How Famous Is Too Famous

Above you see two gorgeous collages from one of the most famous museums of Saint Petersburg, Russia, The Russian Museum 

(I am giving full credit to the museums organizers and web designers for that) 

 In between I placed some of my favorite paintings creating a strip of framed art. Oh, no, they are not in that museum. Yet! Let's say it is my vision board, my meditative visualization :)

And here is why I did this collage. 

Let me explain.

The first couple months of this year I am quite busy by working almost at once on three projects. These three projects, yet to be announced, involve certain exclusivity. One is non-exclusive, one is fully-exclusive, and one is semi-exclusive (meaning that I do retain certain rights, but I do promise to keep the term of the contract). The projects are exciting, and they involve my Fine Art skills as well as illustrative skills. 

While I was drafting the agreement for exclusive rights I thought to check online my name: who and where is using my name or my art. 

I simply typed Irina Sztukowski in Image box on Google; and oh Boy, oh Boy, oh Boy.. I was ready for some interesting surprises.

It is certainly cool when people use your art for a poetry, such Livejournal.ru did (my art there on some what 20 posts from different people, exercising literal skills and using my art for their inspiration). Yet, I wasn't contacted by any of these people for the permission. Hm.

I also found that my Eiffel Tower painting became one of the most famous paintings of this tower:

I've learned that one of my art-photographs of Ponte Vecchio, that I made in Florence, Italy became a cover for the article Famous Bridges of the World:

And one author of the CoolStuff Directory decided to write about me and place several of my paintings:

What I was truly happy to discover, that the real museum, the Tao House Eugene O'Neill Museum in Danville, California, decided to use my artwork Old Barn At Tao House for the cover of their Artists Days at Tao House page.

 Yey!! 

And many many other surprises were waiting for me on the World Wide Web that day. No wonder, pretty soon museums will be calling me to place my art on their walls ;).

It is all great when you find that besides your own website where customers can purchase canvas prints, home decor, clothes with art, and other goodies; that people admire my art and my painings bring joy and inspire good articles, poetry (in some cases even tattoos' designs.. I kid you not! I found that too!).

But I also found some websites that offer my art for sale without my consent. For obvious reasons I am not placing their URL's here. The digital images are snatched right from my personal website and I am sure they offer a poor quality copies there. 

I also got a kick when found out that in China, they actually offer my watercolor artworks to be duplicated in oils. Good Luck Guys!! I am not terribly happy about that. Some action will be definitely taken. 

But on a good note, I am thinking: if I am an artist who loves to go to the museums, and learn from the great masters. And, I am, a curious person, who challenges myself all the time, learns how to paint some elements from 16th - 19th Century masterpieces; and, I do it in watercolor looking at oil paintings. Then why not!!! 

When my art is in the famous museums around the world; I am giving a full permission to the Dreamers like myself; go ahead and visit those museums and paint my art!! 

:)

With this said, I am back to my studio, and I continue producing the best art I can:

And you are always welcomed to visit my "Museum" with more than 50 different Galleries with more than 1800 images of art for all good tastes! 

:)