Harriete~ My name is Mara Friedland, and I am a metalsmith from Portland Oregon. I am growing into the position of creating more commision pieces and am realizing I would like to have a contract to make both parties more comfortable.
Do you have a commission contract recommendation so I "do not have to reinvent the wheel?" Thank you!"
If you have any insights they would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! Mara
Mara, First I will recommend a couple of resources for a commission contract, then add my professional recommendations.
Most of these books include a CD-Rom so there is a digital version as well that is easy to modify. None of these contracts are comprehensive so I have included a few additional issues below.
The primary purpose of a Commission Contract is not enforcement. The objective is to bring forward issues that should be discussed in advance by both the client and maker.
Additional issues to consider adding to your contract include:
Payment Schedule
Design Fee
Deposit Before Fabrication
Photography (of the completed work)
Taxes
Shipping Expenses
Photography may or may not be important. I recommend adding it to the price as an option. The client may need the photography for insurance purposes. The maker may want the photographic documentation for your records, perhaps an exhibition opportunity, or publication in a book or magazine. It really depends on the nature of the commission.
Confirm that the client is aware of taxes that will be added to the retail price. This might be a significant amount depending on the commission price.
Who is paying for shipping? (if necessary)
Does the maker want to include the option of borrowing the work for an exhibition? If so negotiate this in the contract? This should be at no cost to the collector, possibly once every 3-4 years if they will allow it (depends on the work, of course). Include that you will clean the work for the exhibition and that the shipping and insurance would be covered by the exhibition sponsor.
Add anything to the contract you think is relevant. The important point is to put your conversation with the client in writing to avoid misunderstanding.
The topic for 2.5 hours of programming is: "Cash Cow, Sacred Cow, Purple Cow"
The Professional Development Seminar will have the fabulous volunteer efforts of Lindsey Snell who will blog and tumbler the lecture LIVE!!!! from Toronto, Canada, on Friday, May 17, 2:30-5:30pm EDT.
Here is what Lindsey Snell has to say about our topic: "I'm really looking forward to the PDS! The topics seem very well timed and I think it will really resonate with people at the conference" [along with the listeners on tumbler & twitter].
"This stems from the kinds of recent
conversations that are happening with many of my peers. This is
especially relevant to those students who are about to embark on the
transition out of academia. There is a definite sense that things are
very different from the lives that our professors have known and we need
to be working independently to adjust to the way things are now."
"Especially
with the rise of general interest in DIY culture, interactive media,
social networking, and much more, many of us feel that being talented or
a great maker will not prove to be as fruitful as it once was. There is
a tension between the expectations of having good craftsmanship and
design skills and the ability to develop one's identity as a maker and
networker."
"In the last discussion I had with a friend, I think
we used the phrase "social as survival" for a way to think about things
now. Not only is being unique important as ever, but visibility and
accessibility are essential."
"Also, alternative exhibition
spaces are exciting and rarely get discussed in comparison to
traditional galleries and museums. I always think of the Clutch Gallery
that is still in Chicago- it was a girl's handbag that was transformed
into a mini traveling
space."
"I'm
sure I could go on forever about all of this-but that is precisely why I
am excited about this presentation. It really should start good and
necessary discussions about contemporary issues."
-Lindsey
Attend the PDS Anyone may attend the Professional Development Seminar.
Date: Friday, May 17, 2013 Time: 3:00 – 5:30 pm Location: Canadian Hall, Fairmont Royal York Hotel Address: 100 Front Street West, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5J 1E3 Admission:
Purchase a PDS pass on day of event at the conference registration desk onsite at the hotel (PDS pass will also get you into the Vendor Room and the SNAG Juried Student Exhibition).
This year's program was inspired by two TED talks:
In one of the Harry Potter movies, Dumbledore the wise wizard says: "It is not our abilities that show who we really are, it is our choices."
