On Nov 11, 2005, at 11:37, suzy wrote:
would anyone know if it is legal to get some of your ideas from stencils?
As Bev has said, it is certainly legal to get your inspiration from various sources (including stencils), especially if you're going to use only a part of one.
If you're asking - as I suspect, judging by the subject line - whether a stencil-inspired piece of lace can be labeled "original design" then, again, I think the answer is yes.
A stencil, or a postcard, or a drawing in a book... They're just lines, with no relationship to lace. "Translating" them into lace stitches is what makes the design your own (though I know Susan Lambiris doesn't agree with me; for her, if it doesn't start with a blank sheet of paper, it's not "her own")
I can't draw well, so I'm always looking for sources where someone with a surer hand had already done at least some spade-work for me. "With This Ring" started with a picture of a brooch; "Birth Announcement" started with a photo of a stork, as did the Large Butterfly. Etc, etc... I never throw away a gift catalogue without checking for images and ideas first, have a nice supply of cheap-o stencils and rubber stamps and had Robin (Panza) photograph the carpet for me when we were in Harrisburg for the Liers workshop and I'd left my camera at home. If a lace pattern ever emerges from that, I'll certainly consider it my own, though it'll be thanks to her - never did an un-artistic klutz have a better friend (you should have seen her, nose to the ground and ignoring all the "strange looks" she received from passers-by <g>)....
So go for it; Debra and the organizers of the Montreal Convention are hoping for a lot of entries.
-- Tamara P Duvall http://t-n-lace.net/ Lexington, Virginia, USA (Formerly of Warsaw, Poland) - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
