Friend-ing in ink

About postcards between friends

Recently I got some new bottles of ink from a local stationary store Oblation Papers and Press. I tried the new inks in my sketchbook this week using a dip pen. Drawing the ink bottle itself and writing a quote was a way to try the new ink on an easy subject.

After that I grabbed a few blank watercolor postcards and…

…here's what happened: I used the new Portland Rain ink to draw books on one side of the postcards.

On the other side I used the new Caffe Crema ink to draw my coffee cup.

Next I'll write notes and addresses and off the cards will go in the mail.

Here's one of our bookshelves containing a small collection of postcards sent to us from one friend.

I don't always make each postcard I send “from scratch” - i.e. handmade originals - as I run out of time during days no matter how careful and aware I am about time. So many of my cards have reproductions of my artwork on them like the one you see below. (Here's a link to more than 20 postcards and greeting cards with art by me: https://www.zazzle.com/collections/odd_greeting_cards_art_by_clancy-119338499337369594) These are still fun for me to send to friends and my friends tell me they're fun to get so…🤷‍♀️

One of my favorite novels is about a correspondence between friends created by Nick Bantock https://bookshop.org/a/86356/9781452155951

Here's another Substack newsletter I follow about postal correspondence / mail art called The Postal Ledger.

I enjoy participating in postcard correspondence (aka mail art) because the card exchange becomes an ongoing tangible link between friends, a solid real thing, and yet each card can be visual, short and silly… while holding a galaxy sized amount of love!

Here's hoping you too give and get some love via snail mailboxes!