It's Art! The Old Masters Reborn

What would the Old Masters do if they were alive today?
Why they would create New Age Art, of course!

If the Old Masters were alive today, with the access to computers and modern graphic design technology, what would they do? How would they present their art and design upon products and market it? How would they digitally master their designs and profit from their creative expression?

This site uses work which is in the public domain to explore these questions. It is an experimental art project in progress. The intent is to explore the creative process, to expand the mind and offer everyone a new insight into the work of the Old Master. Included may be well known images or work which is less familiar. How would the great Art, design and photographs of dead artist be rendered and presented in the 21st Century? What designs would catch the imagination and stimulate the markets? Which of the Old Masters would be the New Masters of the 21st Century? This site attempts to answer that question. Enjoy!

Gallery

The following are a representation of New Age Mona Lisa designs produced by the artist some of which are available upon merchandise.

It's Art Mona Lisa

Mona Lisa Moose

Mona Lisa Deer

Mona Lisa Moose Blue

The Mona Lisa #2005a

The above design is what I call a morphic carpet. This image is built using the face of a model, creating a collage of multiple images which are then morphed to produce a design which resembles an oriental carpet and gives a wonderful appealing abstract design. Such abstraction also creates a series of totems, one face atop the other and hence may be regarded as being highly spiritual in nature. These type of morphic portraits make ideal product designs which are also a form of Fine Art. These designs are available for special commission and may be made based upon any personal portrait that one may submit. The price for creating a New Age Mona Lisa similar to the one exhibited above is $29.95. The products below show how such a design looks upon merchandise.

Is It Art? No, It's Art!

Is it Art, plagiary, piracy or simply inspiration to learn from and profit from the works of the Old Masters? In the 21st Century with digital cameras everywhere, even inside cell phones, can an art student, teacher or even a professor, walk through a museum or sculpture park, take photographs, return to the classroom and use captured images to produce new art?

My parents took me to the Louvre in Paris when I was a young child. There I saw a master artist with his easel setup painting an exact copy of the Mona Lisa which he later sold. Then I wondered around the Louvre, exploring its great works of art, even going down into the basement to view ancient Egyptian treasures. This taught me from a very young age to be aware of the great works of art which have served as an inspiration. With the advent of the digital age I would argue that it is impossible for a creative artist of any genius whatsoever who is aware of Art History and the works of the Old Masters, to not incorporate such images into new and original works of art or digitally mastered productions for the commercial market, giving credit, of course, where credit is due.

Therefore I would like to thank all the Old Masters who have come before me, from the cavemen who drew and pecked pictures upon rocks and cave wall, to the great builders of temples and monoliths to the Old Masters! I thank all creative minds who have lived, loved and reflected their joy in life for their inspiration! May the work I produce do justice to your memories and keep others towering for generations to come!

Terry Lynch
Master Artist/Designer

Beauty Is In The Eyes Of The Beholder

How we are all influenced by the media and bombarded by images of commercial advertisers to the point that we each have been seduced, raped by the media, exploited, our innocent minds molested, that the only salvation is to spit it all back out, and profit from the vomit!

It's Art! Beauty Is In The Eyes Of The Beholder

This classic work was drawn by none other than the great Leonardo da Vinci himself! It has been widely circulated, is known to all students of Art History who have studied the work of the Old Masters, and is in the public domain. What better image to use to illustrate the well known truism that "Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder!" The original sketch was digitally remastered to give the feeling of a pastel drawing adding a pink hue to contribute to the psychological appeal of men and women everywhere! Make the Old Masters part of your life with this great treasure!

High brow art professors working for museums and universities have long considered it plagiary to use or incorporate the work of other artists, living or dead, into one's own work, particularly when appropriate credit is not given to the original source. Even great modern artists have had to deal with this controversial issue. Picasso was one of the first and most prolific modern artists to incorporate objects from ordinary life into his work, producing what are now regarded as great masterpieces of collage art.

