A possible look out...

[konekoprints.livejournal.com]

So, I was told to post here in hopes something can be solved if not, people are warned.  About a year ago (at RCFM 2007) I bought a piece of art from an artist named Bushy Cat.  I know she's at a lot of cons and can be found everywhere pretty much with tails behind her and a giant table of art. 
Anyway, I comissioned her for a 45 USD 2 character picture.  I left an email and name and such for future contact.  Sense then I've had a few email changes, however I have it set up with thunderbird to give me my emails even on old accounts.  I hadn't heard back from her and for the life of me couldn't find her contact information (her website wasn't complete then I don't think).  So, I see her at the last FC.  I talk to her and she said she sent the sketch and never heard back from me.  Even had it rejected in my email (which was possible for being in the spam folder but I pay attention to even my spam folders).  Anyway, we work things out and I give her a new email along with my mate's email.  I think even a phone number, but I don't remember.  I even had worked out with her to change the person I'm with in the picture so that it matched my current mate.
I leave and send her an email asking if she had any information she needed and checking if the email she had given was correct... a month later, I get a reply.  Okay... I can handle someone being busy... now each email I send is 2 weeks or so delayed with her and eventually she drops off again.  A couple months ago, I asked if I could at the least have my money back I paid her, if she is too busy with the drawing.  No problems there, she can finish it.
Now... I emailed a week and half ago asking the status and nothing... not even an excuse...
I hate causing trouble for others, expecially artists that aren't mean to me, but when I paid for a piece at the least I'm expecting the first picture I asked for.. I could care less about the changes as long as I got my money's worth.
So, now I'm still out of luck and worse I'm hearing rumors to not comissions her and it's not making me happy... so yeah.. that's my story, and hopefully someone can help and at the least I've put her up as a warning to others...

Comments

[casteddreams.livejournal.com]

I believe I've heard another warning about her on here before, unfortunately. :S

[wolfmare.livejournal.com]

Love the icon! CUTE!

[casteddreams.livejournal.com]

Thanks! :)

[skulldog.livejournal.com]

Khir Moonclaw had a nasty run in with Bushycat: http://community.livejournal.com/artists_beware/114259.html

[maggock.livejournal.com]

Here's the other warning about her: http://community.livejournal.com/artists_beware/114259.html

From what I gathered, she takes forever and has horrible communication skills, and she pushes people who 'bother' her even further back in the queue.

[lastres0rt.livejournal.com]

What does this woman actually draw? I'm trying to find a link that would give me some clue as to why she's apparently such a BigName... all I found so far was ye olde Vanity Fair article. >_>

[konekoprints.livejournal.com]

http://www.bushycat.com/ is her main site and http://www.bushycat.com/artwork.html has her artwork... I thought it was nice. I mean to see work done in colored pencil, it has a soft look to it and might not be perfect, but still is nice.

[anjel-kitty.livejournal.com]

I think she is only BigName because she goes to every furry con in existence. When furry is the ONLY thing in your life like that and you've been in the fandom since its conception, it tends to mean you become well known.

[starcharmer.livejournal.com]

Oooh...THAT BushyCat. I wondered why the name sounded familiar...

[konekoprints.livejournal.com]

You've seen her or had bad luck with her?

[starcharmer.livejournal.com]

Just read that other post about her when it was posted. I don't go to cons or commission many people, so I've never even said hi to her. P:

[sarakazi.livejournal.com]

I've never heard one good thing about Bushy Cat.

[wolfmare.livejournal.com]

I went to an art panel she did at MFM a year or two ago... There was no space to sit, and she was droning on about different ways to draw things, but when I asked a fairly simple question I got snarked at. I left, came back later to see whether it had picked up any, and there wasn't even standing room left... When I looked in, she actually had security close the door so that nobody could even listen in.

After simply having seen that, I decided she won't be getting any commissions from me, period. Not worth the hassle, and I don't feel her art is good enough to justify the pain anyway.

[thrashbear.livejournal.com]

I have had a different experience with Bushy. She's always been a sweetheart to me, and her and I get along pretty well.

With that said, I commissioned her to make a badge at fc '05 and hadn't heard from her. But a year later, we meet up and she remembered, promising to have it for me. In a nutshell, I'd given up by that point and just considered it a donation.

I myself struggle with stability and can't always fulfill orders period, much less in a timely manner. So I always cut other artists some slack if there is a delay in completion of my order, unless they're bitchy about it.

[thaily.livejournal.com]

Did you ever get the badge?

