You have seen some artist trading cards I made that incorporated my new handwriting.
And you’ve seen some postcards.
I f you wonder what I am talking about regarding “new handwriting”, look here.
Anyway, here are some more postcards. I painted the background in acrylics and then I wrote on them. The handwriting is not meant to mean anything – it’s just collections of words and phrases I heard as I watched TV.
A whole lot going on here. I took the photo of the little house – I’ve used it in various ways in some other works. I have some kind of attachment to this house, for no reason I can figure out. I just like the look of it.
I glued the photo to a painted recycled cardboard postcard. I used my Neocolor I crayons here and there, and I stuck on some color-coordinated paint card samples for good measure.
Now it reminded me of one of those design boards I’ve seen on TV or, going back some, what the space planners showed us every time our office changed locations and we needed new…everything.
Anyway, here it is.
I made backgrounds on recycled cardboard postcards and then I added cut-out figures. An anonymous background is like a stage set, and I find the actors to play the roles in my production.
A nice little thought, isn’t it, that of a tiny stage with a story playing out on it?
You may remember my post on paintings I did for a friend – the subject being his family home.
These two postcards were done as little studies for that project; I mailed them to my friend before he saw the final paintings, in fact before I even did the paintings.
I like the technique I used here. I cut cast-off cardboard (the kind from cereal boxes, etc.) to postcard size; gessoed on the shiny side; painted colors using acrylics; drew the images in pen, using waterproof ink (not dip pens, just the usual drawing pens – I have a whole collection).
I like how they came out. As I said, I sent them through the mail and they got there in good shape. So this method is sturdy and the post office took care of them, too!
I took some sketches I’d made, here or there, and used them in making these mixed media postcards earlier this year.
Do you ever just do something and you don’t know why at the time, nor do you know why, even when you think about it later? And does it ever come to make any sense?
Very big questions. These little postcards are carrying that burden right now. Let me share that load and explain.
I was using a dip pen to do some drawings. Different sessions. In each one, I needed to get the pen going. I used these cards to scrawl out whatever words occurred to me.
The pen was warmed up and so I started drawing, these cards put to the side. I realized I had three of them, eventually, and to me, three is the number of something that makes it a presence. And then there was another one, making four. Definitely a trend.
So I kept them and now here they are. Make of them what you will! I will tell you it is very therapeutic to write and not worry about making sense.
The postcards were done on recycled cardboard with various items collaged on. Each one has a story to it, I think, even if the biggest player is a building.
I see I titled this first postcard – “man walking away from a broken home”.
This postcard portrays what could be a lonely house on an empty landscape. I say lonely, but – I like solitude myself and I can understand that maybe the inhabitants of this home are just glad to be left alone, and get a good night’s rest.
