A few words about copyright, creative license and inspiration from the artist:

"First, here is the tough legalese: by the very virtue of it's publicly displayed existance, all of the content on this site is owned by Nanette Kroupa and is copyrighted as such, whether it is marked or not, and anything (jewelry, art objects, photos and/or text, web and other design) that is duplicated, reproduced, displayed publicly or used exactly in a teaching fashion without prior written permission will be considered copyright infringement and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Okay, now that that's out of the way, I prefer to use the wonderful quote in the masthead of the informative and beautiful magazine BEADWORK, "Exact reproduction for commercial purposes is contrary to the spirit of good craftsmanship"* A famed quilter I once heard speak told about the shock and surprise she had one Sunday morning, when, going through the ads in her newspaper, she saw a men's shirt, sold by a major retailer, with an exact reproduction of one of her quilts on it! She refered the ad to her lawyer and the shirt was pulled, but it is a perfect example of what can happen, and does happen every day. One can be mass marketed without even knowing it.

That being said, there are only so many ways to make anything. I have been influenced and inspired by teachers and artists that I have met and countless more whose work I regularly study in books and magazines, on web sites, in shows; even on ebay, where several of my favorite designers display beautiful pieces of original, one of a kind art jewelry. The way I see it, construction may remain constant, but variety is infinite.

Merle White, Editor in Chief of the esteemed Lapidary Journal, the essential monthly chronicle of the lapidary arts (and so much more), said it best in her October 2003 issue editorial: "Most of what anyone knows is what he or she has been taught by others, and what new ideas anyone develops lean heavily on past ideas for support." She continues, "The free exchange of ideas is the essence of a free society and the lifeblood of a vibrant culture... Why worry about giving away a few technical details when your real strength is compelling design and your real competition is the mass jewelry market? It would (be) better to take a little bit of that big market's share for yourself by teaching more people about beautiful, handmade jewelry and how you create it, and promoting art jewelry to as many people as you possibly can."*

If you have questions about anything on this site, want to start a dialogue or share ideas, I would love to hear from you. If this work serves to inspire someone to create something beautiful, I consider that my finest achievement."

Nanette Kroupa

You can reach Nan by choosing the e-mail option in the drop down menu under 'about', or, by postal mail at:

nan k. Designs
P. O. Box 16246
San Francisco, CA 94116

*The authors were quoted with permission