calypso carnival

Calypso to me evokes bright gaudy colors.  I think about all the carnivals I've gone to, the ones held in a field or a parking lot, with rides, and games to win crazy prizes, and farm animals and farm produce on display... The most magical time is twilight, when the sun starts to set and the lights start to come on and the ferris wheel shines against the sky...

I started the process by using my son's childhood toy - the Paint n Swirl (or is that Whirl?)- 4 inch square cards spun around while dripping paint, resulting in some wildly colored circles and shapes.  When dry I cut them to atc size, added some glitter, punched some star shapes out, and backed the card with holographic florist ribbon to let the stars shine.  I stitched around to hold everything together, and then added a few sparkling "jewels" to be the shining lights.  Happy Carnival Memories!

   

Glad to know you all are enjoying
"Catlypso".  I didn't really see Calypso as a color, so what can I say? I drew some cats.
I have enjoyed everyone's cards that I've received so far.
 

Calypso Me Mon!

  I love when a color  like this comes up and makes us scratch our artistic brain for something to represent it.  It just happens that Benjamin Moore  has a calypso blue in their paint chips. 

AND it was a surprise to me that I had hand dyed cheese cloth and hand dyed cotton thread in just that color. 

After stitching the cheesecloth and scraps of ikat fabric onto some burnt sienna fabric, I machine quilted it in a wave pattern. Then I cut it apart into artist trading card sizes. I used stitches from my favorite book to embellish these. I used some additional hand dyed cotton thread in greens

and some of my favorite stitches.

Calypso--"Homage to Bob Marley"

This month, I went way outside my comfort zone and created ATC's that are not little quilts. It made me nervous, but I was determined to stretch. When I hear the word "calypso", I think of bright yellow sun, vivid blue sky and sea, colorful foliage, fishing, steel drums, Bob Marley, and tall cold drinks with little umbrellas in them. Too much for a small card, but I tried to capture the feeling. I started with a vivid blue background. I added pieces of light Lutrador that I had painted bright yellow. I painted a piece of cheesecloth in a baggie (fun technique)--brightly colored fishing net. I applied that and the Lutrador with ModPodge, then added the text and the wooden bead with yet more ModPodge.

The text is a quote from the late, great Bob Marley.. The whole quote goes like this:

"Life is one big road with lots of signs. So when you riding through the ruts, don't complicate your mind. Flee from hate, mischief and jealousy. Don't bury your thoughts, put your vision to reality. Wake Up and Live!"

Words to live--and create art--by, don't you think?

Calypso

The May 2013 Arts in the Cards color prompt was "calypso" and brought up many images of  Trinidad, dancing, ocean, blue skies, beaches, palm trees, etc. It also reminded me of the wonderful music of Harry Belafonte, though he was so much more than just calypso. I wanted to capture color and movement that I associate with calypso.

I have used painted and torn tissue papers in bright colors, sheer nylon patches and machine stitching on a water color paper substrate. Lots of fun.