WordPress

New Website for Lori Garfield!

Eagle Fisher, Original oil painting of a bald eagle catching a fish by Lori Garfield
Eagle Fisher, Original oil painting by Lori Garfield

Great news! I just got a call from artist Lori Garfield with her approval of the new website I created for her. A couple of small adjustments and she’s ready to fly!

Lori was fantastic to work with, organized and on top of any requests for additional material or other input I sent her way. For that reason her site came together very quickly, completed in two weeks from the day we set her up with a new hosting service (she had free hosting at WordPress.com before, but we wanted to expand the possibilities beyond what they permit on their site) until the final tweaks that marked its completion today.

We built her new site on the WordPress platform using a very nice responsive theme I just discovered, called Fifteen, with a few customizations and using Jetpack mosaic-style galleries to display her art. I love that masonry look, it’s a great way to display a portfolio of artwork that varies in shape and size. Implementing the SEO by Yoast plugin, security plugins, and sharing capabilities put the final touches on her website that make it search engine and human visitor friendly.

Lori is a wonderful animal artist, creating her pet portraits, wildlife paintings and more in oil on canvas. She is a giver, and a portion of all her art sales goes to various animal non profits, so any purchase you make from her, whether an original oil painting, an archival quality giclee print, or a commission for a portrait of your pet, you will also benefit the nonprofit animal organizations she supports.

Lori is not limited to animals as an artist, and you will find some gorgeous landscapes and human portraits in the galleries of her paintings. Please visit Lori’s new website to view her lovely artwork, and consider leaving a comment with feedback on her paintings and her new website, sharing her site on your favorite social network, and giving a gift of art to someone special who loves animals this holiday season for a double blessing! www.lorigarfield.com

Workshop Update – Week One Feedback

Hannah West Design logoThe first few workshops in my new roster (image editing & working with WordPress, both for beginners) have gone sooo well this week! I’m getting great feedback on the quantity of information I’m offering, patient and effective instruction, value of the information presented for the price, and even my teaching style. It’s so rewarding to see artists move from apprehension and self-doubt to having fun using their newly acquired skills so quickly, and I’m proud of the progress last week’s participants have already made.  Check out my calendar for current workshop dates and, whether you plan to DIY or need to feel more confident when dealing with your own webmaster, let me help you take control of your online presence!

By request of two of last week’s participants, I’m announcing that the Image Editing Practice Session for Beginners has been extended  to include two dates each month indefinitely, on Thursdays from 10am – 12:30pm. Those who need help with their image editing skills can drop in for a practice session whenever they can, or join the two current participants for a weekly session where supervised practice will hone your skills and help commit them to memory. I will be happy to add an additional ongoing practice session where you can bring your questions, learn more, and practice your image editing skills with me there to help you on a different day/time, as I’ve heard from several artists who can’t make it on a Thursday.

Please email me or use Doodle to request a new date and/or time and I’ll add it to my calendar.

New Website for Artist Elaine Frenett!

I love working for artists! Like anyone else, I get tired working at my computer for so many hours each day, but the beauty of their work makes it a pleasure from which I never tire. Elaine’s watercolors are a prime example ~ I felt so refreshed after completing her new website! Please visit it, not just to examine my work in putting together this WordPress site using Elegant Themes’ “Envisioned” theme., but to enjoy the galleries of her incredible watercolors. Maybe you’ll like them as much as I do and will contact her to make a purchase.Elaine also teaches visual art journaling ~ if you’re into journaling, you should visit her blog to see how her watercolor illustrations make her memories come to life in the pages!

Here’s a look at the top part of Elaine’s Home Page. You can see the entire page in my Portfolio, but I really do encourage you to visit her site and see it live.

Elaine Frenett Screen Shot

New website for the Art Presence Art Center in Jacksonville, Oregon!

Because I work for so many artists, and just because art is my thing and I believe in its power to transform lives and possibly even save the world, I work with Art Presence, the artist group in my own town to promote the arts and local artists. Being on the Board of such a lively and forward-thinking group of people is refreshing and provides me with a break from my computer to have face-to-face interactions with artists I know, network with new artists and Jacksonville’s business people and city representatives.

I had previously started them off with a very simple site hosted at my own art blog, Art Matters!, but the group was small (and un-tech-savvy) enough that it didn’t really take hold at that time. In March we scored a wonderful location, so the group now has a place to meet, a gallery, and a home. To celebrate this incredible milestone, we got the group its own domain name, art-presence.org, and revamped the site. Now that we have around 100 members, a Facebook page (thanks to artist member Cammy Davis!) and a physical location, the site gets a lot more action from both the artists and the public.

Here’s a look at the top part of this WordPress site’s home page, which uses the Chameleon theme from Elegant Themes. Click the image to see more, learn about our members and subscribe to our blog!

Art Presence Screenshot

WordPress 3.4 Update

All clients and any blogger using WordPress should back up their databases and update WordPress without any further adieu! That is, if you haven’t done so already. While you’re at it, update your themes and plugins if you find that updates are available. These updates not only increase the reliability and functionality of your blog, make it run faster and increase security for you and visitors to your site. If you need a hand with this, contact webmistress@hannahwestdesign.com

Just accepted into the Organic Themes affiliate program!

I just ogt an email that I have been accepted into the Organic Themes affiliate program and I’m so excited! Organic Themes are created by artists for artists, bloggers and businesses. They’re beautiful, the layouts are refreshingly uncluttered and functional, they are mobile-friendly and the code is clean and updated frequently so it will also remain secure. I can’t wait to work with one!

I have exploring to do before I can say too much more, but I’m still finishing up the mobile site for Wineceros, so not just yet. If you’d like to take a look for yourself, click the banner below:
Organic Themes

Boy, is my sidebar loaded with banners and links! I’ll clear them out and make pages for each type of service, but…not yet…and for now I’ll be adding yet one more banner…for Organic Themes!

WP Touch Pro

I’ve been working on a mobile site for one of my clients (has to remain anonymous until it’s complete!). This site is a WordPress installation, and we started with a free plugin by Brave New Code called WP Touch that automatically formats your blog to iOS devices, Android and more. It’s great, but customization capabilities are limited, so we went for the Pro version. I’ll post again to let you know how it went and will also include a link so you can see for yourself, but for now I just wanted to give a shout to Brave New Code.

I joined their affiliate program too late to make a commission on my client’s purchase, so they’re sending me a t-shirt, and I hope to help them sell more plugins. So, below is a YouTube video discussing the features of their latest version. You’ll also find an affiliate link has been added to my sidebar. If you’re interested in the Pro version of the plugin, please use my link! I won’t get rich, but it will buy a cup of coffee for me and my honey, and you’ll get a nice plugin that will make your WordPress blog site look great on almost any mobile device! If you need a hand with the settings, you can always contact me at webmistress@hannahwestdesign.com. Thanks!