Of course, Dumbledore is a fictional character, but a character everyone admires. Why? Because he represents courage, perspective, careful reasoning and wisdom. He was willing to be "The Force for GOOD" regardless of political pressure and public opinion.
A book, "As a Man Thinketh", inspired some of my preparation for the lecture. Written in 1902 by James Allen, the writing style is a little old-fashioned but his words merit being read -- and repeated. Here an excerpt:
"Man is made or unmade by himself. In the armory of thought he forges
the weapons by which he destroys himself; he also fashions the tools
with which he builds for himself."
"By the right choice and
true application of thought, man ascends to the Divine Perfection; by
the abuse and wrong application of thought, he descends."
“...as they may have been hitherto woven in ignorance and pain they may now weave in enlightenment and happiness.”
A very interesting perspective about individuals making "choices" within a community is presented in this TED Talk by"Dan Ariely: Our buggy moral code".
This lecture offers compelling evidence that raising awareness about ethical behavior, even just a little, can have profound impact. After absorbing these insights, it should be clear that not only do our individual choices impact our community, but our community also impacts our choices.
Laurel Thatcher Ulrich said, "Small actions by large numbers of people can bring about profound change."
Margaret Mead said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can
change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
Change has started.....but it is up to
everyone to keep it going.
Do we have the strength and courage to stand up against naive, uninformed, or self-serving choices? Even small efforts by each of us can proliferate into profound impact.
The discussion in response to my lecture, "The GOOD, The BAD, and The UGLY in the AGE of the Internet" has ranged all over the map. Most of the debate has touched on copyright and questions about ethical and legal sharing of intellectual property.
I would like to reiterate that Copyright Law tries to clarify ethical and legal sharing to encourage creativity. Proper sharing expands our communication and enlightens our community. In contrast, unethical and illegal sharing dilutes and diminishes the value of our collective efforts.
The lively debate and comments about "sharing" reminded me that the concept of Fair Use under copyright law has already addressed many of the issues under debate.
Fair Use almost always involves a similar or derivative work that copies elements of the original work. An understanding of Fair Use can help clarify some situations that may appear to be gray areas - and instead frame them more clearly as black and white.
A few years ago I wrote a post about Fair Use Guidelines
which concisely itemizes five key factors regarding Fair
Use of copyrighted materials.
To claim Fair Use in making a derivative work (or before posting, sharing or selling a derivative work), ASK these questions:
Is the new version transformative? If the derivative work borrows ideas or content from another person's work, book, or instructional materials, is it transformative? The new version must look less like the original source and more like a NEW IDEA or NEW WORK.
Could the new version be confused with the original source? There should be no confusion between the original version and the new version. Consumers especially should be able to instantly distinguish your artwork/tutorial as something different from the original copyrighted work. Comparing both versions, if there is any possibility that consumers would be confused about who is the originator and who is the copycat....this is a copyright violation.
Are you selling the idea, art, craft or information? Commercial intent or financial compensation are significant, often deciding factors in determining Fair Use. Copying an idea or information for your own personal use is permissible under the definition of Fair Use. However, selling the derivative work or idea, or receiving financial benefit, violates the principles of Fair Use. Even if you are distributing the copied work for FREE, but claiming or implying that it is yours, also violates Fair Use.
Is there an implied sponsorship or endorsement? "Your artwork should make no suggestion that the copyright owner endorses or sponsors the artwork/ information." An example: "_______( famous artist)_____ is my hero, I ’m sure that he won't mind if I copy this idea and share it with you" is an implied endorsement. This is NOT acceptable under Fair Use. Before posting information or content, it is best to ask permission, and then cite your source clearly as in "This information was provided with permission from __________."
Ideally, Fair Use Guidelines can be applied to art/craft and writing (including sharing of information or instructions). Most Fair Use is simply common sense. Fair Use not only permits sharing but is intended to encourage a wide range of possibilities. In other words, Be ethical AND Be creative!
