I spent a couple days at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston this past week. I’ve loved postcards ever since I was a child growing up in Europe. We traveled a lot and visited lots of museums. The beauty of postcards is that they are inexpensive, taken in the best light conditions and provide instant gratification. This was especially great in the mid 20th century when photos were all taken with film, needed to go to the developer, and only then, days later did you know if you had captured what you had seen! And that was IF you were even allowed to take photographs.

I picked up 5 postcards at the MFA and decided to slice them up, using a technique I’d seen in some quilts. For the first two I simply cut the postcard in straight slices, the way the fabric for the quilts was cut.

The first two postcards I cut without marking the sections. Oops. I had to goggle the paintings to see how the pieces went back together!

This is “Rue Gauguet” by Nicholas de Staël. © MFA Boston.

After cutting two postcards in vertical sections, I decided it would be more fun, and more interesting, to cut the postcard into multiple sections.

This “Sun on the Lake” by Arthur Dove, at the MFA Boston.

A friend of mine once had a small letterhead print press in her home. The paper I used to mount the postcards was from a book of sample paper she gave to me years ago went they moved house. I need to trim off the faded edges but love being able to recycle it!

These simple little books are so much fun to make. I think I need to find some postcards!