I received an email from one of my fellow artist these last few days. The email is quite disturbing and to my judgment needs immediate attention. You see, aside from writing I’ve been freelancing as a T-shirt designer for Harley Davidson apparel, submitting artworks online makes working from home an ingenious way of earning money without the hassle of the city streets. The pay is ok until the email.

Apparently some artists discovered that the $37 per design the middle man pays us is quite a David compared to the Goliath of a profit the middle man makes. According to sources Harley Davidson pays them $300 per design approved, that makes them eat the whole pie and share us the crust if not the crumb. I would not mention here the name of the middle man’s company so as to protect their identity pending actions from the artists.

This kind of practice has been going on for quite a long time. Not only in the field of apparel designs but also from where I came from—the Animation industry. Artists had been robbed, so to speak of the true worth of their works. That explains why the first world businessman prefers to outsource their jobs from the third world because the labor costs are so damn low. Well, from the third world point of view—beggars can’t be choosy.

Artists don’t need any resume writer that technically lists all their achievements--their works speaks for themselves, they are not the kind whom you can place in one corner at the office and order drudgery and toil to transpire. You cannot produce artworks without the artists pouring their heart out in it. As contrary to old beliefs that artists are moody, well, finding inspiration from within often misunderstood as a “moody” thing.

Artists are not big businessman, tycoons, magnate, mogul or industrialists that can make or break a nation. We are not politicians nor military that can re shape the nations future. But we are also a part of the culture-shaping sector that in one way or the other contributes and molds values and communicates the past from the present.