PHILOSOPHY FRIDAY - Respect !

 " To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research ".
 -  a quote by comedian, Steven Wright.

I had other plans today to kick off my first post for Philosophy Friday but a most timely post by master beader and fellow teacher, Robin Atkins of Beadlust  This link gave me further food for thought.  With the SOPA bill being current in the news,  many artists, writers and musicians have once again, been discussing and mulling over copyright issues.  One walks a very thin line with copyright - there are many grey areas and to complicate matters, there are varying copyright laws in numerous countries.

By blogging, or being active on the internet, one puts themselves out there so to speak and one is, or should be aware of the fact that there will be people in cyberspace who either have no idea about copyright, or claim not to, or people who just have no scruples or manners when it comes to copying other's work or literally stealing it.

When I look at Robin's work, I see mastery, passion and personality, and I feel it would be hard put for anyone to truly copy her work and have it look the same.  As she says, any infringements have not impeded her abilities to fill classrooms or show a decline in the sales of her books etc.  It's pretty damned hard to copy a true original but there are many who will try.  However, I still honestly believe that courtesy should be foremost when showing off her work or showing work that has been inspired by her.

Much like Robin's situation, in recent times, I had an offending student, who literally took my handouts from a class and put it on her blog as HER tutorial, along with a couple of my diagrams that actually had a printed copyright notice on them with my name on it. And it was in fact, a fellow student, who very graciously informed me of the demeanour.

I think because of the anonymity and vastness of the internet, people do not look on these type of acts as " stealing".  To me, it's no different than being a pick pocket!

As a teacher in the fiberarts, I am happy to be able to share information with others and I'm delighted to inform those who are eager to learn and have an appreciation for beading and textiles.  When we put our photos online, we are at risk of the copycat syndrome but our love for the art and willingness to teach and share information supercedes most minor infringements.  However, I do draw the line at blatant piracy. 

Many folks copy photos from blogs and keep them in a personal file for " inspiration" or reminders of particular techniques.  To a point, that's one thing, unless, someone copies that work totally and then says " Look at what I did" etc. However, to pluck someone else's pictures and show them on your blog or for " show and tell " at a guild or other public gathering, or to photograph my work in a gallery setting or a show and display it elsewhere,  I rather take issue with that.  It is so very easy to contact the artist or writer or whoever's work it is and politely ask if you can show their work or at the very least, if photographed at a show and then blogged about,  give credit to the creating artist with the picture. I think many people would be surprised actually as to how gracious and generous most artists are when someone approaches them in that regard.  Acknowledgement and attribution are key !!  To me, it boils down to COURTESY and RESPECT and I feel that as teachers, we have a duty to inform our students and others about copyright issues, as much as we do about educating them in our craft.  Awareness and education are essential tools in creating a better understanding of privacy and copyright issues and I personally, make a point of bringing up this topic in a general way, not a lecture,  in my classes and workshops in order to make people more cognizant of some of the issues.

Now, we could ask the ever provocative question " but what is original ? " - however, let's leave that for another day (-:

Ocean View Bonus Pack

   Today I promised to show some pics of the first of two Bonus Packs I have compiled for Foto/Fiber 2012.  I have named it " Ocean View" and I could see some talented soul using this pack to create a lovely ocean scene with just a few additions from their stash. Two of the threads I am offering are hand dyed and very textured, putting me in mind of sea weed.  The two pieces of sea themed lampwork are donated from my personal collection and have been created by artist Jeanie Munro of Scotland. They are quality pieces and have lots of potential for adding color and dimension to an ocean themed art quilt or any other creation of your choosing.

Along with another two hanks of hand dyed threads, five pieces of delicate, exquisite drilled abalone, and a small strand of assorted shells, are five 1/4 yard pieces of beautiful batiks and hand dyes.  The fabrics lend themselves to any type of ocean or water related work you might wish to create.  Here's an overall view of the entire package:

You can view this and other Bonus Packs, along with the photos and six amazing works of art up for the Draw for contributing patrons at:
                  http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/FotoFiberHowItWorks.html

Drop by tomorrow when I kick off the first post for Philosophy Friday!   Check in with me over the weekend too as I will be featuring my second beautiful Bonus Pack entitled " Raz Ma Taz " for Foto/Fiber 2012 in detail.

Moon & Back - Details

Today I will feature a couple of detailed pics from Love You to the Moon and Back.

Tomorrow I will be featuring the first of the two Bonus Packs I have on offer for Foto/Fiber 2012 entitled " Ocean View".  Please join me for details. 

