Lost Contact - BushyCat

[supershycritter.livejournal.com]

Okay, so maybe for some of you this isn't a lot of money...but $60 to me is a lot. I commissioned BushyCat at FCN 2011, which was April 9th. Well, second day of the con when I commissioned her. She needed a color she did not have there at the con, so I said it was okay to take home to do. She paints the art. She happens to be one of my most favorite artists and I make a point of buying something from her each con I attend that she is at. The problem is, on the 11th of April, I emailed her. I was worried I gave her the wrong address because when we had last talked on Sunday the 10th, I was a little bit drunk from the night before. So...I waited almost two weeks before I started to fret. BushyCat never returned an email saying she got my message or anything. So, I tried again, hoping maybe she just missed it or something. I know, it's been a month and about a week, but I'd like some sort of contact. Her FA looks abandoned and her website only gives her email as a way of contacting her! Any ideas, or has anyone commissioned her for take home/at home arts before? How long does she usually take? I know she will be at AC, but I can't go. I don't have enough for a room...or even a portion. Right now $150 for my third/fourth of a room is out of the question...so I can't go and directly talk too her.


She is an awesome artist, I love how nice she is. She'll even chatter with you outside of Dealer's Den if you catch her with time on her hands! I'd just like to make sure she has the right address for me, I know she's working on it, I saw the sketch at FCN. It made me very excited. I'm probably just worrying too much, but I don't want someone else getting my art. It's special to me because it's a sister portrait. :3

Comments

[charlie-kit.livejournal.com]

Bushy can be a bit tough to reach, I'll admit. However, I recommend you to reach her by email since that's about the most reliable way to reach her. Turnaround time can be variable though since the last time I had a take-home I ended up picking up the piece at the next convention I was able to attend (though she had it finished before then), which was about 7 months. But she pulls through on your piece so there isn't much to worry about.

[likeshine.livejournal.com]

hopefully this person's experience doesn't happen to you:
http://artists-beware.livejournal.com/114259.html

good luck with her

[sinabu.livejournal.com]

Hey that was me :P

I still have that crappy artwork along with the nasty letter she sent me.

[likeshine.livejournal.com]

what a horrible way to treat someone ;_;

[kayla-la.livejournal.com]

Oh man, I forgot about that post. I think Bushy has a history here on AB.

What a nasty way to treat someone. If you don't want someone 'harassing' you, ANSWER THEIR EMAILS! Even just to say 'I got it, thanks!'.

completely off-topic

[theblackdragon.livejournal.com]

oh my god that e-mail sarakazi provided below was so familiar i just looked it up on Google, and no waaaaaay -- i can't believe this BushyCat person is actually Kajite Gray. 'Samurai Souls' was one of the best origin-fics in the Samurai Troopers/Ronin Warriors fandom, i daresay it would've been _the_ best if she'd ever finished it. i used to look up to her, but after reading that entry... yeesh. :(

[sarakazi.livejournal.com]

She just posted at rcfm looking for roommates for the con. This is the e-mail she gave to get in contact with her: YoroidenGi@aol.com

[supershycritter.livejournal.com]

This is the one I have been emailing. Thank you though.

[fuzibuni.livejournal.com]

http://rcfm.livejournal.com/182867.html She posted on LJ just today, maybe try to catch her that way? I've heard bad things about her.

[sinabu.livejournal.com]

Others have posted her e-mail which is about the only way contact her but personally my advice would be to request a refund and wash your hands of her.

I do hope you actually get what you paid for.

[supershycritter.livejournal.com]

I can't get a refund, this was cash at FCN in the dealer's den.
i've just never asked for something that wasn't completed at a con before. I also...never knew all this bad stuff. She's so nice in person. :/ At leadt too me she's always been

[scardykat85.livejournal.com]

I didn't think people actually commissioned her XD

[supershycritter.livejournal.com]

That's a bit rude, don't you think? Why yes, I just assume all artists in the Dealer's Den are untrustworthy! Cuz....yah know, that's how a con with artists works, right?