There seems to be some confusion in the arts and crafts community about ownership of information. Previous posts discussed sharing information as an ethical issues, but in fact, it is also a legal issue discussed and defined by the Supreme court on numerous occasions.
"A common misconception by many people who purchase content, e.g.,
music, videos, images, photographs, is that they own the rights to that
work. They think since they paid money for it, that they can do anything
they want with it. WRONG!"
"The copyright holder is the
one who creates the content, unless it is a work for hire. The
purchaser is just one of many, who bought the book, rented the movie, or
licensed the images from the copyright holder or the 3rd party
licensee. Because you bought a book, does not mean you can make copies
of that book."
"To be clear the copyright holder and the purchaser of products are not one in the same."*
I hope that this information has made the legal issue very clear.
If a person purchases a DVD of instructional materials, they have purchased access to the information for their personal use. This information may not be copied or duplicated. You own the DVD not the information.
If you have a subscription to a magazine, you have purchased the privilege of owning the magazine. You do not own the information. You may not copy the information. You only own the digital or print copy of the magazine.
This issues surrounding copyright are clear. Sharing content outside of a properly attributed citation is not legal or ethical without permission from the copyright holder.
I know a person who worked in a paint store for a short time. As a newly hired salesperson, he was positive, enthusiastic, well intentioned, and loved helping people. But it didn't work out because he was color blind.
Surprising isn't it - a color blind person attempting to give advice in a paint store. It is common sense that giving quality advice requires not only an ability to "see" the material, but a
foundation of experience or level of expertise to give credible advice. He was not just color blind, he was also "blind" to how he misrepresented himself and his proficiency.
Similar things are happening in the craft world with "workshop imposters".
Imposters who copy and publish content from someone else's workshop.
Imposters who offer to teach repeat workshops based on someone else's workshop.
The most common example is the Imposter who attends a workshop from an expert and then copies the workshop content or ideas as their own. They take the information created by the original tutor, then copy and publish the content without permission or citation on their own blog or website.
Often these are positive, enthusiastic, and well intentioned
people, but they are blind to the ethical and legal
ramifications of their Imposter actions. They may rationalize that they
are trying to "help" their community, but they are also stealing
content and falsely misrepresenting their expertise. Some even draft articles for magazines based almost entirely on content
copied from workshops that they have attended.
"My workshop was booked almost a year in advance and twenty-two excited
students were setting up. I took a break from setting out my samples and
demo materials to see why most of the class had gathered around one of
the participants.
Behold.... steps 10-25 of the workshop I was
teaching that weekend were displayed step-by-step in three full color,
two page spreads in a magazine article.
It turns out that one of
my students (from a previous workshop) had taken it upon herself to
present it to the magazine as "original content" since she had added
three more steps at the end. Using the same title as her magazine
article, this same person had launched a new web site “so others could
enjoy this new form of exercises to increase your speed and strength.”
Now, that is UGLY!
I explained the situation to the workshop participants and let
everyone know they were welcome to "cancel" their weekend workshop
registration. Everyone stayed, with the realization that they would learn
much more from me during a two-day hands on workshop than from a second-hand
magazine tutorial."
The second type of Workshop Imposter goes even further by offering to "teach" a workshop based on someone else's workshop. However, in addition to the unethical and illegal behavior, they lack the depth of experience to give a quality workshop
experience and diminish the gainful opportunities for the original workshop tutor.
Leila Bidler says: "If I pay someone to teach me poetry I expect them to know a whole lot
about poetry and to know the great poets that came before. Same when it
comes to Polymer Clay: if someone wants to teach they should know who
came before them - it's not like we're talking about "ages ago" we still
do have all the inventors and pioneers among us."
Andy Cooperman had a student take his workshop, and then called up to request permission to teach this same workshop. The student properly asked permission. That is "good". The idea was "ugly".
Here is how Cooperman responded: "It is my
greatest hope and goal for students to generalize from the specific
instance or technique that I have given them and to more broadly apply
the information to other situations. I do not expect, however, for what I have taught to be offered as a workshop by someone who has taken mine. I offer the information for personal use."
