On Inspiration, Cross-Pollination, and a Birdhouse

I’m an artist (part-time, with a day job) now, but in a previous life I was a librarian - and I still spend any time left over from my job and my artwork reading books books books. So back in March, when I saw a posting on Facebook for the Little Free Library , my first thought - oh, cool -- scattered personal small libraries where you can just pick up a book, leave one off .. My second thought was, well - how about a little free art gallery? I do sell my original artwork and crafts, but I also give a lot of it away, and I loved the idea of freely sharing small pieces with people who would give my art a good home.  A natural fit would be artist trading cards, which are miniature works of art, only 2 ½ X 3 ½ inches (63 mm X 89 mm) and are traded or exchanged, but not meant to be sold. This is an artist trading card I made using lutradur on which I printed a double exposure photograph that I took of myself some years ago.

My goals are to inspire: inspire others to enjoy, appreciate and value art, to make their own original art, to share art pieces freely, to collaborate on art projects with friends and neighbors, to foster community … and much more!

I’m a photo-based artist. I use my original nature photographs as a leaping-off point for my images and designs. So for my first Little Free Art Gallery, I am decorating a small plain birdhouse that I will fill with some of my artwork (bird-related, perhaps?), and hang it from a tree in front of our house. Stay tuned for photos of my progress and the Gallery when it’s in place!