Liberate Your Art

 
For the past few weeks, I have been participating in a postcard swap. Kat Sloma of Kat Eye Studio created "Liberate Your Art 2012 Postcard Swap".  Artists of all types were invited to "liberate their art" by printing an image of their work on a postcard. Many different types of artists participated from photographers to painters, sculptors and jewelry designers.  We sent off five self-addressed postcards to Kat who distributed them over the course of the next five weeks.  Such a great way to connect with artists from around the world!

The photo above is the shot I decided to send.  It is an Icelandic Poppy taken in Virginia at Monticello last May and the word art is by Ali Edwards.

The first postcard I received was from someone I knew!  I met Cyndy Ireland Bresden at Camp Shutter Sisters last year and will be seeing her again at Oasis this year.  Her postcard was of a lavender flower and had a recipe for Lavender Lemonade on the back.  Bonus! 

You can see more from Cyndy on her blog at studiomphotos.blogspot.com and on Instagram at cyndyib.

Next I received this wonderful postcard from Dawn Pietzsch.  Her blog is called girlunwinding.wordpress.com.  Each Monday she posts a new "Natural Mandala" that she has created. I looked up the word "mandala" and it translates to mean "circle". She creates these circles out of natural things and they are stunning!

You can follow her on Instagram at dawnsrays.

Then I received this one that is my all time favorite flower, the white peony with the fuchsia center, from Michelle Gyauch Dzema.

Isn't that just stunning?  You can see more of Michelle's work at michellegd.com and you can follow her on Instagram at michelle gd.

I did receive two postcards which didn't have any website or blog information on them, unfortunately. But at the end of the swap I received this wonderful postcard from Kat Sloma, the organizer of the swap!

I knew I wanted a way to display all these wonderful cards and did a bit of research and found this display piece at Pier One:

You can see that there is still room to add more photos.  It is available at most Pier One stores and you can also find it online here.  I have it hanging on a narrow wall between two closets in my office and love looking at it every day!  Several of the postcards you see displayed are from other members of Focusing on Life who participated in the swap.

And finally Kat did a blog post and video of all of the art she received and distributed.  It's wonderful and I hope you will take a few minutes to watch it.  You can find it here:

This is was so much fun and ended all too soon.  I really enjoyed opening my mailbox and finding these little pieces of beauty waiting for me.  I will definitely be doing it again next year!