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Inspiration Deck Swap
By: Christine Cox
Originator of the Deck: Lloydene Cook
Host Deck Group 1: Pat Taff
Host Deck Group 2: Terri Bolliger
February 2000

View the Cards | "Reverse Collage" Technique | Helpful Hints for I-Deck Artists

Background

"I really miss my day-to-day involvement with the 'Deck' and all of the wonderful artists who have been so loyal to it.  They are what has made it the success that it is." -- Lloydene Cook

This is the story of a small swap that has been propelled by its success. Lloydene Cook decided in September of 1999 that, following on the heels of her successful Creativity Deck swap, she'd like to host a new one based on Inspiration. The Creativity Deck involved making original collages for each player and therefore was a lot of work for each artist. Lloydene decided to make the new deck cards only 2-1/2" by 3-1/2" and each artist would only send in colored copies, rather than originals. One of the most accommodating things about the deck is that artists can participate, or not, in a given month without losing their place in the swap. This makes for a higher level of art because people only participate when they create something they feel is worthy of the deck.

Artists use the Inspiration Deck project for inspiration, for experimentation and just to "do" art when their lives overwhelm them.

Each participant can send in up to 21 cards a month and receives back one fewer than they send. The original list of players was to be only 8 or so but once the word got out people clamored to participate. The first month involved roughly 35 artists and the list increased each month until there were 50 players. That's 50 players times 20 cards every month (1,000). Due to Lloydene's sweet nature and inability to turn down a player, there were months when she swapped out 1,200 cards.

As talk about the swap spread Lloydene finally had to admit that she was spending more time keeping the swap organized than doing art. She made the painful decisions to; 1) split the group into 2, and 2) to host neither. Recently-joined artists and those who were on the waiting list were put into Group 2 under the care of Terri Bolliger. Group 1 was given to Pat Taff. Between the 2 groups there are now over 100 players every month. 

Lloydene stressed quality from the very first month and Terri and Pat have worked hard to maintain that trait. Take a tour of a selection of cards. I think you'll agree that all 3 hosts and each of the artists have done an excellent job of maintaining the quality of the art.

Pat Taff
Pat Taff is the host of Group 1. As a friend of Lloydene's she couldn't resist the call for help when Lloydene decided to relinquish her hosting responsibilities. Pat had never previously hosted a swap before so was quite surprised by the amount of work involved. She figured out right away that organization is the key to a successful swap. So far her efforts have paid off with no major catastrophes. Pat writes that, "It is amazing to see 50 (or almost - we had 43 entries last month) sets of cards spread out on the table at one time. I decided that I had to do the whole thing in one sitting, or I'd get hopelessly confused and wind up tearing my hair out."

Terri Bolliger
The hostess for Group 2 is Terri Bolliger. Like most artists Terri got involved with the project by just wanting to be a part of it. She was on the waiting list for Group 1 and learned that Lloydene was splitting the group into 2. As Terri had hosted several successful swaps she happily volunteered to host the spin-off group. Like any good host she was organized and learned everything possible before the first swap so that the players would experience a smooth transition. Terri says that her first month of hosting went very smoothly and she has no doubt that future months will also be successful.

Conclusion
Jo Reimer submitted a complete set of originals recently that excited the other artists. It is a technique called "reverse collage" and Jo was good enough to send directions for the technique.

I took a survey of the artists who exchange art in the deck. I wanted to know if people printed their own cards, used found or stamped images, etc. The results of the survey and the artists' comments are here.