Putting The Art In Trade Illustration:

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PUTTING THE ART IN TRADE

Issue 6 - Spring 2009

Illustration: Drawing Animals

Interviews with Karen Cattoire Shelli Heinemann

Critique C o r n e r

Beginner’s Mixed Media

& Collage Backgrounds

Fabric ATC s

SWAP HOSTING The 101!

All About Trading

Cover background by Karen Cattoire

ATCs, Altered Art, Art Journals, Chunky Books & Creative Inspiration

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Table of Contents 3

Art Trader Contributors

4

Editor’s Note & Letters

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A Trade Story

7

Design 911: Composition

Spring 2009

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Presenting Your Artwork on the Web: Scanning

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Gallery of Warm Colors: Red, Yellow, Orange & Black

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Fabric Arts 101

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Artistic Journeys: Watercolor Pencils

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Feature Interview: Karen Cattoire

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Gallery: Altered CDs

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In the Artist’s Studio with Amy Sargent

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Feature Interview: Shelli Heinemann

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Gallery: Fabric Cards

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Beginner’s Mixed Media & Collage: Backgrounds

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Critique Corner with Andrea Melione

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Preparing and Shipping of Mail Art

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Vintage Collage Contest Winner

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Gallery: Nature Kings

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Illustration: Drawing (Cute) Animals

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Petite Artiste: Vivian S.K.

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Swap Hosting 101

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What is Whimsy Art?

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Advertisements

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How to Contribute to ArtTrader Mag

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CHIEF EDITOR Dana Driscoll COPY EDITOR Meran ni Cuill CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS Tracie Rozario Andrea Melione Sal Scheibe Dana Driscoll Amy Sargent Brittany Noethen Shelli Heinemann Sharon Safranyos ART DIRECTOR Sal Scheibe ASSOCIATE DESIGNERS Brittany Noethen Andrea Melione PUBLISHED BY ArtTraderMag.com

ArtTRADER Magazine www.arttradermag.com Editor: [email protected] Advertising: [email protected] Submissions: [email protected] Call for Entries: www.arttradermag.com

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Contributors Brittany Noethen is an artist living in a tech manager’s body. She would rather be decapitated than give up making art, trading ATCs, or stop thinking that the phrase “Muffins or Bust” is hilarious. She currently lives in Iowa with her partner Cat, her 12 year old pit bull, Maggie, and shelves full of art supplies. • www.bnoethen.etsy.com • arty-iowa-girl.vox.com • www.flickr.com/photos/arty-ia-girl

Andrea Melione (AKA EraserQueen) has a B.S. in Arts Management and is doggedly pursuing a Master’s in Library Science. She has been involved in Mail Art for five years and is the co-founder of IllustratedATCs.com. She is a contributor to ArtTrader Magazine where she is a graphic designer and author. She mainly works in watercolor, colored pencil, acrylics, markers and gel pens. Her work has been in four exhibits, though two were academic and she isn’t sure if that counts enough to sound cool. • artpfunkcentral.blogspot.com • www.flickr.com/photos/littleboots

Meran niCuill Fascinated by nature and science, Meran ni Cuill attempts daily to translate her passions into art. Sometimes she feels she even succeeds! And then something else will catch her attention and off she’ll go! Chasing another ideal. Meran enjoys gardening, sunsets, dogs, birds, and just about anything as long as it’s not endless crowds of people. When those present, she’ll retreat to a quiet place and read a book, or cut some glass, both of which she finds therapeutic. • www.meran.etsy.com • atcs2009.meran.fastmail.fm

Dana Driscoll is an experimental artist working in a variety of media including watercolors, mixed media, oils, clay, book arts, hand papermaking, and altered art. She is currently working on several artistic projects, including painting her way through a 78-card tree tarot deck and combining her love of pottery and bookmaking. When not avoiding the perils of pursuing her Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Composition, she can be found frolicking in nearby forests or hanging out with her nerdy gamer friends. Dana’s work can be found at her blog: artisticjourneys.blogspot.com and she can be reached at [email protected]. • www.artisticjourneys.etsy.com

Abi Aldrich is a K-6 Art teacher in Wyoming. She sells oil paintings professionally, makes pottery because she likes to play in the mud, and generally makes text -based sculptures and installations because that is her true love. Beyond that she loves printmaking, drawing, and graphic design. In all her massive amounts of free time, Abi hangs out with her menagarie, including several rabbits, a chinchilla, a hampster, a cockatiel and a large bearded dragon. She also calls West Africa every night to talk to the love of her life, Gee. So in a nutshell, she is a nut who likes to make a mess in art! www.abigayle.etsy.com

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Contributors Sal Scheibe works as a creative designer for print and web and also as a freelance illustrator. Her designs and artwork have appeared in books, CDs and DVDs and posters. Sal is currently working on a number of large canvas paintings for art shows. She also enjoys trading ATCs and is an administrator at IllustratedATCs.com. Sal’s favorite artists and illustrators include Joe Sorren, J.C. Leyendecker, William Bougereau and John Singer Sargent. Her favored mediums are acrylic paint, colored pencils and markers. • www.slscheibe.com • www.flickr.com/photos/amerasu Amy L. Sargent is a poet, mixed-media artist, and writing professor living in Roseburg, Oregon. She trades mail art under the artist ID “amyfaerie” at www.atcsforall.com. She lives with her husband, their three cats, and an old, hand-me-down dog. When not writing, making art, or teaching, she is most certainly at the post office or at a thrift store.

Angela Kingston-Smith (aka LemurKat) is an illustrator, not an artist. With her quirky, whimsical style she can turn anything cute and her art now graces the walls of fellow artists all over the world, from Guatemala to Madagascar. She hails from the lovely south island of New Zealand, and loves to add a “kiwi flavour” to her art. Kat is also a dedicated bibliophile. Her motto is “always bring a book”. When she is not drawing, reading, sleeping or working, Kat is usually writing (or editing). For more information on LemurKat or to see more of her art, pay a visit to her online gallery at deviantart. • lemurkat.deviantart.com Tracie Rozario Residing on the Sunny West Coast of Australia, Tracie is a self taught artist and lives with her husband, 3 children, 2 cats and 2 dogs. Her preferred medium is anything she can paint or draw with. Her passion lies in fantasy and portraits and much of her work revolves around that theme: fantasy and whimsical style. She believes that her biggest artistic influence is the Impressionist movement. The use of vibrant ‘true’ colors, visible brush strokes and freedom that the movement represents has always inspired her. From taking the step of trading ATCs, Tracie has found herself also creating altered Dominos, art dolls, 4”x4” chunky book pages, 8”x8” journal pages, altered Rolodex address cards and even creating her own line of polymer stamps; things that she would never have known about or even thought about doing. Tracie is a self-taught artist and is a qualified Parchment Craft Australia Teacher and Duncan Ceramics Teacher. She also paints larger works on commission. • www.purplerealm.etsy.com

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Editor’s Letter

by Dana Driscoll

Here at ArtTrader Magazine we have been very excited to announce our new site, shop, and workshop series! The new www.arttradermag.com site is full of new features that will inspire you as an artist. First, we have opened up an ArtTrader Store! Our store currently features a variety of fantastic collage sheets and books produced by artists in our community. The current books featured there include Color: A Collaborative Perspective and The Best of IllustratedATCs.com 2007, both created by artists at IllustratedATCs.com. We look forward to bringing you even more great books, including the ATCsforALL 2008 and the ArtTrader Year 1 Compilation book! We are also very pleased to announce the first two workshops in our new online series—Whimsy Art Part I and Part II. We hope that you’ll be able to join us for these interactive online workshops and that they bring you inspiration. Because not everyone knows what “Whimsy Art” exactly is, we have included an article introducing Whimsy Art in this issue. And, as usual, we have a jam-packed issue full of eye candy, techniques, and so much more! This month we feature technique articles on scanning in your art to display online, an article on Packaging your ATCs for swaps and mailing, and an introduction to collage backgrounds. And if that isn’t enough, we also have a look at the studio of Amy Sargent, and interviews with Karen Cattoire and Shelli Heinemann. We also have our regular columns, including Artistic Journeys, Design 911, Petite Artiste, and more. So read, be inspired, and go create some art!

Everyone is here on earth as an artist; to tell his particular story or sing her irreplaceable song; to leave a unique creative signature. Leonard Wolf

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A Trade Story The cards and poem displayed here were created by David Diamond (Morning Walk) and Pamela Vosseller (The Rose), artists who trade at IllustratedATCs.com. In November, David saw a beautiful flower card displayed in the Illustratedatcs.com gallery titled “The Rose” by Pamela Vosseller. He asked for the card in trade, and promised a custom card in return. Pam happily sent off “The Rose” to David just as David’s wife, Irene, became seriously ill due to cancer complications. David’s wife passed away in late January, and David asked Pam for permission to incorporate “The Rose” into a memory tribute card to give to people attending Irene’s memorial service. “The Rose” was printed on watercolor paper and included a poem to Irene on the back. David keeps the card now on an altar in his bedroom dedicated to Irene. Just recently David was able to begin working on his art once again. His first project was to finish the ATC for Pam. He knew he wanted to create something extremely special, and “A Morning Walk” was the card he created. “A Morning Walk” was chosen as IllustratedATCs.com Card of the Month for February 2009.

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Design 911h by Andrea Melione

The impact of color is tremendous: Not only does color have an emotional impact, it also has an impact on your design and the composition of your artwork, be it an ATC or a large mural! Color has the power to attract the eye, take attention away from an element in your work, move the eye around the composition, and make the artwork more exciting to look at. In this issue, we’re going to look at how to use this power to enhance the design of our personal artwork.

To Draw Attention Around an Image Color is a powerful tool to move the viewer’s eye through a piece of artwork. You can easily guide the viewer though your composition, using color. This postcard has a lot going on. Though there appears to be an explosion of color, the color is in fact carefully controlled. The text “Peace for All’ is a very light green, and green, of course, contains yellow. None of the other areas of color within the image contain yellow; they are either purple (red and blue) or blue. In addition, the light green is also the lightest color in the composition, adding the very important element of contrast. The light green word “Peace” seems to drip down through the rest of the lettering, and on down around the left hand, leading the viewer’s eye completely through the image.

Color Composition Tip:

Before adding color to your artwork, take a sheet of scratch paper and test the color you want to use first. Some shades of color work better together than others. If you do not have experience in color theory, it is a good idea to plan color first. As you gain experience, you will gradually learn to use color intuitively; but in the beginning it is best to make decisions based on experimentation, rather than random choices!

Postcard by Andrea Melione

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To Draw Attention Away You can actually use color to draw attention away from something in your art (such as a mistake!) Use a neutral color for the area you wish to draw attention from, and use brighter, more intense color (this is called saturation) in an area away from the neutral colors. Let’s look at the Peace postcard once more: You will see that the hands are a neutral color. Skin color can be any color; red, yellow, black, brown etc. But the hands for this image were specifically colored a neutral tan/gray so as not to compete with the round Earth! Because a neutral color can so easily fade into the background, the hands are outlined in fuchsia, so as to remain visible to the eye. Fuchsia was carefully chosen, though, so it would remain cohesive with the rest of the purple/blue elements in the design.

To Draw Attention To The same principle applies here. If you wish to draw attention to a face, or to text, use color to draw the eye. This postcard has a really difficult composition: The text and collaged hand are almost competing with the cupcake because they take up about the same amount of space in the postcard. However, you can use color to save an iffy composition such as this. Notice that that hand/text area and the background all are fuchsias, blues and purples. All of these colors have some amount of blue in them, and are considered ‘cool’ in temperature. In order to draw the eye toward the cupcake, I used warm colors, colors that would contain some amount of yellow. The green surrounding the cupcake contain yellow (yellow + blue = green), and I shaded the pink frosting with orange (yellow + red = orange) to warm it up! The cherry girl’s skirt is green and yellow, and the cake portion of the cupcake is a warm brown (which also contains yellow.) I left the collaged ‘pointing hand’ a neutral gray so as not to stand out more than it already does; the gray is tied into the color composition by the silver I used around the border of the card. -8-

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Contrast with Color Contrast is simply a way to enhance the visual quality of an artwork and make it look more interesting. Think of cartoons in your newspaper: The ones that grab your attention the quickest are not the ones that feature simple line drawings, but the ones that feature a use of strong areas of black, or ones that use ‘half tones’ which are grays for shading. Color can be used for the same eye-catching effect. Thus, tonal value (the scale from light to dark) is very important, even with color, which also has a value of light to dark. Instead of creating a collage or painting with medium blues and medium purples, shake it up a bit by varying the light or darkness of the blues or purples. For example, if you are creating a color wash over your collage, vary how much paint you mix with the water: A lot of water will give a light colored wash, and less water and more paint will give a more intense colored wash. One thing that can be good to avoid is muddy color and color of all the same value, or color that does not match the mood you are trying to convey. Is your work cheerful? Avoid muddy colors! Muddy color is created when you mix too many colors together, such as mixing purple and yellow, or red, blue and yellow together. Muddy colors, or neutrals can actually convey a mood very well (such as contemplation, or fear) if you know how to use them, but contrast is still important! This card here has a distinct brown/red/neutral scheme but contrast is created with the use of white.

