New Art: "California Gold" (And musings about art theft.)

California Golden Trout "California GOld" watercolor and Ink by Amber Marine. © 2018, all rights reserved.

Hi folks! Sorry for the long social media disappearance - I took a much-needed mental health break from the web. More on that below, but I’m back from the river and the woods, I can breathe again, and here is my latest critter! This is a golden trout, a brilliantly colorful native inhabitant of high elevation Sierra Nevada mountain streams in my home state of California. (Also the California state freshwater fish!) This little fellow was ink & watercolor on natural paper, and several hours of micro-detailing. 🌈🤓🎨

So, real talk time, I want to be open about what’s been going on with my creative process. I’m resolving to do my best to post more often. Unfortunately, after dealing with a boggling amount of art theft and plagiarism in the past few years, (some by big companies! Eeeek no! 😱) I developed awful anxiety over posting my creations online. Spending weeks to months lovingly detailing an original work of art into life only to find it stolen and for sale is pretty emotionally crushing for me. The fear of this spread to my creative process, making it difficult for me to get inspired and make new things. This is the damage that art thieves and lazy designers never see when they lift creative work from an artist.

I’ve thought on it for a long while. I’ve resolved to be more cautious online, to be firm when it comes to my intellectual property, but to never let this obstacle extinguish my creative spirit. Art has always been the channel through which my inner healing power and peace flows, and I have truly enjoyed sharing that with all of you over the years. Being an artist is what I’m meant to be doing with my limited time on this blue marble in space - so my little art show is here to stay.

🌎🎨💙

"California Gold" California golden trout watercolor by Amber Marine, © 2018, All Rights Reserved. This art is not to be reproduced, copied, altered, or used without the artist's express permission. Unauthorized use is a violation of copyright law, and the artist's legal intellectual property.