Look at this lovely image. Our very own Brenda A says it’s “almost finished”. It’s based on the work of Wayne Forte, a talented artist based in California. Here’s a
link to his website.
Brenda completed this work with the artist’s permission. This is a good time for a reminder of the need to obtain permission before using someone else’s work. Whenever you see something that you think would look good hooked, consider who owns the copyright.
If it is a work by a living artist, you need to contact him/her, explain what you want to do and ask permission. Most will say yes right away. A couple of other recent examples where permission was sought include Dianne’s Mummer and the Bear picture.
Here’s a great set of questions to ask yourself when starting a project. It comes to us from the Old Forge Rug Hooking groupe in Ottawa. It’s called “
Copyright for Dummies”.
If you want more details, here’s a
link to a blog post we did way back when. There’s a great chart you can follow as a guide to how to proceed when copying an image.
If you’re not sure how to do any of this or whether permission is indeed required, ask someone within your rug hooking group. There’s someone sure to know.
There are also several websites that do offer copyright free works, but beware of Pinterest, Instagram, facebook, etc, as outlined in the Ottawa group’s note above. Here’s a
link to a great set of photos that are indeed free to use.