I think most workshop masters would respond similarly.
As a community, we need to respect the effort expended and expertise required to master the skills, develop a workshop and the time and logistics devoted to preparation and teaching. Otherwise the core values of our community become undermined.
We should honor and reward the original authors and makers and support the incentives and professional recognition that motivates them to create and provide top quality workshops.
In response to a previous post,Kathy Loomis posed a question.
"Suppose the tutorial in question appeared not in a magazine but on somebody's blog. Do you also disapprove of people sharing that info? If so, why?"*
For me, Kathy's question raises at least three issues:
To answer the question, I will briefly address each issue.
The first issue involves . Ethical sharing adheres to copyright law and respects ownership of original content. By this I mean that original content is owned by the author - and taking other people's property without permission is unethical. Information and images are property whether on the Internet, in a gallery, or in a studio. For example, while anyone can view content in a gallery, museum, or artist's studio, a visiting viewer would never take the property for themselves without asking. Just because the information and images are on the web (and easily copied) doesn't mean the author has given permission to viewers to copy and take it for their own use.
Ethical sharing of content from a blog requires permission from the author. So if you want to share the information, ASK first - or write your own original content (e.g. a review) and link to the original source.
The second issue involves .
Since 2012 Search engines began to devalue duplicate content. Google and other search engines are increasingly recognizing that duplicate content is cluttering search results and of diminished value to the users. Consequently, search algorithms devalue or even remove duplicate content.
If content from "BLOG A" is copied and pasted in "BLOG B", this is duplicate content. This means that search engines will likely devalue BLOG B since the copied content has a later date. Or worse, both sites will be devalued.
Search engines might also remove the page or the web site from search results completely. A very big penalty. The future of the Internet is all about original content. More about this issue in future posts.
MY RECOMMENDATION: If you find information that you deem worth sharing ... write a review or write your own opinion about why this information is so interesting. Create your own original content and link to the original source.
The third issue looks at . What is the motivation behind sharing? Some people rationalize copying and sharing as a "service" to their community to help disseminate knowledge. I think this rationale is misguided and will undermine our communities in the long run. It is highly discouraging for original content creators when their property is copied and distributed without permission. Instead, our community should honor original content creators with appropriate recognition and respect by linking to and crediting the original author.
In very practical terms, why copy information that is already on the Internet? There is no need
to duplicate information to facilitate sharing. The original blog is
readily available, so link to it.
In contrast, the act of copying information and re-posting all or part of it as one's own content is behavior that I can not comprehend or rationalize at all.
MY RECOMMENDATION: Link to the
original source instead of copying. Citing a quote with attribution and a link is also completely acceptable which generates recognition and traffic to the original source.
This practical, ethical, and legal action honors original content while providing the best search engine ranking for both your web site and the original author's.
The issue is NOT a prohibition on sharing of information.
THE ISSUE is about SHARING INFORMATION while honoring the original content in the most respectful, ethical, and legal manner by linking to the original source.
But there is a situation that I didn't consider, didn't even think about... until it was brought to my attention after the lecture... "The Guild of Unauthorized Sharing."
Here are the examples:
A guild member takes a workshop, then comes home to show everyone else the workshop's techniques, tips and tricks.
Guild members distributing copies of handouts that they did not create or own.
A member demos a skill learned in a magazine tutorial.
A guild hires a copycat workshop instructor instead of hiring the original innovator of a skill or technique.
Ironically, all this sharing is usually rationalized as "helping" each other. But with some reflection, this "feel good" cloak of generosity is concealing ethical, legal and moral issues that, in the long run, have an impact on our community.
Bringing attention to "The Guild of Unauthorized Sharing" is NOT an effort to prohibit the sharing of information. This is about knowing the difference between appropriate sharing of your own original content in contrast to the unethical infringement or appropriation of material created by other people.
