Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Artist Trading Cards "ATC" - because I did.

I have a stockpile of "Artist Trading Cards" blank of course, and I am always deifying these little 2.5" x 3.5" cut pieces of Acrylic Pad Paper.  They sit in my drawer, wanting to be masterpieces that I trade with friends and artists and just have this awesome Artistic lifestyle sipping Martini's and being posh and wonderful... but since that doesn't happen for reals, and most likely won't, these cards just had all this unnecessary mysticism, or hopes and dreams, put on them, that stunted their potential and growth.  

So I was cycling through an emotional roller coaster in my Artist head one evening and decided... I'm never going to be the posh cool Artist that receives this beautiful fantasy of give and take pen pal art making and I got pissed about being alone all the time, broke and invisible so I opened all the little packages and started painting them all the color brown that you see on the package below.  I don't like it when my life is not ever like my dreams.  Art Therapy.




This started as an assignment from the book "Drawing Lab."  A person is to make art using a small inanimate object.  I chose these that live in the drawer dedicated to pencils in my drawing desk drawer: 



Wooden Sculptures acquired years ago Mom gave them to me.   I don't know who she got them from.

The gist of the assignment is limit your color palette and only use the object throughout a series of drawings that you complete each in five minutes or less.  The rule of the book is don't get too precious about it.  The assignment is fun and sketchy and no pressure art.  I really free up creatively when I "draw" with paint, I don't really relax drawing with pencil, I can't really "paint over" mistakes when I draw.  Erasers don't really erase.  


I started with four dinky acrylics that comes-with-the-dollar-stretched-canvas-purchased-at-Christmas Tree Shops and used those to "use them up"  but they actually ended up nice flowing paints.  Ivory Black, Yellow Ochre, Cobalt Blue, and Cad Orange.   I started just using two round brushes size 0 and 2.










Then this one had to start coming alive.  I was having a great time with the assignment just being what it was, and then this magical thing happened where my imagination just started flowing through my arm and doing that Zone/Sync thing and a story happened, and an unlikely friendship happened.  :)  So for the last two I broke out all the little brushes, including my awesome Princeton Select brushes.  I used a teeny bit of white (cheater) and definitely took more than five minutes (sigh... FAIL at directions...)



EYE CRINKLES!! SIGH :) Happy Giraffe is happy.
THESE BRUSHES HAVE SOULS I SWEAR!!

The finished pieces did end up getting a proper home to my good friend Annie. I was visiting and I have a compulsive need to gift her something when visiting.  We went out to chill at the lake where I dug some sweet caverns with my feet in the sand as she talked about all things.  Annie is one of my only friends that I really listen to and don't cut in with advice too early. 

 Her husband Matt came home while we were out.  Annie had left the cards on the Kitchen table.  When we came back, Matt said VERBATIM what was going on in my head when I was making them. He was describing the little story that was on the table.  I wanted to cry... it was so moving.  I don't think I said a word though.  It was just one of those things that never happens.  My thoughts transferred into the work.  :)  "He was going to eat him, and then he doesn't, because he thinks 'this one isn't scared and could be a friend'"
It was just so arresting because he said it exactly in the same words as I had in my head.  Psychically connected, or psychically imprinted into the art?  hmmm.

I may have just teared  up.  It was pretty Magical, the whole experience and I definitely hope to make some more someday and see if I show someone and that happens again.  If I ever die I want Matt to write all the reviews of my work to let people know what was going on in my head.  :)

So here's the next batch to be painted, someday. :)  I have to get back to Val's painting!  AHHH!  :)  I must stop being so precious about that one too, and just get some wine and dimples paint already.  

Carla is cool too, and you should check out her website sometime and her art.