Mary Chenoweth was the inspiration for this class. While reading a book about her I discovered she sent hand-made postcards to her friends, hundreds of them. They became special keepsakes for those lucky enough to receive one and it got me thinking about putting a class together for students to make postcards. Using ephemera from travels, inkjet copies of photographs (black and white), stamps, maps, colorful papers, ticket stubs, museum tickets, or found papers, students could create one-of-a-kind postcards. To keep, or to send, to put on an inspiration board, or in an art journal, the possibilities for postcard size art is endless, easy, and very accessible.
Purchased in the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center bookstore, this is the book that started me thinking about making postcard art.
Mary was one of a small group of women in our entire country to receive an MFA degree (1953). She came to Colorado College in 1957 to teach print making and retired in 1983. Henri Matisse and Picasso were a couple of her artistic influences.
The beautiful wooden doors into The Bemis School of Art were carved by Mary. They are an iconic symbol of her love for children, art, and creative expression.
Postcards I created for this class. The Tree of Life inspired by Henri Matisse, a southwest postcard featuring a photograph of pottery and a geological map, the Sand Dunes drawn with a white gel pen on black paper, and Italian art combined with papers I made. The Tree of Life started with a black and white copy of a photo I took while at The Vatican where I saw the original piece. Using colored pencils, I added color to the inkjet copy.
A postcard created by a student in class of Notre Dame. Using a piece of typed Italian paper, a photograph and ephemera for color this postcard celebrates an icon. Paris, a city I have visited and am on my way back to…one day.
Take a look at the myriad of postcards created by students during the spring session of Inspired Postcards.
Using found papers, interesting ephemera, washi tape, and embellishments, this student layered it all together and created a lovely postcard.
A very unique photograph was the starting point for this postcard, and by adding just a touch leaves and papers, the photo remains the start of the show!
A bit of 3 -D happening here with the plant leaves bending out from the postcard.
Using papers embellished with colored pencils, layered together and accented by a piece of Washi tape at the top, this postcard celebrates the sea.
The perfect postcard created in April, to honor poetry month!
Found poetry mixed with painted papers and a touch of white gel pen tells a story.
Flowers combined with a French postcard, a stamp, set on a paper made with National Geographic papers altered with CitraSolv.
More flowers, and birds, lots of wonderful birds. Look closely to see the transparent leaf embellishments!
A clever use of an airport map from Dubai, and colorful shells, blossoms, and crabs.
Layered papers using a security envelope, National Geo paper, and printed tissue paper. Our class was held on Earth Day and this postcard celebrates spring and reminds me of my Dad’s favorite saying…”when you are green you are growing.”
These created postcards showcase a lot of creativity, and interesting ways to use ephemera, found papers, poetry, photographs, and painted papers. For the substrate I provided file folders cut into postcard size, it is the perfect starting point. I hope you try this idea and use your ephemera from travelling, and all the stash you have been saving. There is not time like NOW to use it for creating postcards. Thank you, Mary Chenoweth, for being the inspiration for my class…Inspired Postcards.
