It was on my first trip to China that I first starting making postcards, Carrie and I having found ourselves in untouristed parts with nary a ready-made 明信片. On that first go I bought a glue stick and some packing tape, harvested all our magazines for interesting scraps, and crossed my fingers that they wouldn't get chucked by the postman (I must concede that the idea of making one's own postcards while on the road was not originally mine but belonged to the lovely Vanessa).
I'm not sure when this little hobby turned into the full-blown obsession it is today. Some days after I've found a new source of weird quotes or usable images but find myself too busy to play with them I end up daydreaming about my little craft kit when I'm on the subway or out to dinner with friends. I am a dork. But I must say honestly that sitting down and listening to an album or two while cutting and arranging and constructing is one of the most reliably pleasurable things I know of as well as being a textbook example of Flow (I just finished the book and trust me, the wiki has all you need to know), Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's term for an optimal mental state in which you are fully immersed in an activity. I had an awful case of the mean reds the other day, depression and anger and anxiety all wrapped up together, but after a few hours with old Nancy Drew books rescued from the trash pile at the American School in Beijing (I only cut up the ones that were already falling apart), Osho quotes, and some colored pencils, I felt a hundred times better. The results, along with a sampling of all the other postcards I've made and sent this year are below.
I only started taking these photographs for my own records a few months ago and I'm sorry if the quality isn't great. If you haven't ever received a postcard from me (or if you have moved recently, MARK) and would like to I probably don't have your address -- make haste and send it to me through a secure channel. And please, if it sounds like any fun at all to you, start making your own!
Soft Rock Sutras
Penguins
Chinese Opera
Animals, assorted
The Dao of Nancy Drew
2 comments:
These are so awesome Erika. My favorites are the denying-the-consequent small tricking dog and the non-homesick penguin. You should post some more some time.
Thanks Matthew, you're the best!
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