In the 21 Century it has become easy to use digital technology to produce collage style works of art, incorporating images from all aspects of life. Digital photographs or scans of magazines, newspapers, television programs broadcasts and all manner of media images may be readily recorded, chopped up, copied and pasted into a new work of art to produce an assemblage, a synthesis, using building blocks from multiple sources to create genuine New Age Art. The results can be quite marvelous, complex and utterly overwhelming, images which have so much content that they strike awe into the mind and can be puzzling or bewildering, causing neural sensor overload!

When a score or more of images are used to create a new work of art, who does one give credit to? When a hundred or a thousand images are used to produce a magnificent collage, all images morphed together, who does one give credit to? Obviously one must give credit to each and every person who has influenced one's work. This is why I thank the Old Masters as well as the Ancient Ones who have each and everyone inspired my own work. This is why I thank the builders of temples and monoliths who have inspired my own creation of monolithic structures, even if they are just digitally mastered works with an ethereal existence inside a microchip!

I would argue that it is impossible to be born and live in the 21st Century and not be influenced by the media, literally bombarded by images, such that any and all art one might create has been the result of such bombardment. Certainly commercial advertisers begin plugging and peddling their wares to children as soon as they are old enough to watch television. Should any of those children grow up and use images of these advertisers in their art and profit from it, I say, MORE POWER TO THEM! If commercial advertisers are going to be dumping their images into our minds from the day we are born, than it is our right to reflect that experience in art and also to profit from it! Should any owners of commercial products, trademarks or other "intellectual property rights" object, I'm sorry! You have dumped your commercials, propaganda and other garbage into the minds of the young people of this world and now it is their God given right to reflect their experience in art!

In this regard I am not just referring to myself and how I have been dumped upon by commercial advertisers through all forms of media, I am referring to all young people, to children, to babies, to young adults, to their parents and everyone else! We all have been bombarded by commercial advertisements. Our minds have been filled with images. We have been polluted with commercial images and advertisements. Those who have produced products and services and bombarded the public with their commercials and advertising claim these images belong to them! Well I'm sorry, but because these images were given to the world, broadcast for all to see and hear, they are now in the public domain, just as in the Mona Lisa! Thus should some commercial advertisement or image creep into my art work, I give credit to the owner, while at the same time thanking you for the inspiration and letting you know the end product of my reflection, the art which I produce, belongs to me!

We all have been dumped upon by the media, by commercial advertisers. Those who own trademarks dump images and sales pitches into the minds of millions upon billions of people, and then have the gull to claim that they own those images they have bombarded the public with time and again since birth! This is a form of exploitation, driven by greed, which has polluted the minds of the public. I say that the best way to get rid of the pollution is to spit it back out through the creative process. If the end result is a can of Campbell's soup plastered upon a canvas or Marilyn Monroe morphed into a moose in a rainbow collage, then so be it! This is Art!

Greed drives commercial advertisers. The result is that everyone has been effected through the bombardment of their minds with commercials. Billions of images have been stored in everyone's mind. An artist of the 21st Century cannot create Art without reflecting those images which have polluted his or her mind. Whether one draws and renders the human body or that of an insect, some influence of the commercial media may creep into the production. How does one give credit to subliminal advertisers or unconscious influences? And is images are selected from the mass media to express and reflect one's experience, does this mean a crime has been committed each time an artist uses such an image?

I would argue that because commercial advertisers have bombarded the public with images, and have profited from such pollution of young and old minds, alike, that nothing more is owed to these mind polluters! Our minds have already been polluted by an infinite amount of commercial advertisement so why should anyone pay anything more or give any credit to those commercial advertisers who have so injured our minds as to fill them with such garbage! It is right and just, therefore, that all creative people empty their minds of commercial filth and use it to create art which may be marketed to bring some profit to the artist and compensate the artist for the commercial pollution their minds have suffered!

This is certainly a radical idea! Take it or leave it! My challenge for all young minds, for all students and teachers of Art is to empty your minds of the commercial advertisement you have been exposed to, to spit it out on canvas, to vomit it from your gut, to cut your veins and bleed forth the commercial garbage that has polluted your heart, mind body and soul! Only once this has been done can you begin to reflect your true self and express that ultimate being of love which is YOU!