Collage or other media is no different; make sure your work has contrast, with lights and darks. And be careful where you place them: The whitest whites and the blackest blacks should not be added randomly (such in a collage or abstract) but placed with a composition in mind! For more ideas about composition of elements (rather than color), read the Design 911 column in issue four of ArtTrader Mag. Color is a crucial component of your design; try to make intentional decisions on how you use color, keeping some of the above tips in mind. In the next issue, I’ll be discussing how to create a cohesive composition through Gestalt Theory! (Trust me, it’s much less complicated than it sounds!)

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Presenting Your Artwork on the Web: Scanning By Tracie Rozario Today’s technology has allowed us to reach millions of people with our art, to showcase our talents to places around the world that only 15 years ago was a privilege of a select few. The tools we use to replicate our art for the Web are getting more and more advanced and yet accessible each day. Scanners, digital cameras and editing software are more affordable than ever and make the job of showing our art easier. The way art is presented on the web can help an artist get sales or trades initiated. What potential purchasers or traders see first is the image on the Web and may never have a chance to see the art in person until after the trade or sale is complete. As the old saying goes, first impressions count, and that couldn’t be truer for an artist on the web. There is nothing appealing about a badly scanned or photographed image no matter how creative and stunning the piece is.

First impressions count. The way art is presented on the web can help an artist get sales or trades initiated.

There are a few things an artist can do to help improve the quality of their art’s presentation on the Web. When scanning or photographing your artwork, it is important to do it in the highest resolution possible. This may take your scanner a little longer to create the scan, but the benefits far outweigh the additional time it takes. You should always think 'just in case I get published'— which means keeping a highresolution image of your art on file.

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As publishers require high-resolution images, why risk being rejected due to not being able to provide a good quality image? These high-resolution scans then become your basis for creating your image for the web. Above are two examples of a low-resolution scan that has been badly cropped and a high resolution scan, neatly cropped, of the same image. 2D art is best scanned and allows for the best possible recreation of your image. So we will look at 'how' to do this in more detail. -10-

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m a g a z i n e All scanners come with software to use; this is always the best way to scan your work unless you are familiar with scanning through editing programs such as Adobe Photoshop. Ensure that your scanning bed is clean. It is amazing how many little pieces of fluff, dust, glue, paint, etc., can adhere to the scanning bed. A good way to clean it is by using a microfiber cloth and a cleaner for eyeglasses. Don’t spray the cleaner directly on the bed, but onto the microfiber cloth. Next look at your scanner’s settings. A good standard resolution is around 300-400dpi. Make sure that you have set it to this higher resolution in the settings. Secondly, ensure that your scanner is set for the correct document type. Some of the newer scanners have an 'auto detect' function which prescans your work and sets the scanner to the corresponding document type. Common document types include black and white, newspaper, text, photo, and so forth. If your scanner requires you to manually set the type, make sure you scan all your colored work with a color photo setting, for colored and black and white photo for black and white images only. Shaded black and white images scan better on a colored photo setting. Scan your artwork and save it 'as is' to a file on your computer. This will become your 'record' of your art, a raw un-cropped high-resolution copy. The next steps occur in your photo editing software. Editing your image this way gives you the best control of how your image appears on the web. Following certain steps each time will ensure that nothing gets missed. 1. Open your image in your editing software. And use the software to rotate the image into a straight position. 2. Once the image is straight, crop the image to as close to the edge of the art as possible. Even going slightly inside your design is ok. 3. Once it is cropped, zoom into the image and look to see if the scanner has picked up any bits of stuff from the scanner bed. If it has, use the 'spot healing brush' to remove those marks. 4. At this point, I recommend saving it as another high-resolution copy of your work. Rename the file when you do this. 5. Finally most of the editing software has a 'save for web' option. When you use this reducing your work to around 40% is a good idea and saving it as 'high' or 'medium' resolution. This final save of your work is the image you use on the web.

Scanning, cropping and editing your image ensures that you are shown to the world at your best

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PENCIL & GRAPHITE DRAWINGS Pencil/graphite drawings often loose a lot of detail in a scan, no matter what setting you use. Couchart at IllustratedATCs.com has a simple solution to retain a precise scan of pencil drawings. She suggests laying a standard clear transparency between your scanner and your artwork before scanning. Adding the transparency diffuses the scanner’s light so it doesn’t reflect directly on the graphite/pencil. These images were created and scanned by Couchart (Cynthia Couch). The image on the left is without the transparency and the image on the right is with the transparency. The difference is amazing. Scanning, cropping and editing your image ensures that you are shown to the world at your best. It may require a little bit of extra work, which over time becomes second nature, but it’s a small price to pay to always put your best foot forward.

Artwork by Tracie Rozario & Cynthia Crouch

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Gallery of Warm Colors

Red, Yellow, Orange and Black

From the ar t ists of ATCsforAll.com

Marlene Koons

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Grace Wolf

Margaux Lashbrook

Betty Yeo

Elena Garcia

Joni Owens

Gail Flanders

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Sue Spencer

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Charlie Dale

Kati Barrett

Color is the language of the poets. It is astonishingly lovely. To speak it is a privilege.

Martine Schutt

Keith Crown Paula Perrin

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Shirley Wolfe

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Fabric ATCs 101 Or the Demystification of Fabric! by Sharon Safranyos

What makes a fabric ATC different from any other ATC? Nothing except that the medium is fabric rather than paper, pencil, or paint. So why is fabric art so scary? I guess for the same reason watercolor painting is so scary to me! Fabric art is different , and you have not used it before. The terminology and sheer volume of terms can also be intimidating: Cottons and man made fibres, wool and other fibres to wet felt, needle felt, painting on silk, dying silk, heat distressing, and more. If you are not familiar with fabric and how it behaves it, it can be very scary. Fear not! Read on and see the possibilities fabric has to offer the ATC artist.

How do I make an ATC base? There are many choices for creating the base of a fabric ATC. Most fabric needs a stabilizer of some sort if you are going to be doing any stitching on the card. Stabilizers can be as simple as freezer paper ironed onto the back of the fabric, or the specialized stabilizers used in machine embroidery. One of the stiffest products you can use is the stiffener used in curtain making; it can be purchased from fabric stores and is usually called buckram. Fabric stores also sell a most useful product known as iron-on adhesive, there are many brands and many can be used in ATCs. Misty-Fuse is another iron-on adhesive produced more for quilters, it is great to use on silk as it doesn’t leave any adhesive marks.

What do I use to make the card? I can hear you say, “But I don’t have a stash of fabric!” I admit it, I do have a fabric stash. I have fabric in bins and boxes and drawers, but I have been addicted to fabric for many many years! You don’t need a huge stash, and you don’t need to spend a fortune in a fancy fabric store to make fabric ATCs. You can use clothes the kids have grown out off, cut off legs from jeans, or finds from a thrift store. Even the Dollar Store may have goodies you had never though of: lace placemats, bandanas and tea-towels. Any fabric can be used with a little imagination: plain cotton, printed cotton, wool, lace denim, silk, ultrasuede, and velvet. You can stamp on it, paint on it as well as stitch it! -15-

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But what do I do with it? Although a sewing machine is extremely useful (so useful that I have seven, all the way from my Gran’s treadle machine to a computerized all singing, all dancing, treasure!), having a sewing machine is not essential. You can create a fabric collage card using gel medium on a card base (see Collage Tangled at bottom) and add in other media such as paper and paint or stamps. To try this, just think of fabric in the same way you would if you were going to collage with paper. Many printed fabrics can make interesting collages by virtue of the prints themselves, such as the landscape card shown here at right. If you have access to a sewing machine, then the possibilities are endless! You can embellish the existing fabric with stitching, either straight stitching or pre-programmed stitches if your machine has them. You can stitch around the existing image on the fabric. This can be especially effective if quilting batting is used under the fabric; it almost makes a sculpted card. Fabric collage can also be done using stitching to anchor the fabric as in this card where the poppies are held down with zig zag stitches. The Poppies card shown here (at right) was done using free motion stitching where the feed dogs have been lowered and the fabric is moved by your hands rather than the machine pulling the fabric through using the feed dogs. For more information on free motion stitching or thread-painting see the excellent article by Cathy Greene in ArtTrader Mag, issue four. Even if you only feel confident enough to stitch in a straight line you can create a lovely ATC using straight stitches, and built-in stitches if your machine has them. Ribbons can be added as well as fancy yarn and other threads. You can, of course, hand stitch on fabric! Beads and sequins can be added, as well as other embellishments such as rhinestones, fancy threads, and charms. Your inspiration can come from the same place as when you create other cards or it can come from the fabric itself.

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How to I finish my card? Fabric can fray over time and even if your card was glued to the base, threads can work their way free and you end up with a ratty looking card after a while. My favorite way to finish fabric cards is to use zig-zag stitch around the edges. You will have to practice this to find the best settings for your machine, but as a starting point I usually set the stitch width between 3.5 and 4mm depending upon the card, and the stitch length between 0.5 and 0.2 mm. When the needle is to the right, it should be just off the edge of the fabric. Another way to finish the edges if you don’t want to stitch them is to brush the edges with an acrylic paint such as Jacquard Lumiere. This can give the edges a metallic look too which can be very effective.

Conclusion To summarize, to create fabric ATCs: • Think of fabric as just another art media. • If you are going to stitch on the card then a stabilizer is essential; this will stop the fabric puckering as you stitch. • Gel medium works well on fabric. • Practice, practice, practice! So what are you waiting for? What, you really don’t have any fabric at all? No excuse! To get the novices going, I will send the first 6 people who PM me with a 4x6 inch envelope with fabric, stiffener for base, iron-on adhesive, ribbon and yarn to inspire you. Just send a PM to Pippin at ATCsforAll.com. Happy creating!

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Artistic Journeys:

Introduction to Watercolor Pencils by: Dana Driscoll Watercolor pencils are a hybrid between drawing and painting that are highly transportable and flexible. Watercolor pencils differ from normal colored pencils in the sense that they are water soluble (I think of it similar to dried paint in pencil form). You can draw with them as normal pencils, create watercolor washes, or even create whole paintings! They are also rather economical and easy to clean up, making them the perfect addition to your artistic repertoire. Finally, watercolor pencils are perfect for vacations or outdoor drawing!

What materials do I need to start Pencils

If you want good quality pencils, you will have to be willing to pay a bit more. When I was quite young, my parents bought me a set of Crayola watercolor pencils. I had them for a long time, and later purchased a set of Kimberly watercolor pencils. I was amazed at the difference in quality between the two brands! Then of course, I bought some Faber Castell watercolor pencils and Derwent Inktense pencils—both fantastic brands. I was recently given a set of Prismacolor watercolor pencils by a friend, and these are also quite nice. One of the things you’ll find is that different pencil brands have different softness, which affects the application of color on the page. If you are serious about working with watercolor pencils, it might benefit you to purchase several types of brands to see which ones you like. Unfortunately, watercolor pencils are not graded like normal pencils (graded for hardness, such as 9H) so you just have to experiment.

As a final note, you should keep your watercolor pencils stored separately from your regular colored pencils. Otherwise, you can end up with working on a piece you thought was all watercolor pencils, but is really only partially watercolor pencil (and ruin whatever design you were hoping to achieve).

Brushes

For watercolor pencils, you’ll want to use watercolor brushes (these are brushes with longer, softer bristles). For ATC sized cards, smaller sizes of brushes work best. If you are doing larger work, however, definitely switch to a larger brush so that you can avoid inconsistencies in your water application. I prefer using the round brushes for watercolor pencil work as the water flows smoothly into the pigment on the page and you can work in softer edges than with the square brushes.

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Solvent, Sponges, and Other Blenders

You can also have handy solvent (optional for techniques), Q-tips, paper towels, sponges (optional for techniques), and a colorless blender (paper or marker, usually found in drawing aisle (optional for techniques). I’ll cover using these in more detail below.

Watercolor Pencils and ATCs I’ve used watercolor pencils for many of my ATCs, especially the ones I have done for swaps. I find that since the pencils lend themselves so well to fine detail, I can work in the smaller format with ease with the watercolor pencils. They really are a fantastic resource for ATC creators!

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Many of the techniques I talk about next are not mutually exclusive—you don’t need to stick to only one technique, but rather can do several overlapping techniques. The overlapping of techniques can produce some of the best work!

Colored Pencil Technique An easy way to use watercolor pencils is to simply use them like regular pencils. They give you a very rich color and have a different texture than regular colored pencils, allowing you to create different effects. If you are going to use them as normal pencils, I suggest you seal them with a spray workable fixative or laminate so that they don’t come in contact with water and ruin your design. DO NOT seal them with a wet/brush-on varnish! The colors will mix together and your image won’t be the way you want it. Honestly though, if you are only going to use them as colored pencils, you should really just be using colored pencils (oil-based colored pencils give a similar look and feel). This allows you to avoid “accidents” such as water drips or using the wrong sealer.

