A patchwork of history, memory and hope

[“Spring” by Avis Collins Robinson, 2023. (Photographed by Steve Parke for The Washington Post)]

Abstraction in visual art is a combination of different elements, including color, line, form, and perspective. It is also rooted in an artist’s personal experiences.

For Avis Collins Robinson, a Black woman artist, her experiences as a Black woman in America are a precious source of inspiration. Her art reflects the lives and struggles of her ancestors, who refused to be defeated despite the challenges they faced. In her art, Robinson incorporates history and memory in subtle and explicit ways.

She reflects on the intersection of her identity as a Black woman and her art in an article for the Washington Post.

She discusses how her lived experience shapes her visual art, including her quilt called “Spring” which depicts the reawakening of nature during the season, but also acknowledges the pain and injustice that springtime has brought to Black communities in Washington D.C. throughout history.

Robinson explains how her technique for this piece required her to plan in more detail than usual while maintaining a sense of spontaneity, and how she incorporates found fabrics with personal meaning in her work, connecting her family’s history to her artistic practice.

She also introduces “Seasons,” a project for The Washington Post which will continue through the year, exploring new directions in her art while honoring the traditions of African American fabric art.

The article is a beautiful reflection on the power of art to represent personal experiences and histories while also creating something new and beautiful.

Read her piece in The Washington Post here.

Charlene’s wonderful card has two fabulous Summery drinks that used techniques that give the glasses a realistic look. She die cut them from colored cardstocks and then added darker inking along the edges for dimension, used white gel pen for shine and the tall glass even has some semi-transparent vellum that looks like glass. Learn more at the Pretty Pink Posh blog.

There’s nothing quite like a cold drink on a very hot Summer day so why not capture that delicious feeling in your handmade cards by including them in your designs. Summertime birthdays, weddings and anniversaries can be toasted with Tropical drink cards filled with yummy fruit and accented with exotic florals or serve up a nice cold glass of ice tea or lemonade. Let’s check out some fun and tasty Summer Drink Card ideas to get you inspired.

Catherine’s darling design has a tropical scene on the beach with stamped mice setting up a lemonade stand. She die cut and added color to the palm trees as well as adding a die cut frame around the card in colorful plaid with colors she included on her stamped images. Find more details at the Lawn Fawn blog.

Chris’s fabulous shaped card has a large die cut pineapple base with a straw, fruit and even a tiny umbrella at the top. She added glitter to the ice and fruit for shimmer and included a large hot pink layered sentiment, sun glasses and some small die cut flowers too. I came across her idea in the The Stamps of Life gallery.

I love the bold yellow and soft blue color combination on Channin’s delicious card! She created a wonderful textured frame by running yellow cardstock through an embossing plate and rubbing gold paste in the raised areas. The stamps were colored with alcohol markers and there’s a heat embossed sentiment too. Visit the Hero Arts blog for more details.

Here’s another tropical pineapple drink, this time created with images die cut from white watercolor paper and water colored in soft tones with Glossy Accents added for a juicy look a a long with a large stamped sentiment. Watch a quick coloring video on the Papertrey Ink Instagram page from @klynneart.

Bobbi’s yummy BBQ card has a big juicy Hamburger and two frosty bottles of ice cold beer, all die cut, with inking added for dimension. It’s sitting on a pattern paper printed scene of a plaid table cloth, grass and backyard fence with a stamped sentiment. Take a closer look at the Honey Bee Stamps blog.

Julissa’s adorable Summer card has an ocean and beach background made from pattern paper and a stencil with the darling stamped duck in his floaty with a cool drink. Her sentiment is surrounded by fun beachy accents with starfish embellishments and cute metal sunglasses on the duck. She breaks it all down at the Unity Stamps blog.

This terrific Thank You card has a beautiful background created with inking and layering stencils, the citrus fruits are the star but there’s a fruity drink in there too. I like the cut angle and all the stamped green leaves around the circle sentiment! Take a closer peek at the Altenew blog.

Wow, Charlene’s tropical drink is a large shaker on a fabulous card design! There’s a leafy stenciled background and gold paper with a slim pink border behind the drink. The glass is die cut from white cardstock with an ink blended inside and filled with fun beads. You can watch her video tutorial over at the Dream Craft Create blog.

Hanh included a cute stamped Panda colored in shades of grey and black on this sweet lemonade card. There’s a blue plaid table cloth, a large die cut lemon and the Mason Jar glass die cut from white cardstock with a striped straw that ties in more blue. She inked her dies to add realistic dimension and included a pop of pink with the tiny umbrella. Learn more at the Sunny Studio blog.

Mirisha’s pretty set of drink cards have custom backgrounds that she stamped using grey ink and a stamping platform. She stamped the drinks in black using colored ink pads and solid coordinating stamps to add the coloring, along with stamped sentiments and a touch of gold paper on each card. Watch her video tutorial at the Scrapbook and Cards Today blog.

Toni’s funny card has a bold red white and blue numbers stencils for a background with a smaller layer of vellum over top. The stamped sunbather with a drink was colored with Copic Markers in blue and red too, she also added the stamped sentiment on a panel of white. Take a closer peek at the Cracker Box Stamps blog.

I hope you find time to relax and enjoy a cold drink on one of these hot Summer days!

-Heather

Many of these cards used inking and ink blending with Distress Inks from Ranger Ink.

You can find Lawn Fawn products here on Amazon and over at A Cherry On Top.

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