There has been quite a bit of emphasis in my little world with buying handmade lately. I've tried to adhere to that when buying new things for gifts or for me. It's a bit hard to follow when it comes to clothes and shoes that are affordable or the obvious things like toilet paper and such. The idea is to support the artist and not the big corporations. Here's my questions - what if supporting the artists is also buying something from a large company?My brother is an illustrator and you can find all kinds of yummy things to look at on his website, MrBiggs. We, we being the family, often have access to things he's done in it's original form. However, he is an artist that supports himself with his drawings, therefore, we often have to buy mass produced items. It's still an artist work, it's still incredible, it's just not printed in his house. Is this so wrong? I don't think so. He gets credit for it and I'm guessing he gets his cut (Brian, correct me if I'm way off with that one).
I recently (a few minutes ago) purchased a stationery set from Galison/Mudpuppy. The image on the set is seen above. My brother did the illustrations and it rocks. You can be hip and cool like me and purchase it here - Galison/Mudpuppy - it's only $9 and you get 20 sheets of stationery, 20 envelopes, and nifty stickers. Find me a better deal elsewhere, I dare you.
I'll end this with saying that I will do my darnedest to buy handmade when it makes sense, but in this case, it certainly did not make sense.
5 comments:
Oh! You beat me, I want a set of that stationery too! :) I'd say that in the case of family, handmade goes out the window a little.
I'll probably make the purists really mad when I say, I think your purchase here was in the spirit of buying handmade. Artists need paying jobs and designing for a big shop or company is not a crime.
Also, I think just being aware, thoughtful, and conscious of what you are buying (and who made it), etc., is also in this same spirit.
Lovely stationery design!
There's a brother, too!!! Your whole family rocks.
I LOVE the art on this paper set. I would buy it even if the artist weren't your brother. And I don't think you're violating the handmade ethic.
I am a major Claudine Hellmuth fan. I love that she has an Etsy site, even though she's a big-shot designer. And if I buy a mass-produced item with one of Claudine's illustrations on it, I feel like I'm still supporting her and helping to make it possible for her to continue offering her original work in our favorite venue.
Two cents.
Oh, there is a brother, or two. The 4 of us are a creative power house (the non-illustrator brother is a swordfighter, wood craftsman, and makes harps - yes, harps. He chooses to go to Law School in his spare time).
yeah, what happened to that one?? law school is SOOOO not creative
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