The postcard art group

        

                        

                                                                   the postcard art group

So I have been carrying out this plan for a little concept I have been thinking about for a while. Finding myself in this the age of digital media and social networking I would like to create a little antithesis of such, I find it full of too much virtual sentiment, it's too easy and I have an issue with that, I'm looking for some integrity, however I like the idea of sharing and creating so want to try to do it in a different way.

I like to create some small pieces of art, drawing, painting and collages and what have you on watercolour postcards and use the traditional method of sharing, old fashioned mail, as in the postal service.

I want to do so for number of reasons, I have an affinity with post, I like it, it strikes a chords like no other thing, it is still kind of magical that I can put something in a red box fifty meters from my house and it can go anywhere in the whole world for pence.... My dad also was a postman for fifty years so I guess it's in my blood. I get a bit tired of only seeing things on a screen too. There is a deep joy in receiving and sending mail, a commitment and sense of intimacy. The idea of sharing real things is refreshing and then sending on or not is also perhaps becoming a real rarity. My post is now so boring as well, I used to love writing and getting letters from friends and family all over and like to share it with others. Also physical things moving around and the risk and transient nature of a piece of actual artwork however small also appeals to me.

The group now has about one hundred like minded individuals round the world who are exchanging and sending, creative people open to sharing and all who I know have integrity, passion and creativity they would like to show, I hope more join in, the idea is to use watercolour postcards as a base for your work, they are cheap, standard size and very cheap to post. I get mine on amazon for about 3 quid for fifteen. Then to the art, whatever you want, spend as little or as long as you like on it, drawing, painting, thin collage, designs weaving, sewing, inks whatever. Can be a five minute doodle a painting, print...whatever... it's the physical act of sharing it that counts. I think maybe doing about 5 or 10 a month to share is a good start, too much and it might become a chore or ineffective...it might be more if you want but that seems a good place to start.

The individuality of it is what I like. Then you can just write maybe a title of the piece on it and in small script your address, this means that people can see who sent it and can respond to it if they want, also they can re post it to someone else who they think might like it, just a way of sharing. I understand some might have reservations about sharing address and if this is the case don't worry, you can send them to me without it and I will forward and receive and send 

At best it could be the start of an amazing , beautiful, creative experience and a way of seeing making and sharing some art first hand, at worst you might get some nice post once in a while....
Let me know by simple email if you like the idea, feel free to suggest improvements or ideas too, this is all in my confused jumble of a brain,

Yours in creative anticipation,

Michael M F X Rofe

Founder of the Postcard Art Group 

Invitations... Beginnings.

Beginnings.

Every day I wander amongst rural Sussex with my small moleskins and paintbox, a minimal kit, I like not to encumbered with too many things... I find views, grand and small, that seem to have, for me, a sense of pervading otherness. An acknowledgement of light, tone and form all take their place but it is about moments and the movement and drying of the paint in situ also. I paint almost everything I do Plein Air. I am currently looking at local historical sites where the landscapes bear some less obvious signs of human habitation, the underlying presence, as well at the transition times of the day. Sky, sun, cloud, meadows, rivers, trees, hills all feature, I am also about fifty paintings into an exploration of outdoor painting at night.

"Amersbury Banks Iron Age Hill Fort - Epping Forest" December 2014 watercolour on paper. 

I am yet to resolve my responses to the hedgerow, stream and meadow, all my wanderings and looking only asks more questions. I am not sure my images differ inherently to those other creators make, but if anything, I can speak of my inspirations. I have always had this deep link between thinking and doing, practice and theory, words and images. I am very inspired by the rural writers of my country as the witnesses to the arcane presence that fleets in and out of my own understanding, that which my futile practice attempts to pin down like a specimen butterfly in a glass box. That sense of otherness, moments of passing grace, a fragment of memory, glimpse of light, the nostalgia and timelessness found under ancient trees and sites of old habitation is a source of deep inspiration, and also in constant need of refreshment. 

"Nightpainting No.50 on Vicarage Lane" November 2014 watercolour on paper.

My creative process is simple really, I wander, and wonder... I have been doing it all my life, getting lost, looking under and around things, trying, testing and attempting to see. I walk and visit places and look for interesting things on maps and then take my kit with me on my travels and usually my dog. I then just paint whatever takes my fancy and the images evolve themselves, I am not sure I have a particular style. I sometimes then work things up in the studio but this is quite rare, the sketchbooks are as much the work as anything else. I like looking back over them too, they are like a record, as in a record of a moment. I also link with other artists on Instagram (MMFXRofe) and in reality via a postcard art group, this gives me a chance to share tangible things with others around the globe, something which is also important to me, but I think that could be a whole other blog entry...

"Over Poundsford Farm" October 2014 watercolour on paper

Thanks to the incredibly helpful and gifted painter Michele Cooper whose skill, patience and insight is so beautiful to share, for inviting me to take part in this great project,

http://michelecooper.blogspot.com/

Here is a link to the blog of my very old friend and über talented artist Mr R J Oliver, his images and words are a constant inspiration. All will find something positive here no doubt,

http://www.richardjoliver.com/#!blog/c1rpo 

MMFXRofe 4/1/2015

The invitation

Invited to take part in the World Blog Hop by the very talented Michele Cooper. 

So perhaps it was the time to get one and share the insights of my creative process.