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Personal magic – the art of Alison Ann Martin

By Le Vin Chin

Last Friday saw the release of the Ciba^® XYMARA™ animated holiday greeting cards, which you can download, personalize and send by e-mail or MMS to all your friends and family. We are proud that our cards were created by frequent XYMARA.com contributor Alison Ann Martin, who has been designing her own unique and evocative holiday greeting cards for many years. We talked to her about the origins of her style and what the cards mean to her.

© Alison Ann Martin

How did it all start?

I’ve drawn ever since I could a hold a pen. My mother was good at drawing and my father was a photographer, so I guess a liking for creating visual images came from both parents. The intricate and detailed style I have adopted could be the result of extreme short sight! Being close to the drawing surface magnifies even the tiniest space into an expanse.

How did your style develop?

I studied Art at school, specializing in book design, and experimenting with various different media. One great source of inspiration is Aubrey Beardsley, with his highly decorative black and white designs. Black and white is currently fashionable, but it’s always been a fascination for me: it attracts the eye and lends itself well to an ornamental style rich in contrast. … And so, although I also produce colored cards, black and white became a tradition. The flowing lines and romantic elements of Edmond Dulac and Arthur Rackham are further sources of inspiration.  

Tell us about your first cards

In all, I have now produced around 35 holiday cards, the first of which featured a stained glass window, and started the black and white tradition.  

What process do you go through to create one of these cards?

The design is the result of collaboration between my husband and me. We always discuss the theme beforehand and produce a lot of sketches. We then select one of our ideas and I make a more detailed drawing. I use high-quality card for the final artwork, which is painted with water-soluble black and white paint. The original is usually at least twice the size of the printed card.

The first card I simply photocopied, but nowadays we have the cards printed digitally from high-resolution scans. The printer faces the challenge of achieving the essential high contrast between the black and white elements.

Almost since the beginning there’s been some red accent in each card, to liven it up and because red is a festive color. We sit around a table drinking Glühwein – not so much that we become cross-eyed or our hands start shaking – and put in the red spots by hand.

Your cards all seem to tell a story …

All our recent cards do indeed tell a story: there’s usually a picture on the outside and a second picture on the inside which continues the story. There is frequently a hint of magic somewhere in the theme. Although the pictures often reflect something that happened or a thought that occurred to us, the story is open to interpretation by the recipient of the card. This is just as important to us as what we put into our designs and it’s always interesting to hear people’s reactions and ideas.

© Alison Ann Martin

Did this card have a personal element?

This is a true story, which happened to a friend of ours! He worked at a prestigious hotel in London, where one evening during the festive season he watched as the chef entered the dining room carrying an enormous Christmas pudding, poured brandy onto it and lit it. Somehow this created a volcano, which exploded! What amazed our friend was the attitude of the restaurant patrons, who all reacted with humor rather than anger when the bits of pudding flew in every direction, landing all over people’s costly evening attire. Tragically, this friend has passed away. We created the card in his memory.