordPress: Unlimited design freedom, total customization, and a robust ecosystem—but it comes with a steep learning curve for marketing and ongoing maintenance.
- FASO: Tailored to artists, ready-to-go features, less hassle, and built-in tools—but with limited design flexibility and templates that may not match your style out of the box.
I haven’t reached a final decision yet. My FASO site is live at olivedoddart.com. I’m slowly linking my domain and newsletter list. It’s a work in progress, just like art itself.
Takeaways for Fellow Artists:
If you’re building a website, consider these questions:
- Do you want full creative control, or simplified ease of use with art tools?
- Are marketing tools (like newsletters and print on demand) important to you?
- How much time do you want to spend maintaining your site vs. creating art?
This process has reminded me that websites, like paintings, are layered. They take time, vision, and a little trial and error.
Are you building or updating your artist website? I’d love to hear what platforms or strategies are working for you!
Happy Creating
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