Art Thief
Working as a gallery attendant in a art museum with priceless works of art, and always having the constant worry of what a art thief looks like, it makes you suspicious. I always worry about people who come into the museum late in the day and people who move quickly and deliberately, like they are on a mission, but maybe the art thief is more casual, passive, less obvious, stealthy, just average, not suspicious. Maybe a art thief isn't what I think at all, maybe they are just a business that goes on DeviantArt looking for artwork to steal and then with DA working as an unknowing accomplice by making a default setting Free Download? Seriously @DeviantArt, why would you do such a thing??? Basically what DeviantArt has done with this default setting is make your artwork free clip art to anyone who wants to take it. Yesterday, I saw some of my artwork on Pinterest with some vintage travel posters, I was kind of flattered, but then, maybe I am that old that my art fits the category, as I clicked through a couple different boards, again seeing many of my railroad and pin-up illustrations that people pinned with links that led back to my page here on DeviantArt, however there was one that had one of my pin-up illustration on a rustic metal sign and conveniently my name and copyright were removed, the link also said sold out and no longer available. So I did a reverse image search of the metal sign, but nothing came up, instead images came up of my artwork on blankets from a company in Los Angeles, CA! I have never authorized any of this. I always try to put a DeviantArt watermark on my art, but if I forget to do that, that shouldn't be a default for people to take my art and do what ever they like with it. I went back to Deviant to find the artwork only to find that for some reason, this illustration and many others as well many of my photos are set for "Free Downloads". I would never do this. I've had artwork stolen before online, one company in Russia even made decks of playing cards using my Celtic Lace illustrations. It's frustrating when people steal your art, you feel angry, violated, wronged, it compounded when somebody you trusted like DeviantArt is complicit in the theft by leaving the door open for people to steal. DeviantArt, you need to fix this. It shouldn't be a default, it should be an option. Whoever thought this was a good idea should be fired. Somebody at DeviantArt made a a decision to do this, the default for Freed Download needs to be removed.
MIA
Another Auld Lang Syne
I learned a long time a go, to try to not burn bridges and to always leave the door open to old friends and lovers. In a lifetime we all make mistakes and there are always more than a few regrets that we tuck away in that hidden spot in our soul that sometimes a sight, a sound, a touch or a taste might allow us to revisit and wonder what if.
New Year is a time to reflect back on mistakes made, loves lost, old friends forgotten. A time to resolve to do better in the coming year. To at least try...
To all my new friends here at DA, my family, my old friends, my colleagues, customers, our Military and our Veterans, Thank You for all that you have given me, I hope you all got something in return from knowing me. Happy New Year!
-Don Henderson
Explore...
Beyond that, my son and I will be working at Eddie Adams Barnstorm this weekend. My son and I were invited by Eddie's widow Alyssa to come up to Jeffersonville, New York to work at Barnstorm. We will be representing the New Kensington Camera Club.
For those of you who don't know, Eddie Adams was a Pulitzer Prize winning photographer from New Kensington in Western Pennsylvania. Eddie was a U.S. Marine during the Korean War. He started his photo journalistic career working for the Valley Daily News Dispatch in New Kensington. He bought his first camera at Ken Kamera also in New Kensington. Eddie's roots are here, but he made his name in Vietnam as a combat photographer working for Assoiated Press. On a fateful day in 1968, Eddie took a photo that would change his life and rocket him to fame with his Siagon Execution photo. The shocking photo, a single click of a shutter on a Leica rangefinder camera almost singlehandedly brought the grime reality of the Vietnam War to the world stage and won him an unwanted Pulitzer Prize for Spot Photogrphy in 1969. It was a photo that change the course of history and led Eddie to refer to his camera as 'an unlikely weapon' as he went on to not only document the war in Southeast Asia, but the floatila of Vietnamese refugees fleeing Vietnam in rickety boats. It was these photos, of Vietnamese Boat People, that Eddie was most proud. Eddie went on to photograph no less than 13 wars in his amazing career. Eddie photograph the famous and not so famous with a genuine down to earth approach that brought out the very best in his subjects while working for numerous publications including Penthouse and Parade Magazine. As a photographer for Parade, Eddie's photos were seen every Sunday by Millions of American's as they sipped their moring coffee. Eddie photographed everyone from Mother Terasa and Mohamad Ali to Louie Armstrong and Clint Eastwood as well popes, president and dictators. Eddie was on top, he was interviewed, he was photographed, he was one of the most respected and talented photographers of our time until he was stricken with ALS. But Eddie's legacy lives on as he continues to mentor and inspire aspiring photo journalists though the Eddie Adams Barnstorm workshops from his farm in New York. Barnstorm brings together the very best photogrphers in photo journalism to mentor the very best up and coming photographers looking to change the world with their photos. An unlikely weapon indeed!
It's been awhile...
No big deal, I didn't like working for them, too many rules and regulations, not enough creativity, I'm not interested in being a production artist, I'd rather be doing design and creative work. It was a good time to close that chapter, I'm actually happier now than I've been in years. I was never cut out for the corporate world, but I played the game, maybe for too long, but it is what it is and now it's history! I did get to work with some really cool and wonderful people, who I will always value as friends.So what am I up to now? I'm doing design work for Operation Finally Home, they build custom mortage free homes for wounded Veterans coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan. They do amazing work for amazing and deserving people! It really makes me feel good to be doing something that actually makes a difference in the lives of real people who have given so much for our country. If you'd like to know more about Operation Finally Home, please visit www.operationfinallyhome.com
I'm also exploring one of my other passions, photography... Early last year, my Shane and my good friend Gary Sprague (Purple Flower wallpaper on WindowsXP) got together and started to act on a idea I had to start a camera club. After a chance meeting with Bill Hall and Jim Thomas with the Heritage Museum in Tarentum, the New Kensington Camera Club was born! I was elected the Club's first president and together with the Museum, we have put the ball in motion to have a top notch camera club that will be involved in all aspects of photography. One of our goals is to get a Pennsylvania Historic Marker in New Kensington for Pulitzer Prize winning photographer Eddie Adams who passed away from ALS in 2004. In 2014 he will be eligible for a Historic Marker. To date, we have had to successful photography shows including the first Annnual Eddie Adams Day Photography Festival! The festival included a showing of 21 large Gicleé prints by Eddie Adams, photos by the late Bill Larkin of the Valley News Dispatch, photos by Mychal Watts and a juried show with a $500 first prize. As special guests, we had Eddie's widow Alyssa and their son August Adams as well as fellow Pulitzer Prize winner and Natrona Heights native John Filo!
Needless to say, I've been very busy, the New Kensington Camera club have a very active Facebook page at www.facebook.com/groups/NewKen… a Flickr group: www.flickr.com/groups/1809756@… We are also on Google+ and we have our own dot org web site at www.nkcameraclub.org ;
If you would like to see some of my latest photos, please visit my Flickr page at: www.flickr.com/photos/yankeedo…
I promise that I will try to post some new Vector Art here on DA when I get some time.
Reporting live from the Aluminum Capitol of the World...
-YD