I have had a few things lately that makes me wonder about the art supplies that we buy. I like it if I can score some cheaply at a thrift sale, garage sale or thrift store. Sometimes there are lots on Ebay and I wonder where they came from - did somebody steal them to be able to sell them so cheap? One of my latest things have been Inktense pencils. I saw two kinds - one in the regular blue tin and other sets that said Inktense but the pencils were painted white and were from China. Even though the Chinese ones were cheaper I wondered if they were knock offs and bought the blue one instead. The blue ones say "Made in the UK.
Yesterday I was at a thrift store and saw some Yarka watercolor paint in tubes. I picked those up because I knew it was a good brand. I went on Amazon to check out what kind of deal I got. There were two entries with this size of package of Yarka tube paint. I looked at the first one and they had common paint color names. It also had the same stock number that I had bought. The problem was that the one I bought had a different box and the paint names were different too - they were not the usual pthalo blue, cad red etc that the first box had listed for colors. They had more original names like emerald green, golden ochre, English red. The box I had said "Made in Russia" on the side and on the paints. The box I bought had an orange lily on it. The second set had the orange lily, but a different stock number and didn't list the colors that came in the box. I checked the 2 reviews and they are what set off red flags. One said theirs said "Made in China" on it. They were used to using Yarka and said that it was close but they could tell that it wasn't the original.
They then bought the other box and it was the same thing. I went on the internet to see if Yarka was still made in Russia and there was a linkin article by an expert that said that they were made in Russia and who the manufacturer was - also in Russia. The article was written in 2015. I will need to contact her to see if it still is. Dick Blick and Jerry's both have a blurb on a different Yarka product that they are still made in Russia. The other thing is that it says on the box that I have and has the same thing printed on the cover of the box that it is imported by Jack Richison. When I check the Jack Richison website they no longer carry this tube watercolor paint but still carry pan watercolors. That is not saying somebody got a stash and is selling them but it just makes you wonder.
I guess the reason I am being touchy about this is because one of the Facebook groups I follow is talking about people stealing their designs (mostly from the far East) and making money off of them. Original intellectual property has lost out because of the theft of copyrights/patterns/inventions stolen and their rights have been infringed upon. I want to know if I am buying Yarka, that it is actually Yarka made in Russia instead of a knock off made in China. Passing off one for the other is fraud. It is knowing that I really am getting quality and not wasting my money on a fake. People have spent time and money developing product, setting up their businesses, building a reputation, and it is not right or fair that somebody hacks it and makes money off of somebody else's hard work. I would rather support the inventor than the thief. As artists, we do not want our artwork stolen and somebody else making money that we should be making off of our creativity and hard work so we, in kind should be supporting other innovators and creators in maintaining their copyright also. If ideas/ inventions/ art/ copyrights continue to get stolen at the rate they have to date, then there will be nobody inovating anymore because it is just not worth it.
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