Thursday, May 30, 2013

a lifetime and then some

“I am lonely, yet not everybody will do. I don’t know why, 
some people fill the gaps and others emphasize my loneliness.”
Anaïs Nin


22 x 22, acrylic on paper
 I am certain that I am not alone in feeling the ebb and flow of these feelings. 

Community and alienation. 

Intimacy and isolation. 

It seems it will take a lifetime, and then some, to figure this out.



Friday, May 24, 2013

your own ideas



"We are not here to do what has already been done."
Robert Henri, The Art Spirit

It's all over the internet and in books and newspapers and professional journals. I'm sure you have read something about the subject in the last year. The artist holds copyright on his/her artwork (even after it's sold, unless other arrangements have been made and paid for). When someone copies another artist's work and signs it and tries to sell it or show it as if it is their own original work, IT'S WRONG.

Most of us don't need to be told this. We understand that it is cheating. Immoral. Illegal.

I have read good articles by artists whose work has been copied and used by someone else without permission. It's easy to understand the outrage of the person who is the victim of theft. You will want to read this article, an excellent example of how an artist discovered the theft and what she did about it. "This is a Post About Plagiarism" by Sarah Moon on her blog "Clear Eyes, Full Shelves."

Here's another, by Lori McNee, about an artist who discovered a copycat who stole her work off of her Facebook page.  "How I Stopped a 'Copycat Artist' on Facebook."

My work has not been stolen. But, I still feel passionately about the issue. I believe that artists and art groups have an obligation to hold one another accountable and to hold one another to the highest standards of professional practice and ethics.  From my standpoint, when artists do nothing about a copyist in their group, they are saying, in effect, that it is okay with them. When they hang in art shows with that copyist, they are endorsing that person as a respected peer.


My grandmother used to say, "You are known by the company you keep."

What would you do if you discovered an art friend copying artwork and passing it off as his/her own? Have you had any experience with this issue in a personal way?

Robert Henri got it right. Let's do it right.

Friday, May 10, 2013

not waving

Not Waving but Drowning

Nobody heard him, the dead man,
But still he lay moaning:
I was much further out than you thought
And not waving but drowning.

Poor chap, he always loved larking
And now he's dead
It must have been too cold for him his heart gave way,
They said.

Oh, no no no, it was too cold always
(Still the dead one lay moaning)
I was much too far out all my life
And not waving but drowning.

Not Waving, 22 x 22, acrylic on BFK


Thursday, May 2, 2013

bubbling creative juices

Jamesha, 20 x 8, watercolor and charcoal on BFK
Why not try something new? 

It seems like with all things creative, sure death is accomplished with predictability and doing things the same way. 

At Hipbone Studios this week, during the 30 minute poses, I pulled out a tiny travel set of watercolors and did this little painting. Charcoal drawing made the paint muddy, and next time I may use graphite instead of charcoal, but overall I like how this one turned out.

And I feel my creative juices bubbling again. How do you keep your creative juices going?