can i borrow some milk?

ok so this discusion probably comes up in the art world a lot...


borrow
A
verb
1
borrow

get temporarily; "May I borrow your lawn mower?"
Category Tree:
get; acquire
╚borrow
2
adopt, borrow, take over, take up

take up and practice as one's own
Category Tree:
get; acquire
╚accept; take; have
╚adopt, borrow, take over, take up


what is the difference between copying and being inspired by someone's work?

i recently had a friend who said she was so inspired by something that i did, that she "borrowed" my design idea of mine. i was not happy about it.

so in a nutshell, i gave a friend of mine some earrings that i created. she said they were too heavy for her ears so she decided to make them in a lighter gauge wire. she loved them so much that she borrowed the design and made some of her own (my design with a few changes) she then continued with it and starting selling the earrings in boutiques...

i really didn't know what to say when she told me. i was thinking, well maybe its not exactly the same. but then, i kept thinking about what she said about "borrowing" the idea and selling the item. i couldn't get past that.

now we are all inspired by something else. not much is original these days because there are brilliant people everywhere through out the universe. we as human keep re-creating the same things in different ways. but i couldn't help to be bothered that my "friend" would take an idea of mine and call it "borrowing."

this friend showed absolutely no remorse for my feelings in the situation. that's what upset me the most. maybe my definition of a friend is different then hers. maybe it just doesn't mean that much and its okay in her world to be inconsiderate.

all i know is, i wouldn't copy her work. no matter what. that is not why i choose to create things. creating comes from a deep down place somewhere inside me where i cant even see. things just happen, and at the strangest times. i will be trying so hard for an idea and nothing will come...or i will just be messing around and a brilliant idea appears...and brilliant is in the eye of the beholder.

i love to do art and i treat what i do with respect. ive heard discussions about how doing art is extremely selfish. i believe that is somewhat true. sometimes people take their work too seriously and some don't. i cant say i take myself completely seriously, bc there would be no fun in that... however, i do know that i still respect and care about the things that come out of me. they are a part of me.

i would expect the next person of the street to rip me off, but a friend, no. and maybe that's me being naive...