Library Card Project: Sandra Muzzy

Our Library Card Project continues with watercolor artist and teacher Sandra Muzzy, who strives to create a sense of community with her 50 or so students "because painting can be a very solitary endeavor." An award-winning artist, Muzzy is also past president of the Minnesota Watercolor Society. Here's how she gathered up a passel of painters to help her make use of her library cards:

What do you make?
I am a watercolor artist and teacher, and in that role I encourage and motivate my students to create paintings that are personally meaningful for themselves. I enjoy painting nature up close and personal. Some of that does rub off on my students, but I encourage them to develop their own voice.

Why did you want to participate in the Library Card Project?
I love a challenge! Those small scraps of paper covered with writing just spoke to me! This is so different from a traditional watercolor approach where you start with a clean piece of good, white, watercolor paper. These cards were completely "wrong" for watercolor but we made them work. My motto is "Never let the paper win!"

How did you use your library cards?
I had an open house at my studio for two consecutive days. I invited all my students as well as a few brave artists friends. I made a giant pot of chili and bought a box of cheap red wine, and after two days and 35 participants we had painted (with watercolor) more than 450 cards. I gave participants free reign to paint whatever they felt like. Some painted images were inspired by book titles. Many were completely random. No two are alike. Some are highly detailed and some took a mere few minutes to paint. I had bought a queen size sheet to display them on. We had to cull about 25 cards to make them all fit. Once the cards were sorted into similar colors we had a gluing party where five of us hot glued them onto the sheet. Once they were all placed together, they became an exciting unit of changing colors. It is really quite a breathtaking sight: 425 tags filling a space of 90 x 102 inches.

Where did you get your inspiration?
I had coordinated a similar project once before where we used manilla packaging tags to paint on, but that was on a much smaller scale than this project. The sheer bulk of library cards at my disposal made me think big.

What is your favorite/most read art or craft book?
The Creative License by Danny Gregory. It is not a how-to book at all. It is a book that inspires creativity in all spheres but especially if you like to draw, paint and journal. For "eye candy appeal," I would go with 500 Handmade Books published by Lark Books.

View more Library Card Project entries. Five Questions is a brief Q&A about books and craft, with people who love and use the American Craft Council Library.