Over the past 2 weeks, I’ve manually (and individually) updated all 470 pages on my site. I ran into a lot of unexpected problems & I had to fix issues that I’ve been delaying/unaware of since February 2008. That’s when my web host stopped supporting Frontpage & I needed to convert to Dreamweaver wayyyyy faster than I was comfortable with. TurtleKiss.com isn’t perfect, but considering it’s functional and built on a foundation of questionable online tutorials, it’s decent. I’m thankful I was able to take the time to make the design more consistent and professional in appearance. Can’t wait to see how long it takes for the code to become a mess again.
I plan to transfer & organize all of the photos from my old computers (five hard drives!!!!) to one external drive. I’ve set up my 4-computer network and reconfigured my firewall & router to play nice with the new computer. I’ve got all computers sharing files with each other, as well as the with the printer, Xbox360 and the PS3. Even the Nintendo DS is picking up the Wi-Fi signal again. I had forgotten how nice it is when things run smoothly (it’s been a while.) I’m not a fan of Vista, but I’ll be upgrading to Windows 7 as soon as Dell decides to send to me. I had the same exact situation with Windows Millenium before XP was released.
My break from eBay was fantastic – I did NOT miss the tedium of listing auctions! However, I have many (30+) full-sized paintings to list before the Christmas shopping frenzy begins.
Just a reminder: My breast art will be featured in the December 2009 issue of MAXIM magazine, available November 17. Please don’t hesitate to reserve your session for a commissioned “New Hope” breast painting. These are great personalized gifts for investors, collectors of original art, creative individuals, and the person who has everything. Requests will be scheduled on a first-come, first served basis.
The “UGH” section starts here.
You will no longer be seeing “similar items” from other sellers in any of my listings. These “similar items” too often lead directly to the auctions of scumbag parasites. I am DONE helping plagiarists market their unoriginal, copycat GARBAGE. I was recently told I “might enjoy” a gilded breast painting from another seller today! Are people seriously incapable of thinking for themselves? I haven’t even listed a single piece from my “Gilded Hope” series yet ( or “Gilded Insomnia,” “Gilded Entropy,” & their respective ACEO crossover equivalents.) Stealing ideas from an honest person must be a “unique” and “unorthodox” feeling.
I was not surprised by this revelation:
The last bit of this post’s title refers to that “artist” who’s been profiting off my ideas in a seemingly symbiotic, amicable, & harmless manner for quite some time. I’ll save the screen captures, fun webcrawler tags, and details for another entry, but if you can figure out who I’m referring to (it’s not too hard)…view her feedback & see if you can spot a very suspicious ending price (on a painting that’s gone unsold since February.) The painting in question allegedly sold for about 60 times the seller’s average selling price. Yes, sixty. That exact same painting (identical photo/title) is currently listed as “unsold” on a 3rd-party gallery site linked directly from another of the seller’s sites. The Buy-it-Now price there is about 1/10th of the fake final “sale price” on eBay.
Did I mention that this painting more than DOUBLED in SIZE since it was originally listed on eBay and the other site? That would certainly account for the increase in price – I wish I knew where to get these magical expanding canvases – even the depth increases! Note to seller – you forgot to change the size in eBay’s Item Specifics from “medium” to “large.” Also, it’s painfully obvious (visually) that this painting was done in the smaller (pre-magic spell) dimensions. Keep that day job.
For those of you who haven’t seen this a million times like I have: This is called shill bidding. The seller is trying to artificially increase the perceived value of her worthless junk by having a friend bid an unrealistic amount on it. She can then just give the painting away as a gift or something. She and the “winning bidder” both pretend it was an in-person cash transaction, they leave each other positive feedback, and hope no one like me notices how damn shady the whole situation is. In return, the seller gets undeserved Powerseller status, discounts for being a fraudulent “Top Seller” and an ego trip associated with deception of unsuspecting buyers who believe her lies. Can you tell I’m a little miffed? I worked my way up from the bottom, and it took a long time because I didn’t take dishonest shortcuts. Shill bidding is unethical to honest sellers, it’s against eBay’s Terms of Service, it’s illegal in some places, and it’s just plain greedy to think anyone would pay that much for a painting by someone who charges for COAs and only profits from the loosely modified ideas of other artists and outright theft of Trademarked logos and images. I’ve already filed a report, but I also plan on following through with eBay Powerseller support because I’ve got way more time-stamped/dated evidence than their little form allows. This could not be more obvious, clear-cut shill bidding, and I will make sure eBay gets all of the pertinent info.
I gave her the benefit of the doubt & I’ve been letting her subtle rip-off ”pity art” slide for a long time. That’s coming to an abrupt end, and I’m fully prepared to support my statements with facts. I’m used to being a victim…and unfortunately I’ve gotten good at handling it in ways that are both professional and fair. People like this don’t go away, they don’t get punished, and they never stop coming out of the woodwork. Why do you think I’ve got 5 hard drives worth of screen captures and documentation of my ORIGINAL ideas? Yes – partially due to insanity, but there’s a little common sense & self-protection thrown in. I’m also dealing with a ridiculous amount of non-paying bidders lately. I think that someone is trying to make me look suspicious by having random people open eBay accounts, bid on ONE of my pieces and nothing else, then win the auction and NOT PAY. I report all NPB’s to eBay and now need to actively cancel bids from ZERO feedback bidders who don’t contact me prior to bidding. Legitimate bidders – thank you for your support & understanding. I’m prepared to defend myself & confront anyone who thinks they can manufacture success out of thin air and lies. I have no cushy job to fall back on – I’ve been a full-time Internet-based artist since 2003 and making ends meet has been ROUGH enough without these pesky little wannabes mirroring every little move I make. Will someone please tell me what I did to deserve this? Is there a sign on my back that says “Steal My Ideas & Betray Me While Discrediting Yourself in the Process?” I’m annoyed, not flattered.
On a brighter note:
My husband and I celebrated our 1 year wedding anniversary earlier this week. I’m so fortunate to have snagged myself such an honest and hardworking studmuffin!
I love you NES – my density! <3
I donated 3 paintings to some great fundraisers this month:
Medicalodges Bike Show – breast cancer awareness (Eudora, Kansas)
CT Children’s Medical Center Storybook Gala (Hartford, CT)
HRC Annual Dinner, Gala & Silent Auction (San Antonio, TX)
So, that’s what I’ve been up to – sorry it hasn’t been too exciting. My next post will have photos! This was just meant to be a quick recap. Here’s my currently available artwork:
Sorry, no magical expanding canvases here. 
I'm an Internet-based (anxiety-ridden) abstract artist residing in Connecticut. I'm best known for my breast paintings, which I've been offering sporadically since 2001. You may also be familiar with my work with Koopa, the world's 1st professional painting turtle (now enjoying early retirement.) I'm currently spending lots of time creating photographs, beaded jewelry and poetry too! Check out some of the links on the top and sidebar, read some back posts, wander over to www.turtlekiss.com, and be sure to leave a comment if you have anything to add. Thanks for visiting!
