Still Can't Decide?

 Here are your choices:

One person has never spent any time in the service of others. He's never held any office than the one he has, he has no education in governance and, despite his oath to protect the Constitution, he has been trying to dismantle it.

The other person has almost 50 years in public service and has two sons (on since deceased) that have been in the military. His education is in law. He has been a US Senator from 1973 to 2009 and Vice President for 8 years.

One person has been married three times, having cheated on each wife with the woman who would become his next wife, with the exception of Melania, on whom he cheated with a porn star and a Playboy model, neither of whom he had any intention of marrying but did pay off to keep it quiet.

The other person has been married twice. His first wife and his daughter died in a car accident. He later married his current wife, Jill. There has been one accusation of impropriety, but that story later fell apart and was not pursued.

One person has cheated on his taxes, cheated contractors by refusing to pay for their services and turned a blind eye to the hiring of illegal immigrants by subcontractors.  

The other person doesn't have businesses that would allow him to cheat hundreds of hard working people out of their rightful pay.

One person has no morals, no values, no compassion, no empathy, no experience, no conscience, no love for the less fortunate, no love for people of color and no compunction to do better.

If you are actually "undecided" regarding these two choices, you might need to rethink your own morals, values and conscience.  After Tuesday's temper tantrum, refusal to denounce white supremacy, his "I know you are but what am I" style of "debate", and his attack on the other's son (who is not running for office and whom he accused of being a deadbeat son. Oh, the irony!) why would anyone be undecided?

We are in a recession because of bad decisions that also caused the deaths of over 205,000 Americans. Our cities are experiencing racial divide, violence and protests not seen in decades. We have a president who believes nothing, including science.  He encourages white supremacist groups to operate but calls left wing groups "terrorists".

What person in their right mind would look back on the last three years and think "I want four more years of this lunacy"? This is not a one issue election. This not just about judges or abortion or Putin. This is about the future of not only America, but the planet. This is about regaining our dignity and respect on the world stage. This is about the health of us all.

Name Change

I have changed the name of my blog to Starving Artist with Chocolate Addiction. Why? Well, I don't do much pillion warming any more since my rider became a grandfather. Also, the new title is much more fitting and hopefully, attention grabbing. Who doesn't love chocolate and art?

Spring is here.

With the arrival of Spring, many of us start to redecorate our homes-out with the old and dreary, in with the new and pretty.

I have designed 17 geometric patterns that look great on everything from pillows to prints to mugs.  If you are in the market for something new, please take a look at these pretty and colorful prints. I'm sure you'll find something that will fit your style and your budget.
patterns collection at Red Bubble

I will be adding more in the days to come so please stop back any time!

And don't forget to check out my fine art photography at Fine Art America. Whether you like barns, diners or landscapes or even motorcycles, there's something for every taste and budget to pretty up the walls of any room in your home. http://louise-reeves.pixels.com/

Avoid the malls, update your walls

Spring is just around the corner and with that, so are the annual "spring cleaning" rituals. A time when we take stock of what we have, what we need and what we want to change.

Don't forget the art! Whether your passion is for barns, beaches or something else, take a moment to look through my new fine art photography at Louise Reeves Fine Art Photography

With your choices of sizes, frames and finishes, there will be something you love that will fit your budget and your walls. Also offered are throw pillows, shower curtains, greeting cards and canvas bags.

New fine art photography for sale

Several new works have been added to my website at Fine Art America, including recent trips to Sturbridge Village and a photography workshop in Pennsylvania.
My website is http://louise-reeves.artistwebsites.com/

Below are the new galleries I have created.
Homes houses and domiciles.
Includes abandoned places, Victorian houses and unique architecture.

Old Sturbridge Village
Includes scenes of village life, its architecture and landscapes.

Cuttaloosa Farms
Scenic images from the sprawling estate once owned by renown artist Daniel Garber.

All artwork comes with a money back guarantee.  Fine Art America is also now offering decorator pillows, duvet covers and shower curtains! If you see something of mine you like and want a decorative item but don't see it listed, please contact me at louann108@gmail.com and I will do my best to accommodate your requests.

Cafepress Rips Off Artists

Cafepress is a site that sells products such as tshirts, notecards and keychains onto which artists put their designs in an attempt to earn a few dollars. If they are really prolific, they could make a living. Or so one might think. But two years ago (maybe 3), Cafepress decided that the artists were secondary to the profit to be made and changed the way the site would do business with them.

In years past, all an artist would have to do is upload their work, choose the products the work would be on, set mark ups and be done. Of course, there was marketing, telling friends and family, maybe sending emails or announcing at shows they had merchandise, but the sales and the work belonged to the artist. Cafepress already had their prices-anything above and beyond was the artist’s take. Here’s how Cafepress decided designers didn’t matter:

When an artist opens up a Cafepress page and uploads the designs, Cafepress defaults an “admin” page as well. This is their “marketplace” and anything a designer puts on product goes there in addition to their own. When people search for an item then decide to buy it, the sale doesn’t go to the artist who made it, it goes directly to Cafepress. The artist will get pennies on the dollar, not the markup he chose. An item that sells for $18.99 might net the artist about $.85. Cafepress’ terms state that if that artist wants to see more money, he must do several things: Get followers, get likes, upload new designs daily. These all earn the artist "points" that will up the "commission". Commission? It's OUR work! Try finding these terms of sale in their policies and you might as well look for a needle in your lawn. They're there and you will be told of them if you complain. But damned if I could find them on my own.

There are two ways to avoid this “admin-marketplace” rip off. The first is located at the bottom of your profile page, an “opt-out” of their marketplace. This leaves all the selling to the artist; their work won’t show in searches for general items unless Cafepress thinks it should. The second is to delete the admin, which won’t be permanent; every time product is added, another admin page will materialize. This leaves the onus of selling on the artist, but making $5 for one item versus having to sell ten or eleven of that same one for the same $5 through Cafepress’ marketplace makes a lot more sense in the long run. Out of $366 in sales, I netted a whole $18, where had I sold all of those through my webpage, my take would have been over $100. And Cafepress is sneaky. Even if someone searches my name or a specific item, that sale still goes to them, not me.

I have been arguing with Cafepress since May, 2014 about this ripping off and, lo and behold, they found an error. Something that should have netted me my full markup “mistakenly” went to the marketplace. It is December and I am still arguing and waiting for my $6 correction. In just over a year, I sold 17 “Biker in Training” baby onesies. Cafepress “pinned” it twice. I didn’t ask them to. My “profit” on each? $.85. My markup? $5, making it $18.99 each. They SOLD it for that, but I didn’t see it. At 17 sales, I should have netted $85. Instead, I netted $14.45. Fair? Nope.

Now when I promote my items, I say in the promotion to please order directly from the link provided as otherwise I will not get paid. We will see how that works out.

Cafepress, Zazzle, Red Bubble and others do provide a valuable service to those of us who can not afford to keep stock. But so far, it has only been Cafepress that saw fit to screw the very designers their business needs to succeed and make it difficult for them to make any money. I can't understand why more artists aren't up in arms over this blatant ripping off of their work.

Fine Art Photography

My fine art photography is for sale and can be found at http://louise-reeves.artistwebsites.com/

Examples of my work: