Kandinsky ATC's Reveal

Earlier last month, I signed up for an ATC swap that focused on the abstract artist Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944). The objective was to create a set of four ATC's using some form of resist technique. And the fun part....create these while listening to JAZZ music, letting the notes and rhythm influence the composition and movement of each ATC. I'm a great lover of spontaneous art, so this was right up my alley. 

I decided to use rubber cement for my resist technique. I decorated about a half dozen or so ATC's made of watercolor paper I purchased on eBay a while back. Using the brush that came with the rubber cement, I brush on the thick, smelly goo onto the watercolor paper. I also used an old thin brush to do more detail. The day before I began the resists, I found a heat-resistant stencil at the thrift store. It came with rhinestones that could be glued in a scroll pattern. I planned to use the rhinestones for various projects, and found the stencil worked perfectly with the rubber cement resist. I allowed the rubber cement to dry for several hours. 

I used acrylic paint thinned with water (and maybe a little acrylic medium...can't remember) to create more of a watercolor effect, making washes over the dried rubber cement. Here are the results on the right. As you can see, I used up leftover paint and rubber cement on the book pages as well. 

A Day's Work 5-22-14

As you can see from the caption, I created the ATC backgrounds on May 22. Flash forward to this week, where I am busy playing catchup to get these ATC's to my swap partners. Yesterday, after I spent a happy afternoon putting on the finishing touches, my husband surprised me with a little gift, an early birthday present. Isn't it darling? 

 And now, the ATC reveal:

 Now what's the first thing you notice? The art I was creating goes *perfectly* with the dressform pincushion, no? My husband smiled and said, "I know those are the colors you like." After fifteen years of marriage, he knows me too well. :-) 

I listened to jazz great Winton Marsalis, as suggested by group leader Betty (she listened to Winton during her ATC session, too). I found him on Pandora, which of course plays the artist and similar artists and songs. Here are a few of my favorites which you can watch on YouTube:
"Struttin' with Some Barbeque" ~ The Marsalis Family (the drum solo is amazing)
"Bourbon Street Parade" ~ Winton Marsalis
"Stardust" (Live at Village Vanguard ~ Winton Marsalis

I wanted to share a little about each individual ATC. Since they were done spontaneously, it's difficult to put into words. In upcoming posts, I will share a few thoughts that went into each one along with a Kandinsky quote. 

Sandra 

P.S. Today is my 37th birthday. :-)