Artists and Copyrights

New York Memories

So- I have a question about artists and how copyrights affect our art.  I am VERY careful about not copying art of other artists, and paint my paintings from photos I take myself.  I would hate it if anyone copied my work, and would not do that to another artist EVER.  Well- I have some NYC subway tokens and thought they would make fun charms for my jewelry in my Etsy shop.  I looked around the internet - I saw many jewelry items using subway tokens, so I thought it was okay to use them.  After all, I am not trying to sell them to use on my subway- or saying that I designed them myself.  I am in no way claiming that I am affiliated with the MTA- or selling them as a token, simply as a piece of art.  My question is- how can recycling  a subway token hurt the MTA in any way?  I think I am free to sell these out-of-use tokens on ebay or at an antique store, so why not as a charm?

This necklace has been listed on Etsy for some time and out of the blue, I find out that it infringes on a trademark and I cannot sell it.  My main problem isn't that I cannot sell the necklace, but that MANY items like mine are available with a simple Google search.  Maybe I should have one of these other artists sell my item for me since they are free to sell them.

Sea Glass Jewelry

I have a confession to make.  I have a beach combing addiction.  I cannot walk on the beach without staring at the sand, hoping to find the wonderful little treasures that come from the ocean .  I have mason jars full of shells, and also sea glass.  Every once in a while, I make jewelry out of the sea glass.  I guess I feel that using it justifies me constantly adding to the collection.  Last week, I got the urge to make some jewelry.  I got out my soldering iron and picked through my sea glass.  I had so much fun!

Finishing Watercolors

I am finishing up some watercolors that have been on my table for a few days. The Mason jar with Tootsie Pops is done, I think. Painting a jar, or anything glass, has its set of problems- but a jar with something inside is a whole new problem. Hopefully, I got the highlights right so it looks like glass and just enough of the aqua color without too much! Sometimes I just like a white background on my still life paintings. Also, if I keep working at it- I will just overdo it and not like it. I am also finishing up a watercolor for my mom. Her house was broken into last summer, and one of the things they took was her set of sterling- and her mom's set that was the same pattern. She had a few cocktail forks that weren't put away in the box, so she still has them. She isn't replacing the silver since it is ridiculously expensive now, but I wanted her to have something to remember it by. I started drawing the fork, and knew it wasn't enough - that is where the strawberry comes in. Her silver pattern is beautiful- Towle Old Colonial- and you will be able to see the whole piece when I post it.

I should be done with that one in the next day or so- next time I sit down to paint. Today is stained glass and tomorrow is oil painting day. Hopefully I should be able to post it soon.

Thanks for looking!

Sheryl