For those of you who are unaware, there is a TON of mail that flows through the KAPD studio on a regular basis. Something about opening up my mailbox to find letters inside just for me {that aren’t bills} makes me jump up and down with girlish glee! I came across Kat Sloma’s Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap in 2013 and thought “What a scathingly brilliant idea!”. The premise for the swap is to get your art out into the world, making connections as you go along. All too often folks are too busy to get their art printed {aka yours truly for 2013 & 2014} and this swap provides you with the incentive to set your art free {whether it’s painting, collaging, photography etc} all over the world! While I discovered the swap several years ago, this was my first year to participate and it was truly a fascinating experience!
As I am a travel photographer, and those images tend to get printed last, I chose my favorite five images from my world adventures to put on postcards. You can see these images below. On the back I wrote a simple message and the quote
Never forget the beauty of your imagination! Seriously… Shine on.
I had my cards printed from Moo.com and I cannot praise them enough for their glorious products! Their luxe papers are so luxurious they make a girl swoon!
The process for the swap was so easy thanks to Kat’s super clear instructions. You sent in five post cards with separate return address labels and stamps, and in return you received five post cards {plus one from Kat herself!} from artists all over the globe! I was super psyched when the cards started coming in! Kat sends them in batches so they don’t all arrive at once, with her post card being the last one delivered. It was so much fun to see what kind of art I would receive and where it would come from! Most of the participants gave their email address or another form of contact info so you could touch base once their cards arrived.
Here are the cards I received this year! I really was super excited about every one. It’s amazing to see art through another persons eye. I will definitely be participating in this event next year! Artist listed from left to right, top to bottom: 1) A Cow in a Field at Sunset – Diane McWhirter – Canberra Austrailia 2) Mediterranean Sea, Corsica, France – Cindy Chilton – Phoneix, Arizona 3) Quiet Noise of Mother Nature – Vicki hula-la – New York 4) Untitled – Kristen Playford – Portland, Oregon 5) Imminent Downfall – Kat Sloma – Portland, Oregon 6) Lavender – Terry Owenby – Portland, Oregon
A huge thanks to Kat for all of her hard work and dedication in making this event a reality. She puts so many hours of pure elbow grease into making sure all of the post cards get swapped accordingly. She’s like my own personal mail fairy… that makes it rain postcards.
I am so looking forward to next year’s swap! Be on the lookout around January 2016!
