The Cards
In the last 5-6 years I created an insane tradition for myself. Every New Year I make custom New Year cards for select friends. They rarely have anything to go with the holidays (although sometimes it happens). They may be just painted or collaged or printed images, or they may include text. Lately there have been more with text than without. If I do decide to include text, I use the “found poem” method, when the text emerges from the collage of the magazine and newspapers cutouts. I sit for days cutting out the word combinations that attract my eye and then compose them into some sentiment. It is a weird and trippy method, like fishing word combos from the river of words that surrounds you. I would not call them poems, really. For the card’s purposes I just call them Text. Living with a poet, it is wise to avoid any claims to any poetic pursuits.
Sometimes the subject emerges from the text, and sometimes from the image (like if I just REALLY REALLY want to paint a Goat). Sometimes the subject emerges from the beginnings of both, and then mutates, depending which way the painting went.
The cards are painted on the thick Bristol paper and mostly are done in Acrylics. The sizes vary a lot, depending on the size of the text, and/or how much Bristol paper I have available. They are one-of-a-kind, signed tiny works of art and they can be framed, if desired. Or not. Once they leave my hands the only purpose they have is to give Pleasure to the recipient.
I am currently thinking of commercially printing some of them, making them available for wider audiences, that project is in process for now.
