Liberate Your Art 2017

I'm not sure what made me decide to join in with Liberate Your Art for the first time last year.  One of those spur of the moment things I guess, because there is no way on earth that I consider myself an 'artist'.  I have trouble drawing a straight line with a ruler, so there is no paint related artist blood running through my veins!  So when I read through the sign up post I realised that art takes many forms, not just the initial idea of paint on canvas.  I've always been keen to create - whether it be by sewing, knitting or sticking bits of paper onto other bits of paper and creating scrapbook pages - so as a 'newbie' to LYA I photographed things that I had made as examples of my 'art'.

When the LYA mail started arriving last year I discovered that out of the postcards I received, some of my favourites were photographs and I realised that you don't actually have to physically make something for it to be art, that you can make art through the lens of a camera.  I filed that idea away for the coming year's project!

Enough of my history with LYA - let me share some very special mail that has arrived on my door mat within the last couple of weeks.

Aren't they fabulous?



From street life observations, finding art in a close up view of a vintage object, collage, and original art. 

And along the way I've discovered new blogs to check out and new Instagram accounts to follow.  None of which would have happened if I hadn't been brave enough to put my insecurities aside and sign up and join in.  My postcards came from many different states in America and one from Europe.  Yes, one postcard had a very long round trip from Slovenia to America and then America to England!  Now I'm thinking, we need to advertise this more in countries this side of the Atlantic - so please consider joining in next year.  It's always good to receive Happy Mail, be inspired by others and forge new acquaintanceships.

For my postcards this year I didn't photograph 'things' that I had made, but when I was on holiday last year I kept an eye out for things that I thought may be suitable for making into a postcard.   Inspiration came in many ways!  While on holiday in Portugal I found some very clever street art painted onto old crumbling cement walls.  Then while laying on a sunlounger and staring up at the sky I noticed how striking the opening petals of a lily growing on the patio looked against the blue, and on an early morning walk, the blossom on the tree looked pretty with the sun gently shining through the branches.  A trip to the English coastline gave me inspiration for my final card.  I love beach huts, and we are lucky to live in an area which is well known for its colourful huts along the sea front.  These were taken while walking between Frinton on Sea and Walton on the Naze on the Essex coast.  So these were the five postcards that I sent out.

 Please do visit Kat's blog to see the kind of mail which has been travelling between the participants of this year's project. Click here for more information.  Ready for some facts and figures? 

876 pieces of art were sent around the world
146 people took part, and those people came from ...
12 different countries

But even better than that, join in next year!  It really is a great project and Kat makes it so easy to participate in even if you live outside of the US. I promise to let you know when the sign up starts for 2018, so start thinking about what you can make into a postcard now!