Postcard swap redux -- a peek at my first two collages

What has 4 sides, is paper thin, and flies hundreds of miles in just a few days? A postcard, of course!

Last fall was my first time in iHanna's DIY Postcard Swap. I made 10 collaged cards, sent them off, then received 10 cards from artists around the world. I had so much fun last time that I signed up for the Spring 2014. 

I just finished cards #1 and 2. Well, almost finished. They're not done until they slip through the slot at the post office.

Here's the first one. It took longer than I expected. I kept choosing, moving, then abandoning images.

While I was pulling the pieces together, I wasn't really sure what I was doing. (Can you tell?) Now, though, I see a storyline. The poor man in the middle is caught between his conventional, straight-and-narrow life and a wide-open, bohemian existence devoted to beauty. 

I also labored over card #2. I'm still not sure it works, exactly. But I like it.

My interpretation:  The woman in the foreground wears an apron but takes the posture of a fighter. She cooks, cleans and keeps house, but she's no Suzy Homemaker (that's what we used to call them in Junior High). I'm tempted to change the word "Millinery" to "Military." Too obvious?

To make the cards, I practiced a layering process I learned at my collage workshop last weekend.

How to make a collage background

1. Glue torn paper swatches to card stock using matte medium.
2. Cover the swatches with white gesso.
3. Apply paint and tissue paper.
4. Create a horizon line with stamps.

(These steps come from John Arbuckle, our workshop instructor and expert collage artist.)

More cards to come…and there's still time to sign up for the swap here.