Art from the Land of Enchantment

Fine Art Prints on Imagekind

Imagekind prints beautiful reproductions of my paintings on several types of fine art papers.  I highly recommend the UltraSmooth Fine Art paper for my work.  They also offer custom framing and prints on stretched canvas.  I've ordered prints from them before and their quality and customer service are excellent!

Outstanding Acrylic in the BoldBrush Painting Contest

Along the Rio Grande

I'm very happy to have my painting, Along the Rio Grande, selected as an Outstanding Acrylic in the May 2012 BoldBrush Painting Contest.  Congratulations to all of the winners!  Click here for the complete list of winners.

The BoldBrush Painting Contest is a monthly contest open to all painters and accepts oils, watercolors, acrylics, pastels, egg tempera, colored pencils, dyes, etc.  Award packages total over $6000 each month. 

My Agave - A New Painting

My Agave

Several years ago, I had a painting entitled Agave that was stolen from me by a frame shop owner.  I wrote about the experience here in my blog.  I always liked that painting, so I decided to paint a similar one.  This one is not for sale because I would like to keep it for myself.  This is one of my favorite plants to paint and my favorite color combination.  

Fine art prints are available on Imagekind.

©2012 Gayle Faucette Wisbon, My Agave, Original acrylic on canvas, 24 x 20 inches.

My Facebook Page Contest

Desert Beauty

Thank you to all of those who have "liked" my Facebook fan page!  Currently, I have 429 "likes" and would like to do something fun when it hits 500.  So, I've decided to give out a 12" x 9.5" signed print of my painting Desert Beauty to three of my fans!  Once I reach 500 page fans, I will have a random drawing for the winners.  I will notify the winners through a private Facebook message.  I will also announce the winners by first names only on Facebook and here in my blog.  Feel free to share my page with any of your friends who might be interested in following my art career!  Thank you again!

Just click on this link to access my Facebook page where I share all about my art.  Then click the "Like" button on the page to be a fan and to be included in the drawing for the contest.

My Facebook Fan Page

Painting Parties and Copyrights

A Spring to Remember - © 2002

Painting parties seem to be gaining popularity these days.  A painting party is a class where attendees bring their own art supplies, pay a fee and copy a work of art by another artist.  Every one copies the same artwork and takes home their own version of it.  It sounds like a fun setting to get together with others and learn a little bit about art.  However, organizers of these events should take some time to determine if the works of art they are providing to the class are protected by copyright law.  

Some of these businesses are using works of art by contemporary artists, living artists whose work is protected by intellectual property laws.  I came across one of my own paintings on a site called Creative Canvas AZ.  Apparently, they have used my painting entitled A Spring to Remember in their painting class.  I did not give them permission to take and use an image of my painting in this way.  I did contact them through two email addresses on their website.  They basically ignored me, because the image has not been removed nor did anyone respond to my emails.

I recognize several other artworks on their site that were copied from other artists' work.  Evidently, they are copying these images from some of the print on demand sites on the internet.

There are many older works of art in the public domain that are okay to copy without permission.  Here are a couple of articles on the subject of public domain.

Artist's Copyright FAQ: What is 'in the Public Domain'?

Welcome to the Public Domain

I'm not trying to ruin anyone's fun, but I am asking organizers of these painting parties to take the time to research the art first.  Show some respect for the artist who created that work of art.  Some artists may not mind having their art copied, but take the time to contact them and ask first.  Furthermore, if you ever use someone else's art on your website, be sure to give credit to the artist and a link back to that artist's site.

One more thing - copying works of art can be a great learning experience, but it's much more fun to create your own!  :)

NOTE:  It has been brought to my attention since writing this post that copying works of art for learning purposes is not actually copyright infringement.  However, it might be copyright infringement if the teacher or student is making money by selling or exhibiting the copied work.  At the very least, I think the person who is hosting these parties needs to have a basic understanding of copyrights and explain this to the students as part of the class.  They also need to attribute the artwork to the artist who created it.