NNFN2023 Ideas: Postcard Competition
The theme this year is ‘Wonderful Water’, and our competition has been inspired by ‘Sea Change: Save the Ocean’, edited by Tobias Hickey of the International Centre for the Picture Book in Society at Worcester University. Published by Otter-Barry Books, this is a collection of original postcards and messages from 50 illustrators across the world, working to celebrate and protect the precious life in our oceans.
To enter, children are invited to create their own postcard. On one side, they should create (paint/ draw/ collage/ print etc) a picture of their favourite watery location and then on the reverse, write about why this place is so important to them.
There are three age group categories: 5-7 (30-40 words) 8-10 (40-60 words) 11-12 (60-100 words)
Each will be judged on their originality, creativity and presentation, according to age.
Please send entries to Sea Change Competition, 123 Frederick Road, Cheam, Sutton, SM1 2HT
or email to nnfn@fcbg.org.uk
Closing date: Monday 4th December 2023
Inspired by the gorgeous illustrations created by the contributors to ‘Sea Change’, we decided to play around with some ideas for creating the picture side of a postcard. Living close to the sea, beaches and seaside trips were a common theme when discussing places which are important.
Encaustic work is a form of painting which involves using heated wax. The molten wax is then applied to a surface, usually wood or canvas. The word ‘encaustic’ originates from the Ancient Greek ἐγκαυστικός, which means ‘burning in’ and the oldest examples of this art form are the Romano-Egyptian mummy portraits from around 100-300 AD. These days, small irons are generally used to melt the wax which is then applied to card, paper or other surfaces.
As a teacher, I have enjoyed teaching children Encaustic art as part of work on the Egyptians. When keen to have a turn at something (and I have never known a child who hasn’t wanted to have a go at this!), they are keen to pay attention to safety guidance and quick to understand and follow ‘rules’. Working with a small group, however, is much easier. Having watched a demonstration and experimented a little, everyone was keen to have a go!
Soon, filled with confidence, lots of experimentation was taking place and much ooohing and aaahing as different effects were discovered and more colours added! We have more ideas to explore and share before anyone decides what they might use as their entry to the competition, but everyone agreed encaustic art is great fun!