Sad to see Michelle lash out at others and basically blame artists for customers not buying her art. And to think I defended this Michelle when a customer came in complaining about Michelle's photography. Saying they couldn't believe she took a picture of a dogwood flower she picked, stuck it on a remote part of a tree and decided to take several angle pictures of it and sell it. They then went on in reference to her many shots that were out of focus only to emphasize a small focus of a small image of nothing. Boy this person went on to talk about how she then went on to mass produce copies of these images. They seemed to be pissed because they overheard Michelle relentlessly going on about artist, her award, the promoter, etc, etc in a negative way. First of all I respect all photographers and appreciate the money investment and time involved including their artful wisdom in purchasing the right frame to compliment their print. I really do as that is so important.
Fist of all, Amy Amdur, decided to give an appararent inspiring artist of eight years old, the experience to give an artist an award. Amy's empathy, passion, humbleness, hard working, hands on, etc, traits never cease to amaze me. Though she is so successful, she has never let it go to her head, as she remains humble to inspire others, including an 8 year old boy.....never the need to fall in the ditch of snootiness, arrogance, or lack of empathy to artist or people of any financial status. Could you image Amy Amdur's job, dealing with city quidelines, security, insurance, and endless unappreciative, cranky artists? First of all don't try and accuse me of being Amy's friend, sister, or cousin and making it look like that was the reason I was in the show. Amy is equal to all.
The economy has changed, and though I love fine art, Amy is listening to her many customers who cannnot afford much and yet would like to purchase something. She is apparantly a savy business women and instead of having the show so completely aimed at a particular income, she evidentally believes if she offers something for everyone, that the customers are more likely to show up. First of all it is very grosse to assume you know if things are buy/sell. If a person has variety, apparantely they are savy business people and want to offer something for everyone's taste.
I sort of had this hope that when people left high school, the bullies evolved into human beings and that their sheep developed their own thought, brain and compassion, but that isn't the case. We are who we are from beginning to end....most of the time anyways. There will be many bully leaders and the sheep will follow. Some how, some way there will always be many followers. Degrees of Hitlers in many people and the sheep they command are always plentiful
In my post, their may be many grammar mistakes and mispellings, but its not worth my time to correct them as everyday is a race to create more art and purchase more bandaides for all the times the wire and beads cut my fingers.
God Bless to all of us hard working artist, fine crafters, hobbiest and hard workers in genereal, as I find you all worthy of a good, plentiful, lovely day. I actually feel better overjoyed when I see you doing great at a show, even if you may be doing better than me. To me, it is one less person to be worried for, not jealous of. I value all of you for your efforts and for the fact that you are not sitting on your butt. I'm not mad at Michelle as I have not been perfect in my life either, but instead say a prayer that she will do unto others as she would like done unto her.
Comments
Connie, if "THEY can read" why are THEY still doing this? Not just this one example but the watch guys, the duck rocks, and all the other crap that numerous real artists have pointed out are continually in THEIR shows....If THEY got on here and said you know what, I screwed up and I am going to do something about it, that would go a long way toward repairing THEIR reputation...but when THEY just keep doing the same thing over and over again, well, I imagine you can imagine what I might say if I wasn't trying to keep this post polite...
I hope Amy Amdur is reading this. I just went to your site Renne and I am a bit confused about it. Is everything on this site made by you??
Good points all. I just really thought the point had been made. It is all here in black and white and anyone who wants to know can see it here already. I'm not removing it. Just how much finger pointing and saying the same things over and over do you want to do? These same points have more or less been made in other areas of the site in the last months. "They" can read. The handwriting is on the wall.
I also agree with Barry and the two Amy's. Please dont remove this post. This site is very helpful and should allow discourse among the artists and crafters here. I think the B/S question is so imperative and like Barry pointed out is affecting all of us who make one of a kind original art!
Connie, I agree with the above. Removing posts means that those who are not reading every day don't see the whole picture. Please allow this to be a forum where opinions can be voiced openly.
Connie, walking the shows, participating in the shows and AFI are really the only sources of information I currently have to learn about b/s. I know there is more information out there, I just don't want to spend any more time on the computer than I currently do. I didn't even know what b/s was until I joined AFI and learned about it and how to spot it. Before I began doing art fairs, it never occurred to me that it was a problem... Reading posts like these gave me the courage to talk to promoters about b/s and this year I plan to send a letter which explains why they won't be getting my application dollars to those shows that accept b/s.
Please don't sensor posts like this, just because it might be unpleasant reading. We're all adults here and we can choose not to read. Barry is right, there is a war going on here and even if we all can't be on the front lines, we can do what we can. This site is a great source of information and I'd hate to see you shut down such a valuable thread.
Connie, I consider myself a really good friend and thought long and hard about posting here. However, there is a war going on here between the one of a kind artists and the b/s fraud merchants(and mass merchandising factories). You can't shut is up every time we speak out. We need to speak out loud and strong and continue until the show directors get the point. Because there are 7,000+ members here, this is the best place to voice our displeasure. It's impacting our sales and our ability to continue as artists. Ironically, you would be one of the stronger voices if you and Norm were still out there in the market place because you would then understand just how grave the situation is. It isn't the economy because the shows that have gotten rid of the shlock are all doing well. I'm talking about shows like Krasl, St Louis, Ft Worth, Cherry Creek, etc. The problem is there are not enough of these shows and directors are not getting rid of this stuff. Maybe, if the many directors who come to this site and read how upset we are, they might start doing something about it. If you silence every protest things will just keep on going and on getting worse and worse. We should be leading the charge not running from the problem. I've heard a lot of comments from directors that they can't get enough qualified artists to do their shows. Krasl doesn't have that problem. Many categories let in 1 in 10 that apply and directors can't find enough quality artists? Maybe those directors should take a hard look and figure out why. And, it's up to us to let them know what the problem is.
To everyone who is interested in this thread I respectfully request that it be discontinued. Nothing of any usefulness is coming forward, positions have been stated and points have been made. The negativity is not why we have this site.
Michelle overstepped. When called on it she apologized. Renee got to make her points. We are all in agreement that there are questionable exhibitors at some shows. People can read between the lines and draw their own conclusions.
If you need to contact the people concerned use the message system on the site. No more negative or bullying comments or this thread will be gone. Is that bullying? So be it.
very interesting, I went to your page and you have no images posted of what you do. Why is that? I have over 60 images posted.
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