COLLABORATIONS
Random Synergy and "Sunergos"
Ana Maria Seaton participated in this collaboration in 2006. This was one of her first zine projects in several years and the one responsible for fueling her addiction to zines and became the spawning ground for Dragonfly Press. Ria and six other artists, none of which had ever met at the time, got together via an online email list, Random Synergy, put together by Anne Downen of Eccentric Pastiche, as an entry for the Etsy CoProduction Contest. Thirty (30) copies were made, sixteen (16) of which were listed at $20.00 each retail on Etsy. They sold out in less than 24 hours and Ria received a great deal of positive feedback on the covers.
Each cover was hand-rendered, freehand, on handmade paper made by another participant, Crystal Calhoun. She used a black 0.5mm Pentel Energel pen, her weapon of choice, and had gone through two pens by the time it was done actually. Ria had her send an extra piece to play with, just in case; luckily the paper accepted the gel pen very nicely.
As a contributor, Ria had a four page spread with four inclusions, including the very first of the Odonatian sunflower artistamps to be given out. These four pages made an appearance, though slightly modified, in the first issue of the Kraft Paper Muse; Dragonfly Press' signature zine, released in 2007.
All seven participants were also asked to do a piece of artwork for a collaborative mosaic centerfold. Only one quarter of Ria's submission actually made it into the final mosaic, the mosaic pattern itself was a sunburst, but you can view her full submission here.
All seven contributors to the project pitched in a helped with other tasks as well. Ria created the contributor's credit page for the last page of the zine. There are seven little dingbats used to decorate the page in simple fashion and contact information for all seven of the artists who contributed to the project.
Ria's quote for the Etsy CoProduction Contest Entry:
"As a freelancer I often work solo on projects despite having the ability to act as part of a team. Being part of this global collaboration has been a positive and fulfilling experience for me. Meeting six other artists for the first time, all with different skills in very different walks of life, made this collaborative effort challenging and a true test of compromise, flexibility and adaptation. Kudos go to Anne (Downen), as well as the other artists, for coordinating across the world and putting together what I think is a beautifully informative zine...all in basically three weeks. It is my hope that everyone who is able to purchase a copy of Sunergos (Greek for 'working together') learns something new from its pages and enjoys it as much as I have working on it."
