Wednesday, November 22, 2006



Have you seen this image?

I think some of you may have. Let me tell you a little story about her. There was once an instructor at my old Beverly Hills store (the world famous Suzi Finer Artworks & Artware) who used an image practically identical to this one in all of her workshops. "Where did it come from? Where can we get one?"; the pleas at each session almost became a mantra.

Flash forward a few years, when after closing my beloved shop (and after being taken in by a lying partner in Palm Harbor, Florida, who left me high, dry, and out to die) I was found by Sweetpeas and Snapshot's Mary Smilove as I was managing a celebrity-studded pharmacy in the heart of Beverly Hills. She convinced me to leave my safety nest (lunch was right next to the Xanax) and join her team; adding my Suzi Finer Rubberstamps & Specialties section to her paperie. A management team was born. While placing my orders for the coolest rubberstamps, I rememebered the face; her haunting eyes were longing to be pressed onto paper. Through hours of obsessive search and discovery, eureka! I found her via an obscure clip-art aveunu. I made some tiny changes and now are the only venue where you can find our little "Trixie" rubberstamp. We love the way she fits on all of Catherine Moore's fabulous Character Constructions rubberstamp body-parts (http://www.characterconstructions.com) also available at the shop. You can reach me there by popping in, or calling.

Sweetpeas and Snapshots 11726 West Pico Blvd. West Los Angeles, Ca. 90064 (310) 479-2444 http://www.sweetpeasandsnapshots.com

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

What is plagiarism?
You commit plagiarism when you present someone else's ideas -published or unpublished - as if they were your own. People's ideas may be contained in
books fine art, graphics, photographs, etc

SUZI FINER should try and be original and creative in her own art work instead of stealing ideas from creative people that live art ...

suzi finer said...

I don't live art? I even have a t-shirt that reads "I Am Art" (created by artist Linda Woods!)
I think you may be confused; the image of which you write was not originally created by me, nor was it ever implied, but was created after four years of searching clip-art for the face that was used by a rubberstamp instructor. I would never say that I came up with the idea for this face myself, I clearly told the tale of the search for the face.
Those who know me, know that I am an unusually talented "quick draw" and painter; my works grace the walls of many local homes and businesses. When I create these works, I am using my own talent and ideas, but really, art is inspired by art, and to say that by selling a rubberstamp at a rubberstamp store constitutes plagiarism is just about the most unintelligent statement that I've ever heard. I'd sooner say that I invented the cigarbox purse (I did not) before I would claim to have invented that image.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 2:

I am SO happy that this image is now available. I have seen this face used in several projects and often wondered where I could buy it. Nothing is more frustrating than seeing a rubberstamped image used in a sample and not being able to purchase the treasured block of wood and rubber! As for, "SUZI FINER should try and be original and creative in her own art work instead of stealing ideas from creative people that live art ...," Anonymous obviously hasn't seen any of Suzi's work (or maybe s/he has--In the words of Alexandre Dumas, "Jealousy is the art of injuring ourselves more than others.")

Anonymous said...

As far as my well trained eye can see .....the only thing changed on the the stamp is the name!!
The correct name should be "LULU" for Louise Brooks not "Trixie". Sounds very simular to Tricie,the very talented artist who has been using this face on her art dolls for as long as I can remember. I've taken many of her classes and it has to be at least six or seven years that she has used that face on her dolls!
Get your facts right.

suzi finer said...

We called the image Trixie as an homage to Tricie; Tricie is a very talented instructor, who did not, however design the image (she just purchased the stamp from a store, just like others can now purchase the image from this store.) That's what rubberstamp stores do; sell stamps for people to use!
I think you need to relax a little and grasp this concept...again, I did not draw this face, I merely took the time to research and have it produced using the same methods hundreds of other manufacturers use. It is a shame that you have the gall to make such insulting insinuations and don't even have the courage to use your real name.
Get off your soapbox and get a life.