Art Theft

Last weekend I found out that a friend's art had been stolen by another area artist. Something that is often hard to prevent, especially in this day of social media. However this was done the old fashioned way. The fibre artist's piece had been sold years ago, the culprit removed the sewn on signature and posted  it on her website for sale.

In the process of emails between various artists, it turned out there were pieces of art from other artist's work that she also represented as her own, fibre, stained class and paintings.  She had been banned already from one painting instructors class for copying the teachers work. When accused the artist offered up various excuses but finally under pressure she closed her website, supposedly remove all offending pieces and opened a new site. She was also removed from one gallery that she exhibited at.

 

Hard to believe that anyone is so naïve as not to be aware of COPYRIGHT. On a larger scale I have since heard from another artist about a company that stole a painter's image and printed it on thousands of t-shirts in China.

As most artists cannot afford  to pay for copyright on every piece they produce and going to court is another; my suggestions.....document, document, document and whenever possible add watermarks.

"Submerged "opens this weekend

I am excited but also exhausted after a year of work and a week of set up.....

Here are a few glimpses..

 

"Submerged"

"Submerged" is the title for my show that I am building for Gallery Stratford in the fall. It is taking up all my time, which explains the long spell that I have been absent from this blog. I've run into a bit of a problem with a pinched nerve in my neck which has definitely slowed me down. Thank heavens for friends, I am getting some help with some of the work.

                                          Carding the wool roving for one of the wall pieces

 

....and the pile grows

 

Felted starfish going on to some knitted brain coral

 

 

Not sure  where I'm going to store all this stuff. Here is a piece in the corner of the living room.

 

 

                                        Here are a couple of close ups of the same piece.

 

The purple pieces are netting stuffed with plastic wrap. Funny story about the netting...I asked my sister to save her net onion bags. Turns out someone who works for her is married to the owner of a netting factory. So I got ends of bolts of a variety of colours  from this lady. I plan to use a lot of it through out the pieces...sort of symbolic ........

 

 

This is not the only thing I have been doing, for fun  one Saturday some friends and I started making glass totems for the garden. We kind of became addicted one friend has made 28 so far.

 

Under construction

 

 

 

...and in the garden.

 

 

 

Earlier in the spring Gallery 96 did a show on the subject of bees. So a friend and I went to visit a bee keeper and then on to visit another artist friend on her farm. We made a little stop when we spotted trilliums in  a bush.

 

 

Visiting Stuart Arkett's farm and his beehives, this is not Stuart!

 

Trilliums

 

Wild Violets

 

Fungi

 

Jack in the Pulpit

 

Pink  somethings?

 

Tiger Lilly

 

Then on to Ev's

 

these 2 goats were on the wrong side of the fence but the dog fixed that in no time flat.

                                                                  Picturesque old silo

 

In Ev's Studio, I have mentioned Ev before as she is the one that introduced me to needle felting in the first place. She is the maker of many fabulous characters

.

....and here she is talking to another artist friend Wendy Orr. Wendy was taking pictures of Ev for a series she is working on. I just love Ev's studio it is in the attic of her old farmhouse and just jammed packed with stuff....just the way I like it/

 

Back to the bee show, here is some of the work.

 

Wax comb and felted bee by Carolyn Hprley

 

My encaustic of Mason Bee Larva, who knew they wrapped them in petals!

                                                    Margaret Mallory Smith's bee hotel.

 

Felted pollen by Carolyn Horley

 

Myt bee skep along with another bee hotel and small acyrlic

 

Wendy Orr's acrylic

Connections

Connections is a fibre arts group I belong to. Our last meeting was in Oakville at Sybil's. It is The Joshua Creek Arts Centre. Fantastic place with so much to look at .Sybil took me up to her personal office space on the top floor of a remodeled barn. the main floor is gallery and workshop space.

She has had an interesting life and a very interesting family history. She was showing me her aunt's collection of coral from the Red Sea.

 

Also gifts to her aunt ...the tops of camel saddles

 

The place is full of antiquities.

 

It was like a step back in time

 

A harpsichord from 1700, can you believe it

 

A collection of Chris Kummer's work

 

A view down to the gallery space below.

 

http://www.joshuacreekarts.com