Virtual Studio Brings Artwork to New Level

Source: Baltimore Business Journal -
Excellence in E-business Awards - September 2001
By Joanna Sullivan/Staff (jsullivan@bizjournals.com)

Elisabeth Radomsky wondered whether plunking down $10,000 for a Web site made sense for her growing art photography business. That was in May. Now, she cannot fathom doing business without the web - a medium that showcases her art to the Internet world. Besides, the Web site already paid for itself with two clients who were drawn to her work from the Web site.

Now, before customers even call me on the phone, they're getting an incredible amount of information," Radomsky said. "They're seeing lots and lots of pieces of work - oil paintings, water colors, photographs."

Radomsky specializes in portraits of children, but it's not quite the stuff you'll find at your child's school or local Kmart.

The high-end portraits and paintings feature children in fantasy themes, A Beautiful, curly-haired little boy with wings and apparent temperament of angel, sits atop a pedestal.

The artist, a mother of five, fell in love with photographing children when she realized she could immortalize their childhood through her work.

"Life is so precious," she said. "This is a way to hold on to the precious things."

'Now, before customers even call me on the phone, they're getting an incredible amount of information.'

The site, designed by Jacob Rath of Adventure Web Productions and Craig Kahl the owner in Catonsville, gives viewers the chance to view Radomsky's various mediums without a trip to her Baltimore studio. "Its very visual art," she said. "So people need to see it to decide whether they like it or not."

So far, the site has recorded 27 qualified unique hits per day. That's 27 different people taking a tour through Radomsky's Web studio every day. She's working on a deal with Yahoo that she expects will increase her exposure online.

Radomsky's site seemed to captivate the E-Business Award judges with its whimsical images of fairies and children. In particular, they noted that the site had the ability to draw the potential consumer into Radomsky's studio, making it an effective marketing tool.

"As I evaluated each site, the thing I wanted to know was whether the site was consistant with the business - that the notion that the business and image on the web were symbiotic," said Todd Klein, managing director with Kinetic Ventures, a Chevy Chase venutre capital firm.

Klein and the other judges agreed that Radomsky's site achieved that perfect marriage between commerce and art.