Mike's Hard Lemonade

Who would have thought that Mike's Hard Lemonade would have a quote on one of their bottles that I would deem worthy of posting on my blog. Okay so maybe quite a few of you....but that's beside the point. In the last couple months I have been involved in conversations about jewelry designs being "copied". Last night at dinner it came up again.

Throughout the discussions & conversations my thoughts have been that anyone & everyone can copy your designs. If you put your work out there to sell, to be showcased, or even just wear, your design can and probably will be copied; and you can almost guarantee your work to be copied if you teach or get published.

There is a wide range of how & why you are copied. There are those that can just look at your design and go home and make a copy. There are those who may copy your design simply because they can make it themselves or who don't want to pay what you are asking for your piece. There are those who will copy your design just to make one for themselves & those who will sell them or even teach a class. There are those who even though they copy your design they give you credit for the original, and then those who will copy your design and take credit for the original too. All the same things can be said about techniques too.

With all that said, when asked, I struggled with the answer to the question. How would I feel if someone copied one of my designs?

I would be okay if someone copied one of my original designs, would I want credit for it, before my answer would have been a firm yes, and that is where Mike's Hard Lemonade comes in....Troy & I were eating dinner and I looked over at the bottle and there it was staring me in the face:

It's funny how such a simple little thing can change your way of thinking. I tore the label off the bottle and now have it posted right above my work space. Now I think I'd be okay even if I didn't get credit, would I still like credit, probably, but after all being an "artist" isn't about getting credit, it's about making the world a little bit more beautiful.

Thanks Mike!