Earlier this week, when I was in Prescott, I taught a group of college students how to make art postcards. These were not art students. What I loved about the class was the spirit of adventure, the interest in trying out new ideas.
I brought a lot of inks, loaded into spray bottles. The instructions were simple: spray ink on the postcard, find an emotional map in the spray, and create the map. For the second card , there were books and magazines piled on the table for found poetry.
Here is a random sampling of cards. It’s amazing what happens when the door to the imagination opens up–even for just half a day.
Topographical map as art postcard
Saturated colors on a hot map.
I love the "Strem of consciousness" on the right.
Poem: “But I don’t want to arrest the laughter and music cracking open the heart of my impulse. Things go wrong, killed by a sensitive something. I was inadequate, loving you.”
Who can miss "Here" compared to "There"?
Poem: “There was no formal announcement made. Pierre here will tell you/ to stand quite silent and listen. Each visitor moved away, cramped and useless and burdened.”
Amen.
–-Quinn McDonald teaches raw art journaling–the work that makes meaning. The work that often never gets farther than the heart, but the work that creates a full and rich life.
Wow… I LOVE your words. I think they way you combine lines is really profound and thanks for the heads up on Tattered Angels. Glad the inks have improved. 🙂
Thanks for the compliment, but these cards aren’t mine. They are college students’ from a class I taught. I’m thrilled about Tattered Angels, too.
I love the last one – it breaks my heart open.
Wow! What a wonderful, playful and creative time this must have been for everyone. There’s so much to love about these.
Um. Wow. That’s all I can say.
My thoughts exactly.
What ink did you use Quinn that allowed it not to clog the spray bottle?
Two inks that won’t clog are Ranger re-inkers for stamp pads and Higgins transparent inks. I also used Koh-i-noor technical drawing ink mixed with distilled water. My biggest pleasant surprise was the Tattered Angels iridescent spray inks. The first batch was known to clog but these were perfect. Stood up to heavy use, dried out between classes, and worked fine again.