Painting Technique (i.e. Wet Brush)

My favorite way to use watercolor pencils is to first draw in a design as if I’m using colored pencils, then use a wet brush and water to “paint” that design into the paper. I find that I can get more precise designs this way than having to use watercolors or pencils alone. I can also work on my designs in places that normal watercolors would have difficulty going (like the bus station!) There is a ratio between the amount of color you add to your page and how brilliant the effect becomes. I recommend adding your color in layers instead of all at once, as you’ll get more subtle undertones and an overall more consistent color. You can also mix the colors you use for even more complex color combinations. I almost always use at least two or three colors for each color area I am working on. As soon as you apply the water to the pencilling, you’ll find that the drawing explodes in brilliant color! This is great if color is what you want—but be careful! If you are going for a muted tone, you’ll want to be cautious of how much pencil you apply; the colors could

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Using the Pencil in Other Ways

You can use the watercolor pencil to achieve many effects. One technique is to take a small blade and scrape pieces of the paint off of it in small chunks. Sprinkle these chunks into wet paper (I sometimes sprinkle them into a freshly made piece of wet handmade paper) and they will bleed and create interesting patterns. This quickly uses up your pencils, however! If you want to conserve, you can take the pieces from the pencil shavings. A second way you can use the pencil is by grabbing the paint from it directly with a wet brush. So in this case, your pencil becomes nothing but a mini well of paint for you to use. This is good to use for touching up pieces, but not for large-scale applications! Not just a Wet Brush! You can also use other brushlike materials to create effects. A wet or semi-wet sponge on a colored surface will produce a neat design! You can also use a sponge or Q-tip to remove some of the color when the paint is still wet on the page. You can use solvent instead of water to create a very different type of effect—solvent makes your watercolor pencils very transparent when compared with water. I’ve managed to get almost alcohol-ink like effects with them! For those of you who like rubber stamping—watercolor pencils are a fantastic way to add color to your designs. Because of the

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m a g a z i n e fine control you can get with them, your designs can become very, very intricate!

Layering of Paint and Other Media One of the neatest things about watercolor pencils is that since you can use so many techniques with them, they take well to layering of those techniques. So start with a wash, for example, and then use a wet pencil for bold lines! The techniques will complement each other.

I also encourage you to use these pencils with other media. I’m very fond of using watercolor pencils with ink to create more contrast. You can also use both regular pencil and watercolor pencil in a design—the watercolor pencil will turn into paint but the regular pencils will stay put! Crayons or wax resist also produce very interesting combinations. Experiment and have fun!

end up much brighter or deeper than you intended. If you want muted tones, only use the smallest amount of pencil—what it looks like before and after you have added the water can be strikingly different indeed! One of the techniques I like to use is to make your edges darker and your interior lighter. This is something that is more difficult to achieve with regular watercolors, but is relatively easy with watercolor pencils. You’ll see it on my finished piece on page 21 — simply add double the pigment around the edges and be mindful when you are applying your water to the page. You should pay attention to your brush strokes when applying the color—different patterns can end in different designs. I apply color to one section of color at a time, always rinsing my brush with water before moving to a new colored section. You have to work very quickly—if you let the paper dry on one section, you will get a cloudy line or splotch where the wet and dry sections meet. Its better to keep a section slightly wet as you go along, or to work your way along a complete section. This is more of a problem with larger sections of color than with smaller sections of color. When you are filling in your color with your brush, you may also find that the brush has too much paint and the colors are getting too saturated. Simply dunk your paint brush back into your water and swish it around and then you will have a clean brush to work with. If you want consistent color in places, this is a very important technique. I often dip my brush back into my paint after every two or three strokes or so to maintain my color consistency.

Wet Paper Technique

Another technique you can use is the wet paper technique. With this technique, you begin by wetting a blank piece of watercolor paper. After wetting the paper, begin drawing with your pencils. How much water you use will impact how far the watercolor pencils will spread. This will give you soft lines but still fairly bright colors. This technique can be used with the wet brush technique, but only very carefully and AFTER you have done your wet brush work. Once you do the “painting” part of the wet brush technique, your paint is adhered to the paper quite well and could take on a bit more water. You might get some muddy results depending on how much pencil you used, however. -20-

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Wet Pencil Technique You can also choose to wet your pencil and apply it to dry paper. You can wet your pencil with water or with solvent for different types of effects. The wet pencil technique produces very brilliant lines of solid color.

This technique works very well in conjunction with the wet brush technique. Let your paper dry out completely after painting the color in with the wet brush and then draw with the wet pencil to add deeper, more brilliant hues.

Watercolor Pencil Painting Walkthrough The following is a walkthrough using some of the techniques I described above. The image was a fantasy piece I created for my significant other for a Christmas gift—two fairies, myself and him, playing our musical instruments!

1. Pencil Drawing: First, I started with a pencil drawing of the final image I wanted to produce. The drawing was done on watercolor paper with a little bit of roughness, but not too much.

2. Watercolor Pencil Application: I have started to apply the watercolor pencil to the figures in the center. You can already see how I’ve added more pigment to the outside areas to get shaded edges. -21-

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3. More Pigment: I applied water to the two figures in the center and have now begun to add in the colors for the flowers. With watercolor pencils, it really doesn’t matter if you do your background or foreground first.

4. And Yet More Pigment: I’ve filled in the details on the flowers and added the paint. Now I’ve begun to fill out the trees, grass and tree trunk.

5. Water applied! The rest of the pigment has been filled in and the watercolor pencil has been applied. Notice the difference in color from the earlier images to this one.

6. Adding Finishing Details: Watercolor pencils are wonderful on their own, but I decided to go back in and add some white acrylic for highlights and also some ink on the edges to make them more defined. The final result is on page 21.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this issue’s Artistic Journeys column. Watercolor pencils have much to offer the mail artist, so have fun and experiment!

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Karen Cattoire

Interviewed by Andrea Melione

Karen Cattoire, a fiber artist, paints with her thread, adds sparkle with beads and uses mirrors to create her magic. So much emotion can be expressed through pure color. Her art can evoke the joy of sunshine on the skin, the mystery of the ocean depths and the exotic scent of spices at a Middle Eastern marketplace. In this issue, Karen shares with us her experiences and inspirations. Tell us a little about yourself. Karen: Well... I am French, 40, and I live on a wonderful, peaceful, paradise-like island in the South Pacific Ocean, in the archipelago of Vanuatu. I settled there last year in November, and before that, for 15 years or so, I was a kind of globetrotter! I have been living in Sri Lanka for 3 years; before that, I was in Malaysia for 7 years, and before that again, I was in Taiwan for 3 Years. I am married to the most adorable husband I could ever dream of, with no children, and happiness all around me! Two years ago, I created a company dedicated to gift wrapping made of fabric (mostly raw silk and organdy), but the political disastrous condition of Sri Lanka led us to leave the country before the company really took off! So, here I am, dedicating all my time to my new passion, creative contemporary fiber art, and I just love it! Have you had any formal training in art? Karen: Not at all! Would you believe me if I told you that I was “stapling” my trousers’ hem 4 years ago? Never touched a needle in my life before creating my company. And I was an absolute beginner in the beading field when I started the challenge called Beading Journal Project inspired by Robin Atkins in June 2007! Everything I learned was from the Internet, even my very first chain stitch! I got it from the “In a Minute Ago” of Sharon B.! Then, after getting into this field of bead and fabric, I attended training in France for one week, and that was that! Surfing on the Web is just a marvelous trip where you find all the answers to your questions. It is just limitless! I am seeking new techniques on the web every day, and I really enjoy experimenting all these new techniques and materials on my own. I think it is the best method for me to learn by myself in a remote place where only coconuts and seashells are available for creating! Anyway, I think I would be a very bad pupil, as I am reluctant to any reproduction of a model, or copying an existing design! It would work for 3 minutes... and then, I slip away and do it my way! Of course, to learn on my own is time consuming, but I guess this way I got less influenced by “the way it should be.” I am not too fond of the standards and traditional ways of doing things, and this is why I feel so at ease with art and mixed media; I can get all the freedom I want! -23-

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m a g a z i n e You have traveled a great deal. Where have you been and how have these places inspired you and your work? Karen: Traveling has been my first passion for more than 25 years! I just love discovering new cultures, new faces, new landscapes, new colors and smells, new habits, new sounds from the languages and dialects. Every single trip gives me a lesson of humility, and enlarges the spirit. I have been traveling in every single country of Asia, from Japan to the Philippines, China to Indonesia, Nepal to Australia and New Zealand, South Korea to Thailand, and I kept from these wonderful trips some feelings, some images that, for sure, inspires my work today! I guess the most obvious influence I got from my traveling around Asia was India. I felt in love with this country, so rich in colors, fragrances, ancestral culture; such a rich heritage! When you see all the colors, the embellishments and embroidery of the saris of the women, the traditional outfit, it brings you into another world of wonders. The 1001 Nights, Ali Baba and the Magic Lamp, the grandeur of the Marahajahs, and the Taj Mahal. All my series of Shisha embroideries have a direct link with my last trip to Rajasthan; it is obvious! This is the most specific influence I got from my intense traveling. Other than that, I keep in mind a much more blurred, diffuse feeling from my trips that also influences my art. I am thinking about the colors in general, the brightness of the landscapes and flowers, the traditional Dances from Bali or Thailand, the terrific sky’s density after a tropical rain. All these visual elements make me want my pieces to appear bright and alive! This is why I make a lot of use of glass beads and sequins that reflect light. As soon as you make a move in front of my work, it changes because the reflection of the light gives a movement to the whole piece. We cannot see it in pictures because they are static, but my fiber art is very much alive when you can approach it. I like this idea of the observer having an interaction with my work, playing with the light together! Color and composition play a really important role in your art. Do you plan these carefully, or do you work with them more intuitively? Karen: As I just said, I like the idea of interaction between the observer and my work. In the same way, I like my work to stimulate the imagination of the watcher. How? I only do abstract art, where, off course, composition andcolors are everything! I like to think that when looking at my work, people will be lead to imagine their own little story, they might slide into sweet memories and dream to something that makes them happy. I am myself very much sensitive to colors, especially warm tones. They make me feel good, they move me or hypnotize me depending of my mood! I am very intuitive in my work, to answer your question! I never know what it will look like at the end. So, let me tell you how I proceed exactly when I start a new piece.

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m a g a z i n e First I choose a color, or a two-color combination; very seldom do I start with a theme, an image or an idea. I put on my table everything related with this color, beads, threads, fabric, paper, paint, appliques, and I start playing with it. After a while, I leave the room, do something else, then come back, have a look to my work, arrange the elements differently, add new ones, remove some others, get out of the room, and this process can last for half a day, or more! Then, when I have an idea of the background and the emotion that comes out of it, I start to think about what kind of sense, significance, feeling or direction I want to give to this piece. This time of thinking (giving a significance to thepiece and also finding the title) is stretchable from one piece to another. Sometimes, the elements “talk” to me very clearly, they just lead me and show me the way; sometimes, they just keep quiet! And that can take a very long time to make them talk, sometimes, weeks! I look at them, try to see through the lines, just like when you try to guess somebody’s secret thoughts, I get patient, then lose patience, then get angry sometimes, then start another piece! And come back once in a while to see if the reluctant piece has finally something to say. It happened once that the piece never talked to me! Then guess what! I chopped it into ATCs pieces, embellished them and traded them all! Tell us a little about how you create your work: How many methods of embroidery do you incorporated into one piece? And can you explain what “Shisha” is? Karen: My first pieces of work were the first pages of the Beading Journal Project. I was a real beginner and had not much knowledge on my side to create. So, I was stitching newly learned stitches in front of my computer, pulling my tongue out of my mouth! I made a lot of use of laces at the beginning, which brought me a very nice design that I could embellish quite easily. Then, with the time and my many search results on the web, I got many different techniques I could use to achieve my work. I started to incorporate paper, silk fibers, paint, glitter, seeds and everything that could fit on the piece. I started gluing the beads on the round metallic plates that I use for creating my Bubbles series. That was last -21-25-

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m a g a z i n e week! Who know what I will be experimenting with tomorrow? One thing is for sure in my method to create, is that time is not ever taken into consideration to achieve a piece. I take time to make things nice and detailed. No matter how many days it takes. I like the watcher to come very very close to my work to discover how many details he can find, and stay a long, long time to enjoy all the tangled elements. I make it impossible to see everything in one glance! As for the Shisha, this is an Indian traditional embroidery. A little bit of history first: Most of the Banjaras tribes living in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Andhra Pardesh provinces (North of India) were using mica or glass cut into different shapes in their embroideries. The slightly convex silver glass used in the past for this process was thought to frighten away evil spirits who were terrified by the sight of their own image! Today again, the Shisha embroidery with small mirrors is very popular, and it is still in use to embellish the garments of the Indian ladies. However, in the more commercial items such as cushion covers, wall hangings or purses, the ladies now use a big silver plastic sequin instead of the mirror, and the effect is quite amazing too! I give a contemporary interpretation of the Shisha embroidery in my Shisha pieces. I mix silk fibers, which I spread on a raw silk background, free machine stitch over it, and then embellish with lots of beads, Shisha mirror embroidery and traditional stitches. Please tell us a little about your materials: What is your favorite thing to work with? What types of fabrics, beads and threads do you use? Karen: Natural Fibers! No synthetics! My favorite fabric is raw silk. I have tons of it! I especially like its fantastic sheen, and double color thread is the best of all, because as you pass by in front of it, it changes of color! Once again, it adds some alive feeling to the material and interaction with the viewer! I have one stunning pieceof raw silk, that shifts from violet to orange, and another exquisite one that changes from sunflower yellow to shocking pink! Really amazing material. And I also like the unevenness of the fabric, with sometimes big extras from the cocoon that makes you remember it comes from a worm! I also like t batiks, and I try to avoid any synthetic fibers as much as I can. Same thought process for the beads: I prefer glass beads, clay beads or terracotta beads instead of plastic beads. I guess this is a side effect of the deep respect I pay to our planet, and it can show in my choice of material, preferring natural non-pollutant materials instead of an “all plastic way of life!”

