Kandinsky ATC #4

Kandinsky ATC 4/4 by Sandra Martin, Creative Currents

“Life is a lot like jazz - it's best when you improvise.” 

~George Gershwin

 This is the fourth ATC in the Kandinsky series. I ended up choosing this card for my collection, and sent 1, 2, and 3 to my other swap partners. I love the rainbow colors of this piece, and some of the concepts that rise to the surface.

The bottom shape is alive with buildings and lights, but when I view it another way, it looks like a brain. All the circuity is alive and vibrant with activity.

I love this quote by George Gershwin. I admit that I don't always live my life as spontaneous as I would wish to. I have this inner artsy alter ego who would dress crazy and relish living in the moment wherever she goes. Someone not afraid to appear foolish or flamboyant in public. I tend to be calm and serene, but when I create those wild colors pour out on the canvas or art journal. I can't seem to restrict myself to a limited palette. When I paint spontaneously, I open up the color palette and allow the color room to breathe, to mingle with the other colors and have lively conversations. 

I love jazz, Celtic music, opera solos, and musical numbers to play in my studio. I also enjoy spontaneous worship music at times when I want to create a peaceful atmosphere in my art space. As the worship artists improvise, it opens up new depths of creativity in my heart, which comes out in my art. Each stage is a process of discovery.

I hope you enjoyed peeking at this series. Here are links to the others in this series in case you missed it:

Kandinsky ATC Reveal (intro)

Kandinsky ATC 1/4

Kandinsky ATC 2/4

Kandinsky ATC 3/4


Blessings~
Sandra Lee

Kandinsky ATC #3

Kandinsky ATC 3/4 by Sandra Martin, Creative Currents

Invest yourself in everything you do. There’s fun in being serious.

~Wynton Marsalis

In my third artist trading card paying homage to Kandinsky, I used a couple of my favorite color combos, coral and turquoise. I intermixed them with quite a few primary colors, too. 

I think this card is probably the most feminine of the four. Lots of fun shapes...the pearl-like circles, the paisley-like shape, and a little red heart peeking in the top right corner. The atmosphere is fun and light, fitting perfectly with Wynton's quote. 

The blue circle on the bottom right reminds me of the earth. There are also a lot of interlocking circles which remind me of the vesica piscis from sacred geometry, symbolic of birth. This is one I don't want to interpret too deeply, but just enjoy the dance of colors and shapes. 

Next, I will share about the last card in the series, number 4. 

To view the others:

Full Reveal

Kandinsky ATC 1/4

Kandinsky ATC 2/4

Sandra Lee

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. :-) 

Happy Thoughts 365 ~ #24 ~ Decorated Envies

Recently I was invited to participate in an ATC swap via Artful Mail Groupies on Facebook. It's a warm, chatty group of women who love making and receiving mail art in many forms, and the occasional box or envelope of "Happy Mail" (goodies from the sender's stash of crafty stuff). I broke out the colored pencils and some Easter stickers I had on hand and added a quote on each one. (Names and addresses of recipients covered with some of my colorful stamps for privacy)

The quotes transcribed, from left to right:

Spring is God's way of saying, 'one more time!' ~ Robert Orben

Spring is Nature's way of saying, 'Let's Party!' ~ Robin Williams

Spring has returned. The Earth is like a child that knows Poems. ~ Rainier Maria Rilke

Happiness? The color of it must be spring green... ~ Frances Mayes

Blessings,
Sandra Lee