The public has been seduced by commercial advertisers. This seduction has also involved the promotion of celebrities which have become iconic figures. The public has been seduced by profiteers promoting everyone from Elvis Presley to the Beatles, from Michael Jackson to the Rolling Stones, from Jesus H. Christ to the Madonna! We all have been seduced by commercial advertisers promoting iconic figures. They bombard our minds with images and sounds and claim all rights to such images and sounds, stamping them with copyrights and trademarks, employing lawyers to protect their rights, all the while continuing to bombard the public with images and sounds, and making a big fuss over anyone who infringes upon their "intellectual property rights," through the production of their own art!

It is all hypocrisy, really! A creative person cannot live in the 21st Century and make art without being influenced by commercial advertisers. Certainly I respect the legal rights of other artists and musicians as well as owners of products or services. But I also realize that commercial advertisers through the mass media have exposed the public to an endless barrage of images and sounds and that it is impossible to create anything new without a synthesis of all that one has experienced in life, including their exposure to commercial advertising.

It is therefore that I challenge students, teachers and professional artist on all levels to create collage style art, morphic art and other New Age Art which expresses the symbols, slogans and commercial advertising and propaganda they have been exposed to, that their influence may be noted and duly expunged! In so doing it is each creative person's right to profit from their art and craft. As long as credit is given where credit is due, as long as one recognizes that their work has been inspired by commercial advertisers and exposure to the mass media, no harm is done. That is exactly what I have done in creating what I call, "It's Art!"

It's Art is digitally mastered works which have been inspired from by work that is in the public domain. This includes work of the Old Masters as well as countless images which have been bombarding my mind since a child, images from nature, images from the mass media, and images from my imagination. All these images are as a universal palette of infinite variety, without limit in figure and form, from which I gather color, shape, size and shadow, throwing it back out, splattering it upon canvas, to create New Age Art, what I call "It's Art!"

It's Art are without a doubt new and original creations. It's Art! is great Art in the tradition of all the Old Masters which have gone before me. I have recognized the fact that I have been influenced by the Old Masters, by everyone from the caveman to Picasso and Jackson Pollack! I have recognized the fact that I have consumed my Wheaties, drank my Coke-Cola, eaten my Campbell's Soup and taken my Robitussin! I have been influenced by everyone from Jesus Christ to Michael Jackson and Madonna! Should their images crop up in my art and design, they were freely given through commercial advertising and dumped into the public domain of my mind and the minds of billions of other people, such that I have every legal right to express those images and to profit from my artistic expression, as does every other artist!

I'm sure this position will irk some greedy lawyers and their clients. They will say and claim that they own the Mona Lisa, that they own Rembrandt, that they Picasso, that they own my ass hole! But the fact is these commercial advertisers who have dumped their images into the public domain do NOT own the art which comes through the reflection and regurgitation of those images! Every artists owns their original, unique creations from the moment they are regurgitated upon canvas, be that canvas made of cotton, linen or digital pixels!

This does not mean, of course, that one may take a trade mark or logo which belongs to another and put it upon a product and market it as counterfeit. What I am talking about is the creation of ART, not counterfeit merchandise. There is a BIG difference. If you take the logo or name "Coca-Cola" and put it upon a beverage, obviously that is the production of a counterfeit. However, if one creates a work of collage style art and shows Mickey Mouse within that collage or someone drinking a coke, that is not an infringement upon anyone's copyright, especially not Mickey Mouse's, given this fanciful animated creature is imaginary and though owned by Disney, has certainly been dumped into every child's mind making the image public domain.

I'm sure some would disagree. But what I am saying is a fact. Mickey Mouse is now an icon. I recall a collage style painting done my my late brother, Stephen N. Lynch, which included Mickey Mouse as an iconic figure. My brother much admired Walt Disney and certainly was influenced by Disney's creation of animated cartoon type figures. By including Mickey Mouse in his artwork, my brother was honoring Walt Disney and expressing the fact that Walt Disney had influenced his life and inspired him to develop his own artistic talents. In a like manner, my usage of iconic figures, real or imagined, in my own art work is simply a way to honor those who created such figures, to recognize the fact they have been an inspiration, and to thank them for their contribution.

