Chicken

Karen Isaacson at Mail Me Some Art has a warm and encouraging blog which nurtures the creativity of people who like to paint, snip, glue, stamp, and sew on paper. She coordinates fun, themed postcard swaps, and as sweet as she is on her blog, I was nervous about sending in something.  Are my cards too messy? What if the recipients do not like them? Are they any good?

I do know that the cards were fun to make; I joined the black and white card swap.  The card backgrounds were printed with a (new) microfiber dishcloth, and then I swished on arcs of paint which were inspired by the striking wingspans of migrating geese.  The collaged feathers came from black and white photos of a wyandotte chicken, which is pictured in color on the bottom left, that we saw at a 4-H fair; these chickens are absolutely stunning.  The textured surfaces were made with clear dimensional paint and topped off with a spritz of acrylic to prevent any stickiness.

After clinging to the cards for weeks, I finally sent them off.  I emailed Karen because I hesitated so long that I was late.  She was very kind, telling me to "throw that nervousness out the window."  My kids ultimately provided the much needed affirmation.  Do these look okay?  Should I send them in?  Yes, they answered.  They are clear and honest with their opinions (sometimes too much so) and they know what they like.  Both kids also see themselves as artists.  What happens between childhood and adulthood that we lose that confidence in our creativity?  Or maybe that is just my take on it.  In any case, the cards were incredibly fun and relaxing to make, and I think I might even be up for another swap...maybe (I was going to say something about chickens but nope, not this time).