Dead or Alive: Artists' Rights

I was in Moe's with my kids yesterday, eating a "Close Talker" with tofu when Crowded House's Something So Strong came on, which caused my fork to stop mid-way to my mouth for a second. Then I remembered that the drummer had died a couple of years ago and resumed my bite of salad with a tinge of sadness.

I found it interesting that Moe's was continuing to add music to their collection of dead artists even after the lawsuit that had prompted them to change their decor. When Moe's Southwest Grill opened in Ocala they had fun paintings of dead musicians hung on the walls and menu items like the "Ugly Naked Guy" burrito.

Soon after, Jerry Garcia's estate sued them for use of his image on their walls, claiming that it was advertising. Another restaurant chain also sued them over the use of the word "naked" referring to a burrito, since they had trademarked the "naked burrito" describing the contents without the wrap. Oddly, "Ugly Naked Guy" actually referred to the tv show, Friends, which didn't seem to mind. Moe's conceded in both cases, removing all of the art and the word "naked."

They are still playing music from 6-feet under, though, and if the music isn't seen as advertising, why are the paintings? Do the House of Blues and the Hard Rock Cafe pay for the rights to use all of their photographs and paraphernalia? Dubious.

As a live artist who wants to paint a series of musicians called "The Messengers," I have struggled with how to go about it for quite some time. I don't want to work from commonly-known photographs for various reasons including originality and the photographer's rights. I have thought about contacting some of the live musicians and asking if I could get permission and an original photograph to work from. But what of the dead musicians? Would Rita Marley agree? Jeff Buckley's mother?

I am sensitive to an artists' rights, both as an artist who wants my rights protected and as one who knows how easy it can be to cross over the line with creative expression into copyrighted territory. Did the little old lady with a bony hand reaching out from her hood, as she sits and begs for money on the steps under a Venetian arch need to sign a waiver before I photographed her?

I sure do wish I had a close friend or relative who is an intellectual rights attorney to clarify all of these questions that constantly arise. Then there's the question, if the laws were there to write all over again, would I change them and if so, how?

Doors

I live uptown
I live downtown
I live all around
I had money, and I had none
I had money, and I had none
But I never been so broke
That I couldn't leave town
I'm a Changeling
See me change
I'm a Changelin'
See me change
~The Doors, from The Changling

Sometimes the best change comes to us in the form of a sharp kick in the ass. I was laid off last week from the publishing company that I worked at for 5 1/2 years. I know the economy has taken a downturn, I know even Vanity Fair is pretty thin this month, but it was still a surprise to me. I wasn't prepared to be hitting the proverbial street that day.

I'm getting there, though! It's been one week now and I've done a lot of networking, meetings and calls. I am deep in the middle of creating a new website for myself... not just to feature my fine art anymore, but to represent the whole professional me. I think I will do it in stages, there is so much I want to do with it but I need to get the basics up so people can see what I do, so I can be marketable, and then I will keep adding to it as time allows.

One door closed suddenly last week, and now it seems to me that I'm standing in a world full of open doors. They are definitely not all for me, but they are there. Even in this economy, opportunities are everywhere! It's exciting. The trick is going to be to make the right choices without taking too much time... to keep paying the bills while holding out for the right thing.

The idea that I have the power to create my career right now, that I'm not stuck in any situation, that I'm free to go where I want and do what I want, is just sinking in. It's amazing that that kind of freedom must have always been there! Any feeling of being trapped I've ever had must have been completely false!

Change is good, change is fun... I can't wait to see how this big change unfolds!

In the Twilight of 2007

It's almost over. 2007 is one of the shortest-feeling years I can remember. I've been so busy, it has just flown by! I have done more than ever before, and I feel great for it.

Paintings... I suddenly wish I had kept a list as I finished paintings, including the date, just so I could track my progress. I do know that over the past 2 years I have painted more than in my whole life before that. This year has carried its share (offhand I can count 12), and I'm not done yet! Hopefully I will begin "Kiss IX" during the next several days, in-between Christmas and my son's birthday.

The first painting I finished in 2007 was "Kiss VI" – it is a portrait of a friend with his infant son.




The last painting I finished is "Penguin Family," which has been done for over a month now, I really love them. It's so fun to explore and evolve, with the pengins, my colors and blending became much subtler than most of what I've painted this year. If you can see the background in this, it's got blue in it, but is almost white. I will take a better picture when I get it back from the show in Brooksville, it'll be hanging there until February 12th. Unless, of course, it sells!


Life inbetween "Kiss VI" and "Penguin Family" has been jam-packed. I joined the new art-marketing salon, OoHA, which has been instrumental in keeping me motivated with painting as well as helped me learn the art business in leaps. I took the seat of President for the Greater Ocala Advertising Federation. So far besides managing the month-to-month operations and growing the club, I have gone to three district conferences and a leadership retreat. I have also had visits to Fort Lauderdale, Titusville, Tampa, Jacksonville, Orlando... so I've been traversing Florida. My kids both started new schools and have daily homework added to our routine. I've continued working at Ocala Magazine as the full-time base to all of that. Somewhere between all of that and a fairly active social life, my house hasn't fallen apart. Thanks for the small miracles!

This is a good beginning to what will be a longer exploration of my 2007 progress that I will make before setting goals for 2008. Cheers to everyone, I'm looking forward to more success, more art, more fun!

Honesty in art

I have a day job. I work at a magazine. It's publishing, but it's also advertising. My background is in advertising (for the past 16 years). So, as a painter, I find it a challenge to simply paint with honesty, because the "sell" gets in the way. When deciding what to paint next, I often think, "What will sell?" instead of simply painting what I want to paint. Honesty can be controversial and I live in a small-ish town that is on the conservative side. Personal honesty can be impertinent to the trends and therefore ineffective as a product. Meaning: sometimes what goes on in my mind, no one would really care about anyway.

I'm painting gators right now. I live in central Florida, so this makes a lot of sense. I'm painting them orange and blue, which also makes sense given that none of my painting have realistic color. I prefer to transcend reality or racial specificity by using bold, emotional colors instead. I wonder, though, if I would have chosen gators to paint next had I not been planning to show and sell locally. Does that make me a sell-out? Is that dishonest? I really do love my reference of the gators, I shot it a couple of years ago and think it's a fabulous photo. I just don't know.

I am also writing a book (yeah, in my spare time). Honesty in writing is even more challenging, but not because of the sell-factor, because of the bearing-my-soul-factor. I know that the more honestly I write the more interesting, shocking, identifiable the story is... the more emotional and touching it is. It's almost like I have to write as if no one will ever read it, and then deal with showing it later.

Getting that honest emotion into painting, though, while branding myself as an artist, is difficult. How to meld the marketer that I am with the artist that I am, that's the hurdle. For now my answer seems to be - paint what I want AND paint what I think will sell. Not one or the other. Then, let the chips fall where they may.