Word of Caution about Mermaid Krystal (aka Krystal Patrick, Krystal Bernowski)
I have kept my mouth shut for over a year about my dealings with her because I am not the type of person who likes drama of any kind and usually if I deal with an unscrupulous person, I typically just ignore them and move on. But recently I have seen Krystal apparently treating others similarly to how I was treated and its really erking me everytime I see her pull the same b.s. again and again so I'm sharing this to clear the air and clear the names of others she may have dealt with and is trashing.
I first met Krystal last year when her and I decided to split a room at MerPalooza 2012. We met on the MerNetwork so I had not met her previously. We exchanged some emails and phone calls and she seemed to be a nice normal person like me so I decided to room with her, but throughout the weekend, she repeatedly tried to not pay her share for things like the rental car (which we had also decided to split) tolls on the road and other money she asked to borrow from me for drinks at a bar. On our last day, literally on the way to the airport, I finally just took her to an ATM and demanded she get the money she owed me for the weekend.
I could go into more detail about her personality and other things she did that weekend but I think that's enough of the big facts to give you a picture.
Another thing she was doing all weekend (even when people called her out on it) was telling people that she made her tail. The tail she wore was made by the Mertailor and she repainted it and modified it with some extra fins but she told everyone who asked that she made it outright. As an artist myself, this really pissed me off. Its one thing to buy custom art and modify it, but that does not make you the original creator and I think artists should be given credit where credit is due. A few people would even comment "You made that really ? It looks just like a Mertailor tail ?" and she would continue to lie over and over and assure them "No I made it completely myself" I didn't say anything at the time because I was just trying to make it through the weekend with her and we were sharing a room so I didn't want to incite her into doing worse things like stealing my stuff or something.
Flash forward a few months and there is another controversy with her about pictures of her in a Mermaid Magazine in which again she states that she makes her tails while wearing either a FishButts or Mertailor Tail in the photos for the magazine. Again, disrespecting the original artists and lying. Then it comes to light (on the MerNetwork) that she had purchased a FishButts tail, then trashed the Tail maker, repainted the tail and resold it for a hefty profit. She recently tried this again with her latex tail from Mertailor by trying to sell it for hundreds more than she bought it for after trashing the Mertailor publicly the first time. I cannot confirm if she did sell that one or not but she did make a posting about it being for sale on the MerNetwork.
At Merpalooza she told me how horrible the Mertailor was and how she tried to get a free tail from him in the past by stating that she was a 'disabled veteran'. Then she ended up purchasing one anyway and repainting/modifying it. I was very surprised after trash talking him so much, that she approached The Mertailor at the Pool Party and asked if she could try on one of his new silicone tails and I was even more shocked when Eric actually let her ! I thought this was very kind of him, especially given her history of trashing him and his work but he must not have known all the terrible things she had been saying about him so he graciously let her try on and swim in his new tail. After she swam in the tail, I asked if I could try it on as well before Eric had to take it to the convention but she kept it on the whole time until he had to leave so I never got a chance to try it on myself. I thought this was very selfish of her but typical for how she had been behaving.
After the convention, despite her behavior towards me, I still sent her numerous photos and videos I had taken of her with my camera and she never even thanked me for them. She also never apologized to me for her behavior that weekend. As for the money, this sums up her attitude/scamming: When I brought up the money she owed me that she had borrowed she stated "Well you shouldn't have lent the money to me if you didn't want me to have it" or something very similar. I just laughed in disbelief and explained that "I LENDED you money as we agreed upon, I did not GIVE you the money" and then I took her to the ATM and waited for her to get what she owed me for the weekend.
Krsytal has also in the past, taken a photo of Hannah Fraser and photoshopped her face onto the photo and used it as her profile picture on facebook. That was until I and others called her out on it, then she created a new page and the picture disappeared.
Now, presently she is trashing the Mertailor again about a silicone tail that she paid 1/2 price for after begging him for a discount. I saw the design sketch and the final tail and I think Eric did an accurate and beautiful re-creation of the design concept. Like I have heard other artists say, "We are not photo copy machines, every artist has their own little style they bring to the table" The way that Krystal is trashing Mertailor again and trying to now sell the tail for hundreds more than she paid for it is just sounding too familiar and making me wonder if this was her plan all along. Perhaps she begs tail makers for a discounted tail, then re-sells them for profit and that is her plan all along. Either way, I find her behavior very unscrupulous and I have finally broken my silence because I'm tired of seeing her lie over and over and try to hurt others.
Based on all this, I would be very cautious in doing any business with this person.
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks