Me, the things I make, and the complications associated with re-imagined art.

My PicsArt profile

My niece Em (and her dogs) wearing the body of Marie Antoinette.

I like to make stuff.  

I especially like to make things from stuff other people already made. Some people call this mixed media. Others call it plagiarism, but those people don't matter.  

My first thing is mixed media. I take vintage ads, old photos and other ephemera,  mostly by Tim Holtz, and make stuff I like. It's like crafting but cool.  

My second and favorite medium is digital editing. I am considered a "Master" on PicsArt which means I get to use stuff for free that other people have to pay for. It took a couple of years to master the interface, and what started as "I wonder if I could do this?", eventually became "I don't suck at this and I wish I could make money from this!" 

I don't. I probably never will,  but sometimes I imagine I'm rich from all the already art that I re-art. 

I am a moderator for a space on PicsArt that I created and I have a decent amount of followers. It's cool, but is it art? That depends on who you ask. 

Art is subjective. Those who are extremely talented painters, musicians, poets, and actors would probably say it isn't, but that's just how fancy people talk (see: Paris Hilton).

If I use an image that someone else took and make significant changes to it, who owns it? According to copyright law,  the original photographer owns it. According to me, it should be mine, right? Or 50/50? I don't know. 

I feel like I might be super brilliant. 

My Nephews face on a famous oil painting from a long time ago (probably) 

Portrush Beach 1953

I am a first generation American. My parents immigrated from Northern Ireland before I was born. My mother discovered her love of reading at the beach growing up. As a teen she would always bring a bag filled with as many books as she could carry with her on family beach days. As soon as they arrived she would grab her own blanket and begin her search for the perfect cavernous area near the shore to use as her private reading nook for the day. 

I once asked my mother why she had always went off on her own, "Why did you stay far away from your family during beach trips"? 

My Granny lost her Father when she was 5. At the age of 7 she, her mother and older siblings were sent to live in a Belfast Workhouse. These places were terrible and existed years before child labor laws. Children living in workhouses worked (Google the term, "the workhouse wail") .

My Grandmother was illiterate her entire life. 

My Mothers explanation was simple enough, she thought it would be rude.  

My mom never read in front of her mom out of fear of shaming her. 

I also remember watching my Granny toss my older sister's book in the living room fireplace as a child when we went to visit her in Belfast! It was wild! I never knew why, and to be honest I still don't. Did she resent other women who could read? Why didn't she learn to read later as her older siblings did? Shame must have played a big part, but I can't fathom that something so simple as the reading of books was a cause for such contention in my family. 

Anyway, In the spirit of this challenge I decided to share this story and the mixed media project it inspired me to make. 

This photo is my mother on one of those family trips. When this was taken she was just coming into adulthood, I believe she was engaged to my Father at this time. Doesn't she look beautiful? I used Tim Holtz paper for the background and covered it with distressed oxides, then added Stampers Anonymous stitching by Tim Holtz as a border. I added the word token and film strip then covered it with vintage matte finish. The dragonfly was from my crafting junk drawer. The quote is by Socrates.