Some Seriousness on a Friday

So tomorrow is the Maker Faire and Baz Biz, which I am excited to be going to with Aaron and the kids. Last year I went with Missy and we shared a table and had a great time. This time I won't be selling anything due to a really unproductive few months.

Crafty mo-jo has left the building and it's not because of hormones. It's because of intense frustration. When I do create something (which admittedly isn't often) and post it here, I am putting out there for all to see and hopefully be inspired by. Sometimes someone is inspired  and goes out and makes their own version of what I made. At first for some reason this really bothered me and I held off on posting new work for fear I'd be "copied".

Then I remembered a time when I was in high school and had my panties in a twist about being copied. One dance I had on a short dress and choose to put my corsage on my ankle rather than my wrist and by the end of the evening and for several dances after other girls began doing the same thing. (I know, what a trendsetter.) I was complaining "They copied me!" (insert whiny 16 year old voice here) when my Dad reminded me that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and that I should be pleased that I began a new "trend" so to speak. Naturally by the end of the year the trend was over, but years later when I was showing girls I mentored in the youth group some pics from high school they thought it was cool and did it for awhile at their school. That's right I'm a fashion icon. They probably thought they were being "vintage".

Ok where was I? Right, Dad had reminded me that people only choose to copy the things they think are really cool. So I should feel flattered not pissed off and self righteous. Ok then. Taking that wisdom I applied it to the situations where people took my ideas and ran with them. In all honesty they created similar things, but their items had their stamp on them, which as people who create, shouldn't that be the point? To put our ideas out there for all to be inspired by and then be excited when someone else adds to our creations?

What makes it difficult is that we can rarely trace back our inspiration, we are inspired by so much all the time. The person may not even realise they were inspired by my work in the first place. It's not like I am a famous blogger or crafter, so my stamp on the crafting world isn't exactly large. The other frustration I have is when we make a conscious effort not to be influenced by other people and  then when we show our work people tell us  oh so and so did that, or  did you get that idea from  so and so?

I have a couple of friends who do not read other people's blogs that way when they are creating their pieces images of other people's work don't pop into their heads. They'll post their new work and once in awhile will get a nasty email from someone accusing them of stealing another person's idea. Usually the types of things they get called out on are things like clothes-pin dolls or zippered pouches or some other simple design that anyone could have come up with given enough free time.

Seriously, people? No one has exclusive rights to these ideas. Except maybe our great great grandmothers. Maybe a particular person brought them back in style, but they weren't that person's idea. This kind of calling out can be hurtful and really stifling to the creative process. One friend told me she hadn't blogged for a month after these kinds of things kept happening to her because she felt like it was a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation. She honestly came up with her ideas herself and kept getting compared to other bloggers and accused of creative copyright breach.

So what are we to do? Just say ok you are the more famous blogger you keep the idea (which if you were being honest wasn't your idea to begin with) or accept that there are going to be dozens of interpretations of similar works and accept it as part of the creative process? My feeling is that it challenges us to create newer better things and when those ideas get expounded upon you move on to something else.

I also think of all the renaissance paintings depicting Madonna and Child. Criminy there must be a thousand of them. Did the first artist cry foul about it and claim a creative copyright? He may have griped to his other painting buddies, but then moved on to something bigger and better. As a result we have so many versions of the Madonna and Child and can enjoy each and every one for the individual creations they are. Personally to me, that isn't a bad thing.

Now to clarify myself so as not to be tarred and feathered at first chance I am talking about inspirational spin-offs, not flat out copying element for element. Flat out copying is entirely uncool. But taking someone else's "idea" and making it your own should always (in my opinion) be a valuable element in the creative process.

There. I am off my soap-box, anyone else want to jump on? (Be nice, though. We are just having a discussion)

Comments

[Sonya]

Propriety is a funny thing. It's innovation people, not invention. Everyone's innovating. I cannot count the times I have had an idea for something knitted, didnt't act on it and then see someone else make it/publish it. It is a big, big world and that one million monkeys thing moves lightning fast. Not to say there is no such thing as an original idea, just for every one, there is someone else thinking and dreaming it up too. Therefore people should not get into such a snit and be kind. Right thought, right action. Am I making sense? Hmmmm maybe not. I will inevitably be seeing you tomorrow and we can talk more.

