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)