Of course there have been influences that are not always positive. The manner in which Adolf Hitler used the swastika has tarnished that ancient symbol to such a high degree it may never be restored to its original meaning as a symbol of harmony; rather, it is now regarded as a symbol of hatred and prejudice associated with the mass murder and genocide of the millions of people, including some 8 million Jewish people, intellectuals, Christians, Gipsies and persons with mental retardation, handicaps and other physical or mental characteristics regarded as "undesirable" by the Nazis.

Symbols are powerful! It is with this understanding that I do use symbols in my artwork. Known and recognized symbols evoke emotion. Yet the meaning of a symbol may vary from person to person. A good example of this is the Confederate flag AKA Battle flag. To many black Americans the Confederate flag is a symbol of racial hatred and prejudice, given its usage in this context by hate groups. Yet to others the Confederate flag is a symbol of Southern heritage, given it was originally created as a flag of the Confederate States of America. In this regard it is truly a "Rebel Flag" and may be regarded as a symbol of rebellion.

Regardless of what you think about the Confederate flag, you must admit it is a powerful symbol. The usage of powerful symbols in art, and their commercialization, does not mean that the artist endorses the prejudice associated with those symbols. Such symbols may be used in commercial art simply to generate a profit or following, which is basically what governments, political groups, churches and other institutions do any time they adopt a symbol or associate themselves with a symbol. As an artist I sometimes incorporated well recognized symbols into my art to evoke the emotions associated with those symbols, pro or con, and to profit also from the commercialization of such symbols. Why should not I be allowed to profit from the usage of any symbol in art, just as do others? Given symbols have been dumped into my mind, just as have been commercial advertisements, I regard all symbols as in the public domain and fair usage for all artist!

I hope this explanation helps everyone understand better what It's Art is all about. It's Art is Art for Art's sake! It's Art is the free association and expression of one's self, a dance of images, a song of design, a flight of creative impulses cast forth for all to enjoy! I hope this gift of love, what I call It's Art warms your heart, brings joy and happiness unto your life, and inspires your own creation, imagination and dreams!

Terry Lynch
Master Artist/Designer

Merchandise

The Mona Lisa #2005a

The Mona Lisa #2005a

The Mona Lisa #2005a

The Mona Lisa #2005a

Fish in the sky was produced to illustrate Sightings. The work was produced using a photograph of the Taj Mahal. A crude UFO was drawn using a mouse. Then PhotoSuite III was used to change the color, cartoonize the graphic and cut/paste to produce the "fish" in the reflection pool. The idea is that the fish reflects in the sky to produce a mirage of an UFO instead of vice-versa. Yet because the fish is underwater it also looks like a reflection of the UFO.

Please note that just as I use icons in my work, I use famous monuments, buildings or other structures for symbolic reasons. For example, The Taj Mahal may symbolize undying devotion or love to a kindred spirit as well as a majestic example of architecture. Often I use great or majestic wonders in my designs as symbolism to evoke emotions associated with those objects.

Fish in the sky

Fish in the sky

Fish in the sky

Discover More Great Art Treasures

Turn Your Imagination Into Treasure On CafePress.com
By Terry Lynch, Master Graphic Artist and Designer

Dear Friends,

Welcome! I made a killing last year using CafePress.com. So did many other people. Do you want to know how we did it? Well, all it really takes is a little bit of work and knowing all the right things to do. If you are curious to see the results of my own Cyber Art Project and how I made Mega Bucks go to Byteland Art Gallery where great Cyber Art Projects are on display and exhibit.

If you are not a member of CafePress yet please Join CafePress Now! Make Big Bucks!

This is something anyone can do. Membership is absolutely FREE. And you don't have to be a creative genius to make money and succeed on CafePress.com.

