Call Your Art What It Is -- ART!

Let's address something I think many artists who do what I do with their photos, textures, digital painting, etc are guilty of - using terms to describe the artwork and the work of others, which, in my opinion, devalue the artist's creativity, vision, and hard work.

This is a list of my most hated words I see in comments about my art:

Edit
Editing
Manipulation
Manip
Treatment

When I see those words tossed out in comments, I immediately get sinking feelings in my stomach.  I feel as if my art has just been tremendously devalued.  I feel as if the time and effort, creativity and skill with what I do has just been put on the ground and stomped on.  Seriously - those words really, really bother me.  I'd just as soon NOT see a comment, than see those words in any way connected with my ART.

My art is ART.  No matter how I create it, what tools I use,  or how long it takes me - it is all ART.

I do not publish my "straight photos" anymore {except some on my stock photo site from time to time}.  Everything I post is ART I have created using a combination of various mediums, applications, tools, techniques, etc.

The words EDIT and EDITING gives me the impression the viewer thinks I just hit a button and spit out the creation that took me 4 hours, 8 hours, even days, to create.  "Editing" is what I do to brighten, sharpen, or crop a photo.  PERIOD.  While "editing" is often involved in the beginning, or very end, of my process, it certainly doesn't describe what I do in the least, and I actually feel insulted when I see the term.

Another word I absolutely loathe is "manipulation", or even worse, the shortened version some use, "manip".  While the first definition of the word means to use or handle in a skillful way, the other definitions associated with the word are negative.  Whenever I heard the word "manipulation", it leaves a negative feeling behind for me.

I think the absolute worst for me is when someone says "great treatment!" when referring to my ART.  A "treatment" is something you receive from a doctor for a medical condition.  I'm really familiar with the word treatment after the last year and half with my health issues.  I do not like it at all used in concert with my art. 

Recently, I published the above piece I worked on for many, many hours.  It was a piece which involved mixed media of a photo {for the outline reference of the subject only}, digital painting, and the integration of layers and layers of hand painted textures which I painted in my studio.  It was a seriously intense and involved piece of work, and to have someone refer to it as a "treatment" is just insulting, in my opinion.  Almost like the word "edit", as if I just hit a button and made that final image instantaneously appear.  It doesn't work that way.  Not with me, anyway.

My art is ART.  Period.  I make a point when I am commenting on my customer's creative work to refer to it as ART, or  as a creative WORK, because that's what it is.   My customers create ART.  They spend many, many hours, days, some even weeks, and use many mediums {because my textures and backgrounds are composed of MANY mediums in their creation}, and they use a variety of tools and skills to create their masterpieces.  I will not devalue their work by using words that imply they just hit a button and made it appear, or that they did something negative to make the work what it is, or that their work somehow went through some medical process.

When you refer to your work and that of others as what it is - ART - you are giving the work the true value it deserves.