100 Postcards from Greece

Towards the end of the summer I finally managed to pick up where I had left off with the lovely and highly addictive “100 postcards from Greece” project. If you’re not familiar with my current obsession, this self-created and self-motivated project involves making an original artwork on a pre-sent vintage postcard, using the existing handwriting and stamps on the card as the first layer of the painting. Additional layers include scraps of Greek text and calendar numbers, followed by drawings, transfer prints, acrylic paint, wax and ink. The final painting is sealed liberally with a clear protective varnish before being popped into a nice white mount.

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Having somehow stalled in the summer, I resumed at painting number 85, so it won’t be very long now before I reach 100 and the official end of the project. The completed postcard-paintings are posted almost daily on Facebook and Instagram as they are created. Follow me there to see the latest originals fresh from the studio, together with work-in-progress photos and the occasional video. It’s doubtful that I will be able to stop at 100 postcards though (!) as I love the process so much and still have quite a few beautiful vintage cards waiting to be re-purposed as paintings.

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These lovely old postcards are sourced through online collectors – I seek out cards sent from the Mediterranean and particularly from Greece. It’s great to receive a pile of them through the mail and to read the original messages to loved ones back home. Most of them are from the era when I first visited Greece – the 70’s and early 80’s and many were sent from resorts and islands that I worked in way back then. It’s possible that I even knew some of the people who wrote these cards! Yesterday, I even stumbled upon a postcard of The Oceanis Hotel in Paleokastrttsa, Corfu. This was my base for a few months whilst woking as a holiday rep on the island – at the tender age of 21. I have memories of visiting rather damp and disappointed early-season holidaymakers at their hillside apartments in Paleokastritsa – whilst I was paddling around in torrential and relentless April rain, wearing bright red wellies and a soggy raincoat.

This little video gives you a peek behind the scenes in the creation of the altered-postcard-painting series.

We have selected some of our favourites to be recreated as actual postcards – in two sets of six – available under Products HERE. In addition, our 2017 calendar features thirteen from the series – available under Products HERE.

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