Aug from Nicky

This is a postcard from Nicky. She was on a trip in Eastern Europe in July and was inspired by vintage stamps. I especially like any reference because my maternal grandpa was one of 9 kids in a family that immigrated from Czechoslovakia. So, I am one quarter Czech and I love poppy seed kolaches. Czechoslovakia is no more:

On 31 December 1992, Czechoslovakia split peacefully into the two sovereign states of the Czech Republic and Slovakia.^[11]

I've mentioned previously that I'm thinking of doing postcards. Maybe when I do my Nov/Dec combined mailing - I could do one side like this - just art without a stamp and the other side would have a lovely design featuring a stamp.

I love the idea of redrawing a stamp. I love the quality of your lines and shapes, Nicky. You've mostly done relief prints which are lovely - but drawing with a knife or whatever we call that v-gouger thing is a lot different than a pen or pencil. <pause> Interesting - they are called linoleum cutters.

From Wiki:

Early in the twentieth century, a group of Dresden artists used easy-to-cut linoleum instead of wood for printmaking, creating the linocut printmaking technique – similar to woodcuts^{[citation needed]}. Prominent artists who created linocut prints included Picasso and Henri Matisse. 21st-century linocut artists include Angela Harding.

Linoleum sheets were easier to carve and work with than the traditional method of wood block printing. Typically the blocks of linoleum can come mounted or unmounted to a backing such as canvas or MDF. The unmounted sheets are pliable and flexible and may be more difficult to work with for bigger prints.^[20]