By Gayle Faucette Wisbon on 1/12/2012 8:26:15 PM
Agave
Several years ago, I had some paintings stolen from me by a frame shop owner. Click here to read the entire story here on my blog. I always hoped that my paintings would find their way back to me, but that has never happened. One of my favorites was entitled Agave. It was painted in acrylics and measured 24"h x 20"w. It was inspired by another agave painting I had done back in college. That one was painted in oils and measured 36"h x 30"w. I loved it and hung it in my home for years. However, cracks developed in the painting over the years due to inexpensive materials that I had used as a student.
So, I painted Agave in 2002. Unfortunately, at the time, I did not take digital photos of my art. What was I thinking? So, the picture here was scanned from a photo the frame shop had used in an ad. It's not a good photograph, but it's all I have. The new painting will be the same size, 24"h x 20"w and painted in acrylics on canvas.
I did paint a similar one a few years after that entitled Agave II. But I've always missed the first one, so I've decided to recreate the same painting. It will be just for me and I will title it My Agave. The original will not be for sale, but I will have reproductions available for purchase. I will share it here and in my email newsletter.
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By Gayle Faucette Wisbon on 7/31/2010 10:22:39 AM
©1997 Gayle Faucette Wisbon
A few months ago, I discovered my painting, "Desert Jewel" on another art site called "5uart" under the name Home Arts Network. I will not post a link here because I am not going to help give them more exposure. This is a company in China that takes images of art from the internet, paints copies of the images and sells them as "hand-painted originals" in various sizes.
They are doing this to thousands of artists. Many of the images I recognize from art.com, which is a very well-known online print and poster site. I have even seen at least one image that still had the art.com watermark on it. It appears that most of the images have the watermark removed and replaced with their own. They even use the original artist's name and offer the paintings signed by the artist. They also have the nerve to post a copyright notice on their site with no regard for the copyrights of the original artist. This is not an art.com affiliate site. I can recognize an affiliate and this site is not selling prints, they are selling oil paintings.
I have written to them three times - twice to the CEO, once to customer service and attempted to speak to someone via the online chat. They have ignored me every time. I'm sure there are lots of these companies who make and sell copycat art and there is probably not much that can be done.
So, I just want other artists and buyers to be aware of this. This company is using my image, copying and selling my art without my permission.
By Gayle Faucette Wisbon on 11/28/2009 8:27:23 AM
Cactus Fiesta
Each year in October, the sky is filled with the beauty of the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. In this painting, I combined my love of cactus with colorful hot air balloons against a backdrop of the Sandia Mountains.
This painting was stolen by a local frame shop owner a few years ago. Thankfully, I had some good slides of it, so fine art prints are available on The Untapped Source in the following sizes:
5" x 7"
15" x 21"
20" x 28"
I recommend having this printed on watercolor paper or canvas, but matte, glossy and luster papers are also available.
By Gayle Faucette Wisbon on 12/11/2008 3:51:48 PM
A few years ago, I had the opportunity to sign a consignment agreement with a local frame shop here in Albuquerque. This shop had a beautiful frame that complemented my acrylic paintings on canvas. The owners, a husband and wife team, offered to frame my work, using this as my signature frame and display my work for sale, taking a 50% commission. We had a very positive working relationship for a couple of years.
Then, suddenly, the couple separated and the wife was forced to sell the frame shop. She called me in to discuss my options. Either I could take the paintings out of the shop that day or I could leave them and sign a new agreement with the new owner. She said that if I decided to take them, that I could have the frames that were already on them. The new owner was a professional with a large well-known company and he bought the shop for his daughter to operate as her own business. Since my relationship with this shop had been positive, I decided to keep my work there. The owner told me she would still be in the shop for a couple of weeks, training the new owner and his daughter. She would be calling me during that time to introduce me to the new owner and sign a new consignment agreement.
Being preoccupied with other things at that time, I sort of put it out of my mind and waited for her call. A few weeks later, I did receive a call. The new owner and the previous owner had a huge argument over the sale of the shop and he had kicked her out. She advised me to try and get my paintings out of the shop because he was proving to be a very untrustworthy person.
I called the new owner and introduced myself. I could tell that he was not an easy person to deal with. He did acknowledge that I had a consignment agreement with the previous owner, but he was very angry when I told him that she had given me the frames. After a couple of telephone conversations with him, out of anger, he decided to claim that he had bought all my paintings, as part of the shop inventory. I knew the previous owner would never have sold my work.
I contacted an attorney for advice and he instructed me to write the shop owner a letter and give him ten days to return my paintings. I did and he never responded. So, I proceeded with a small claims lawsuit against him.
The previous owner provided me with all the documentation, proving beyond a doubt that my work was not part of this sale. She also put into writing, the fact that she had given me the frames that were already on my work as a thank you for our past successful relationship.
In the meantime, the two parties were involved in some kind of legal dispute about the sale of this shop, which had nothing to do with me. When I appeared in court, the judge would not even look at my documents, because he did not have the details of this other pending case that this man had made me a part of.
So, I waited it out for a year and a half, while these two parties battled it out in court. I visited the courthouse a few times and made copies of documents to prove that my paintings should not have been involved in this dispute. Finally, I discovered through one of the attorneys involved that the matter had been settled. I was about to refile my case, when a friend asked me if I knew that the frame shop had closed! She said it was open and operating one day and the next, it was completely empty! No sign on the door - nothing!
I could not believe it. This man had stolen my paintings that I spent so much time and effort on. There were three paintings on canvas and several miniature paintings on paper. I am including pictures of the three canvas paintings. If, by chance, anyone has purchased these, I do hope that you are enjoying them. However, I think it is only fair that you know that they were stolen from me, the artist. They are entitled "Cactus Fiesta", "Agave" and "Desert Delight". I am including images of these works. However, the only really good image is of "Cactus Fiesta". The others were scanned from small photographs and are not the best quality. Each of these paintings is framed in a Larson-Juhl off-white rustic wood frame. Each painting is signed with my first name, "gayle".
I have accepted that I will never get my paintings back. I take a lot of responsibility in losing them. First of all, I should have taken them out of the shop, framed and all, when I had the chance! Secondly, I should have been in that shop on the first day that the new owner took over, introducing myself and signing the proper documents.
So, I hope others will learn from my hard lesson. I hope my story will help someone else realize that we, as artists, need to treat our profession just like any other business. Make sure everything is in writing and that every detail is documented. Be assertive, making sure you take care of your own business and not relying on the words or opinions of others.
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