Welcome to the NEW AonCelticArt Website!
My very first online presence was back in 1995. It was just a little gallery page that my husband had made... I think it had maybe 9 of my very first paintings. The background was grey (that was all you could have at the time!) and you had to surf the web with a modem that took over your phone line.
In 1996 things got a little fancier. I took over the html coding, and the website expanded. There was noticeably HORRIBLE Celtic clipart available around the internet then, so I made a small collection of my own clipart, and offered it to folks for free if they'd link back to my website. I also began to receive emails from folks looking to have custom designs created for various things... personal use, logos, etc.
In 1997 the website really began to take off. There was a ton of clipart at this point, more clients, and more paintings in the gallery. I had taught a few classes at the local Sci-Fi Convention, and the popularity spurred me to begin creating the first Aon Tutorials on the website, where people could learn at their own pace. Some of the tutorials also had little GIF animations that showed the knot building step-by-step.
At one point I was interviewed for the Calgary Herald, and they couldn't believe the stats and traffic my little niche website was getting! I had to provide permission to Cadvision to release my numbers independently to the reporter so she could confirm the stats I was giving her were real. They said "this kind of traffic is what you'd really only see on a porn site". LOL So *I guess* that's something to be proud of??
Over the years the website had a few facelifts, to take advantage of the increased surfing speeds, more colors available, new file formats like PNGs and transparencies. I had some high profile gigs, flying to Ireland to work as a sketch artist on an archaeology dig, creating custom designs for Don Henley of the Eagles, international gallery shows, providing the artwork for Buffalo Sabres' Ryan Miller's charity The Steadfast Foundation logo. Through my website, conferences, workshops and books I've taught thousands of people how to create their own Celtic art designs.
When mobile phones began to get popular, nobody really paid any mind to optimizing their websites for them - "it's an art-heavy website... you should view it on a desktop". But eventually it became clear that they were here to stay and I was left with the task of taking my giant elephant of a website and making it optimized for tablets and smart phones. I was still coding by hand (and oh golly... do I ever hate it) and the overhaul needed was such a daunting task. I put it off as long as I could but eventually had to bite the bullet.
And here we are today!
I have more things to bring live on the new website yet (like I said, the old site was a beast!), but at least the basics are up and ready to share. Make sure you sign up for the newsletter so as the new sections come on-line you're notified.
I'm excited to share this next leg in my journey with you!
*hugs*
Cari ❤️
