Protect the rights of visual artists!!

It is so hard for visual artists to protect their copyrights. This bill that is up in Congress threatens those rights even more and creates gray area which makes it harder to prosecute copyright infringement. Protect yourself and your favorite artists by making your voice heard in opposition to this bill. I followed the link below and it is very easy and takes little time for your voice to be heard on this important matter. 

 

2 minutes is all it takes to write Congress and fight for your copyrights.

Go here: http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/home/  

Take Action: Don’t Let Congress Orphan Your Work 

      

THE ORPHAN WORKS BILL IS BACK.

And this time the wheels have been greased for quick passage.

Yesterday a revived Orphan Works Bill sailed through a House panel. Today the Senate bill will be marked up. These bills will expose any work of art to commercial infringement.This will include everything from professional paintings to personal photos placed on the net. 
 
The bills will coerce you to register your work with for-profit registries as a condition of protecting your copyrights. Any unregistered pictures will be subject to Orphan Works infringement. This is a radical departure from international copyright law and normal business practice.

If you wish to oppose this legislation, you must act now. We’ve set up an online site for anyone to e-mail their Senators and Representatives with one click. This site is open to professional artists, photographers and any member of the image-making public.

We’ve provided sample letters from individuals representing different sectors of the visual arts. Illustrators, photographers, fine artists, reps, licensing firms, designers: If you’re opposed to the Orphan Works act, this site is yours to use.

 

2 minutes is all it takes to write Congress and fight for your copyrights.

Go here: http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/home/       

Pick a sample letter or write your own. Type in your zip code. Your letter will  be automatically addressed to your congressman and senators. Click and send.

 

For international artists and our colleagues overseas, we’ve provided a special link, with a sample letter and instructions as to whom to write.

 

For more information about the

 

Orphan Works Act of 2008:
IPA Statement to House Subcommittee March 20, 2008:       

http://www.illustratorspartnership.org/01_topics/article.php?searchterm=00261

IPA Senate Mark-up Comments April 30, 2008:

http://www.illustratorspartnership.org/ow_docs

Geneva/ May 7, 2008 Orphan Works Bill Catches Global Attention/ Intellectual Property
Watch: http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/index.php?p=1028

MP3 Interview: http://www.sellyourtvconceptnow.com/orphan.html

YouTube: http://youtube.com/watch?v=CqBZd0cP5Yc

Please post this message or forward it to any interested party.

movin’

I am sure there are more of you out there… you artist types who are too occupied with making the every-day work to put energy and time into you creative side. Whatever the reasons are that take you away from that important part of you there is possibility. Artists of the world unite! I am finally carrying around my sketchbook again (along with all sorts of baby and kid stuff of course). I am often writing ideas for paintings and occasionally sketching. It is hard to find the time, of course… but it feels really good to make an effort.

 

A brief history of wolves

My ultimate goal when I was a student at Rhode Island School of Design was to create a book of illustrations. After a few years of traveling and pounding the pavement in several cities, dragging my portfolio from one art director to another- I decided to write my own book.

The subject I wanted to write about was wolves. The animal had always fascinated me and after I spent a great deal of time watching them at the zoo in Rhode Island I realized that most people know little about the animal.

After about 3 solid years of painting, writing and research I created a 144 page fully illustrated book about wolves, their natural history, our myths about them and a history of our relationship with the animal. 

I signed on with a publisher who was keenly interested and I waited for a contract. Discussions continued about the title of the book, he suggested “The Communication of Wolves” that was the first sign… Then a few weeks later the publisher and publishing house seemed to disappear off the face of the earth. I was totally heartbroken, how could this be happening with this book that I had poured my heart and soul and life into?

Enter my husband to be who lived in San Francisco at the time, he had a family friend who was a literary agent who found the PERFECT publishing house for my book “Neither God nor Devil: Rethinking our Perceptions of Wolves”

Out of towner

Hello fellow bloggers, and blog readers. Since I have noticed that there have been some hits on my blog I thought I would share some blogs/sites that I enjoy. I am out of town, hence the title and don’t have access to my illustrations at the moment so this post is pure text. There is the obvious “design*sponge” and “Kris’s Color Stripes” which I have found useful both for illustrations and for graphic design work. For knitters and crochet artists there is “The Purl Bee” you can get really lost in the blog land but there are pearls of really great information and resources out there. Any comments or suggestions of more links are welcome!

I heart etsy

In honor of my vow to be creative and true to myself I have created an artseed etsy account to show and sell my work and the work of some very talented friends of mine. Hope you can find your way there one day.

BTW this has only just begun and I’ll be posting items of mine own and of my friends as they become available and when my mini heathens are in bed.

 

Love thyself!

I thought I would talk a bit about process. My illustration teachers at RISD (Rhode Island School of Design) taught me that there is no point in illustrating only the story that appears in the text. They suggested including details and character development that was not in the spare text of the picture book format. So this cover image serves as a good example. How do you create a cover for a book about a python snake that is always falling in love with the wrong things (garden hose) because he is nearsighted? I decided that if he is THAT nearsighted then he might fall in love with his own tail. Here is Pelle falling in love (you can tell because of the hearts) with his own tail. Silly snake!

a quiet day

Well, it was quiet in the inspiration department.

I thought I would share some images from my sketchbook. These characters are my funny little birds, characters created for a little city I drew once which I may share on this blog one fine day.

Creativity strikes…

Day in a life. Today my creative forces were awoken once more during storytime (makes sense for an illustrator). A comment from my daughter “animals are funny in houses” jogged my brain and helped me to discover what may be THE solution I needed to finish and rework the manuscript (one of several logged in my computer and/or in my brain. Unblocking writers/artists block is just like heaven.

“The angels sang their beautiful song, it all became clear to me and my life was like a road opening up before me.”

The zoo at home.

motivate and illustrate

This blog was created to motivate myself. I have discovered blogs in the past year and I relish the daily fresh input from fellow artists and illustrators.

Cross fertilization and inspiration is how life became so beautiful and we all know that art mimics life or was it the other way ’round?