A while ago I mentioned an exhibit of Mail Art (homemade postcards sent through the mail) that the Multnomah County Library is setting up. The theme is "Library". I had the idea of making an ode to the Lighthouse Library system. This summer when we were touring lighthouses, I was reintroduced to the idea of the traveling libraries that went from lighthouse keeper to lighthouse keeper in special wooden crates. Starting in 1876 these libraries serviced remote lighthouses ranging from the wilds of Oregon to the Great Lakes of Michigan. There is more information about the service here and here.
Here is the postcard I made. I used fabric, photos from our trip this summer, various kinds of paper, and a printable transparency. The transparency is something new I've been playing with. I found an image on the internet of a seal that the Lighthouse Service put on the china used in Lighthouses.
I thought it looked kind of like a postmark, so I printed it onto a transparency and layered it on top of other images in the collage. I like the way it turned out. The photo of the postcard is not as clear as the original, because I've already sewn on the clear vinyl layer so it can be mailed.