[Katie Trott]

Only one other comment? Ok, here's mine. I have a very good friend who used to do fabric design for a bedding company. She used to go to the fabric store, buy fabrics, and then take them home and totally reinterpret them. That was how this SF based company did business. She always did great work and I loved visiting her studio. She told me that no idea is original. I do believe that. That is why we all still watch Martha! But I think we all read the books, look at flickr, and watch DIY to feed the artist in us. We all need the inspiration, and then it is up to us to do right.

[Katie Trott]

Only one other comment? Ok, here's mine. I have a very good friend who used to do fabric design for a bedding company. She used to go to the fabric store, buy fabrics, and then take them home and totally reinterpret them. That was how this SF based company did business. She always did great work and I loved visiting her studio. She told me that no idea is original. I do believe that. That is why we all still watch Martha! But I think we all read the books, look at flickr, and watch DIY to feed the artist in us. We all need the inspiration, and then it is up to us to do right.

[jeanetta]

i believe there are very few completely original ideas out there left. every idea has to have an inspiration. so yes, i agree make it your own is good copy everysingle bit ...bad.

[Vallen Queen]

I am totally with you on this. There are very few original ideas - like almost none. Folks bring ideas from long ago, or not so long ago, back into play and that's all it takes. I think people who outright copy don't fool anybody. I also believe that when ideas are put up in public (on a world wide web) it should be understood that by doing so you are sharing them with whomever views the idea.

[Amelia]

Really a relevant conversation to have out here in Blog land! So many great ideas and so much "sharing". I always feel nervous about posting images of my work , but it is a double edge sword. If you want customers to find you and buy your work - you have to show them as much as you can.
I think the answer is to develop your own style and then let your work constantly evolve - that way you are always improving and staying "one step ahead".
I also think that it is important to acknowledge where your inspiration comes from. With my Halloween work, for example, much of my inspiration comes from vintage decorations. So many other people get their inspiration from the same places - it is important to be clear about where you are "pulling" your ideas from - to avoid confusion and bad feelings.

[michele]

What a great, thought-provoking and level-headed post. This is a topic I have wrestled with in my own mind and with a few friends. I, too, thought it would be of great benefit to cease my endless travels through blogland, checking in on blogging friends and looking at the pictures from my flickr contacts. I've spent lots of sleepless nights thinking and pondering and having what I thought was a great creative lightbulb go off in my head...one I thought was original....and then, like you, only days later saw it on another website, another blog, another etsy. Out of respect for my fellow artists, I've tried not to crowd in on their artistic aesthetic for fear of being labled a "copier." But the blogging world has brought the creative world to a much smaller circle and there is definitely creative information overload on some level. Saturation, if you will. How to be unique? I still haven't found an answer to really settle it for me. For many weeks I've think I've been in a creative wilderness...trying to make art that is unique...continuing to sign up for swaps because then it's okay to make very similar items because the theme is universal. (And because I do LOVE swaps and LOVE to meet other talented artists). Really, I go back and forth in my own mind, give up, stop creating, get really down-in-the-dumps because I just can't stay away from my studio...come back revived and try again. If I've ever assimilated information and "art" from fellow artists, know that it wasn't intentional...after looking and reading and looking more at blogs, magazines, websites, tv and all that, all those images combine into one big jumbled pile of inspiration. Hope I wasn't too long-winded...just got to thinkin!

[Chara Michele]

I love this post, thank you for writing it! I have actually been thinking about this issue for quite awhile, because it is brought up fairly often on crafting blogs.

I can totally understand when someone gets frustrated because another person flat out copies their idea (read: copying is definitely wrong!), but at the same time we all need to remember that just because an idea seems really original does not mean that you are the first person to think of it. I think this is actually pretty big issue in the crafting/blog world. In one instance I actually saw a project on a (rather famous but shall remain unnamed here) craft blog that seemed like a very original thought sort of project. However, I also stumbled on an old 60's crafting book at a garage sale with that same exact idea in it. Does that mean the crafter copied the idea out of the book? No, I doubt she had any idea the book even existed! Yet at a later point she did get upset because someone was making a similar sort of item to her "original" item...

I do think this is an important topic in a lot of ways, but I also think you have brought up some really good points that are often forgotten about or avoided. So thank you for writing this! :)