There are many, many types of creative expressions anyone can produce and market. With over 2.5+ million users on CafePress.com, there is certainly Testament to this fact. Most of these people are just like you: they want to make extra money. They have a computer and Internet access and not much else. So they take advantage of the outstanding services offered by CafePress.com. Perhaps they put a slogan upon a bumper sticker or photographs of their pet with a clever quote. That's about all it takes. And other people all around the globe who shop on-line may then see your work and buy it upon a host of quality products. What could be more simple than that!

I've been using CafePress.com for many years. I also use other similar services, but I've found that for me CafePress.com works the best. They are a high quality service, produce high quality products and pay their participants regularly without delay. You cannot go wrong with CafePress.com.

Yes, it does take time and work. But you can succeed and make money using CafePress.com. I would not quite your day job. But this is a way you can make extra money and over time if you work hard, you can create a unique emporium that brings a good, steady and growing income.

If you pay attention to my instructions, and do as I have done, and as other successful shop owners have done, you will certainly progress fast and soon be happy with your results. Perhaps this is not for everyone. But millions of other people have found that they love CafePress.com. It has become part of their life and a way they can share their creative expressions with family, friends and associates. You can too!

I hope you enjoy the Cyber Art Projects suggested herein. I will be adding more Cyber Art Projects in the future so bookmark this site and come back soon!

Peace and love the whole world over!

Terry Lynch
Master Graphic Artist/Designer

Great treasure awaits. Do you feel lucky?

Keys To Success on CafePress.com

There are a number of keys to success on CafePress.com. As a long time member of CafePress.com, I've learned what works and what doesn't work. Over time I will be sharing some money-making clues with you so that over time you may become a power user of CafePress.com.

If you follow these instructions you can make more money, faster. Remember, CafePress.com has millions of users, so you will be competing against some of the best graphic artist on the Internet. Greed is a BIG FACTOR and it may keep many successful artists and designers from telling you the secrets to success. However, I'm going to tell you what other will not, as I'm self-confident and have produced some of the greatest designs to hit the net. My designs and ideas are so popular others have pirated them far and wide. This is one reason you will find a large number of people trying to make better heart, flag and city/state designs. Also, animal hearts have inspired much competition on CafePress.com.

But the reason others try to emulated my designs and cut in on the market does not bother me. In fact, I welcome healthy competition as I enjoy stimulating others to make art and to earn a profit from their creative expression. You see, I had a brother, Stephen, who inspired my own creative expression. He died some years ago when killed suddenly. He was hit by a truck while hitch-hiking along a rural road in Alabama. Stephen loved art and pursued it with a passion. He motivated me to learn how to draw when I was a child. His death was such a shocking experience for me that I resolved to get a degree in Art. Then I established a non-profit enterprise, the SNL Memorial Foundation of Fine Art & Literature, in Stephen's memory, to promote the Arts.

So I've been involved with stimulating others to express themselves creatively for many years. It is a complement if others see my work and are inspired to make their own art and designs and market them on CafePress.com. That my creative expression may inspire others to make their own creative expressions is like lighting a candle and spreading the light! It is passing the torch to a new generation that the love, happiness and joy does not end, but goes on forever!

So in the spirit of stimulating creativity and success, let me suggest that you do the following:

1. Open a PREMIUM shop on CafePress.com Premium shops generally generate more income than free shops. Plus a premium shop has more features and is easier to maintain than many free shops.

2. Make theme shops and departments. Some of the best and easiest theme shops to make are hearts, flags and city/state designs. One of my most popular theme shops is Project K9: All breed dog club. I created Project K9 after my German Shepherd, Ruby, died of lymphoma, a terrible type of cancer. At the time there was not very much information about this terrible disease on the Internet. Project K9 was one of the first independently produced canine sites of its type on the net. I also produced The Canine Web Site Construction Kit to help others develop and produce canine sites and now there are literally thousands of great canine sites gracing the web! Now K9PAWS has one of the finest collections of canine and service dog related design sets on the net! Plus you can shop in the Petporium for may adorable canine theme items.