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m a g a z i n e Do you find the work of any other artists inspiring? Karen: I see thousands of creations from Flickr’s artist galleries and there are a lot of very skilled, impassioned, impressive, creative artists, but if you want one name, I guess it will be Arlee Barr! She fascinates me! I don’t think her art influences me, but I really admire her creativity, the significance she gives to her art, her sense of humor, and most of all, I am really amazed by the amount of work she has sustained for so long! Never a lack of inspiration, and very skillful! Absolutely original! As for creation, I draw inspiration from every single thing I see in my daily life! It could be a fallen leaf, a bizarre tree, the association of colors on somebody’s clothes, a printed fabric, a left-over on a plate after dinner, but most of the time, it comes from colors. How did you learn about ATCs? Karen: Surfing on the web! I saw these cards were traded from one artist to another, and I found it funny! It is a good way to get a nice artwork from someone who has mastered a technique that you ignore, and the idea of exchanging suits me very well! I wanted to try this tiny format, to see how it feels, and I must admit that I had fun at the beginning, but I felt very quickly short in space on a 2.5 x 3.5 inch surface! So, I sometimes do some 4x4 art squares or postcards, and it is only for trading. I prefer a bigger space to express myself!

Karen Cattoire on the Web! Email: [email protected] Flickr online galery: http://www.flickr.com/photos/14552556@N06/

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Altered CDs Collage is the twentieth century’s greatest innovation. - Robert Motherwell -

Darlene Mariano

Eileen Grobeck

Linda Ann Brunton

Tina Jones-Patrides

Lynne Turnbull -28-

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Geraldine Gezza

Rona Kelly

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Helen Campbell

Martha Cohen

Joni Owens -29-

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Marilyn Tuley

Shirley Bell

Patricia Walsh

Victoria Holdwick

Shirley Bell

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A Look at the Layered Art of Amy L. Sargent and the Studio Space Behind Her Process By Amy L. Sargent

Part I: Developing a Studio Space When my husband and I decided to pack up our household and move to Oregon in the summer of 2008, I had one wish for our new home; I didn’t want my art space to be in the basement any longer. In Pennsylvania, my art was created on a cramped workbench in a corner of a damp, centuryold stone cellar. In the winter, it was so cold in my little art dungeon that I constantly dragged projects up into all other rooms of our little house, just to stay warm. My husband had his own wish for our new home—that he could have a spare bedroom as his own space, for workout equipment, video games and our second television. So, when we landed in Roseburg, Oregon, in what seemed to be an otherwise perfect house, we realized we were stuck— there was only one spare bedroom, and the house had no basement. My husband didn’t care where my art supplies went, as long as he was able to claim that little extra bedroom as his own. So, it didn’t take much discussion—in lieu of adding a table and chairs to our dining room, it became my art studio. The windows along one wall let in ample natural light, and I was able to furnish the space from scratch. My largest piece of studio furniture is the white wooden countertop that fills one wall—it was found in an architectural salvage yard, already painted. I added the trim, made of a salvaged board, and the calico skirts to give myself a little hidden storage. Underneath the skirts, I store scrapbook papers, ephemera and vintage book text. -31-

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m a g a z i n e An architectural salvage yard is an absolute treasure to any community that has one—I frequented one when I lived in Pittsburgh, and there are two near my new home. With an open mind and a few dollars, I can leave with a box of rusted switch plates, hinges and knobs, assorted gauges and electrical boxes perfect for use in larger altered art projects. The “Create” sign that hangs on my studio wall is mounted on a piece of board that was bought for fifty cents at the Roseburg salvage store. It also incorporates several old fuses that I bought in the same place. One of the best features of my salvaged countertop is that I have the space to do “prep work” for my collages. I like using transparencies that have been colored with alcohol inks to add a final overlay to my work, and I’ve recently been incorporating paper towels into my art after I’ve painted them with Lumieres and watercolors. I also like altering vintage book pages with an acrylic-paint laden brayer and using the resulting pages in backgrounds. Often, I’ll spend an afternoon just creating a stockpile of one or more of these components, so that they’re ready to use at a later date. So, this countertop is rarely as neat and clean as it is in these photos. My tall green cupboard traveled with me from Pennsylvania—I found it in a shop that sold primitive antiques and knocked out the door’s existing screens to add the fabric panel, which doubles as a makeshift note board on the inside. Inside this cupboard, I store my markers, pens, chunky book & altered art components, and my jewelry supplies. I use the bottom shelf to organize mail art swaps I’m hosting. On my work table, I have a small book shelf that I use to organize tools I use often—regular writing pens, sketching pencils, my stapler and Xyron machine. Also, a set of vintage metal paper trays (found in a thrift store) is kept here to sort certain ephemera that I use most often—one tray holds painted papers & transparencies, one holds odd scraps of vintage book text, and one holds the blank leaves of paper that one finds at the beginning and end of vintage hardback books. This paper is always yellowed and brittle and usually has a great tooth to it, so I like to rubber stamp on it. Whenever a person sends me a bit of vintage book text, either along with a trade or as a RAK, it gets added to these trays. So, gifted text usually gets incorporated into my artwork faster than any pages from the 100+ “tear-up” books I have stashed around the house. Most of my salvage books come from thrift stores—but I keep an eye out for foreign language books in the dollar bins at used bookstores, too. -32-

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m a g a z i n e My rubber stamps take up much less room in my new studio than before—I removed all mounted stamps from their wood blocks, and all of them are organized and stored in empty CD cases in a single drawer now. They’re easier to find, and I find I use them a lot more often now that I don’t have to dig through several storage bins to find the image I want. In addition to what hides away in drawers and the cupboard, a lot of my art supplies are on display in the main living area of our home. I’ve worked slowly since the move to replace many of my plastic storage bins with vintage jars and tins that have more visual appeal. Many of these pieces seem to have their own stories, which I cherish. My favorite piece is a painted lard bucket that holds my alcohol inks. I also collect old coffee and tea tins—these have been collected from thrift shops and charity shops, mostly, but I have found inexpensive containers at antique malls, too. I regularly make the rounds at local thrift shops, usually browsing the aisles at my favorite stores once a week. I have found everything from an unused packet of transparencies to old Scrabble games to antique cabinet cards and vintage German glass beads. I am always looking to add to my art supplies and components of future mixed-media works, and I am paranoid that the week I don’t go to the Salvation Army shop will be the week that they have something amazing that I cannot live without owning. It takes a little time, but I am rewarded over and over again.

Part Two: Creating a Card in My Workspace To walk through making an ATC in this space, I thought I’d make a set of cards. I begin all my cards the same way; I cut recycled chipboard to size, then cover it with a random layer of scrapbook paper. This is just a base paper—and sometimes very little of it shows through in the finished card. I use a Darice glue runner to adhere the paper in almost all my projects, because the refills are inexpensive, and I can buy them easily at any craft store. On top of the first full layer of scrapbook paper, I add one or two torn strips of a different printed paper, again with the glue runner. I don’t really worry about matching the papers—everything always works out, and it’s usually the mismatched papers that make my best cards. These torn layers add some visual interest and texture to the card; I like to have something going on behind the card’s focal image—torn papers are an easy way to achieve that. 5

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m a g a z i n e Before moving on, I use a permanent paint marker in black to edge my cards, and I draw a crude border on the card with a Caran d’Ache watercolor crayon. Again, I don’t worry about matching the colors. I have been on a kick of using pink or lavender crayon lately, but it rarely matches the paper I use. I smudge the crayon with a dampened paintbrush and let it dry. Edging a card, especially a collage, with marker and crayon adds a finished, framed look to it that I really like. While cards dry, I select a few pieces of painted paper towel or vintage book text to add to the cards. I paint paper towels ahead of time, in batches of 6 or so at a time, to that I have them handy when I want to use them in ATCs or chunky book pages. I also cut out a few images and run them through my Xyron. For these cards, I am using anatomical hearts I printed from an anatomy book I own. I center each heart on a small torn square of painted paper towel, then use a zigzag stitch on my sewing machine to edge the heart. Again, this is just to add some textural interest. A note on the images I use—I own a large number of antique and vintage photos, which I try to purchase as inexpensively as possible. Occasionally, I’ll find a handful of photos at a thrift shop, but I’ve bought shoeboxes of photos at flea markets, too. I’m always compiling and making my own collage sheets from these snapshots as well as from copyright-free online images. While Google Image Search is often valuable when I need to find a particular type of image, I try to avoid using photography from the Internet, so that I’m not violating any copyrights. I try to avoid using a lot of purchased images or collage sheets/CDs, just because I feel that I can find weirder or more unique photos and images on my own. Like with my painted and altered papers, when I’m not in the mood to actually make art, I’ll often watch television or a DVD while cutting out a small pile of images from magazines, scans or rubberstamping sessions. At this point in making my cards, I adhere the paper towel square to the card that has been drying. To this, I add a few scraps of vintage text— for these cards, the text bits are taken from a French/English medical dictionary—I’m always pleased when I can use seemingly random text to make a statement, or add an additional meaning, to a card—and it’s a bonus when I get a laugh out of it! I then often add stamped images to my cards—in this case, I added a set of wings to the heart and some typewriter keys around the edges. I often lightly color the images with Prismacolor pencils and gel pens. I love to add brightly-colored stars with gel pens and spiraling swirls with metallic marker in random places on the surface of the card, too. -34-

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m a g a z i n e The card is basically done, but I’ll sometimes add a transparency layer. I cut a piece to size, and I staple it to the face of the ATC with colored staples. I like this technique, because while the ATC stays relatively flat, the transparency on top of the paper towel adds a weird “shadowbox” effect to the card— and with 4 or more layers of paper and images underneath, the transparency layer gives the work a little depth as well as an antiqued finish. Occasionally, I’ll use copper foil tape to hold down the transparency instead of staples, but I try to mix it up. In this set of cards, I’ll use machine sewing on two, and copper tape on the other two so that the cards have one technique that’s a little more time-consuming, not both. Despite all of these steps in my card making, I really do love other artists’ distinctive style. Sometimes, the simplest of collage cards appeal to me, and sometimes a watercolor really knocks my socks off! I trade for all sorts of ATCs, but when making my own cards, I like the satisfaction I get from making such a tiny piece of art as layered and detailed as possible. Every once in a while I’ll have a fellow artist tell me that she can recognize my style without turning a card over to find my name—and this is the greatest compliment I could ever receive. I like to think I have my own distinctive style, and that is also what I find most appealing in the cards I collect from other artists. Art is a vital, empowering part of my life. What I love most about mail art is that anyone can find the confidence to embrace their own talents and create their own style, and I enjoy the inclusive nature of online mail art trading communities and art blogs. Now that my studio space affords me the room and natural light I need, I spend more time creating—which relaxes me, challenges me, and entertains me. I host more mail art swaps, I make more ATCs, and I am starting to branch out into creating larger works of altered art. It’s wonderful to have no more spiders in my art supplies or paint flaking off cellar walls onto my projects. Regardless of where my little family ends up in the future, I don’t think I’ll be willing to relegate my art to the cellar ever again. The artist, Miss (on ATCsforAll.com), is hosting the aforementioned medically/anatomically-themed ATC swap at www.atcsforall.com.

