Full Attribution …revisited
magikquilter November 29th, 2009
I have had an interesting time since publishing my last post. I was savaged by one member of our group who then cut and ran but more astounding to me was the lack of actual response for or against the issue of fair attribution of inspiration of work by quilters and artisans. I had talked to some people on facebook who were very upset about it and others who thought a simple error had been made but still needed to be addressed. By the way it has been now….Stella was influenced by the actual floor of the cathedral and by the method of Colleen Wise.…so there was definitely an issue of attribution.
I was savaged on flickr for taking the award away while I investigated the matter…I think that is what is done in sport etc while investigations go on. I am not and have never said that I am anything but an encourager of quilters …so I am not really sure of the procedure…I just knew that I had to explain why I had removed the photo and the award…although on the surface it looks as if it did not matter as very few people have been prepared to comment on the issue apart from Joan and Ruth and the previous ones on Facebook.
That post had seventy views… and of those views
30 were from people reading the blog from the link on flickr
17 views were from quilterblogs updates
5 or so from the facebook discussion
The remaining were people rechecking the post and the person who savaged me accounted for several visits though she was not prepared to speak her mind here! What is interesting is that there are several people whom I know had considered stopping blogging recently due to supposed stealing of their ideas….and not a peep to be heard from anybody who had read their posts…..one of the posts had 95 comments!
So I do thank dear Joan who is always level headed and Ruth who is as honest as they come and admits when she is torn about something.
I have been rethinking my habits online. I do spend a lot of time on flickr looking for wonderful quilts which will inspire the more experienced quilters and obviously as with many others a lot of time is spent in the encouragement of both new quilters and quilters with works in progress. I also have spent a fair bit of time on the facebook fanpage....which helps show the selection of QOTW and POTW photos. So I guess what I am saying is I am not sure how much time I am now willing to spend on the flickr side of things…it does not really seem worth the effort when issues like this arise. I think the facebook page is worth developing as it opens quilting up to people who are not on flickr and I know there are a lot of people on facebook who do not blog …although I think that many of them are involved with quilt guilds etc.
I have met some wonderful people through flickr …Ruth, Betty, Sally and Joan…who started a blog after meeting us crazed bloggers…and she now has more readers than moi! Trish is another, and several older ladies whose health is compromised and can no longer quilt but enjoy the companionship of fellow quilters. What I am finding though is that Facebook offers more immediate feedback and actually I have met more people who are willing to express themselves honestly through facebook in six months than I have in over two years of blogging and involvement in flickr.
I have decided to spend some of the time away from flickr to keep more up to date with blogging through quilterblogs.com and while I was there today I found [on the blogroll of another blogger] the blog of Michelle Hill whom I have long adored…she is an expert in the field of quilting using William Morris as inspiration…and I found her link to flickr.…oh my…this has all her fabulous published quilts. I cannot recommend this highly enough….Australian art quilting at its finest! I will be sending links to her from facebook soon so check it out there ….you will be mesmerised! She has a book available on Amazon.com which I have put on my wishlist!
Okay after a wonderful evening last night at Nida watching my friend’s grand daughter and the rest of the dance troupe I feel inspired to finish sewing one of my quilts. There was the most fabulous tribute to Michael Jackson last night….although it was a tad loud! The costumes were fabulous though…if I had my time over I would definitely have gone into costume design.
- Inspiration , My Flickr Groups , POTW , Patchwork , Personal , QOTW , Quilt Designers , Quilting , Quilting News This Week , artisan/designers , life
- Comments(7)
How kind you are….I am humbled by your admiration! Long live the amazing William Morris I say!!
I am so thrilled to be able to introduce your work to my readers and the members of the group. I bought all eight or more issues of Down Under Quilts which had your sampler in them…now I know you have a book out that is number one on my list!
I love anything William Morris! I have found that the Australian designs are really loved overseas…especially South America. Looking forward to keeping up with your work now Michelle.
I find it amazing that someone could savage you like that, after all of the hard work and effort you’ve put into your Flickr groups. As a writer I know how serious issues like copyright and attribution are. You were just trying to do the right thing. That you reinstated the award after finding out it was fine says a lot about your honesty anyway!
I know how much you’ve enjoyed your time on Flickr, so I hope this doesn’t ruin it. Maybe cutting back will help. If Facebook and QuilterBlogs are a good environment to encourage quilters and artists, though, that’s great. Maybe the extra privacy encourages people to be more open.
Either way, that quilt is beautiful. Stella definitely deserved to be your QotW! Exquisite.
I have always been inspired by your beautiful work, wander on by if ya’ want. I’ve been MIA for a while.
Kathleen, I’m so sorry that this whole thing turned ugly (but please remember that it was primarily just one person). I know there are many out there who appreciate what you do and your integrity. There may still be others who weigh in. I have found that people are often slow to comment on Flickr, and many in groups don’t seem to follow the discussions — just enjoy the pictures.
On a happier note, I’m so happy to find out about Michele Hill, her work, and her blog. Just yesterday I was taking down china, pottery, etc. from a hutch to fill with Christmas dishes and stopped to study a blue and white trivet with a William Morris design. I found myself thinking that his work would make wonderful appliqué! I just subscribed to Michele’s blog and looking forward to spending more time there.
Take care, Kathleen, and I think you would be wonderful at costume design!
joan
Hi Kathleen,
I guess I’m one of those people who read your post/comment on Flickr and didn’t respond, and given your post here, I thought I’d tell you why I, at least, didn’t.m
I felt that you had laid out your reasons why you did what you did very well, and that the quilt was then reinstated afterwards, all decisions that were made without our input (as they should have been as it’s your group and your award) so there was no reason to comment.
On a personal level, I find it irksome when people copy me, though I know it’s often couched as “inspiration” – when I’m “inspired” by someone I don’t make something that looks exactly the same! Recently,k with my “Winter Moon” quilt, for instance, a week later, one of my contacts also posted an art quilt that was trees, against a night sky, with a full moon, using a raw edge technique. The depiction of the subject matter was done very differently, but I found it annoying not even have it be acknowledged that the person was “inspired” by my quilt.
Simliarly, I have had other people do even more direct copying, even have had them go so far as to write me and ask me for every detail of how to make the quilt and then not acknowledge me or my quilt in their finished product! Sometimes I am asked for a pattern and I never provide it for that reason – I’m not interested in teaching people to make quilts that look like mine. (And I don’t understand why people want to.
Anyway – apparently I had a lot to say when prodded (lol) but wanted to let you know that even if we don’t comment, we’re reading along and do appreciate what you do.
Cheers!
Hi Kathleen, Just been catching up on things, (and thanks btw for your input on batting). I feel like I’ve come in at the tale end of this, but would like to say how much I have appreciated your input on Flickr. Indeed without your groups, I wouldn’t be posting my pics at all. I’m sure everyone understands the difficulties of your position, and only a few grumpy people would say what you did wasn’t the fairest it could possibly be. You took everything into account when the information was put before you, and made a wise and considered decision.
Please don’t leave Flickr. I can’t manage Facebook!
Well I guess I’m glad I don’t do Flickr! Isn’t blogging and Flickring etc meant to be fun? I’ll never understand why people get so “savage”.