Beaders Showcase

One of the things I truly love about the internet is the way that information can be shared. Julie from "Lush Lampwork" left a post on Frit Happens saying that she was one of this weeks featured artists on beaders showcase (http://www.beadersshowcase.com/). so...I potter over to this site and have a look and sign up to it so I am now a member! Now..I had a bit of a quandry! Does this mean I am copying Julie, stalking her almost or is it just me taking an opportunity to showcase my work and get myself known a bit more!!! I did stop thinking about this quite quickly cos it is not copying or stalking or anything like that...when you have a community of people like we have on Frit Happens information like this gets shared around. This is how we find things out. It is healthy and normal to do this! I have some artists whom I particularly admire for various reasons and they volunteer information through the various forums and mediums that I interact with them. If it can help me as an artist then I would be foolish to pass up the opportunity to use that information!

As an artist I am developing my style I have no illusions that my style will be "finalised" in the near future cos I am learning! I don't have that much time on the torch compared to others! I think I have discussed this on another post! Dots feature heavily in my work at the moment but thats not to say they are my "signature" just a technique I have been practising and am getting comfortable with! But I do look around other peoples work and get ideas and inspiration! I NEVER blatantly copy work I always try to put my own spin on it! This is another debate that I am not going to get into here cos it is quite heated when it gets going!!! But dots are dots! Flowers are flowers etc! It is what you do with them that marks you as an individual and this is what I am developing.

Networking is so important and the internet is a most wonderful tool for this! As I develop my business I am surprised at how much time I spend on the net. My hubby is getting a bit hacked off I think!!! But it is my support system, my teacher, my idea bouncer around and most importantly the people I have "met" and spoken to are my friends! Getting into beads has been fantastic for me and I love it!
TTFNx