Early on during the pandemic Kate and I went for a walk, 6 feet apart of course. She told me that her Bill sends a postcard to the neighbor kid almost every day. What a wonderful and memorable thing to do! Then she suggested we send each other a postcard as an encouragement to do our art in a tiny way. So we did.
This top postcard was my experiment with the new Wet Paint/Daniel Smith watercolor set chosen by Steve Mitchell (I don't know who he is). Limited edition and sold out in a DAY! I was on a Tara Sweeney watercolor webinar on Friday morning and she mentioned the release of this set 1pm later in the day. I think I have enough watercolors already but I wanted an excuse to get something I didn't need at Wet Paint.
I have become a bit brain-fogged and easily distractible and the postcard size is good for me. Postcards are cheap paper and I don't obsess about ruining an $8 piece of paper. I also discovered it is a really good way to re-layer and re-work previous drawings/paintings/printings or experiment with media. And then Send Them Away!!! No saving!!!
Best postcard paper -- Strathmore postcards. The Hahnemuhle postcards are too lightweight. Maybe if you only used ink. . . (hmmm, maybe I should get a typewriter and type my bad haiku's on the front sides?)
Besides Kate, I send a postcard once in a while to the department head. Turns out I had her wrong address and after I fixed that, I sent a postcard to the nice woman at the wrong address who would hand deliver my postcards to department head. I send them to my friends who I know are stuck in their houses. I send them anonymously (most of the time) but somehow people know who sent them.
They are weird. Often times my writing is so bad I can't tell what I wrote but text is just another form of mark making (I tell myself). Some of them I will miss.
I will keep adding images of the postcards I send to this page for my memory. The early postcards I made I didn't photo.
KNR got swirls/currents. My experiment with the resist pen and layers of paint. If I was a lyrical writer I could have written in the lines.
Kate got mortar. I was making "Curry in a Hurry" one night and sent the recipe on the back side in my illegible handwriting, with my Dragon Star mortar on the front side.
Department Head boss lady got the plant. Seemed appropriate. I liked this one. Probably some gibberish on the other side.
This mish-mash went to my art teacher friend who made me appreciate all my mistakes, layering, and layering, and more layering. She also taught me to appreciate ephemeral painting, painting that isn't permanent, like using walnut inks and gouaches. About 15 layers here. Was a piece of crap to start with and then I loved it at the end.
The flower (yes, the yellow a part of a cross-section of a chrysanthemum flower) went to Kate (but she hasn't gotten it a week after I sent it). The words on the back matched what was happening on the front in a pandemic way.
The Superstion Mountains watercolor went to boss lady's neighbor who kept getting the mis-addressed postcards. I sent her one of her own and not such a crazy one.
Pine cone went to Shannon. Totally ephemeral. Even the text on the other side. So if pandemic turns to apocolypse, she can wash it all off and re-use it send another postcard.
Study of tree bark in multi media to my friend Pat. This is one I'll miss having around but why do I want to keep all this shit? Everyone likes a postcard, right? And the postcards will eventually get there I think. They shouldn't take so long but I think they are stuck at the bottom of the postal box and sometime they'll be found and make their way to their next home to surprise someone.
A monoprint with ink, watercolor and gouache. I thought it was awful at first but grew to love it. Looks better upside down (not this view). Sent it to Shannon because she would appreciate the challenge I had. It started out as a Solomon's Seal but sort of lost it's way in the monoprinting. Fun anyway!
For Susan.
Peggy got this one. She and Susan have been kayaking. I painted this last summer when we were on our summer vacation together.
For Anne B. A thank you postcard for sending me a face mask for my birthday. It's a chair from the Gilbert family dining set.
For my dear beloved former student Kaylie. She's living in Illinois and having a good job I think.
Send this to Kate. One of my weird experiments.
One to go out. Watercolor and crayons
Someone got this, I don't know who. Too crazy of a week for me to think straight (May 27, 2020)
Kate got this. A favorite. Monotype and crayon. Reminds me of a dark forest of birch trees.
Emily got this one. The last of my cheery postcards. It looks much better in real life than it does here. Sent 6/11/2020.
.Marie
I sent this postcard to Susan January 2021. I didn't like this for the longest time and one day looked at it and it made me think of a sunset in the desert mountains.
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