A Few Bad Apples

It's crazy how much time I've had to spend on copyright issues lately. I find the whole thing entirely exhausting and nothing can sap my creative juices faster.  Sadly this seems to have become a regular part of my work these days. From customers using blog banners for other purposes, to bloggers removing my logo from blog images ~ these type of issues just seem to be popping up everywhere.

Of course I'd rather be creating new imagery than writing messages filled with legal jargon. Explaining the do's and don'ts about using someone else's work isn't my idea of a fun time, but it seems a portion of the general public has suddenly become clueless on what's ok to do with other people's creations (!?).

The other part that's frustrating is that I truly like and want to keep things "upbeat" and "positive", so writing about this is not among my top choices for blogging topics. Still it is an aspect of running a business, and sadly negativity is part of this world we share, both online and off, so I guess it's bound to seep in every now and then. And since this little blog of mine is about the business I might as well use it to share all of it ~ the good and the not so.

So there's my little rant ~ which really wasn't much of one, but at least I've gotten it off my chest. I think that's a better approach than having to go the route of a "Wall of Shame" or some other random  thought that pops into my head during weaker moments of frustration.

Best,

What Goes Around Comes Around

Don't you love that title? I do.  There was a time in my life when I wouldn't have ~ when I wasn't concerned about how I treated others or for that matter, myself.  I'm glad I changed and so did my life. It's a happier place now.  It might not always be filled with sunshine and lollipops but at least I learned to see them in the most unlikely of places.

Today's lollipop is a followup post to my "The Beholder", written by Kinga, titled All's Well That Ends Well.  Needless to say the last 3 paragraphs had me wading in tears of humility and gratitude.

I hope you're finding your own lollipops this weekend!

Best~

The Beholder

I received a recent comment on one of my blog posts that shook me up a bit and I wanted to share the encounter with you.  Not for the shock affect but rather for how the whole situation turned out...

A while back I wrote a blog post titled "Connecting". Within that post I included a few images, a quote, and a video ~ all of which I had found on Facebook through other friend's musings and page postings. I found the content particularly inspirational and so I felt with the proper citations I could share them with my audience.  All was fine until yesterday when I received a comment from a blogger informing me that one of the images I used was her own original work and I did not have her permission to use the image.

I was mortified.

Of course it drives me crazy to see my own images used or altered without my permission but as an artist, an Art Education student, and being someone who tries to literally "live" the change she wants to see, the concept that I had inadvertently infringed on someone's copyright was absolutely horrifying.

Fortunately Kinga, the aforementioned artist, included a link to her diviantArt page within her comment and so I was able to contact her directly.  I think it's important to share this part because I could have easily just removed the image, deleted the artist's comment and none would have been the wiser but in truth I would have missed out on a wonderful opportunity.  You see upon visiting her page I was met with the most exquisite imagery I've seen in a very long time...

The Christmas Miracle by Kingabrit

Honestly this is my type of art ~ it's eclectic, whimsical, and phantasmagorical all rolled in one.

Here was an artist who's gorgeous images have been featured in such noted publications as Advanced Photoshop...

and Photoshop Creative...

I can only dream of her talents and aspire to create with her imaginary greatness...

New Moon Rises by Kingabrit

And so I wound up contacting Kinga.  To my delight she was gracious and kind and allowed me to keep the image in my original post, with proper credit and links now in place.  I think this important to share because too many times it's easy to get our feathers ruffled and can so easily miss little treasures.  From my perspective it's an absolute privilege to be able to share such beautiful imagery with you and an honor to converse with such a talented individual.  Beyond this I've had the opportunity to add one more artist to my own "Inspiration" section and found an opportunity to share her with all of you. It's wonderful to find the flip side to difficult situations and I do believe these opportunities are out there if we're only willing to look for them.

Here is a direct link to Kinga's deviantArt page if you wish to find out more about her artwork or follow her yourself: http://kingabrit.deviantart.com/

Best~