thank you to everyone who has responded about artistic integrity from Susan Parry

You've all been so wonderful to take the time to respond to my post and I feel so honored to be  involved with such creative, inspiring and encouraging people. Some of you have experienced first hand what I and another friend have experienced and others can empathize. I suppose there's not much that can be done about those who directly copy others -and it's more important to keep true to one-self and one's art and ignore the "noise." I realize economic times like these don't help either. I've so often wished I didn't have to sell my work-in fact, I miss some of the pieces I let go, but that's the way it sometimes goes when you make art to sell  for a living. I think it's good to get the word out about artistic integrity as I think that when you directly copy someone's work, you're nibbling at that person's soul. I don't think it's wrong to take classes, look at someone else's work, or even borrow an idea--with the emphasis on borrow--as we are all influenced by what we see and often share universal experiences--I do, however, sternly believe that no-one should directly copy another and that true artists should find a way to make their work their own.

Thank you again, everyone--I hope to meet some of you in person someday. In the meantime, let's continue to create, dream and be ourselves.