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Shelli Heinemann

Interview by Andrea Melione Shelli Heinemann, an award winning soft sculpture Teddy Bear artist, has taken on the Mail Art world and blessed it with her luscious French patisserie aesthetic. Her work reflects longings for the past combined with the excitement of modern tastes, and her art is sure to thrill a diverse and discerning audience. In this interview she discusses her inspiration, her materials, and how Mail Art has had an impact on her life. Can you tell us a little about yourself? I’m a mom and a wife first. My sons, my family, are the center of my world and my priority. Art comes second. I couldn’t live happily without either. I’m also California born, schooled, and raised, and very proud of that; it’s a great state, very progressive and open minded — like me, I think. In the late 80’s and then again in the early 90’s, I attended UCLA, and earned a BA (Psych) and an M.Ed and credential, so I could teach elementary school if I chose. But in 2004, after many wonderful years as an at-home mom, I stumbled inadvertently into a surprisingly rewarding, creative niche making high-end, original teddy bears for adult collectors. Selling from my website and occasionally through eBay is where I earn my wage — for now, anyway. We’ll see how our faltering economy supports that niche going forward! I found Mail Art and ATCs a few years ago now, and I’ve been hooked — and wildly distracted by them, and loving the incredibly cool, interesting “art people” I’ve met online in this hobby — ever since. I think of myself as an optimist and a seeker, and I love to learn. I hope I’m still learning, still growing, when I’m 98 and drooling and bedridden and maybe smelling kinda poopy. No matter how dire things can get sometimes — and things do get dire, at times — I see beauty all around me, and find magic in surprising places, every single day of my life. This makes me one of the luckiest people on earth, I think. So life is good. Have you had any formal art training? No, none at all. Not a single class; not in elementary, junior, or high school. No one-day workshops. And no college courses surveying art history, although I admit to one highly specialized class in “Greco-Roman Art and Architecture,” which involved a lot of sepia-toned slides. Can you say AMPHORA?!? But I never learned or studied technique. In short, I am art-ignorant, I admit. But I make up for that with intense curiosity and wide-eyed enthusiasm, and a willingness to try just about anything! -36-

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What themes, artists (visual, performing, etc.) or outside influences inspire you? I’m drawn to oddness: to textures, layers and ephemera; to antiques; to romance and flowers; to erotica; and to moody, soulful, mystical, or dark objects. I get excited about rich fabrics like mohair, brocade, velvet and silk, and always find inspiration in the sweetness of a child’s face. Venetian masks inspire me, as does a beautiful piece of vintage satin lingerie or ornate, antique costuming. I am enamored of all things European, particularly France. Japanese themes — pop culture, cherry blossoms, beautiful geisha — are a recent inspiration. And I own that, like so many others, I’m not yet over my drooling infatuation with Sofia Coppola’s bon-bon-and-gilt vision of Marie Antoinette and her 18th century life of luxury. Lately, I’m absolutely vibrating with excitement about Santos, especially antiques. They have a wonderful patina of age; a spiritual glow that really captures me. And I love that they’re mixed media, with glass eyes and plaster heads and metal halos and wooden bodies, their legs replaced by a skirt-shaped cage. I’m sure their influence will show up somewhere in my art, very soon. Maybe I’ll make a doll. Your bears are exquisite, what materials do you use to make them? First of all, thank you for the very kind compliment! It never gets old to hear that my bears appeal. Seriously. Tell me again. *smile* Regarding materials: I’ve dabbled in synthetics and (vintage, repurposed) mink, but most of my bears—99.9% of my bears — are made of mohair, which comes from the angora goat, just like cashmere. But while cashmere is basically animal hair — goat wool that’s been gathered, then spun into yarn— mohair is created when a woven fabric backing (usually cotton or linen) is dotted with tufts of hooked-in wool to create a hairy pile.

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m a g a z i n e It’s a pricey fabric, to be sure; I spend anywhere from $50 to over $200 per yard on material, which is partly the reason artist bears are so pricey. But mohair makes the most beautiful bears in my opinion, and it’s relatively easy to work with, and it’s traditional, so it’s my fabric of choice. My bears also feature leather, suede, or wool felt pads and premium glass eyes, which I custom color and lid to suit each bear, plus embroidered noses and shaded features. They’re pretty time-intensive to make, truth be told. Making one leaves my hands hurting, for days. How has being a soft-sculpture artist affected your 2D work? My bears have a winsomeness to them; I’ve been told repeatedly that they have “heartbreakingly soulful” faces and that people feel compelled to just hug them, and make them feel better. I consider that high praise, because it means my work is evocative. That soulfulness is what my hands and head and heart want to create when they get busy working; it’s not really the outcome of intent, I’m afraid. In a weird way, my bears make themselves. Most of my original 2D art has those same qualities; a certain sweetness, alongside a kind of “lostness.” I’m jonesing to create more somber ,provocative and edgy flat art, though — something more depthful and adult and alive — in a voice that feels authentic. But I’m frustrated to find I don’t really have anything serious or provocative or edgy to say! I keep circling around themes of love and innocence and clarity and optimism, all things bright and beautiful, but there’s a part of me that really wants to let loose in a different direction with something grungy and damaged and blackened and profane; because those things are in me, too. I don’t feel I’m repressed or anything; hell, I even have a tattoo. I just can’t make ART of my darker aspects, accessing those shadowy places. Yet, anyway. Maybe I need to join a biker gang or something; to roughen up around the edges a bit. I’m laughing here... What is your process for creative brainstorming? Sometimes, when I’m watching a movie or reading a magazine or viewing someone else’s art, something about it — some quality, some color, some subject — will just sorta fall out of the sky and hit me on the head like a ton of bricks, absolutely out of the blue. And when that happens, this fever will grow inside me, almost instantaneously, to do something with that new inspiration — and I mean RIGHT NOW! I sometimes get to where I can’t stop, can’t sleep, until I’ve started (and often finished) some new art, in those moments.

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m a g a z i n e What is your preferred media for your 2D work? Hmmm. That’s actually a tricky question. I’ve focused on ATCs and small mail art in my 2D work, and haven’t done anything over 8” x 10” in terms of large pieces, so I’m still finding my “preferred media.” I think I’m an oil painter at heart, though; I love the softness of oils, and their romance, blendability, and history. There’s a sensuality to them, a smeary-ness, I relate to and admire. And every time I play with oils, I surprise myself with — can I say this without sounding obnoxious? — how good my results are. I “think” in oils, perhaps. I can wrap my head around them much more easily than I can watercolors, or markers, or ink. But oils aren’t practical for ATCs in most cases — they take forever to fully dry and require an undercoat. Oil paints eat time. So I’m still playing around with mail art media, to find the best fit. I recently received a huge Prisma marker set as a gift, so that’s my current area of experimentation. Any tips or tricks you like to use or a favorite supply? I can’t live without a white gel pen and/or gesso, and I find myself using really skinny black fineline markers to outline a lot. My paper cutter is a must-have. If I use colored pencils, I must have thinner or spirits to blend them. You’ve also branched into digital work, and have created some really lovely pieces. Can you discuss your digital art a little? What draws you to creating work digitally? I’m such a hack with my digital stuff! It’s actually embarrassing. I have no idea what I’m doing. But I can move past that self-consciousness, because it’s so darn fun to draw with a magic, electric pen! And it’s fairly easy to create the kinds of soft effects I like so much with a pen and tablet, and to incorporate photo collage bits into art pieces, and to do and re-do and redo again, because the technology allows those things so readily. For a new 2D artist like me who hasn’t yet learned how NOT to rip holes in watercolor paper when erasing, a digital canvas which can be repaired to perfection is a Godsend. So, you know—I’m hooked. I think, too, that I have an untrained, undeveloped, underlying talent for graphic design, which nowadays is a nearly entirely digital industry, and I’ve done some paid design work with reasonable success in the past, so all that connects the idea of “computer” to “art” for me, too. I guess if I’m intellectualizing things, I can acknowledge that I know more about digital drawing and Photoshop than most laypeople, for sure. But it’s such a complex program, and I have so little experience with it, and no training, and I just play around like a giddy dork and hope for a good outcome.

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Which of your art pieces is your favorite? And how would you describe your personal style and aesthetic? Like many creative people, I’m self-conscious and critical when it comes to my work, and tend to believe my “favorite” piece will probably be my NEXT piece. Because, you know, that’s usually the case! So it’s hard to pin down a “favorite” whether we’re talking about my bears or my 2D work. I guess in terms of original 2D art, my favorite piece is my Gothic Alice Triptych. It’s kinda weird and scary and totally not what you’d expect the characters from Alice in Wonderland to look like. I was proud of my imaginativeness here! And while there’s a fang-y aggressiveness to the imagery, it somehow retains a certain softness, too. I like that. A close second place finisher is a reproduction I did in oils; part of a Yevgenia Nayberg poster. The beautiful corset and white shoulders of the model are so feminine, and I think I did pretty darn okay with the palette, and with blending, too. In terms of personal style and aesthetics, I tend to create art that’s soft and gentle and feminine, and I know I admire art created by others in that same style — although I also admire work that’s darker and stranger and more intense than my own. How did you learn about ATCs? You know, oddly enough, I don’t recall. Isn’t that terrible? Probably while browsing the art/craft/hobby section of some bookstore; I spend a lot of time with my husband drinking soy mochas at Barnes & Noble, while reading cool books. I remember buying a paperback on how to create ATCs early on, then afterward, finding a trading site online. I think the book chicken came before the trading egg.

“I tend to create art that’s soft and gentle and feminine, and I know I admire art created by others in that same style...” -Shelli Heinemann

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m a g a z i n e Has Mail Art had an impact on you as an artist? What a question. It’s more like: How has Mail Art NOT impacted me as an artist—and a person? I never considered myself an artist at all until I found success and acclaim with my bears, after which I slowly let in that I might, possibly, be good at soft sculpture. It took me a while to really embrace the idea that I might be an actual “artist” in that realm. The idea that I might someday be an artist in another realm, in a more traditional sense, never even occurred to me until I found mail art. I recognize that I’m still finding my legs, my voice, in flat art; I don’t think I’m as far along the 2D artist path as I am with my bears, even after several years of trading and practicing. But even taking baby steps, I’m progressing, and I can feel it unfolding in front of me. I can see the growth potential. I can look at my flickr and see how far I’ve already come, even though I think I have so far left to go. Here’s a telling admission: I used to do pencil sketch portraits of my friends back in college. But I literally never put color to my drawings, ever, in my life, until I made my first ATC. I kid you not. I love the people I’ve met, trading art. I love their varied visions: their unique voices, their divergent histories. I love learning new things, and stretching myself. It’s amazing, but truly, I see things with new eyes! I’ve discovered so many things I never knew I could do, talents I never knew I had, which is so affirming. I’ve had opportunities to write and publish articles and participate on jury panels since becoming a part of the mail art community. And I’ve made real friends who send me real artworks which make my world more beautiful, and more broad. I even wrote a book, COLOR: A Collaborative Perspective, which I self-published on Lulu. All these things are direct outgrowths of my involvement with the Mail Art community. It’s been absolutely life-expanding. I don’t think it’s an overstatement to credit Mail Art with making my world measurably happier, bigger, and better. Long live the ATC!

Find Shelli on the web at: www.potbellyarts.com eMail: [email protected] Blog: www.potbellyarts.typepad.com Etsy: www.potbellyarts.etsy.com -41-

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FabricAT Cs

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jackie russell

cathy green

judy hutson

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FabricAT Cs

kate mortimer

cindy vasquez

tonya whitley

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Making Mixed Media Backgrounds: A Beginner’s Approach By Sal Scheibe I’m a fairly new artist to the world of vintage images; pointy hats and collage and much of what I’ve learned is the result of trial and error. I’ll admit that my first efforts were really poor, embarrassingly so! But through some research, lots of inspiration and a handful or two of practice, I’ve come up with some simple background techniques that serve me well when making a collage/mixed media piece. Now, I’m not Jane Professional Collage Artist here — I’m warning you in advance. I’m basically a simple artist who enjoys mixed media art so this article is geared toward my fellow newbs [*waves hello*], so this is not for you super pro collagers… though I hope you enjoy my beginner’s article too. I like my collage backgrounds to be flat for a couple of reasons. The first one being that it’s really hard to glue elements to a bumpy surface! And the second being that it costs money to mail out mail art so the bulkier my art, the more I pay in postage. I also want to consider our dear swap hosts in this semi-flat decision too. Sending bulky art to multiple participants can add extra costs to their hosting duties. Plus flat art fits nicely into penny sleeves and 9 pager sleeves for my ATC binders. Starting Paper My background paper is usually a somewhat sturdy cardstock — about 40 - 80 lbs. I find that by the time I glue on my paper backgrounds and all of the design elements, plus a cardstock and label for the backing, my ATC is fairly thick and quite sturdy.

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Materials • • • • • • • •

Colored pencils Markers Watercolor or acrylic paint Colorful scrapbooking papers Textured paper Tissue paper Newspaper or old book pages Tea bags and ground coffee

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Technique 1: Tea and Coffee Materials • • • •

cardstock tea bag coffee grounds colored pencil

I rubbed the wet tea bag on the cardstock and tried to rub the grounds into the paper. That doesn’t work so well but it does tear up the paper surface a bit which looks cool. Use very warm water to get the coffee loose and the tea dripping! Once the paper was completely dried, I added a dark brown colored pencil shade around the border for extra definition.

Technique 2: Shredded Papers Materials • cardstock • a bunch of torn scrapbooking papers

I glued the paper pieces to the cardstock (and each other). I didn’t use any real pattern—anywhere they fit looks good. I added a very simple bright pink marker to the edge to define the card.

Technique 3: Textured Paper Materials • cardstock • oil pastels • deeply textured paper

I glued the textured paper to the cardstock and then lightly ran some oil pastels over the top of the paper. I say lightly because you don’t want to cover everything. Use your fingers to smudge it all around and get into the grooves while leaving the raised parts of the paper free of pastel colors. I used a lightly shaded black colored pencil on the edges for definition.

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Technique 4: Tissue Paper Materials • cardstock • bright scrapbooking paper • tissue paper

I glued the scrapbooking paper to the cardstock. While that was drying, I crumpled up my tissue paper and ripped it into pieces. I glued the tissue pieces, overlapping, on the cardstock but not so much that the paper pattern didn’t show through. On this card, I added a dark red border with marker and then used a black Sharpie to draw whimsy circles around the edge.

