Fakers and G R A C E

"It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation."
Herman Melville

I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season....I have had a busy couple of weeks, and in addition to all of the regular things I have on my checklist this time of year, I am also grappling with an internal struggle of how to handle it when other designers outright copy my work.

Since these designs come from my soul, I find it not only disheartening but a complete violation of who I am. These works are personal to me, and to find someone looking at a picture and trying to replicate my pieces exactly as I make them offends me greatly.

I should also note that ALL of my work and the content that is used to describe them is copyrighted. That means I could get a lawyer and send a nasty letter because what you are doing is not only immoral but illegal!

I can tell who it is because they leave an indellible mark everytime they visit my Etsy shop or my Web site. Their visits to both have increased exponentially the past few months--to the point where they show up as a top 10 visitor on both sites in Google Analytics!

I know that part of the artistic way is to borrow ideas and concepts from others. But where true artists are different is that they take those concepts and make them their own.

I have always found imposters to be a pet peeve. And when they are imposters on my own work, they are even more so! I wish I could call that person out, but perhaps when or if they ever come across this they will know who they are. But I bet--given that they find nothing wrong with taking others' artistic designs and claiming them as their own--that they won't recognize it is them I am writing about anyway.

And if you think I'm just throwing stones, think again. It's one thing to copy a circle or a component, and entirely another when you are copying something that is very specific to what I do. You say there are no original ideas? In your world, there must not be.

I have learned a lot about grace this year--to live with dignity and respect, and to expect it from others. It's not always an easy task, particularly as an artist. I work hard to create original work, from which I try to help feed my family and grow my business.

I am trying to rise about these latest events and not let them bother me. But they have, and this is why I am getting it off my chest here.

So hey, violating artist: if you read this post someday, reconsider your path. Make yours an authentic one. Make yours original. Make yours real.

A love like no other....

I rarely write about specific things that are personal to me, but I can't help it tonight.

I just got the proofs back from my son's recent 4-year old photo shoot (here's one of us together). My heart burst with joy and emotion to see that beautiful little face, that face so full of promise and sheer happiness. That face so bright with innocence!

Four years ago, I quit my career to stay home with my little baby boy. It wasn't even a difficult decision. I was ready to stop the rat race and put myself into something that I felt really mattered. And when they put me in his arms after a difficult pregnancy, I was so relieved and soooo instantly bonded to him.

I remember wondering before he was born if I would bond with him in the way I'd seen other mothers bond to their children. I was adopted, and that experience taught me that mothers could leave their children as difficult as it might be for the promise of a better life. When I met my birthmother years later I realized just what an incredible sacrifice it was to leave your child to the trust of somemone else with the hope that they would be whole.

The meaning of it hit me even more as soon as my own son was born; I couldn't imagine such a sacrifice, but I sure did love my birthmother even more for doing it. But as soon as he was out of my stomach, I vowed to that cooing little boy I would never leave him. He could always count on me, no matter what.

He'll be 4 years old this month, and I can't believe how fast the time has gone. I am so grateful for the past four years, of being able to be his mother and grow from him and learn so much from this little boy. He makes me want to be a better person. He makes me want to be the person I was meant to be...

Happy Birthday little man. Your mom loves you very much!

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Godspeed, by the Dixie Chicks:

Dragon tales and the water is wide
Pirate’s sail and lost boys fly

Fish bite moonbeams every night

And I love you

Godspeed, little man

Sweet dreams, little man

Oh my love will fly to you each night on angels wings

Godspeed

Sweet dreams

The rocket racer’s all tuckered out

Superman’s in pajamas on the couch

Goodnight moon, we’ll find the mouse
And I love you

Godspeed, little man
Sweet dreams, little man

Oh my love will fly to you each night on angels wings

Godspeed

Sweet dreams
God bless mommy and match box cars

God bless dad and thanks for the stars
God heard amen, wherever you are

And I love you

Godspeed, little man

Sweet dreams, little man
Oh my love will fly to you each night on angels wings

Godspeed

Godspeed

Godspeed

Sweet dreams
Godspeed

Happy Holidays Sale! 15% off All Designs through Monday, Nov. 30th!

Sale is effective through Monday, Nov. 30th and applies to both my Etsy site and my Web site, Original Hardware. This offer not good with any other discounts or promotions. ENJOY!

Forest Fires and Gratitude....

"Saying thank you is more than good manners. It is good spirituality."

--Alfred Painter

The pies are done and the kitchen is wiped clean. I sit with glass of wine in hand, a quiet house, a quiet night. The half-round moon glows through my studio window like a magical beacon: its winter white aura soothes me from a hectic, but fun day, with my son.

As many of you know from my blog posts, this has been an incredible year. A year of challenge and change, with still more of both to come. From this challenge and change has come an incredible bounty: a creative fervor and ambition that has taken my business to some great places and set me up for a year of more great places. It has also taken my spirit to some interesting corners: some dark, others sweet and full of light.