3. Get your own domain name like www.byteland.org and list your home page on as many major search engines as possible. This will help drive traffic to your shop or emporium.

4. Follow your heart! Let your passion drive you! This is perhaps the best advice I can give. If you follow your heart you will find success! If you let your passion drive you, then you will find yourself putting your time, energy and all your heart into your work. This will result in your success! For example, when my mother, La Faye S. Lynch, suffered a stroke and was found to have dementia, I was motivated to establish the Elder Rights Association (ERA) and create designs to help people raise funds to fight dementia, cancer, heart disease and other terrible forms of disease. I also created Lemonade For Life to help others learn how they can raise funds for their favorite charity.

5. Advertise and Promote you shop! It is important to advertise and promote your premium shop. There are many ways to do this. First, be sure your shop has META codes such that when a search engine crawls and scans the Internet, it will properly index your site. Then be sure all your designs and images have keyword TAGS and shop categories This is very important as CafePress.com divides all merchandise into categories and enables visitors to search all shops by keywords. Then, create indexes for your own shop so that visitors may see at a glance your various shops and make a quick link to them. In the Byteland Art Gallery I use an index as part of the masthead so visitors may quickly find what they are looking for and jump to it. To see how this works go to any of the sites below:
   Welcome to Byteland where Art is Life and Life is Art!

   Shop by major theme stores: Hearts: On Sale! | State Hearts | City Hearts | Patriotic Hearts | Classic Hearts | Love'n Happy Hearts | I (Heart) Designs | Exquisite Love Vines | Hearts of Flowers | Irish Gifts | Heart of Dixie Designs | Love & Romance | Pretty In Pink | Big Smiley Hearts | Rainbow Mosaic Hearts | Heart of Heart Mosaics | Goldleaf Soul Hearts | Hearts Aglow | Golden Seals, Sports & Hobbies Flags & Patriotic Designs: USA Flags | Support Our Troops | Support America | Support America Gallery | American Patriots Association | Fight International Terrorism | Survivor & Inspirational Designs | Traditional Wreaths, Blessings, Xmas Greetings | Iraq War Memorial | Animals, Pets & Science: Animals Hearts | Petporium | Animal Rescue & K9Paws | The Canine Blessing | Butterfly Magic | Butterflies Are Magic Gallery | Flower Power | Bear Country | High Country Designs | Rocky Mountain High | SlugFest | SpiderFest | ATF: American Toad Federation | Kiss Me Larks | Firefly Emporium | Alien Arthropods & Mythical Creatures | That's Awesome (Robo Bug) | Geek Stuff | Sci-Tech Designs | Foundations & Projects: Angel of Life Foundation | Elder Rights Association | Help Elderly Americans | Tsunami Aid | World Peace Project | Dumpster Damnation | Stephen Norman Lynch Memorial Foundation of Fine Art & Literature | Support the Arts | My Home Business Network | Poetry & Muse | TAL Graphic Services & Design Special Sites: $$$THE MALL$$$ | Byteland Art Gallery | The Original Xbox | Bless This Home | Cell Phone Jesus | Electronic Arts Emporium | Fine Art Prints | Gifts of Love | Bumper Stickers, Politics, Satire | Hot Off the Press | Ice Ickle Art Gallery | Just Say No | Religious Themes | Golden Seals & The Money Tree | Wisteria Lane | Virgin Mary | Origin of the Universe | "I Love the USA Contest" | Bikini Babes For special commissions contact the Webmaster

6. Tell Your Story! People are going to be more interested in your art and designs if they feel that they know you. Having traveled widely and studied Art History and Symbolism, I maintain a blog entitled Cyber Sojourn: World Travel & Adventure Exploring Symbolism which serves to give an in depth insight into my own intellectual creations and inspirations. When people can understand the inspiration and motivation behind a design, they are more likely to identify with the artist and his work and want to buy a t-shirt, mug or even a fine art print.

