Big Art-Little Spaces: Postcard Swap for "Leap-Day"

 "Not every act of art creates something special, but it creates something. It is the act of art that is important, not the result." Michael L. Goodman

I used this postcard for another swap on Swap-bot in honor of Leap Day, 29 February 2024. I made the card in 2012 when I was working on a book in a book arts class at the University of Utah called Artist Books Two. I made a book called Loco-Motion using copies of photos, Plate 169, by Eadweard Muybridge. [I was the oldest member of the class at 65. The rest were twenty-something college students.] This card was made from one of the extra copies I did not use in the book with a few collage elements added.

This is what the book looked like:

Book Arts Mania: Two More Simple Reversed Piano Hinge Books

 "Not every act of art creates something special, but it creates something. It is the act of art that is important, not the result." Michael L. Goodman

I like the reversed piano hinge binding very much. I have been experimenting with different weights of paper for the accordion folded hinge. Stiffer paper cracks along the fold. For this book, I used decorated tape to cover the mountain fold sides of the accordion strip. I think the tape makes a nice-looking spine.  I cut some circles and stripes on the inner hinge and made the signature lock with leftover cover paper.

This little book was quick and easy.

Big Art-Little Spaces: Postcard Swap on Swap-bot

 "Not every act of art creates something special, but it creates something. It is the act of art that is important, not the result." Michael L. Goodman

I started looking for some mail swaps on Swap-bot this week. 2018 was the last year that I participated in a Swap-bot posting. I joined a postcard swap that was open to handmade cards. Most swap hosts ban handmade cards because some swappers slap a few stickers on an index card and think they have performed an act of art. If those swappers were Ray Johnson, they might get away with it.

However, some of the best cards I have received in swaps were handmade ranging from pristine pencil drawings to elaborate collages. The card I sent in the swap was the penultimate card in a series I made in 2011 featuring small scherenschnitte pieces I cut for Valentine's Day. I am keeping the last card in the set for my own collection.

I would not mind receiving a postcard like this in the mail.

Here are some other postcards I have made.

Enveloping the Word: "Drop Cloth" Envelopes

 "Not every act of art creates something special, but it creates something. It is the act of art that is important, not the result." Michael L. Goodman

I always put a large piece of white drawing paper on my work table when I am in the act of art. I call it my "drop cloth." It catches extra paint, paste, ink, or whatever else I may be using and makes a handy paper for testing color combinations, stamps, off-handed doddles, and experiments. When I've used a drop cloth for a few days or weeks, I sometimes make an envelope out of the paper. Here is the latest effort. The "drop cloth:"

The resulting envelope:

Some other drop cloth envelopes:

Book Arts Mania: Work in Progress Continued

 "Not every act of art creates something special, but it creates something. It is the act of art that is important, not the result." Michael L. Goodman

I finished two more pages in the concertina fold book I am trying to finish. I am a big fan of Vicki Grant's ceramic works, especially her Celestial Landscapes. If I had lots of discretionary funds I would buy some of her pieces. I can only admire her work and be inspired by it.

These two book pages are inspired by her work. The color choices are mine using Tombow dual-brush watercolor pens.

"Circles, like the soul, are never ending and turn round and round without a stop." Ralph Waldo Emerson.

I am adding here some envelopes inspired by Vicki Grant's work.