Artist Trading Cards 'The Orient'

Monthly I attend two ATC swap groups and was pleased when the second group got a topic similar to one the first group had about three months ago. The Orient would allow me to use up some collage items I had collected for Asian Inspired. Such good luck! Glad I didn’t blithely throw away my unused pieces. (Confession: I have before.) 

This time, though, I did make different approaches to the cards although I used Japanese, Chinese, and south-east Asian images. Plus, a couple of weeks ago I collected papers from chop sticks at a Chinese restaurant where we ate.
Most important, I recalled a technique my sisters learned from a Japanese neighbor when we were children, a simple way to make bamboo images. I got out some inks and began trying with varying results and success. I was pleased to dig back into my memory for something I had not done for decades, around six or more decades

Lotus ATCs by Phillip Hoyle 2016

As usual the trade was fun, the other artists there engaging, the sense of community satisfying. What more good side effects can one wish from a simple activity of making and trading tiny pieces of art. (The cards are 2.5 x 3.5 inches.) Hope you are having fun too!

Denver, 2016