Here’s a question I think about more than I probably should: what actually makes someone an artist?
Not a gallery. Not a sold-out show. Not a wall full of ribbons. The answer is almost annoyingly simple. If you make the work, you’re an artist. That’s it. The person painting quietly in their spare room is every bit as much an artist as the one with a waiting list. The only real difference is that one of them showed up and did it.
But here’s where it gets interesting for those of us building websites for artists. Being an artist is one thing. Being found is another.
Anyone Can Be an Artist. Standing Out Is the Hard Part.
The internet is full of talented people making beautiful things nobody sees. Not because the work isn’t good, but because “artist” is one of the most crowded words online. If you build a website that just says “painter” or “artist for sale,” you’re shouting into a very loud room.
The fix isn’t to be louder. It’s to be more specific.
Golf Courses, the Group of Seven, and the Power of a Niche
One of our clients paints golf courses in Northern Ontario in a Group of Seven style. Read that back. It’s oddly specific, and that’s exactly why it works.
Nobody is searching for “landscape painter.” Well, thousands of people are, which is the problem. But someone who wants a moody, windswept painting of the course they grew up playing? They might type something like “Northern Ontario golf course art” into Google, and suddenly there’s one artist who fits perfectly.
A niche feels like it makes your audience smaller. It actually makes you findable. When your website reflects the specific thing you make, you stop competing with every artist on earth and start being the answer to a very particular question.
Purple Abstract Art and Other Happy Accidents
This is where keywords come in, and where it gets a little fun.
Some searches are surprisingly popular and surprisingly uncrowded. “Purple abstract art” is a lovely example. People search for it constantly, decorating a room, matching a couch, chasing a feeling, and yet far fewer artists have built their websites around it than you’d expect. That gap is opportunity.
The trick is finding the words that actually describe your work and happen to be what real people search for. Not jargon. Not clever gallery-speak. The plain language someone would type when they’re looking for exactly what you make. Sometimes that’s a colour. Sometimes a place. Sometimes a subject or a feeling. Often it’s the thing you already do without thinking about it.
Your Website Doesn’t Have to Sell. It Has to Say Who You Are.
Now, the money question. Do you have to sell your work to justify a website?
No. Especially not if you’re just emerging.
A website isn’t only a shop. It’s the one place online you fully control, a home base that isn’t at the mercy of an algorithm or a platform that could vanish tomorrow. Whether you’re selling originals, taking commissions, building a following, or simply putting a stake in the ground that says “this is what I make,” a solid site does the quiet work of making you real and reachable.
And when that site is built around a genuine niche, with keywords that reflect who you actually are, it keeps working while you’re in the studio. Someone searches. Your work shows up. That’s the whole idea.
So, What Kind of Artist Are You?
Not “artist.” That’s too big and too crowded to help anyone find you.
Are you the purple abstract person? The Northern Ontario painter? The one who does tiny watercolours of people’s pets, or bold portraits, or coastal fog, or something so specific you’ve never seen anyone else do it? That specific thing is your niche, and it belongs right at the heart of your website.
You’re already an artist. You proved that the moment you made the work. The website is just how the rest of us find you.
At K-Media, building websites for artists is honestly one of our favourite things. If you’re ready to figure out your niche and get found, we’d love to help.