Technique 5: Book Pages Materials • cardstock • old book page or newspaper • acrylic or watercolor paints

I glued the book page to my cardstock and then quickly brushed over everything with my red and white acrylic paints. Nothing too fancy— just a quick wash so the text shows nicely underneath. I added rubber stamping to my edges. I used a star and a swirly. You could use anything, really, since I overlapped and wasn’t worried about the actual stamp showing. I just wanted a design-y edge. And there you have it—5 very simple and quick techniques for making mixed media backgrounds. The longest part of these backgrounds was waiting for the glue to dry! Finishing your cards Since I’ve just used the plain white cardstock as a base, I normally like to add a matching color cardstock to the back. This adds an extra layer of sturdiness, plus it looks good too. Once I’ve glued it all together along with my ATC label, I let air dry until there is no surface stickiness and then I leave my card between heavy books for at least 24 hours. In the next issue, we’ll find even more ways to make inexpensive and easy mixed media backgrounds.

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Critique Corner!

D With Andrea Melione

Welcome back to Critique Corner, where readers can submit their artwork for a friendly and helpful evaluation. Email us at ArtTrader Mag ([email protected]) if you’d like your work to be critiqued!

First is a card by Nora Lundquist. She writes, “I know it’s not working, I just can’t figure out why.” This is a common problem: The artist likes what they have done for the most part, but can’t determine why the whole piece isn’t coming together. It is obvious from looking at the card that effort was taken in the various techniques: the embossing; the selection of the image stamp image, and metal charm,: the beadwork: and the painted details of the border. All of which obviously took some time, as the colors coordinate very well!

However, this is a good example of the artist focusing a lot on the selection of materials used, and applying the materials, but less attention to how those materials will work together. Nora has made a good first step thinking about how it all can work together in terms of color, but you should also think about how they will work together in terms of texture, placement, and how they will work with the background; meaning the card/canvas/fabric used as the surface to which everything is applied.

The first thing that strikes me about this card is the background: It appears to be either a white or cream cardstock. There is little tonal (dark/light) or color variation going on. When creating a mixed media card, it’s a great idea to create a background first. Use paints, scrapbook paper, tissue paper, melted crayon etc. to create a background to place your visual elements on. This will help your elements and images to look grounded, part of the background, rather than just lying on top of it. Nora’s images have no connection to their background. In a card that is completed like this, however, one could take watercolors and color the embossed stamp and surrounding areas.

This card is also a good example of tangents. The fairy image is right next to the embossed moon and the wing is touching it. To achieve a sense of depth, the fairy wing could overlap the moon, to indicate that the fairy is closer.

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The next card (above) is by Catherine Drazkowski. In this vintage mixed media work, Catherine has a great color scheme and her composition is good. Pumping up the contrast a little could enhance this card; she has excellent lights, but the card needs some more darks and/or shadows. We all know how scanners and the computer can wash out a card, but using all the values in a value scale, from light to dark in your work can help a scanner read more value and scan a greater contrast! In this case, Catherine could add some shadows around the girl, the chair, and under the table (in a warm burnt orange, blue or purple color.) Outlining the “Tea Time” text with either purple or blue watercolor would also help bring the text forward. In closing, both artists have demonstrated talent by creating appealing cards. You can take your work to a further level if you like by keeping the three principles of composition in mind: color, placement and value. Color choices are crucial, and both artists used color well. Placement of elements in your work is very important, especially when creating a sense of depth and space. Value creates greater visual interest in your art work: Try creating a value scale on your own to keep with you while you work. Image Google “value scale” for more information. Thanks for submitting your work for critique; keep it coming! If you have any specific questions on how to create more visually dynamic work, feel free to ask us about them as well!

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Preparing and Shipping Mail Art

By Shelli Heinemann With thanks to Sarah Zamora and the artists of IllustratedATCs, for their contributions

You’re excited about Mail Art. You’ve become educated about all things ATC. You’ve even made a few cards, and you’re eager to send them out into the wide, waiting world. Amidst the bustle of excitement and anticipation, though comes a hiccup. Cards in hand, eagerness on full throttle, you find yourself stalled, wondering, “Now what? You’re asking yourself: • • • •

What can I do to adequately “finish” my ATCs? How do I protect my cards during shipment? What do I need to know about shipping costs and timeframes? How should I address and fill my envelope?

Below are some tried and tested answers to your questions (plus a whole lot more) offered by seasoned Mail Art traders. Their suggestions, borne of experience, will rescue you from your uncertainty and guide you toward efficient, polished card preparation and shipment—and ultimately, toward a satisfying, successful Mail Art exchange.

THE BACK STORY Mail Art may pass through many hands during its lifetime. In fact, that’s the very essence of ATCs—they’re meant to be traded and shared. So be sure to add a unique and informative backside to your art cards; one that identifies you, the artist; provides information about your card; and creates a finished, professional look. Your trading partners will appreciate the extra effort and enhanced aesthetic. And as a bonus, you’ll stay “top of mind” as a potential swap partner with those who hold your work.

The Five W’s: Who, What, Where, When and Why At a minimum, ALWAYS include:

• Your username (I’m “potbellyarts” on every mail art forum I visit) • Your real name (preferably first and last)

Other artist info you might include: • email • City/State/Country • Website • Blog • Trading sites (e.g. IllustratedATCs.com) • Gallery sites (e.g. flickr, Deviant Art) • Signature

Information about your art:

• Date • Edition/Series/Number • “For:” / dedication • Swap Title (if applicable) • Card Title • Media used • Copyright notice • “Not for sale | For trade only” reminder

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Stickers, Stamps and Ink There are infinite paths to an attractive, informative ATC backside. I dabble in Photoshop and graphic design, so I like to create custom backsides and print them at home, either on name badge stickers (perfectly sized!) or on cardstock trimmed to ATC dimensions and run through my Xyron, to add adhesive, then attached.

Several more great ideas for creating ATC backsides: • Hand write info on each card back individually • Create a custom rubber stamp containing general info, and hand-write specifics • Design a graphic, and print or copy onto ready-made stickers • Design a graphic, print or copy onto paper or cardstock, hand-trim to ATC size, and attach with adhesive A custom backside, attached to your ATCs, also allows crosspromotion of your other sites, talents and interests, if you reference them in your design. For example: In addition to being an ATC trader, I also create high-end teddy bears, so I feature my bears in some of my backside designs. This brings the full scope of my art offerings to the attention of the ATC community, and hopefully, helps spread the arty goodness around.

WRAP IT UP You worked hard on your art, right? To guarantee safe arrival, protect it during transit.

Plastics Start with a clear plastic sleeve. Sleeves aren’t mandatory, but they ARE appreciated and usually, expected. Certainly, their use is currently the norm. You can buy protective plastic sleeves on eBay, through online retailers, at WalMart, or just about anywhere trading cards (like baseball or Pokemon cards) are sold. Costing roughly a penny each, sleeves protect cards from scratches, unintentional color transfers, smudges, and sticking. For a stiffer, more protective option, use a rigid toploader. Available in a variety of weights, toploaders can be especially useful for fabric ATCs and cards created on thick paper or canvas. They’re pricier than clear sleeves and add weight (and cost) to your envelope, so they’re not for every card and every trade. I use toploaders for ACEOs (art cards that are sold vs. traded,) and for the rare “masterpiece” ATC; for cards I worked especially hard on, am especially proud of, or that were purchased by my wonderful customers and need guaranteed safekeeping during transit.

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Traders sometimes use plastic nine-pocket pages, trimmed to match swap parameters, to store and protect ATCs during mailing. Although perfectly acceptable, this practice is relatively rare, probably because sleeves are so accessible, cheap, easy, and affordable.

Special Handling Bulky or fragile art (such as glass or scratchboard ATCs) requires special handling and extra protection. These materials are likely to fracture if they process via automated machine, so encase such art first in plastic sleeves, then in bubble wrap, then in thick, rigid cardboard—or maybe even box it!—so that machine processing becomes an impossibility. Write “DO NOT BEND” and “HAND CANCEL” on the packaging, too. Extra bulk/thickness, hand canceling, and weighty protective materials will add to your shipping costs, so be sure to verify postage before sending, to avoid delivery delays.

Paper and Envelopes A thick piece of letter-sized paper, folded into thirds, makes a nice wrap for your art. Junk mail, scratch paper, and scrap cardstock work too, and are environmentally-friendly ways to use handy recyclables to protect ATCs for mailing. If you include stiffer materials, like postcards, in your packaging, you provide even more protection. ATCs are frequently mailed inside #10, “Legal,” or “Business” envelopes. This type of envelope measures 4-1/8” x 9-1/2” and is the most common business envelope size, designed to hold standard 8-1/2” x 11” sheets of paper. Other envelope sizes can work just as well. However, you might pay extra postage when using envelopes that deviate significantly from #10 dimensions (see “Cost” section, below, to learn why.) Regardless of size, thicker, “premium” envelopes provide more protective cushioning than flimsy envelopes will.

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m a g a z i n e Greeting Cards Consider mailing your sleeved ATCs inside greeting cards. An easy and attractive alternative to plain paper and business envelopes, greeting cards are available at dollar and discount stores in bulk; they’re cheap; and they make an especially pretty —and functional—folio for presenting your work. You might even purchase greeting cards from a favorite charity organization, such as Unicef. You’ll spend a bit more per card, but your buying dollars will land somewhere meaningful. Add a quick note of thanks for your swap host inside, and voila! —a near-perfect shipping solution.

Tape It’s so easy to secure your ATCs to one another—or to a greeting card or sheet of paper—with tape. Doing so prevents your cards from slipping and bunching up, both of which increase the likelihood they’ll be damaged in transit. If you’re sending just one card, a piece of scotch tape rolled back on itself and stuck to the backside of a sleeve works the same as double-sided tape, but is much easier to remove. If you’re sending multiple cards, first stagger them, then tape across the seams in spots, on the front side only. There IS such a thing as too much tape, by the way. ATCs can bend or scratch if they’re taped over zealously, and extricating them from their tape-mummy bondage can be difficult, not to mention frustrating and time-consuming. When it comes to tape, experienced traders agree: Less is definitely more!

BON VOYAGE Con te partiro, art cards; it’s time to say goodbye. A little foresight on your part will get your art to its destination, perfectly addressed and right on time.

Timeframe Seasoned traders take due dates very seriously, and don’t like to wait for swap returns when they’ve fulfilled their end of a trade agreement and submitted work timely. You risk negative feedback, a blemished reputation, probation, or even banning if your art is tardy. Carefully note the “due by” date for all your swaps. Finish and mail your art accordingly. Allow plenty of travel time. If need be, choose an expedited shipping option. In the US, that might be Priority Mail (2-3 days domestically) or even FedEx (overnight) if you’re really close to a deadline. Every country processes “regular” mail on a unique timetable, so please consult the appropriate postal service online or by phone, for specifics. On average, however, three weeks should be enough time to ship First Class letter mail between most countries. Domestically, most countries average letter mail delivery within five business days.

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Addressing “Address”-ing Every country has specific rules regarding how mail is to be addressed, but those rules don’t always make sense and they aren’t always obvious, so do your homework. Even though my own handwriting is particularly legible, for example, I’ve had my envelopes “returned to sender” when I didn’t scribe the recipient’s address using ALL CAPS. Hmph! Another time, just one wrong zip code digit was all it took to turn my mail around and land it back on my doorstep, instead of my swap host’s. A comprehensive listing of domestic and international mail regulations and address formats is beyond the scope of this article, so let me instead suggest that you simply ask your swap host or trade partner all address formatting questions before shipping. Foresight will prevent your envelopes from U-turning en route; a circumstance that might render you ineligible to complete your swap. And that’s an outcome nobody wants.

Cost Postage is generally determined by a rate-per-weight formula. At the time of this writing, for example, US Postal Service pricing for First Class letter mail is 42 cents (rate) per ounce (weight). Be aware, however, that packaging dimensions add a layer of confusing complexity to pricing formulas and MAY increase postage costs. For instance, in the US, First Class letter mail is defined as: • Rectangular • At least 3.5 inches high x 5 inches long x .007 inches thick • No more than 6 1/8 inches high x 11.5 inches long x 1/4 inch thick • Maximum weight is 3.5 ounces • Letters considered non-machinable are subject to surcharge • Length is the dimension parallel to the address Meaning that, in the US: • If your envelope is less than 5 inches long, even though that’s smaller than a standard size envelope, it will cost more to send than a standard size envelope • Hand-cancelled mail can cost more to send than machine processed mail • No matter what the perimeter dimensions, envelopes thicker than 1/4 inch are considered “packages” and not “letters,” and will require extra postage And so on. As you can see, determining correct postage can be tricky. So consult your local postal service, or go online, for specifics. Or even better, hand-deliver your envelopes to a post office near you, where a knowledgeable employee can determine the correct postage for you, without any possibility of error.

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m a g a z i n e IF YOU PLEASE Yes, there’s an etiquette unique to ATC trading. When you respect that etiquette, you enjoy seamlessly smooth swaps while earning a glowing reputation and positive feedback within the Mail Art community—and you form lasting friendships with incredibly cool art people in the process. Any way you slice it, it’s win/win!