This Guild of unauthorized Sharing is also NOT about enthusiast vs. professional. This is a standard that needs to be applied at all levels, with all organizations small to big.
IMPACT:
1) Unauthorized sharing misrepresents to the members regarding who is the "master" original author. Members do not learn the ethical boundaries of copyright and intellectual property.
2) Guild members teaching content from workshops without the experiences and understanding from the master teacher offer a sub-optimal 2nd hand educational experience from the original workshop.
3) The master teacher, or innovator looses revenue when guild members reiterate even small portions of their workshop. The impact is if they can not make enough money from their efforts, they may discontinue teaching, writing their books, creating their handouts or stop sharing their technical innovations. 4) If handouts from a workshop are distributed at guild events outside of the workshop setting the master has lost future workshop participants. This is unfortunate as the master workshop teacher has earned appropriate
compensation and respect for their efforts in developing these materials. The impact is lost revenue for both the workshop teacher, and the workshop sponsor such as your guild. I hear that some workshop teachers have stopped creating handouts for exactly these reason.
5) Guild demos based on magazine tutorials means that the magazine has lost potential subscribers. If they do not sell enough subscriptions, they will discontinue publishing.
I am hoping that our shared goal is a vibrant and innovative craft community supported by the artists and makers that care about the future growth of their media.
Frankly, I don't think I understood this problem and the impact so well until I heard about so many examples.
Many people have opened my eyes. "Suddenly I see why... this means so much to me."
A profound realization in both my personal and professional life is that the simple act of asking can prevent small problems from becoming big problems.
We need to ASK ourselves. We need to ASK everyone. Open the conversation.
The important issue is that EVERYONE needs to "ASK." This is an issue about respect, not enforcement.
Ask the author, workshop, teachers, blog writer before sharing information from their blog, web site, tutorial, magazine or workshop.… ASK, start a conversation, find your answers.
Sometimes WE need to ASK Ourselves: Am I going to turn a blind eye to inappropriate sharing of a tutorial by someone who is not the author? Or am I going to ASK that person, "Has the author given permission to distribute this information?"
When our Facebook friend shares a handout from a workshop, can we ASK, "Has the author granted permission to share this handout from the workshop?"
The value of ASK is that the answer will guide your direction. This is about an ethical foundation within our community. It's time to examine the issues and consider the long term consequences.
ASK to obtain permission before distributing someone
else's content.
Contact the author with a quick email, Facebook message or phone call to clarify a situation or even open new opportunities for you and the
community.
If we ASK each other about a question,
problem, or ethical issue, huge misunderstandings and mistakes can be
avoided.
If you are afraid to ASK the author, or teacher then ASK yourself, "Why?" The answers may be even more profound.
ASK Yourself: What is my motivation for sharing information? If you attended a
terrific workshop, or discovered a very informative tutorial, that is great to hear, but it doesn't give us permission to copy the content and
distribute material that we do not own or create ourselves. Instead,
it could be an opportunity to follow up with the author. ASK before sharing their information with a
broader community.
P.S. You may link to ASK Harriete or a specific post anytime. A recommendation for better SEO is to provide your own commentary, or opinion as original content.
Your comments are welcome, whether you agree or disagree. Each of us can be an advocate for our community by posting a link to the lecture, sharing this post and discussing the issues.
On the contrary, ever since the lecture went public, more people are "coming out" and revealing more examples of BAD and UGLY behavior. Perhaps some don't realize the impact of their behavior. We all slide into some patterns. We all make mistakes. But we can also learn and correct our behavior without placing blame.
Every single person can BE a "Force" for "GOOD", substituting alternatives to the "BAD" and "UGLY" behaviors in all media.
In this post, I will share a condensed list of BAD and UGLY behaviors and possible alternatives. (They are listed below in no particular order, and not a comprehensive list.)
