The GRUMBACHER " Winter themed" ATC SWAP

I few months ago I had never heard of an ATC (Artist Trading Card). For those of you that still may not know they are works of art on a very small surface 2.5inches X 3.5inches...it is the actual size of a baseball card, if you are familiar with those. Any medium is accepted oils, acrylics, watercolor, drawing, collage and on and on....The whole premise is to create them and trade them with other artists. I thought it would be fun to play with some. I saw blank ones for sale in one of my art catalogs and decided to create a few.

I then saw that GRUMBACHER\CHARTPAK was having a Winter Themed Swap....having lived in South Dakota USA most of my life I know a thing or two about winter. So I set out to make an entry....and created the above painting...called "A South Dakota Walk"....Acrylic on canvas paper)..I was actually pretty proud of it! it was only the 2nd ATC I had made and being a guy who usually paints on big canvases and uses oil paints...this was a little out of my comfort range at the start! The highlight of this little painting to me is the overall feel of cold and the little animals I stitched into the hat...(I wear one with Deer on it hehehe) I really reminds me of the thousands of times I have been in that exact position just living through a South Dakota winter....In essence, when it was completed it really made me smile.

So part of this swap thing is that after I send my painting to Leeds, MA they take picture of all the entries and post them Swap Photo album at GRUMBACHER We all got to check them out...thinking which one we may get in the mail. They where all very cool and varied in  the subject and style. I liked the way mine looked in with all those talented artists...I was kinda proud of myself.

Some time went by, I was excited! Today I heard a knock at the door...looked outside and saw the UPS man with a little box....I saw that it was from Chartpak...Smiled!...Opened it up and first found a bottle of Higgins brand ink...and the ATC I was waiting for....(notice it is the end of December in South Dakota and we do not have any snow on the ground yet...that is a miracle...really!!! We are usually buried in it by now!!)

 
 This is the one I got today.......The artist is Tia Marie from northern Minnesota....and it is beautiful. Reminds me so much of being a child at winter in this part of the country (Tia is from Minnesota she knows winter up here very well too)(South Dakota and Minnesota are right next to each other).....Here is a close up of her very awesome work:

Please go visit her site at:  http://tiamarieillustration.webs.com/
her facebook is : Tia Marie
Please take a moment to check out her work...it is awesome!!!

I just want to say..I had a great time with the whole Grumbacher Swap...I cant wait till the next one!! I scored a cool mini painting and some Higgins ink....I just hope the artist who got my painting is excited about it and that it makes them smile!!!

If you are an artist or just want to have some fun go over to the Grumbacher facebook page and "like" them...they will be having another swap very soon...if you have any questions please ask 'em they are very cool folks over there......Who knows you just be the next one to get one of my mini paintings?
Anyway, as always Peace and Love to you all.....Happy painting!!!