#Liberateyourart Postcard Swap Art Received

It's been a fun month, this winter I participated in an art postcard swap project. Every week this month I have been getting mysterious postcards in the mail. How fun! Here is the loot:

Postcards from artists all over the US. 

I hadn't drawn much or painted in almost a decade so I used this as an excuse to force myself to do just that. Here are my contributions to the project: 

You can see more images and read more about my postcards in these blog posts: #liberateyourart

This was a fun project, I think I will use a different printing company next time. I wish more of the artists wrote notes on their postcards like Kat the organizer suggested, I wrote nice notes and was hoping for the same, some of this felt very promotional which wasn't what I was expecting. But either way. it's fun to see what people are proud of and to get surprise mail! Who doesn't love a little mail. I didn't make any new connections out of this like I thought I might but oh well, I painted! I like what I contributed, and hope it brightened someone's day!

Here is a video montage of some of the contributing artists, compiled by Kat Sloma (copyright Kat Sloma 2015) I'm sharing as one of my pieces is included at 3:00 minutes. Enjoy!

April 16-19 you can follow the "link hop" by scrolling down and clicking on any of the participating blogs to see what other participating artists have shared. 

An InLinkz Link-up

#liberateyourart Postcards Sent Today!

I've finished my postcards and after some frustrating printing mishaps from Fedex office online (BE VERY CAREFUL and put lots of info in notes in your online order because apparently simply clicking on the document type postcards does not guarantee you a postcard sized print...not a user friendly website at all...go to a retail place and pay the little extra to guarantee you get what you want...)

All images are Copyright Virginia E. Berry 2015 and are my original designs. 

Here they are!

Two lucky artists in the postcard swap #liberateyourart will get my favorite painting from this exercise.

I now have 8.5 x 11 prints of these images...that I felt compelled to purchase even though they intended to shred them due to the mistake (It just felt so wasteful and since it is my art I thought I'd take them since I NEVER reproduce my paintings...though sadly the edge of the Rat Baby Love image is slightly cut off where the text is...wanh wanh). I am happy to share with you if you want one :) I can have others printed too. Just contact me and name your price. Prints are $1.49 plus postage and envelope so you have an idea of my expense (not to mention labor and creativity but again...name your price ;) ) I may work on the scans of the images with the all white backgrounds to get the shadows out from where the page was warped from watercolors. 

Sweet handwritten messages to the unknown artist recipients.

And the envelope off to Kat Sloma the organizer and facilitator of this fun project. I hope I remember to sign up again next year. Looking forward to art in my mailbox! 

Also very excited about the vintage circus poster stamps the Post Office had! You can buy your own. I want to send more mail just so I can use these....seriously considering stock piling them since they are forever stamps now. They had me at the stripey clown tights! 

And the Award for Artistic Insomnia Goes to Last Night and the 6:30 AM Bedtime #liberateyourart

I prefer working on creative projects at night. No pretty birds in the yard to distract me. No one to bother me. Not much of interest on TV. That warm, delightful silence that the darkness offers after everyone else is asleep. Best working hours always.

Last night apparently my sketchbook practice turned into a much more elaborate effort than I had anticipated...bedtime ended up being 6:30 AM...just before sunrise so at least it was dark when I shut my eyes.

Here is the painting that true insomnia produced. All images copyright Virginia E. Berry 2015

Again, rough images taken with my cell phone. Better images another day. My laborious, whimsical sketchbook addition:

Close up of raw crystal crown, an idea I've had for a while for a jewelry project.

Pocket pet rat baby on an arrow that reads "Big ideas constantly swarm me"

Rumination text in bird reads: "My mind is swarming with big ideas, they keep me up at night. Like a constant fight, I rarely sleep for fear of losing the good ones. The ones I ruminate on for hours on end, I try to write down, to capture, like wild creatures I hope to cultivate into remarkable contributions. My meager marks on this world. I know we race through this short life, and with that I hope to leave it better than when I entered it. Some nights my thoughts wake me in the middle of my dreams, demanding I record them. I am of simple means, extravagant dreams and humble talent. I read, study and practice constantly, seeking a way to launch my dreams into the universe."

Liberate Your Art Sketchbook Practice #liberateyourart

I'm participating in #liberateyourart this year and haven't done hardly any drawing or painting in almost 15 years (wow, shameful!). I pulled out an old sketchbook that had some blank sheets left and did some artistic explorations last night in the middle of the night. (Most creative in the silent, dark hours). All images are my original work and copyright Virginia E. Berry 2015

These are quick cell phone photos and the color/grain is not great. Another day when I decide which I will make into postcards for the Liberate Your Art project, I will take better images. For now I am practicing drawing and painting and exploring technique as it has been a looong time and my skills are rusty. I like these paintings but know there's more impressive something in there...

Text reads: "Is there a line where the soul ends and the universe begins?"

Text reads: "I ruminate my dreams away hoping not to lose my visions and ideas like petals in the wind..."