The problems are extensive and multifaceted, but there are persistent examples of BAD & UGLY. I welcome your stories and alternatives which can be added to this post. Please consider submitting an example with an alternative in the comments or send it privately to my email: bermaid [at] harriete-estel-berman.info
UGLY: Pirating & selling of DVD's for which the original author no longer gets royalties or revenue.
ALTERNATIVE: Purchase DVD's from the original author or a legitimate authorized seller.
UGLY: Purchasing a DVD and then sharing the techniques direct from the DVD on your blog or social network without permission from the original author.
ALTERNATIVE: Sharing information benefits the field only when it is shared with both ethical and legal foundation in mind. If the information on the DVD is superb, then write a review and link to the original source for the DVD.
Or share information after obtaining permission of the author, citing the source for the information and citing permission of the author.
The best option is to share information that you created yourself based on your own depth of skill, experience and your own ideas.
UGLY: Translation to another language of chapters and whole books without permission, authorship credit, or revenue to the original author. ALTERNATIVE: Do not buy, share or trade unauthorized copies, or PDF copies of book chapters or books. Inform these unauthorized individuals about ethical behavior. Can you report this incident to the original author or publisher?
UGLY: Public announcements at events, guild meetings or conferences that a person is willing to show everyone how to pirate specific tutorials. ALTERNATIVE: Unethical behavior such as pirating should not be endorsed by organizations. Establish a "higher" standard for your guild, organization or conference that presentations will only be content from the original author or original technical innovator/workshop teacher.
UGLY: A student expressing disappointment that a workshop had been cancelled due to low enrollment, since she already had six people signed up to take the "copied" class from her the next weekend. In a similar ugly, six people chipped in to send one person to the workshop so she could copy the handout and then re-teach the workshop the next weekend. ALTERNATIVE: Do not encourage unethical sharing of workshop demos and materials. This impacts the revenue for the teachers and the sponsor. Preparations for workshop planning, demos and materials require a huge investment from the teacher and the workshop sponsor. Violations of these principle also means that the information may not be available for future workshops because the teachers and sponsors can't afford to arrange future workshops.
UGLY: People taking a workshop so the student can now teach the same technique representing themselves as an expert in the skill. This misrepresents the experience of the teacher.
ALTERNATIVE: Develop a level of mastery in your own area of expertise, skill or technical innovation along with superb marketing and demos based on your own depth of experience.
UGLY: Teaching a workshop based on another author or teachers content. Examples would include teaching a workshop based on a magazine tutorial or a skill you did not develop. This robs the magazine of potential revenue from new subscribers and jeopardizes their future. Teaching a workshop based on other people's innovations is stealing their livelihood after they spent months or years developing the information.
ALTERNATIVE: Develop your own artistic voice, skill or technique. This is when you can honestly represent yourself as a master in your medium.
UGLY: Facebook pages that offer tutorials/books in any media or topic as a free PDF download when they did not write the information themselves, do not own the copyright, and are not authorized by the author.
ALTERNATIVE: Do not participate in these offers. Report these websites to the author and publisher of the original book. Do not share this illegal source with your community. Be an upstanding member of your community and report these unethical offers as a copyright violation.
It is necessary to clarify that I am not against sharing of information. I am speaking out against illegal and unethical sharing of information that was not authorized by the innovator, author, teacher, book, magazine, blogs, websites or publisher.
Citations and quotes for a limited amount of content with a link to the original source is O.K. This would be sharing enough information to pique interest such as a citation for credibility and to warrant further investigation from your reader.
If you care to share with me privately or through the comments, we can all add to this list of BAD or UGLY and ALTERNATIVES.
An invitation to give a keynote lecture is both an opportunity and a responsibility.
From keynote speakers whom I've admired in the past, I felt that a conference lecture should be about discovery and community, addressing broad concepts, and perhaps controversial issues that can resonate in discussions throughout the remaining days of a conference . . . and beyond.
As Seth Godin says: "Respectfully challenging the status quo combined
with relentlessly
iterating new ideas is the hallmark of the vibrant tribe."