[djdragonboy.livejournal.com]

I commissioned BushyCat at a convention a few years ago for a full-color artwork of my dragon character. It took maybe six months before I got an email from her that she had reached my position in the queue and wanted to double-check what I wanted again. I think it was a month after that before I received the finished piece in the mail. I have no complaints about the transaction; just relaying that it did take some time to get through her queue.

[fenris-lorsrai.livejournal.com]

Bushy clearly has been posted before, but there's also some family illness going on as well. Not good on the responding to start with, but that's probably really not helping right now either. Use the stuff people posted above to get in touch with her and keep trying.

[white-wer.livejournal.com]

I'm not keen on the commission I got from Bushycat at anthrocon a few years back, paid her 45 dollars for a commission in my sketchbook, and I got something that was done in permanent marker and looked like it was done hastily in a bout 20 minutes if that. When I asked her about it when I picked up the book, she told me that was the best she could do. Since that point, I refuse to commission her for anything.

[supershycritter.livejournal.com]

Awe, that's sad. Everything she's always done for me has been very nice and I've been happy with it. I wish I had known all this history of hers before I decided to let it be a take home commission.

[anjel-kitty.livejournal.com]

She happens to be one of my most favorite artists and I make a point of buying something from her each con I attend that she is at.
Well it will be a shame if her business practices may have damaged her reputation among her most loyal of customers.

[lilenth.livejournal.com]

Do you know anyone who is going to AC? It might be worth asking someone you know who is going to give her your email address, explain that you're trying to get in contact with her and asking her to contact you or for them to get her contact details for you. It's not ideal I know but it might be worth a shot.

[supershycritter.livejournal.com]

Well, my roommate is going, I plan on sending him with my receipt, or a copy of it at least. I'm just...so sad. She does have my email address and my FA name, she wanted to post the picture when she was done, I told her it was ok. I just..don't like not hearing anything for so long.

[alcyione.livejournal.com]

Hmmm... dug around a little bit and found her website:
http://www.thevioletpanther.com

Although the e-mail she has listed there is the same one that you already have (per earlier comments), so this probably doesn't help a lot. XD

[marus-puppy.livejournal.com]

Her refund policy is interesting... No refunds unless 18 months has passed without delivery of the product or if the "finish product really stinks." 18 months seems like a really long time to deliver a product, especially art, but then... I'm not an artist so I have no idea.

[almightytora.livejournal.com]

I remember commissioning her for a badge at FWA 2010, if I remember. I paid her in June 2010, but then she had legit issues (family member got sick, floods in NY) that delayed my badge until FWA 2011. I got it, and it looks good (even though the peace sign is on the wrong hand).

Just continue to e-mail her. If you don't get a response, e-mail her again in a week until she responds.

She seriously needs to get a Paypal set up (I paid by PERSONAL CHECK, by the way).

[sinabu.livejournal.com]

There is no legit excuse with her sadly.. She used the same excuse to me and others years ago..

[shadow3397.livejournal.com]

You're not the only one who's had issues in the past about getting into contact with her.

I myself commissioned her for two different color pictures, both of them two character pictures.

The first one came out just fine (if really late).

The second one was the problem. I had asked for a muscled tall black Wolf and a thin shorter Collie. She even had that written down on her receipt. When she finally got a sketch of it done about half a year after the con (when I paid for it) she flipped the characters completely, not only making the Wolf short and thin and the Collie tall and muscled, but she flipped the positioning as well (putting the wolf under the collie).

Since it was still the sketch phase and she even asked if there was anything wrong in the e-mail I asked her to make slight adjustments to both characters, like switching the ears and fluffy fur parts to easily(?) change who was who.

I think it was about 3 or 4 months later that she showed me the finished picture and she hadn't changed anything.

By that time there wasn't anything I could do, and shortly after that I found this LJ Group.

If my experience is anything near the norm (and that appears to be the case judging by the other warnings and threads in each post), you won't be hearing from her at all until she's ready to tell you what she's done. The best I could tell you is forget you have a commission from her and wait for it to be done. If you send her an e-mail more often than once or twice a year, she may consider it harassment.