I'll never understand quantum physics, why my dad takes 15 years to buy milk, and jerks who try to take advantage of artists, offering exposure as payment.
When reddit user KindredCocaCola agreed to create some promotional material for her aunt's business, she didn't know what she was getting herself into. The lady tried to rob her of several thousands of dollars worth of work and was so full of herself, she even tried to turn KindredCocaCola's family against her. But the artist handled everything like a pro and did everything in her power to deal with her toxic aunt.
What's really amazing is, in the process of demanding what rightfully belongs to KindredCocaCola, she exposed how her aunt's entire life is just one giant scam. Continue scrolling and read how everything unfolded in our heroine's own words!
KindredCocaCola said things got weird from the start. "I did some initial sketches for her to see if we were going down the right path and she actually got sort of mad at me because I was wasting her time with non-finished products," the artist explained. "I told her that's kind of how I work because I don't want to waste expensive materials on ideas that she may not like. I actually have this in text and she said 'my time is just as valuable as your materials, so please don't waste it.' I was like OK, so I spent the next week doing a very elaborate oil painting from which her business logo would be taken. I even UPS-shipped it to her. She hated it and got mad at me again for wasting her time. I tried to explain to her this is why I like to do sketches so there's no misunderstanding. She agreed this time and I finally came up with things she liked. I'd spent a lot of time on this project already, not so much that my grades were slipping but it was costing me time with my friends. So I did final versions of the oil painting for the office, did what I think is a really cool logo, and a really nice mock-up of the office mural. I was out quite a bit of money for the materials and shipping and it was very stupid of me to not follow up about the payment then."
Next, the aunt accused KindredCocaCola of dragging her feet on the car magnet design. The artist said that she should take the logo to a local graphic design place and they could easily do it. "I also told her I thought we had the materials to make them at my school but I personally didn't. She accused me of not working hard enough for her. I was really taken aback and just decided enough was enough and I would just stop doing things for her."
"This is where things get really ugly. She contacted me out of the blue and thanked me for the advice on the magnets. She said that now she was ready for me to fly out and paint her office mural. I said that was pretty much impossible as I had classes and any decent mural painter could take my mockup and make it happen. She said she wanted me to do it. So I talked with my teachers to see if I could take a week off, all were supportive, so I looked up tickets and told Aunt Jay what it would cost to fly me out. She said that she assumed I would pay for it since I'd get to see my family anyways. I said I was really sorry but I just can't afford it but maybe if she paid me for the work I'd already done for her, maybe I could see if my parents would split the cost of the ticket with me."
Here's what people said about the whole ordeal
