The second one was stamped onto some watercolor paper and painted with my watercolor paints. I will say that I absolutely love using the paints with the stamp.

Playing with these and using supplies I already have for doing my art has me thinking about the line between craft and art. I have always maintained that drawing and painting itself was a craft even if the end result is often called art. To me it was that spark of creativity that made it art.

With these two examples I used stamps that were based on my designs. I am not sure that this stamping thing is any different from block printing. Picasso himself hired someone to make his printing plates from his designs. Picasso also was known to incorporate other people’s creations to create something new. There were his collages using wall paper and newspaper, and his sculptures that he formed around pottery made by someone else.

Since I started designing stamps for QKD I have been looking around at the things these stampers are creating. These people are creating some amazing works of art from stamps. Martha Howell first introduced me to the concept of stamps as a tool in creating art, and she does some beautiful work with them. But seeing a wider range of works that are being done just blows me away.

I think seeing what people could do with my own designs was the biggest eye opener. Several different designers took the same Thanksgiving Dragons stamp and with the different color schemes and compositions and types of settings they used each design had a completely different feel to them.

This is definitely an art form that I want to explore more of. I have said it before and I will say it again – my muse is really a magpie. And the latest shiny is stamping.

And what better example of blurring the lines than this for this week’s illustration friday theme.

Want this card? Post in my blog or send me an email and I will put your name in the hat for a drawing.