I can see how it could bother you but the painting you sold was WAY better, and honestly, there's no comparison. The "artist" who copied the painting you sold is obviously out of ideas.

It's very upsetting when this stuff happens. I don't think people can fully understand who haven't been there. I've had the experience of looking through gallery pics on eBay and realizing some of the paintings looked just like mine. The minute you start seeing some kind of success, the copycats start in.

Even though the originals are always superior, it doesn't show up in the gallery pics.

Last week, a sweatshop actually stole one of my images (not just copied it--they lifted the image for their listing, signature & all).

I started putting a watermark across my images. It might help deter thieves a little. I made a semi-transparent layer in photoshop.

But, one problem we have is that the copiers don't see anything wrong with what they're doing. Some of them actually delude themselves into thinking they are flattering us. I have tried talking to the major ones who copy me and I couldn't get anywhere.

Laura