[laneypanda.livejournal.com]

Oh no, another one has faced the wrath of Bushy Cat.

It took some friends of mine a couple of years to finally get their commissions, I hope all means up better with you.

[rmoorcat.livejournal.com]

she takes awhile, but shell get yer stuff done.

[holydust.livejournal.com]

But only apparently if you don't dare ask her about it, and are willing to wait a year without ever knowing when it's going to happen. That's unacceptable.

[felixpath.livejournal.com]

I have had friends who commissioned Bushycat and regretted it. Word across the board is, she overcharges, takes forever, and her art consists of badly-colored, generic pics of "cute" characters who all look the same. And even polite criticism will result in her arrogant wrath.

Before commissioning someone, be sure to check their background and try to confirm or deny that they're worth it.

[konekoprints.livejournal.com]

It was my first furry con ever. So I had no idea about these things. I even had a couple other pieces that were finished within the time of the con.

[romani123.livejournal.com]

She sounds like an artist not worth my time!

[anjel-kitty.livejournal.com]

How is it she is able to make it to every furry con existence? I mean is it that she just only goes to cons and nothing else? I see her at every con I have ever been to.
I commissioned her for a tail in 2003 to my first FC and 2nd furry con ever and I paid 45 dollars for it. I suppose I was naive and did not realize that a stuffed piece of fabric sewn to a pleather belt loop was really not worth 45 dollars, but at least I got my goods.

[rs-studios.livejournal.com]

she makes hundreds at her booth drawing babyfur art and selling badly made tails. and she has peices in the art auction that always seem to sell well.. stingy comes to mind.

[anjel-kitty.livejournal.com]

So in short she is a professional furry con goer?

[rs-studios.livejournal.com]

well she does not drink. or smoke or do drugs.. says she has a good paying job in new york.. so probably just goes to cons with what she saves up. nothing really wrong with that.

[rs-studios.livejournal.com]

wish i could do it.. but i like spending the money i make.. what little there is:P

[anjel-kitty.livejournal.com]

She has a good paying job in New York that lets her go to every furry con in the US? I mean that must be like several 4-5 day weekends a month, not to mention all the travel costs. Wow I'd love to have the kind of job that would pay me that much money and yet allow me to work as little as that.

[rs-studios.livejournal.com]

far as i know she only goes to fc, ac, mfm.. that i heard about

[anjel-kitty.livejournal.com]

No all these posts mention her at RCFM, Oklacon, and MFF too

[lastres0rt.livejournal.com]

It's not unheard of to use vacation time for specific conventions (especially if you're someone who also considers it a second job.)

5-7 conventions a year is still less than two weeks' worth of vacation time spent if you work it all out in advance.

[the-lest.livejournal.com]

Maybe its a working from home, choose your own hours sort of job?

[rs-studios.livejournal.com]

I was going to comission a 2 character larger peice at FC last year. However that changed when for some strange reason she refused to pay the small fee to haul her and her heavy baggage. not once. but 2 times from the greyhound station. i said nothing.

She was my roomate at fc as well. the first 2 days went ok. then for no real reason she got all huffy and moved out of the room. stealing money from me in the process. (yes i have a police report)

so from being friendly to bitchy to a theif. that lost any respect i had for her there.

[lilenth.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't hold your breath to be honest, bushy cat is notorious for being late, bitchy, abusive, providing bad artwork which does not meet the brief to anyone she feel "pesters" her and just generally being unprofessional.

She's a big name because she does cubart, that's it. Outside of that? Her artwork has nothing special enough to make her name.

Her treatment of Khir moonclaw was particularly appalling imho.

[thaily.livejournal.com]

Sorry this happened to you, I hope you manage to get some kind of satisfaction out of this still although I fear the worst :/

The fact that she'd change an existing character to a new one suggests to me that she hadn't even started on the sketch yet.

That said, on a unrelated note, this is why I don't do furry commissions with couples in them anymore. Furries can change mates 6 times before even a timely commission is finished.

[konekoprints.livejournal.com]

Oh! mine wasn't even a mate change for me. I was doing it for a friend and ended up with a piece from another artist for them due to the lateness of hers... I just changed it to being my mate so it would be cute to hang on the wall and such...

[the-lest.livejournal.com]

Completely off topic (sorry) but thanks for mentioning Thunderbird - i've been looking for a program like that for some time.

[konekoprints.livejournal.com]

no problem! I love it for all my gmail accounts there so I can keep up on them without worries that someone is going to email me on them that doesn't realize my new email