7. Update Regularly! Make and post new designs and sale items on a regular basis. This keeps your shop new and fresh!

8. Tell Everyone! Don't just sit back and expect your shop to take off. Tell everyone about you shop or emporium. Design a logo for your shop and buy it on T-shirts, buttons and banners. Include your domain name so people can easily find your store site. Send out newsletters via email to update everyone and help generate return customers. By promoting your own shop to family, friends and associates you will contribute to your own success.

9. Operate a banner exchange. If you make attractive banners and buttons for your shop, this will give a way others may link to your store and help drive traffic to your site.

10. Give Away Free Stuff. Everyone likes free stuff. Find some free stuff that you can offer your visitors. They will love it and be sure to come back later to see what new free stuff you may offer from time to time.

11. Make Popular Designs. It is easy to know what is popular. Just watch TV. Popular shows such as Desperate Housewives and LOST certainly may serve as inspiration. Also the NEWS may serve as inspiration. Certainly any new disaster may inspire a new series of I Survived type designs. Make a review of the shop categories used by CafePress.com and select those which most interest you. Then make a theme shop which features original, unique art and designs. Include such seasonal favorites at Valentine's Day (or Anti-Valentine's Day), St. Patrick's Day, Independence Day and Christmas. You will soon find that your premium shop will be making extra money, if not mega bucks!

12. Bookmark this site. Finally, bookmark this site and check it later for updates to learn more about how you can create a MEGA BUCKS shop of your very on!

Censorship vs. Creativity

The rapid growth of the Internet concurrent with advances in technology such as digital cameras, scanners and services which enable immediate reproduction and marketing of graphic designs upon merchandise, has resulted in what I like to call the Great Censorship Wars or the Cyber Art Wars. Which should rule, the right of the artist and creative person or the rights big businesses who want to control the media, maintain power and control over images and music, and prevent any usage of material and its marketing by struggling artist?

Since the advent of copyright laws and trade marks, a creative artist may no longer create a design or a series of designs and market these widely without risk of infringing upon the intellectual property rights of a big company, industry or institution. For example, you cannot make a series of I (Heart) designs for every state as when you come to New York, that state holds a copyright on the I (Heart) NY design. Thus a series of I (Heart) state designs would be incomplete and forever void in this respect, an insult to the creative process.

I ran into this problem when I produce a series of I (Heart) state designs to market on product produced by CafePress.com. Sometime after making the I (Heart) NY and I (Heart) NYC designs I was harassed by lawyers who threatened to sue me! It was a most honorable way to recognize me and give credit to the worth of my art and design. Who would think that the State of New York and a big law firm would pay little old me any attention? So I have considered this a badge of honor every sense!

Over time I have worked to build an on-line gallery and emporium reflecting my original designs and creation which are marketed via CafePress.com in the Byteland Art Gallery. As I am a prolific artist, I often produce series type designs. This sometimes causes conflicts with big businesses or institutions which may own a trademark. As a result I have won many badges of honor for allegedly "infringing upon the intellectual property rights" and having my work censored!

In Welcome to the Censorship Wars I have expounded at length in regard to the issue of creativity vs. censorship, freedoms of speech vs. respect of trade marks. As a creative artist I have endeavored to see both sides of the issue and express most profoundly the artist's point of view. When Leonardo da Vinci created the Mona Lisa copyright and trade mark laws did not exist. Yet there were still censors in the form of the Catholic church, theological monarch who prevented the publication or presentation of any ideas or views, no matter how sound of reason, went against the established church and state and the view of the world as created by God.

It took the Catholic church five hundred years to apologize with respect to the revolutionary truths revealed by Galileo and as many years to reconcile with the works of Leonardo da Vinci. I figure that the censors of the 21st Century are much like the censors of the 15th or 16th Centuries, conservative tyrants who worship laws created and written by men dead for generations, who claimed to see and know God, to maintain their power and control over people.

One aspect of that power and control relates to the censorship of thoughts and ideas, symbols and visions, the imagination that the way the majority of humanity perceives the universe is not the only possibility, that what can be dreamed and imagined may be true and that a different reality may be created based upon that which is dreamed and imagined. Truth is what is pounded into our heads; but the creative artist, those who dream and imagine, those who dare to challenge the established order, may destroy that order and create a new world. That is the reason censors fear creative artist and seek to prevent freedom of speech and expression.