Must-Sends Almost without exception, every swap host will require that, in addition to your art, you send: (1) Sufficient postage to cover mailing your returns (2) Your address Most often, you’ll be asked to include a self-addressed, stamped envelope or “SASE” along with your art. But sometimes, depending on host preferences, swap needs, and mailing considerations, you might instead be asked for variations on this theme, such as: • A sticker with your address (your host will provide the envelope) • Cash or stamps sufficient to cover postage on your returns • Postage payment via PayPal • An email communicating your street address Ensure your package meets swap requirements before sealing your envelope and shipping your art. Although most hosts understand the occasional “oops,” it’s still a nuisance and a chore for them to chase down missing or forgotten items (postage, addresses) after the due date. Worse, the entire swap is held up as a result.

“Extra” Credit In addition to the necessary “must-sends,” swap hosts appreciate a short note of thanks. It’s a huge responsibility to host a swap, requiring constant communication and monitoring, and flawless organization. While the rare host occasionally requests “No extras in your envie, please;” more commonly, it’s sincerely appreciated when you make a special gesture of a gift in the form of host extras, which might include: • A swap-themed ATC (make one extra, for your host) • ATCs, bookmarks, or journal pages in a theme the host collects (check the host profile) • Pre-cut ATC blanks or art-ready paper • Patterned paper bits, fibers, and ephemera (for mixed-media-friendly hosts only) • Loose stamps (or their cash equivalent) to cover postage shortages and the added cost of international returns.

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It’s so easy to play nice in the Mail Art sandbox. By heeding just a few suggestions that encourage successful trading practices, you, too, can discover a world of Mail Art joy!

I’ve spent the last several years actively and enthusiastically participating in a handful of Mail Art communities, and honestly, it’s been one of the most soul-feeding, enjoyable, creativity-expanding experiences of my life. I’ve mailed hundreds of ATCs and journal pages, and in return, have received a huge number of amazing works by other artists, to create a glorious collection of original art. I admit, I can’t see myself ever being “done” with ATCs and Mail Art. It’s just too darn fun. Best of all, it’s so easy to play nice in the Mail Art sandbox. By heeding just a few suggestions that encourage successful trading practices, you, too, can discover a world of Mail Art joy! Remember: • Swap only your best, most finished work • Respect due dates • Protect art from harm en route • Carefully address envelopes • Attach adequate postage • Allow ample time for mailing • Follow swap guidelines and send a complete envelope • Include thanks and, if possible, some “extras” for your host Easy peasy… and so much arty, good fun. Thanks for your audience, and happy swapping!

www.potbellyarts.com Blog: www.potbellyarts.typepad.com Etsy: www.potbellyarts.etsy.com -55-

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Winter Contest: Vintage Collage Last issue, we promoted a vintage collage contest and we received many fantastic entries. Among our favorites were Marsha Jorgensen’s “Zetti Style Sisters.” Her entries were all so nicely done with big, bold colors and quirky designs. Marsha’s “Zetti String-Bean Sisters“ was our winning entry.

Marsha Jorgensen “Zetti String-Bean Sisters”

Contest Info Marsha Jorgensen will be receiving a stuffed bubble envelope of collage ephemera. Thanks to all who entered. There were many great entries and it was a difficult choice for the editorial team. Watch for our next contest coming in the Summer 2009 issue. .

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Nature Kings The mountains, the forest, and the sea, render men savage; they develop the fierce, but yet do not destroy the human. -Victor Hugo

Gwen Kitching



Sal Scheibe

Amber Marie Oxford

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Heather Thompson

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Andrea Melione

Randi Marx

Audrey Boudreault

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Joy Saethre

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How to Draw (cute) Animals By Angela Kingston-Smith

Greetings and welcome to my new tutorial. As many of you know, I am somewhat fond of the critters and love to draw wildlife. There are such a wide range of animals out there! Now, I am no expert at animal portraits and cannot do realism to save my life, but here is my step-by-step guide to drawing animals. Cute fashion! My style tends me to over-exaggerate certain features like eyes and ears and aim for quirky expressions. Step 1. What to draw? First decide on a species. For the purposes of this tutorial I am concentrating on mammals. Do you have a favorite species? Maybe you could draw one of your pets? Step 2. What does it look like? Now you need some references. Always use a photographic reference. Never, ever copy off a handdrawn piece unless it is the only resource available. And don’t rely on your memory either. It is surprising how many stereotypic features lodge in your brain, and make you forget other important factors. If you don’t believe me, try drawing a rabbit. Unless you’ve drawn a great deal of bunnies, or see the real thing on a regular basis, chances are it will end up looking rather like the rabbit at right. Now, compare it with the rabbit below. Recommended resources are photographic books (the library is a good place to visit, if you don’t own a small bookstore of your own). Or you can ramble along into http://www.flickr.com and search for whatever you like. Try to find more than one reference from different perspectives. It is best not to copy directly. Or, if you prefer, you can draw from life. After all, cats do sleep 20 hours a day. I have selected these references:

Even when closely related animals are involved the details are quite different. Now comes the first of the tricky states. -59-

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m a g a z i n e Step 3. Laying down the linework and primary features Think of this as laying the foundations. You must look at your references and divide them up into parts. The easiest way to do this is to train yourself to see them not as features, but as shapes. Start with the general head shape: felines and canines have a roundish, slightly squared facial shape. This is because, being predators, they need to have good spatial vision and be able to focus both eyes on their potential dinner, whereas ungulates and rodents/lagomorphs have a more rectangular one. As “prey species” they benefit more from having good peripheral vision and can see the afore-mentioned predators sneaking up from all angles (except right behind them...) Sketch out the placement of the main facial features: • Eyes • Ears • Nose or muzzle Step 4: Secondary features Here’s where things get particularly fun. You have to look at your animal and think “what is it that makes this animal what it is?” Look for distinguishing markings stripes on a tiger, the shaggy mane of fur on a wolf’s throat, the rabbit’s long ears. Now add in the secondary facial features mouth, cheeks, eyebrows. PREDATORS Felines Felines tend to have short, rounded muzzles. Their ears are set at the edge of their head and usually point outwards. • Muzzle shape - square or round? Tigers have a squarer, more powerful muzzle • Fur type - sleek or shaggy? Tigers and long-haired housecats have a distinctive ruff of fur • Ear shape - rounded or pointed? Tigers ears are quite small and rounded, whereas most domestic breeds are more triangular • Eye size - big or small? If the feline is predominently nocturnal - as the smaller species are, the eyes will be larger in proportion with their bodies. These can be exaggerated in the name of cuteness, but when applied to tigers or lions may confuse the viewer as to what they are actually viewing • Eye shape - almond or round? Although my two subjects here are similar, a persian’s bug eyes are quite different from the narrow glare of a burmese

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m a g a z i n e Canines Canines have a longer, more rectangular shape to their muzzles. Of course, some of the more mutated breeds of dogs - chihuahua and boxers for example, have far shorter and rounder muzzles. Their ears either are erect pointing directly upwards, or flop comically beside their face. Their eyes are smaller in proportion to their body size, although it should be noted that some canine species are nocturnal (fox and coyote for example). Some species of wild dog and domesticated breeds sport a ruff of fur about their face and neck. These are not quite as defined as their feline cousins, but should not be overlooked. PREY Rodents/Lagomorphs Rodents and Lagomorphs are about as closely related as cats and dogs. They have large, round, dark eyes identifying their largely nocturnal lifestyle and more pronounced eye sockets. Their ears are quite large in proportion, giving them good hearing - all the better to hear those predators! Their snouts are quite long and pronouced but their mouths are quite small. Eyes are set back closer to the ears, giving them “all-round’ vision. Note the difference in noses from the carnivores above - these prey species have a “V” shaped nose, the nostrils rimmed with pink. Features to look for when drawing rodents and lagomorphs: • Eye size - big or small? Most rodents have quite large eyes. • Cheeks - ruffs/pouches? Rodents store their food in cheek pouches, which can be characterized by tufts of fur.

Ungulates Hoofed animals are prey species of the larger carnivores and as such need good peripheral vision. Their eyes are set back in the sides of their head, near the base of the ear and at a distinctly different angle to that of a carnivores. Their snouts are quite long, their mouths small. They also have fleshy lips, used to pull leaves from trees or grass. Their ears are set high on their head. Features to look for when drawing rodents and lagomorphs: • Nostrils or Dy Noses? Many ungulates have two separate nostrils, set to either side of their snout and rimmed with pink. Some, however, like deer and antelopes, have actual “dry noses” not unlike those of the carnivores. • Head adornments? To protect themselves and help defend mates, many ungulates sport defensive measures in the form of horns or tusks. Look for where these attach to the body and the form they take. They should be sketched in now if they’re not already. • Ear shape? Ungulates have longer, pointed ears. Some, like horses, point directly upwards, whereas goats and deer may rest at right angles to the cheeks or droop downwards. • Lips - narrow or wide? Ungulates have fleshy lips - browsers (tree eaters) have narrower lips often with prehensile properties, ideal for plucking. Others, like the white rhino which is a grazer, are much wider and act more-or-less like a lawnmower. Study your reference and imagine how it likes to dine. Also, look for tongues. Giraffes, for example, have very long tongues which they use to denude branches. • Pupil shape and size? Are the eyes large and dark and limpid like a deer’s or are the pupils narrow, evil, horizontal slits like a goats?

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m a g a z i n e Step 5: The fine details Now add in fur - density and markings. Look for the direction in which it runs and distinctive patterning. Don’t forget the hair in the ears! Hair can be depicted in a series of strokes - long extended “V”s for long furred creatures and neck ruffs/manes, short “l”s for short furred creatures or just a flat coour for the very short furred animals, like horses. Also note that most mammals have whiskers. These are more pronounced in the smaller prey animals, but even large ones like horses have bristles about their lips and nostrils. DO NOT feel you have to draw EVERY single whisker. About 3-5 on each side should be sufficient. Gel pens work well for whiskers - try silver or white (on dark-furred animals).

Color If using coloring pencils, choose a range of colours. Most animals have a range of shading in their fur - especially brown or grey ones. Note: these colors pertain to the Faber-Castell Polychromos, my preferred pencils. You can find the chart of colors here: http://www.faber-castell.de/ (under “color chart”).

Black Black, purple or indigo, dark (paynes) grey, medium grey, light purple or blue for highlights.

Grey Light grey, medium grey, dark grey, black. Use indigo for added emphasis of shadows. A light blue-grey can be useful but use it carefully and don’t get into the bright blues. -62-

White White, ivory, cream or pale blue, light grey. Be careful about overdoing the blues.

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Orange Dark chrome yellow, orange glaze, dark naples orange, terracotta. For dynamic shading use indigo or a greenish-blue. Try to avoid using red or extremely bright orange as this looks unnatural.

Reddish-Brown Sanguine, pompeian red, venetian red, indian Red, walnut brown, caput mortuum.

Golden-Brown Light yellow ochre, burnt ochre, brown ochre, bistre, nougat.

Now it’s your turn! Here are some photographic references taken by Yours Truly. See what you can make of them. Try and work out what lifestyle the animal leads! Good luck and happy drawing!

Thank you to Desiree Dee Dziewa, Lisa Bufton, Sharon Safranyos and Laura Hartshorn for allowing the use of their pet photos.

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Petite Artiste Vivian S.K.

Vivian S.K. is an engaging 8-year old who draws every day in her more than 25 sketchbooks. “It’s just kinda fun,” she says, “I like it a lot. I think it’s part of my nature. It’s a connection from my brain to my hand.” She likes drawing girls and food, and prefers to work in pencil and crayon. She says, “Pencil is easy to erase if you make a mistake and crayons come in a wide variety of colors.” When asked about her artistic influences, she states, “When I was a baby, my mom encouraged me to draw, so I love it. I also do collaborative art projects with my Papa.” Vivian has traveled across the U.S. with her family, visiting many museums, including the MOCA in San Diego and the MOMA in New York City. She says that, “I like Modern Art best because it seems different from all the other art.” In the future, Vivian would like to “make a giant tapestry with a city on it. I’ve already made a town of weird buildings with cars on it out of paper, so a city is next.”

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Swap Hosting 101: Part 1 By Dana Driscoll Hosting swaps can be a fun and exciting step for any Mail Artist to take, although the logistics of hosting a swap can be challenging! As someone who has hosted over forty swaps, I’ve provided examples, instructions, and suggestions for how to make your first hosting experience a success. This article walks you through hosting a Mail Art swap with suggestions and tips to keep you organized. In this two-part article series, I’ll cover how to choose a swap theme, write clear swap guidelines, storing and organizing cards. In the second part, I’ll cover swapping cards out, mailing cards, and possible problems that can arise in swaps. Why Host a Swap? A number of reasons exist for why people host swaps, including the “fun-factor,” the ability to build a collection of cards, and the community connection. First of all, hosting swaps are a lot of fun. I love coming up with new themes, and then getting to see all of the cards that people create! To me, seeing the new cards alone is worth the commitment of swap hosting. It’s fun to see how different artists interpret a theme or how swap participants can use the same medium so differently. I also really enjoy posting challenging and fun swaps! The second reason to host is that you are able to build a collection of themed cards. I often host swaps for themes that I am interested in collecting—like trees, a favorite theme of mine. When the cards arrive, I will get to see all of the wonderful inspirational trees and also pick out some of my favorites. A third reason to host the swap is that it contributes to the mail art community and helps you build relationships with other traders. I have many participants who have joined swap after swap that I run, and through this I have gotten to know them and their art quite well. I enjoy building friendships through swap hosting. Choosing a Swap Theme Mail Art swaps come in all shapes, sizes, and themes! You can run a few different kinds of swaps, but the two most frequent types are media-specific, theme-specific, and technique-specific swaps. Media specific swaps can include pen and ink, mixed media, collage, watercolor, encaustic, acrylics, fabric, and so much more! Theme-specific swaps can include whimsy, colors, animals, nature, cityscapes, landscapes, houses, birds, and many more! Technique-specific swaps might include Impressionism or working in the style of a specific artist. Other types of swaps exist, often with a sense of play or fun to them. For example, you might choose to explore a specific word, like “love” or you might ask players to dig through their purses and pull out the junk and make mail art! Anything and everything is possible.

