Print of the Month – June

‘Print of the Month’ for the whole of June is Tree in a Pot’ – one of the first altered postcard paintings I ever made, which remains one of my personal favourites. It began with a sketchbook drawing of our one and only olive tree, which then resided in a large ceramic pot by our front door. The tree has since outgrown said pot and is now living in the studio garden.

greek olive tree painting on vintage postcard

I chose to pair the drawing with a postcard sent from Athens back in 1977 (which coincidentally was my first year working as a holiday rep in Greece, when I was based in Vouliagmeni, just south of Athens). This was the time of horrendous flight delays due to air traffic control strikes and many, long nights were spent waiting for arrivals at the old Glyfada airport.  I vaguely remember using these gorgeous stamps on my postcards and letters home – many of which were written in the middle of the night at the airport to pass the time waiting for arrivals!

greek postcards and sketchbook drawings work in progress for paintings

When choosing drawings for postcards, I tend to do it intuitively, whilst also considering how the drawing will sit on top of the handwritten text, stamp and postmark. Additional collage is often added to balance the design and to mask the address of the original sender of the postcard. The cards themselves are sourced from a series of online shops specialising in collectibles. I tend to purchase bundles at a time and sift through them as soon as they arrive. Many are sadly unusable as they may be blank or be written in heavy fountain pen ink, which of course bleeds badly when paint and matte medium are applied! Others are too small for the mounts I use to display them in – I never realised postcards came in so many different sizes until I got into all this!

composing the paintings on vintage postcards

Here’s a short video which shows you more of the process of making these altered postcard paintings:

 


Special discounts just for my lovely subscribers…. Each month I choose one of my favourite Fine Art Prints to star as Print of the Month. All subscribers can purchase the paper print at the discount rate for the following 30 days. If you’re already on my mailing list, each newsletter contains a special coupon code. Simply enter the code at the checkout to receive your subscriber’s discount plus FREE worldwide shipping. Note: the “print of the month” offer does not apply to the stretched canvas version. This month’s special offer is available until the end of June 2018.

 

 

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