I had a conversation with my son recently when I showed him the back of the “Alphabet” ATCs I’d made. He thought I’d made the wrong choice in using “Trogdor” and told me, “Mom, those ladies aren’t going to get it. They won’t know who Trogdor is.”

He’s right. I don’t think any of them will know who Trogdor is but that doesn’t matter to me. I didn’t make the cards for them, I made them for me. All of my art is that way. It’s what comes from inside me. I put it out there to share with others but it is always more about me giving than it is about them taking. Feedback and acceptance is nice and all that but it isn’t what drives me. I don’t need compliments to feel good about what I’ve done. It’s my art and if I enjoyed making it or like the finished project then I feel like it was a job well done.

There is a freedom in feeling this way. It’s like opening the doors and windows and letting the muses come dancing in. No rules, no pressure, just pure enjoyment. I feel like a five year old with a jar of finger paint and a big stack of papers.

For those of you wondering about Trogdor… On the website http://www.homestarrunner.com there are cartoons featuring a character named Strong bad. In one of these cartoons he draws another cartoon character named Trogdor the Burniator. The humor here isn’t for everyone but I enjoy it. How does this relate to my Alphabet ATCS? Well, Strong bad tells us that the way to draw Trogdor is with a “S” and a “more different S” and a bunch of “consummate Vs”. It’s a cool use of the alphabet.

Go smear some color on a paper and have fun.