Make no doubt about it, there is a Censorship War. Artist and other creative people may often be their own worst enemy if they permit censorship or become so competitive that they destroy each other's means of support and livelihood. This is why artists and creative individuals must unite, must form art guilds and unions, shops and stores, even factories under their own power and control. Otherwise we who dream and imagine will always be slaves to the big industries and tyrants of the world.

It is the censors who see the Mona Lisa as the Mona Lisa and cannot imagine anything else. Yet when I look a the Mona Lisa I see infinite possibility, infinite variation, all that can be of man or woman. Thus I have created morphic art, using as a palette the Mona Lisa and other works of the Old Masters. They have little to lose being long in their grave. Yet the living have much to gain, seeing how great beauty, wonder, love and joy may be created from the works of the Old Masters.

I hope that these new creations inspire others to view the possibilities which exist for change, that we each may contribute to making the world a better place.

Peace and love the whole world over!
Terry Lynch

Great Dog Stuff

If you want to make extra big bucks I recommend checking out DOGS Products which are very popular. Visit K9PAWS.

Follow every clue. Let Wolf Dragon Moon Dog be your guide.

Let not the blind lead the blind. Seeing eyes will guide you to your treasure.

The Year Of The Dog

2006 is the Year of the Dog! To get ideas for how you can make money, go to CafePress and look at all the Great Dog Stuff. Then make your own Great Dog Stuff!

Open your own store

The single most important thing for you to do to begin making your own income is to open your own store on Cafepress.com. Just click on the pic below and open your own store. It is FREE to open a regular store. PREMIUM shops cost a small amount which is easily earned back from the great profits you can make from your on-line emporium.

Most Popular Categories

There are many popular categories, departments and sections on CafePress. Follow the links below to review some of the greatest merchandise on CafePress.

Free Stuff

Gift of Love

Free electronic greeting card, music and blessing for family and friends

How To Love

Special love letter with ways you can share the gift of love with family and friends.

Free Banners

Please use these free banners. They may be placed upon your site to link to Byteland at www.cafepress.com/bytelandart or to www.byteland.org. Thanks! If you would like me to link back to your ART related or Cafepress store, please email Terry Lynch. I am most interested in linking to sites which promote good causes and/or are very creative and reflect the artist's skill and ability.

On January 1, 2006 Butterfly Magic was released. Digitized Luna Moths escaped onto the Internet and began to slowly spread and multiply. It was the beginning of a digital revolution and the evolution of a new cyber life form. By visiting Butterfly Magic you may help take part in that process and illuminate and enhance the Internet. Enjoy!

Take A Cyber Sojourn

Cyber Sojourn: World Travel & Adventure Exploring Symbolism Blog describing the Artist's epic journey around the world. Travel with the artist around the world exploring the great monuments, art galleries and symbolism. The art you see in this gallery is the result of extensive study of symbolism and Art History. The Artist has explored all aspects of Art including that of the Ancient People of the Southwestern USA to that of the Masters! Read Cyber Sojourn and learn what goes into the making of a masterpiece! Updates will be prepared over time from the field and when the Artist is back in his studio.

Free News Letter

Get free money-making and design tips and keep posted of new products and designs in our gallery.

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More Great Links

Thank you for coming! Visit these great associated sites!

Visit Love'n Happy Hearts

Click on pic to visit the Love'n Happy Hearts Emporium

Click on pic to find your favorite shirt

Associated Sites

Byteland | Byteland Art Gallery | Butterfly Magic | Butterfly Gallery | Firefly Gallery | Alien Arthropods | RoboBugs | Geek Stuff | International Slugfest | International Spiderfest | Sci-Tech Designs | Animal Hearts | K9Paws | Flower Power | Go Vege | Great ATF | Blinks & Links | Support Our Troops | The Original Xbox | Contact

LAST UPDATED 29 Jan. 2006
WebMaster: Wolf Dragon