What happens to your old physical photos–the 4 x 6 images we used to have printed from film cameras? Are they in an album – or filed away in a box or drawer, never to be seen again until your estate gets settled? How about this: use them to create postcard art projects and send in the mail to friends and family.

Foley Road wetlands.

 

Printed photos take well to Magic Marker type enhancements; the white reverse side absorbs watercolor and gouache especially well, and you can add your own text as well. You can’t buy a more unique and personalized postcard. Here some individual postcards and collage collections are on display.

Here, our cat, with Magic Marker enhancement.

Occasionally, I send these small projects unsigned, leaving the receiver to figure out who sent them and why. Not only is it fun, it gives the old images you created a new multi-media life and you are communicating a thought or an expression with your artistic update. Blurry, underexposed images can make the best pieces. The postal process is interesting—imprints and marks from the postal process, wear marks, creases and dings, add to the effects.

Below, a collage of cards, both sides.

It’s amazing that we can put these small art projects right into the mailbox, and they reach their destination in just days, passing through many hands on the way. The best part is, after a couple of years of making and sending more than 100 cards, I am getting cards in return, creatively executed!

And what better time for these micro-art projects?