The Postcard Project

Last summer I read one of those vaguely anxiety-producing newspaper articles that postcards were dying as a form of mail. Predictably, I was depressed, and skeptical. I'm skeptical about most anxiety-producing newspaper articles. I grew up in the Bay Area with The Chronicle, so you can see how I got this way. But that's another post.

Using my latent artistic abilities, I vowed to save this so-called dying art form by making and sending postcards, and here's what I managed to produce. I made two of these tonight because I was ashamed at my meager output, but that's OK. I'm on a production roll. Join me in my fight to save postcards. But you've gotta actually write something on them and send them out there in the world. Written communication is the life-blood of the postcard.

This one's chock-full of animal sex facts I got from "Discover" Magazine, the best science mag out there. I sent it to Tuckers, who was partaking in a project of his own called "dating." This one was for my childhood puppet teacher, Bruce Chessé. The funny thing about postcards is you don't usually get a reply. I hope he liked it.
This one did get a reply. It was to my friend Susan in Minneapolis. She sent me a summer-vacation postcard right away, with a guy in the ocean with some little random texts all around him. It pays to send postcards to your artist friends.
Do you have a friend going to grad school? That's a big deal! Celebrate the occasion with a timely note.
I made this one tonight. I might send it to my East-coast relatives, who watched in awe as my son sat on their front lawn for several hours, waiting for their garbage trucks to arrive. He got his cousins involved, and several neighbors as well. It was like a garbage-day parade. He drew this truck for a thank you note to our friend Francis, so this one did double-duty. That's recycling in action.
This one will go to Morningside May, who gave me the most delightful Tupperware cake-taker, and a lunch container for Jackson. We're passionate about food storage.
Doesn't Tyra Banks resemble the Eye of Sauron from Lord of the Rings? Do you see it?
How about this angle? I emailed these to Rich at FourFour for his "America's Next Top Model" recap, but he didn't use them. They make lovely postcards though. Do you have friends who watch ANTM? Show them you care with a Tyra/Lord of Mordor comparison that's sure to please!


Segment from "How to Draw a Bunny" - a documentary about the late collage artist Ray Johnson, considered to be the founding father of mail art.