The theme for the recent International Polymer Clay Association Conference was "Seeking Higher Ground."
A suggestion from the conference organizers was "reaching the next
plateau". In fact, it was suggested that my lecture address the controversial topics of inappropriate, illegal and unethical copying and sharing of information
and more. And I saw a real opportunity to have impact. Why?
These issues are not just limited to one media. I
have heard about similar stories for years, but the problems are growing
exponentially with the Internet, hence the topic of the lecture.
These serious issues pervade the craft community. But too often the elephant in the room is an unspoken concern of being ostracized by one's own community for being outspoken despite the honesty. We should not be afraid to discuss difficult topics.
In the few months prior to this lecture, I leaned on my family, friends, and associates to discuss, debate, and argue the issues to zero in on the key points. We did not arrive at easy agreement, but ultimately, we all felt better informed and more discerning about the issues and the recommendations. The topics still fuel healthy critique.
My goal is a vibrant, self-aware, craft community.
"As a community
of artists (connected through the medium of polymer clay, but not
limited to it), most of us hold certain concepts and values in high
esteem: originality, influence, interpretation, collaboration,
attribution, citation, and permission. I like to think of these as ‘The
Force’ that holds our community together, and most of the time, we not
only benefit from that, we celebrate it. Most of us. Most of the time.
But we also have ‘The Dark Side’: mediocrity, derivative work,
misrepresentation, copying, stealing. These are things we don't like to
talk about, or maybe don’t know how to talk about, but they linger and
have for a very long time, like a cane-slice-covered elephant in the
room."
"This ‘Dark Side’ is something I’ve seen through the
experiences of others, but even more first-hand, I have experienced it
repeatedly in my own career, as an artist, teacher, inventor, and
author."
"Unfortunately,
even when the Force is strong, the Dark Side has an uncanny ability to
disproportionately drain us, tap our time, rob our energy, and derail us
from our creative pursuits, individually and collectively. This is a
sad truth."
END QUOTE
Becoming a "Force" for "GOOD" starts with confronting the problems and understanding the causes that lead to them. Writing this lecture about the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly forced me to reach beyond the superficial observations to come to grips with the underlying issues more deeply. With continued and extensive discussions, I've realized that the ramifications are even more pervasive than I thought.
But if more of us acknowledge these issues, raise awareness, share links on our Facebook pages or blogs, and strive for excellence, we can all have the power to be a "Force" for "Good."
P.S. All of the images in this post are from the Broken Telephone Project organized by Dan Cormier. Here is what he says: "As artists, we can choose to face these issues and address them in
many different ways. Ultimately, that’s what I wanted to do with my Broken Telephone Project."
CLICK on the images or the link to see all of this exceptional work that proves that inspiration does not result in copycat or derivative work when the maker is speaking with a "singular artistic voice."
The lecture includes four Use tutorials and instructional materials for what they were intended….. your personal use.
Do not copy or distribute tutorials or instructional materials unless you wrote the content.
Do not sell or exhibit work derived from tutorials, workshops, or books.
Be more specific about how books, tutorials and information are to be used ethically and legally.
______________________________
In future posts I will discuss each recommendation individually, but I what to be sure that everyone has an opportunity to watch this lecture as it evaluates the good of the internet, some bad trends, and a few really ugly behaviors that threaten the healthy growth of crafts.
The question is: Do you think these recommendation reasonable?
Do you think your local arts guild or national organization would support these recommendations?
PLEASE COMMENT if possible. This presentation tackles an issue that affects both aspiring and established makers and artists and needs to be shared, circulated, and discussed throughout the arts and crafts community.
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION. If willing, you can easily embed this presentation in your website or blog. SlideShare provides the embedding code in four different sizes (height and width) or a code specifically designed for WordPress. Just click on the EMBED button on SlideShare (above the lecture).