It would be easy to focus on the negative that is going on within our own lives; our community, the world. It would be easy to point fingers at the things that aren't working and call them out. But why is that? Why is it not easier to take stock of the beautiful things that are indeed working in our lives each and every day--the very things that we take little notice of sometimes but that bring us genuine joy?

This past year, it would have been easier for me in particular to find the things that sucked the happiness out of me and took me to the dark places. My 40th year on the planet has brought with it lots of turbulence. Ten years ago, I would have mired myself into the negative places that all of this turbulence has brought me. I would have asked "why me?" "what did I do?". But do you know what? A miracle has happened in my life. Amidst all of the things that have brought me sadness this past year, I have found myself to be at peace with myself; peace with my life; peace with who I am.

Had I not been through the fire this past year, I wouldn't have had this amazing revelation within. I would not have had this amazing regrowth that comes from being burned around the edges and then burned into a pile of ashes. But I realize now that you can't emerge something better, something stronger, something greener without having been burned first. You can't emerge like a Phoenix from the ashes without having been burned first.

This is just like the forests that surround me in Colorado. Many of them come alive in years after they've been scorched by fire. Nature needs the fire to regrow, replenish, wipe itself clean. You can see where the Colorado landscape needs it most; where years of fire suppression has reigned supreme to protect multi-million homes, pine beetles have taken over and killed many trees in its path. Where where was once an amazing canopy of green there are beetle-infested brown trees taking over. In short, much of the Colorado forest could use a good fire.

I liken the Colorado landscape these days to my soul. It is time for a fire to cut it all down, reduce me to my core, take me to the places I've never been. Without it, I won't be able to emerge with a stronger stump, a greener aura, a more fertile soul...

And for that, more than anything on this Thanksgiving Day, I am thankful.

Authenticity

“The authentic self is the soul made visible”
--Sarah Ban Breathnach


I have read Sarah Ban Breathnach's books, in particular Simple Abundance, many times throughout my adult life. In her writings, she talks a lot about what it means for each of us to be authentic; to be our truest selves.

To me, this authenticity comes out in many ways. For artists, it manifests itself in the things we create from that authentic spirit. And when others try to take that authenticity in the form of art and call it their own, it is not just a violation of idea it is a violation of soul!

I think about this a great deal lately, for lots of reasons. I think about the way in which my work is my authentic soul made visible and how important it is to me on so many levels. I am grateful that I am capable of expressing my soul in ways that others just cannot; each of us has the power to express it, but not in the same way which makes us all different. It makes us who we are.

As I go into the next year, I will be concentrating on what it means to be my truest self once in light of the fact that my life is about to change once again.

My sense of self is about to go through another transformation. And transformations can be tough. They rock you to the core, and they take you to places you aren't sure your heart wants to go. But after all of that struggle comes peace in the heart. So when the bad stuff comes, I want to remember what I know to be true today and always:

* I am stronger than I think I am
* I am resilient and flexible
* I am a wonderful mom, friend and daughter.
* I want to do good by people, and I want them to do good by me.
* I expect great things to happen and I know that it is up to me to make them come true
* Shitty things happen to good people. It is what they do in those times that makes them even more true, more authentic
* My experiences have shaped who I am, and that makes me truly unique and special. It does not make me wrong, bad or inadequate.
* This too shall pass...

What makes you authentic? What are you doing in your life to nurture that authentic spirit? What are you doing in your life that is not authentic?

I find myself asking these questions everyday, and by asking them they have taken me to all kinds of places.

As we peel back the layers of our selves, we can see what is really there. To be authentic we must shed those things that we have borrowed along the way that no longer fit or never did. We must start anew, awash in the promise of a new day.

Too much thinking going on......

It is quiet in the house. My son is taking a rarest of naps (he is recovering from an ear/sinus infection) and I have a lot on my mind.

This morning, I went to the gym and tried to run from it. I ran so fast I thought that I would sweat it all out; then I went to lift class and worked so hard my muscles buckled...

But the thoughts are still there, so it must mean that I must sit here in the silence and figure out what to do with them.

A friend of mine gave me this quote book awhile back, and I find myself sitting in the sunshine of my studio thumbing through the pages. This quote is the one that will guide me today:

This is me today.....

"Whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult." ~Charlotte Whitton


I had a rockin' few days, and I'm reveling in my woman' power today.

In 4 days I have packaged and SHIPPED 100+ orders that came as a result of my Featured Seller spot on Etsy last week (thank you Etsy!); responded to several interesting wholesale inquiries AND finished my first catalog order EARLY.

I have finished 2 loads of laundry, made arrangements for my son's birthday party, went grocery shopping and made 3 meals that went into the freezer for later.

Now, I realize this isn't a typical week. But how often do you look back at what you've done and marvel at the accomplishment?! No, really marvel at it?

Most of the time, I just think it's all in a day's work. But lately I've come to realize that we women have an amazing ability to multitask and get a ton of shit done AND do it well.

I'm all for taking time to relax and not have anything on the proverbial plate. But when life throws you many balls at once, the only thing to do is juggle.