Have you ever been accused of copying another artist

[Heidi Maiers]

I don

[Steven Sweeney]

The guy

[Heidi Maiers]

Thanks for your response Steven,
I was very tactful in my reply to this accusation, but still, I like your would-be response!
To his credit, he did say that he thought my work was of a very high standard and said that he did not think there was any impropriety on my part. His theory was that whoever sent me the mold was claiming the work as his own and was just having me do modifications.

I would never attempt to edit anyone else's work - even if they asked me to, so it was still a huge insult that someone would think I made the bust by pressing it into a mold. I have put a small progression of images of the process on my "Work in Process" page to avoid this sort of mistaken assumption in the future.

I'm just grateful that he at least was bold enough to confront me immediately and directly with his false theory rather than to start spreading untrue rumors that would have ruined my career for sure.

[Lacey Lewis]

I feel your pain... I never have been accused of this with my art, but I have twice been accused of plagiarism. One time was for my senior thesis paper in high school, and I was very passionate about the subject and had been researching for months. My teacher was quite rude, going so far as to say "You are not intelligent enough to have written this."

I'm so glad that in the end this person realized that they were mistaken.

[Marcus Lim]

Originally Posted by Heidi Maiers

Of course I have over 1000 photographs of the entire process proving that I made it completely from scratch, from only photos of the real bela...Well, I suppose that's one drawback to doing a portrait of a famous person.

Heidi, i can understand the angst of being accused of copying, when it's just mere coincidences that both you and the other sculptor think alike.

It's one fact artists are jumpy about copied works with the our works now being so readliy available on the internet, but it's another that i frown on about accusing someone else of copying, unless he's Michelangelo! Even so, i believe he should have gotten his facts right.

Well it's a good thing you have pictures to support your working process and your work. An animal painter friend of mine got sued in court for a similar reason, and he had no case because he had whipped up the original image that he painted from - photographed by himself! Case dismissed!

The chinese have a saying, "Real Gold never fear no fiery fire" which meant that true talents stands true to all odds. Even if he does spread rumors about you, you will still be able to stand tall in your circle.

[Heidi Maiers]

Lacey, I wonder how many thoughtless teachers there are out there who have literally destroyed or severely damaged a child's creative abilities by acusing them of cheating because they are "obviously not gifted, intelligent, or capable of such things". A similar thing happened to my husband when he was very young - he drew a fabulous drawing and the teacher ripped it up and acused him of having traced it. I don't think he ever attempted to draw again.

Marcus, I've learned it's a very wise thing to document your work for just this reason (plus, it is interesting to look back on the process, or to use it a a learning tool for others). Still, I think anyone who saw the two busts together would know immediately that one could not have possibly been copied from the other. They are just too different. Wish I could post them and show you what I mean.

A friend brought up a good point that this was probably the perfect way to meet someone of his stature in the art world. Because he might feel obligated to make up for the injustice, the encounter could open some interesting doors.

Anyway, it all ended well. Just a big shock initially to get a letter like that, but it was easy to clear up the misconception and he apologized several times for his initial attack and for distressing me. I'm sure he won't be so quick to judge in the future. We all make a$$es of ourselves from time to time.

[Claudemir Bonfim]

Originally Posted by Heidi Maiers

Lacey, I wonder how many thoughtless teachers there are out there who have literally destroyed or severely damaged a child's creative abilities by accusing them of cheating because they are "obviously not gifted, intelligent, or capable of such things".

Hi Heidi,
This is a very interesting topic.
I remember a literature professor at the university who gave me a bad grade just because my theories were too above her understanding, I proved later that I was right and then she used my group's ideas to build her own project at the university, now our article is published in a scientific magazine. I'm happy that I didn't pay attention to my professor and I wish your husband would go back to drawing.
About that "guy", I think everyone deserves a second chance!