Find links to the books, websites and information mentioned in this lecture on ASK Harriete at: http://tinyurl.com/bnp7gps
Depending on the reactions, some future posts on ASK Harriete will expand on the topics raised. Contact me privately through the email link in the left column of ASK Harriete or leave a COMMENT.
Today is a special treat. The Professional Development Seminar Committee including Andy Cooperman, Brigitte Martin and myself, Harriete Estel Berman will offer insight into our upcoming program titled: "Cash Cow, Sacred Cow, Purple Cow".
The issue for everyone reading this blog is that we can not continue doing the same thing from the past 20+ years and expect different results. The internet, telephone technology, tablet devices, and distribution has changed everything including the marketing art and craft. As Seth Godin says, Your work needs to be remarkable....that is "worth making a remark about".
There are lots of ways to
go about making
yourself remarkable. Find out how as we dip into this fabulous topic.
Professional Development Seminar Information from the SNAG Professional Development Seminar including articles, handouts, SlideShare PowerPoint and podcast.
Lynda.com is the best place to learn online and software skills.
Interesting Blogs
Joanne Mattera Art Blog Joanne Matera describes her blog as "Guaranteed Biased, myopic,incomplete and journalistically suspect" but the art business information is interesting and informative.
Craft Gadfly Author Bruce Metcalf writes all to infrequently from his experiences. The extended text needs more images for relief so be patient.
Extreme Craft Garth Johnson's perspective on the handmade as art or craft.
Conceptual Metalsmithing Interesting blog but the text is a little overwhelming. Definitely needs more images for relief.
Daily Art Muse Interesting blog acting as an independent filter about handmade work.
Judaica Journal This is the only blog I've found about contemporary Judaica.
![](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1600592597?ie=UTF8&tag=wwwharrietees-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1600592597"><img border="0" src="512-rYzNltL._SL160_.jpg">)
![](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/157990906X?ie=UTF8&tag=wwwharrietees-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=157990906X"><img border="0" src="51dUSSIYIFL._SL160_.jpg ">)
![](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1581150032?ie=UTF8&tag=wwwharrietees-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1581150032"><img border="0" src="51uZFO8tvHL._SL110_.jpg"></a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=wwwharrietees-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1581150032" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;)
![](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0807831352?ie=UTF8&tag=wwwharrietees-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0807831352"><img border="0" src="51Xp1bzTWcL._SL160_.jpg)
![](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0816638470?ie=UTF8&tag=wwwharrietees-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0816638470"><img border="0" src="51WS5J9772L._SL160_.jpg)
![](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1893164136?ie=UTF8&tag=wwwharrietees-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1893164136"><img border="0" src="51DYAV9CPHL._SL160_.jpg)
![](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0714832022?ie=UTF8&tag=wwwharrietees-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0714832022"><img border="0" src="514X8GF7CYL._SL160_.jpg)
![](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0819562009?ie=UTF8&tag=wwwharrietees-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0819562009"><img border="0" src="513XEH4WFFL._SL160_.jpg)
![](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0807831190?ie=UTF8&tag=wwwharrietees-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0807831190"><img border="0" src="510wYkRCMzL._SL160_.jpg)
![](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1400063914?ie=UTF8&tag=wwwharrietees-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1400063914"><img border="0" src="41mBnEJAwqL._SL160_.jpg)
![](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0811855600?ie=UTF8&tag=wwwharrietees-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0811855600"><img border="0" src="41DW4plQq1L._SL160_.jpg)
![](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0300151195?ie=UTF8&tag=wwwharrietees-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0300151195"><img border="0" src="41ADdc3EzyL._SL160_.jpg)
![](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1932706003?ie=UTF8&tag=wwwharrietees-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1932706003"><img border="0" src="4186CSJRK5L._SL160_.jpg)
![](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0811865096?ie=UTF8&tag=wwwharrietees-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0811865096"><img border="0" src="41%2BveDJYNuL._SL160_.jpg)
Recent Comments