Play Time ahead!

I’ve decided I need a “year of art.” It’s been ages since I’ve played with paper, paints, and collage supplies. What better way to start than a visit to Ruby Dog’s Art House! This inspiring Vancouver store is like a treasure trove for collage and mixed media artists. Owner, Leanne, and her dog, Ruby, are always welcoming, and there is plenty of eye candy, unique ephemera, colourful bits and pieces, and sample artwork to get the creative juices flowing.

Some images from today’s visit:

(RubyDog’s is located at 623 Kingsway –near Fraser and 15th Ave).

Small is beautiful

In a comment left on my July 27th post about holiday Artist Trading Cards (ATCs), Jean-Pierre suggests that ATCs are “sort of haiku-ish, because of the brevity. I bet Basho would trade art cards with you if he were alive today.”

This is an interesting thought. Both haiku and ATCs can focus attention on a single moment or image that some how points to something more. There is something in that little word/visual image that can resonate with readers/viewers on some personal level. When you discover a haiku or an ATC that stirs you, it’s like being handed a tiny, special present.

Here are a few more of my ATCs:

And in keeping with the “small is beautiful” theme (and with a nod to E.F. Schumacher, author of the same-named book on creating local economies), here are a few more one-inch buttons:

(and the kid on the second button? That’s me, about age 2 — life was good!)

Taking photos isn’t the only way to remember a holiday

Since I became interested in Artist Trading Cards (ATCs: 3 1/2 inch x 2 1/2 inch works of art you can save and trade like hockey cards), I’ve taken some basic ATC art supplies with me whenever I go on holidays. The most fun is creating the cards as a group activity (if there are five people participating you create five cards, with each person adding something to each card, so that everyone ends up taking home one card created by everyone). I’ve done this with people who don’t normally make art, and they were surprised how much they enjoyed themselves — like they were kids again, allowed to play with paper, scissors and glue.

The card above is one I made with four women friends during a weekend getaway to a cabin in Manning Park (can you tell eating and knitting were two themes of the trip?).

And here’s one my mother, daughter and I made on a trip to Nelson, BC, the town where my mother grew up (includes images from a brochure on the town, bits of map, and a rubber stamp skunk bought from a Nelson artist, which reminded us of two skunks encountered on our trip).

I ended up doing a card to commemorate my Oregon trip on my own, which wasn’t as much fun (it encorporates bits of local newspaper and road map).

Visually, these aren’t my best ATCs, but in terms of the memories they evoke, they’re my favourite.