Love You to the Moon and Back

     I created a piece especially for the Foto/Fiber 2012 draw for Virginia's patrons entitled " Love You to the Moon and Back".  I was inspired by the work of an amazing young artist from Lancaster, Pennsylvania,  Kristie-Lou Brigham, whose work I have purchased and enjoyed for some time.   Kristie is a full time working artist whose passions are wire wrapped jewelry and making polymer clay faces.  She loves to create her faces on natural crystals, rocks and gems and the piece I selected for the FFAC work I created is polymer clay on red jasper, with little streaks of charcoal and grey.  Kristie entitled it " Queen of Hearts".  Well that was perfect timing!  The Foto/Fiber 2012 date is around Valentine's Day ( 15th & 16th) - so much love goes into the setting up of the site -  all the loving gifts artists donate and then , of course - there is the love one has for someone special in their life who faces a battle with cancer. The theme of my piece just had to be about LOVE !!
  

    When Kristie's face bead arrived, I sat it on the white cutting table in my studio and spent some time studying it and getting a feel for it.  Then I started auditioning colors for the fabric base I would create to bead on. Once all the colors were in place, out came the bead auditions, which of course, is a major undertaking.  It seems the greens I selected for the silks and the green beads in my significantly large stash did not want to agree.  Many of them were on the translucent side and showed up as completely different colors when paired with the rusts, creams and greens I had selected. SO, it was to become a challenge but I am always up for that (-:
     I had a most intriguing bead I thought would make a wonderful moon and then little stars appeared. Then ladders to the stars. The title struck me and then came the comet and the fireflies.  As Virginia Spiegel is rather partial to haikus, I searched for one that would be rather fitting to the theme as a tribute to her.  As luck would have it, I discovered one by a mid Heian period Japanese female poet named Izumi Shikibu that just happened to encompass fireflies.  The poet herself proved to have had a fascinating life and is definitely worth reading more about.  Her haiku was printed out in dark red ink on the green dupioni silk and reads:

Remembering you...
The fireflies of this marsh
Seem like sparks
That rise
From my body's longing.
    
A mask was added for intrigue and Venus Rising made an appearance amidst some flared lines of needleweaving. Things then, just started falling into place and Love You to the Moon and Back became a reality.

Kicking off the blog with a Bang!

    Virginia Spiegel is back in action again with her amazing Fiberart for a Cause campaign in aid of the American Cancer Society, this year under the title of Foto/Fiber 2012.  I am delighted and honored to have been asked by Virginia to participate in this project and I have a link to the site in my right hand side bar.
     Thirty Seven top fiberartists have contributed 90 Bonus packs of beautiful fiber materials, some transformed by the artists themselves, to the cause. There are links to these artists' sites so you can enjoy seeing their work and learn a bit more about them.  Many names you will recognize. Virginia  will also be holding interviews with some of the artists and showing photographs of their studios and work on her blog,  http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/blog/
     Ninety gorgeous photographs created and donated by Karen Stiehl Osborn, Virginia A. Spiegel and Cynthia Wenslow are on offer along with the Bonus fiber packs.
     Six fiber artists, Lyric Kinard, Lynn Krawczyk, Yvonne Porcella, Susan Schrott, Mary Ann Van Soest and myself have donated six wonderful fiberart pieces which will be part of a draw for the patrons participating on February 15th and 16th.
     As we draw closer to the dates, we will be showing off more of the Bonus packs which will be available and believe me, many are to drool over!  Stay tuned for more information, pictures and news and please check out the Foto/Fiber 2012 site to find out how the sale will work and to view some spectacular fibers and fiberart!  Click the logo in my side bar or the link below to go directly there.
http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/FotoFiberHowItWorks.html

Back in the saddle

     After an extended hiatus, I have happily returned to the land of blogging and an active pursuit of needlework and textiles. While I was off slaying dragons elsewhere,
technical difficulties arose in my " old" blog, Leonie's Omnium Gatherum, and although it can still be viewed online ( URL link in side bar) I can no longer access it to do updates. Consequently, a new blog with a new attitude has been born!
    I hope you will pop in frequently to share and discuss our mutual love of textiles and stitching and, as always, I welcome your comments. There is an RSS Feed available.  I have also added a new feature to this blog entitled " Philosophy Fridays" where I will share weekly a quote or arts related comment that gives one pause for thought or will possibly open up a discussion. 
    I will be developing the blog more as time goes by and be sure to keep an eye out for the header! Thanks for taking the time to drop by and I look forward to sharing with you our mutual love of fibrearts and stitching.