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m a g a z i n e For your first few swaps, try to keep the swap theme simple and make it something you are comfortable with. For example, if you really love the color red, run a Red Swap! As you grow more experienced as a swap host, you might combine themes and ask for birds in blue, or painted landscapes, or handmade paper quilts (three swaps that I have run in the past). Of course, you also think about the type of swap you want to run. Do you want to start with ATCs? Inchies? Chunky books? I recommend starting with an ATC swap because they are easy to mail and easy to store (more on this later). Chunky books, charms, skinny books, and other such artwork often requires more postage and are hence, harder to swap and package to send out.

The CAT and the PAT If you’ve spent any time at a mail art site, you may have seen “PAT” or “CAT” style swaps. PAT stands for Pick-A-Theme and is a swap where participants are put into groups of 4-6 people. Each person in the group chooses a theme, “Trees” for example, and then the other participants in the group each make a tree card. Each person in the group ends up getting a set of cards made by the other group members on their chosen theme. In a CAT, or Choose-A-Theme swap, participants are again put into groups but this time, they choose the theme of the cards they will make. We recommend that you spend some time hosting “regular” swaps before committing to a PAT or CAT swap. These swaps represent unique challenges for new swap hosts.

Committing to Swap Hosting When you host a swap, you are making a commitment of time, energy, and money. It is important that you understand the commitment you are making up front to ensure that a swap is successful for both you and your participants. Time & Energy: Swaps require time and energy. At Atcsforall.com, IllustratedATCs.com, and Mailartworld.com, you are required to update your swap at least once a week. This includes letting your participants know whose cards have arrived and giving them updates on deadlines and other information. I suggest, however, that you aim to update your swap every 2-3 days at the least. Once you are ready to swap your cards, expect to take 2-5 hours for swapping, packaging, leaving iTrader for participants, and mailing. Money: Swaps also take money. If you live in the US, give participants good directions on including an SASE (self-addressed stamped envelope), and limit the number of international participants, often you may only spend less than $10 to mail out a swap. However, if you are overseas, the costs can be much higher. Organizational Skill: Finally, swaps take some organizational skills. You need to find a safe place to store the swap cards while you are waiting for the swap to end. This includes keeping the cards out of the way of pets or small children. You need to keep track of who sent cards, who signed up, and when the swap is due. Once the swap is complete, you need to be prepared to swap the cards in an efficient manner (there will be more on how to do this in the second part of this article in the next issue).

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m a g a z i n e Writing Clear Swap Guidelines Once you have a theme picked out for your swap, you should spend some time writing a clear set of guidelines for participants. First, go take a look at other swap guidelines that are posted. Look at several, noting which ones seem more effective. Use those swap guidelines as a template for your own! Here are questions you should answer in your swap guidelines: What is the swap theme and swap type? Be clear on what the theme is; provide definitions if necessary. Tell your players if they are swapping ATCs, Inchies, or other types of mail art. Do you have any restrictions or stipulations on the swap? If you are going to limit the number of players who can sign up out of the country, list this so. If you want only one type of media, list this as well. Are you going to ask players not to send in bulky cards? Can you provide examples of what you were looking for? Give some scans of artwork that fits the kind of cards you are looking to be created in the swap. What are the due dates for the swap? Give participants a reasonable amount of time to sign up and turn in cards—8 weeks from start to finish is a good ballpark figure. Look at your own calendar and make sure you aren’t having the swap due when you are on vacation or are otherwise too busy to commit to swapping the cards. Are participants required to pay for postage? If so, how? You can ask participants to send in loose stamps, pay via paypal (for larger items, like chunky books), or send wellconcealed cash. For ATC swaps, ask participants to send a SASE (Self Addressed Stamped Envelope) for their returns. Do you have any special mailing instructions? I often ask my players to put their contact information on the back of their cards and also write their User ID on the back of their envelopes. I ask that if participants are sending bulky cards, they send additional stamps to cover the returns. Number of Players in a Swap There is a direct relationship between the number of players in a swap and the time, energy, and money it requires to complete a swap. A swap with 10 players is much easier and less time-intensive to swap out and mail than one with 60 players! I suggest keeping your swaps small and gradually increasing the number of players over time. Posting Your Swap Once you post your swap, you can begin to seek out participants. Usually, participants will see your thread and be interested. Sometimes, however, hosts have trouble filling all of the spots in your swap. Contact your friends, trading partners, or those you know would be interested in your swap to recruit more members if necessary. -67-

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m a g a z i n e Receiving Cards in the Mail and Storing Cards Within two weeks of sign ups for your swap, you can expect to start receiving cards in the mail. Here are the steps I follow to keep organized and make my life as a host easier when receiving and storing ATCs for an ATC swap. Some of these steps are modified for mail art swaps, especially those with bulky bubble envelopes. Once I get the mail for the day, I’ll open up all of the mail and set the swap cards aside. I will go to the thread where the swap is posted, and update the swap, letting participants know that their cards have arrived. Some swap hosts also elect to leave participants iTrader feedback at this point (although I usually wait to leave it all at once at the end of the swap). Because all participants are sending a SASE, I will remove the swap cards and SASE from the original envelope. I check the address, then put the swap cards in the SASE. On the back of the envelope, I write the participant’s User ID and number of cards they sent (minus any hostess gifts they may send). I have a plastic bin where I keep all of the swap cards; I simply place the cards in the bin and keep adding new cards to the bin as they arrive. If the participant did not send a SASE, I will write their address (or use an address label) on a new envelope and put it in the bin. Writing the participant’s name and number of cards they are to get in return helps you during the swapping process and also will help you identify which cards belong to which envelope if they accidentally fall out when you are moving or storing them. If You Get Behind If you find yourself overwhelmed or have family emergencies that keep you from fulfilling your hosting commitments, seek out help! Experienced hosts are always willing to take over a swap that you are unable to complete. Participants are usually very understanding if you need an additional few weeks to get your swap out of the door. The most important thing to remember is to keep communicating about the swap and to not think that you are alone in your situation.

Conclusion This article has presented a first look at hosting mail art swaps. I encourage you to start thinking about and planning to host your first swap. Join us next time when we’ll cover the logistics of swapping and mailing cards in the second part of this article.

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Introduction to Whimsy Art By Dana Driscoll

What does it mean to be a whimsical artist? What is all this talk of whimsical art? This article will present an introduction to whimsical art, including defining what it is (and isn’t) and providing a list of common features. In defining what whimsical art is, we can start with some definitions of whimsy and whimsical. Whimsical and whimsy actually come from the root word whim. According to Merriam-Webster, a whim is, “a: resulting from or characterized by whim or caprice ; especially : lightly fanciful <whimsical decorations> b: subject to erratic behavior or unpredictable change.” Believe it or not, whim comes from whim-wham, a term that first appeared in print in the year 1500 that referred to a lighthearted object or ornament, usually for clothing. Not bad for a start! Merriam-Webster defines whimsical as “full of, actuated by, or exhibiting whims” or “resulting from or characterized by whim or caprice ; especially : lightly fanciful <whimsical decorations>” and “subject to erratic behavior or unpredictable change.” Yes! Now this sounds like art worth creating! Let’s take a look at some art that could be defined as whimsical. The three images presented here, by Sal Scheibe, Andrea Melione, and myself, are all very different, and yet all possess whimsical qualities.

Sal Scheibe

Andrea Melione

Dana Driscoll

First, none of the three pieces of art are entirely realistic. In Andrea’s piece, the fairy has exaggerated and disproportionate features including the neck, the eyes, even the hair and body. The fairy’s features are all stylized in a way that is playful, fun, and unique. Sal’s house looks like none in the real world, and rather reminds one of a gingerbread house, complete with the trees that have dots quite similar to gumdrops! In my piece, we have the two insects embracing on top of a flower and modified to look more human-like. Very whimsical indeed! In these three pieces, we see that the subject matter and stylization could fit the definition of “whimsical.” -69-

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m a g a z i n e But there’s more. Do you notice the use of bold color? In all three pieces, color is used very effectively. Sal’s piece in particular is bright and playful! Andrea’s piece is a bit more subdued, but still uses color very effectively (and when is the last time you saw someone with purple hair?) In my piece, the yellows and reds are particularly bright. A third thing you’ll notice about all three pieces is that they use pattern in an effective way. In Andrea’s fairy piece, she uses dots throughout the background, and also uses a repetition of flowers and butterflies. Sal’s gingerbread house uses polka dots throughout. Think about how different the piece would be without those brightly colored polka dots on the trees or striped trunks! Finally, my piece uses swirls on the wings and in the sky to add a playful touch.

Want more Whimsy? Join a Swap! ATCsforall.com has a few swaps going on right now that fit the whimsy category. Check them out! Harajuku Girls Swap Due April 15, 2009:

http://atcsforall.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8578

Whimsical Summer Girls Swap Due April 23, 2009:

http://atcsforall.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9093

Whimsical Goth Girls Due May 1st, 2009:

So there you have it! Whimsical art can include: • whimsical themes or subject matter: often those that are fanciful, fun, happy, or fantastical • strong colors and very conscious choices on the part of the artist as to using color • stylization that takes the piece of art beyond the ordinary. This can include exaggerations, emphasis of certain features, distorting, simplifying or adding unrealistic elements • patterns: such as dots, swirls, lines, and so forth for increased effect As someone who considers herself a whimsical artist, I find that whimsical art is empowering and uplifting. I use art as a way to relax, to express myself, and really to enjoy and experience life. It also allows me to “re-see” the world in a way that is happier, friendlier, and much less serious. To me, my art needs to reflect my inner spirit and inner joy. And what better way to do that than to reach into my imagination and develop fantastical worlds full of swirled trees and boldcolored mountains?

http://www.atcsforall.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8419

Super Kawaii Mixed Media Swap Due May 1st, 2009: http://www.atcsforall.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8759

Take an Online Whimsy Workshop! The Whimsy Art Workshop The Whimsy Art Workshop is a twopart workshop designed for the artist or hobbyist who loves the whimsical, light, free style of art. The workshop is designed to help artists who are seeking to improve their artistic skills or working to develop a unique style. Level I Start Dates: April 1, 2009 September 16 Level II Start Dates: May 6, 2009 October 21, 2009 Register online at: www.arttradermag.com

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Advertise in the next issue of ArtTrader Mag! Please visit our website for details. www.arttradermag.com

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Call for Articles and Artwork

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www.arttradermag.com Thank you for your interest in contributing to ArtTrader Magazine. ArtTrader Magazine is a web-based publication (in PDF format) focused on Mail Art for trade such as ATCs (Artist Trading Cards), ACEOs, art journals, chunky books, altered art and altered books. We are always accepting the following types of materials: • “How to” or Step-by-step articles on artistic techniques. We are interested in techniques that can be applied to any mail art. These include illustrative techniques, and also works in fabric, digital, collage, mixed media, and more. • Articles on artistic journeys or experiences. Do you have an interesting story that you would like to share? We would like to hear it. • Artist Spotlight/Profile. Do you have a body of work you would like share? We would love to feature you in our artist spotlight. • Showcasing Art. We are interested in showcasing assemblages, mixed media work, creative journaling, chunky books, fat books, inchies, ATCs (Artist Trading Cards), post cards and more. These types of articles usually have a small bit of background accompanying them but primarily are visual in nature. • Product and Book Reviews. If you are interested in writing a review of a new product or book that is connected to the Mail Art world, we would enjoy hearing about it.

Article Submissions Dana Driscoll, Editor [email protected] Artwork Submissions Sal Scheibe, Art Director [email protected] Advertising Inquiries [email protected] Critique Corner Andrea Melione [email protected] For additional details on our submission and artwork guidelines, please visit our website:

www.arttradermag.com

Submissions of Artwork Almost all of our articles require artwork submissions. You might also want to submit artwork to appear in our webzine galleries. Our call for artwork is always open and we welcome your submissions of ATCs, ACEOs, art journals, chunky pages or altered books. Everyone is welcome to submit their art. You do not need to be a member of IllustratedATCs.com to submit artwork. You must submit your work to us in digital format. • 300-400 DPI is sufficient. Do not submit artwork lower than 300 DPI. • Acceptable formats include: JPG, BMP, TIF. Do not submit GIF files. • Any submitted artwork should be at least 500 pixels wide and high (they can be much larger than this, of course!) “Frank, Peace Warrior” ATC by Sal Scheibe

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