Lost Boy Racer was nearly lost in the shuffle (Dean Marks)

Sometimes things slip behind the sofa.  Sometimes I slip them into a bag to carry between the house and the studio.  Sometimes they stick to something else and I file them  together but this piece by Dean arrived after I was on my way to Maine (I think) and got swooped up and hung in the Maritime Mail Art exhibition.  In my efficient after-event sorting I discovered this rogue piece that hadn't been blogged! Sorry Dean. 

So tell us, were you standing on the sidelines wreaking havoc like your hysterical woman in the black dress, as the cyclists wound through villages? Were you on a bike? Did you lose your way? 

I once had a rather unfortunate accident on a  bike, racing up a hill, a veritable girl racer proving my strength to the boy I fancied, only to slip off and spocket myself with the teethmarks of a shark. What's your biking story and do you have any scars?

Many thanks Dean. 

Beyond Repair - Artist in Seine

 

The thing about Dean is he changes the way you see things.  You get this thing in the post - or you don't get it for a few days… (this is an aside: I got one of those letters, like Mail art Martha did recently, beckoning me to my local post office or encouraging me to affix a few addtional stamps to the back of a you are naughty form.  In an effort to do my part in combatting global warming, I decided to afix the stamps, but actually posted the letter at the post office, not the royal mail sorting office which was closed.  The next day I got the letter with the affixed stamps - uncanceled - and after a chat with the man on the number you can call for more info learned that the PO had goofed and I could write a note on the form or go back to the sorting office , which was closed.  The next day when I collected it, I was relieved to find that the mystery mail was from Dean… worth the effort!) 

So I took electricity and magnetism in 7th grade and built an answering machine.  I soldered things and everything, and it worked.  Unfortunately I was unable to apply the answering KIT mentality after that so this is my first careful look at a circuit board. It is VISPO! snooze, snooze, snooze 20, 880 428 CODE and then some abbreviations -  ressisters and capacitors? I pick up a tiny Nolia with just a keypad that I find in a drawer in the kitchen an wonder what it looks like inside.  Dean had altered my brain.

Other things I learned are: Dean is mr fixit.  The post office thinks about where to afix their gaudy yellow revenue protection stamps - I'm guessing the heroine is topless?Operation Condor has moved to the 'action' tray.  I also like dean's whimsical use of paint!

Many thanks!

Celebrating the banana 2014

So many thing passed me by before I joined IUOMA and got involved with organised mail art.  I see swaps as organised mail art - who knew there was a banana day and that so many people thought it important enough to celebrate…

This year Jen reminded the group that it was time to swap and I was one of the first putting my hand up to take part. It just feels good to hone in on the banana and for someone like me, intrinsically serious and prone to over - intellectualisation, it's probably even a bit important for me.

I think I sent to more people than I've received from, but making more than ten of anything takes time and I'm sure the banana day is a moveable fruit salad, or something, so if any others trickle in I will post them here. 

What I notice as I look at my banana booty is how varied what I got is! Each one is  treasure in its own rite and I am delighted to share them with you. 

In no particular order…

Banana Boat by Jen Phillips(Stimpdawg):

Biologique banana collage by Adrienne Mason:

Tape transfer chimp by Alicia Starr:

Banana book reply from David Stafford:

 Banana acceptance speech by Dean Marks:

 Banana joke, stamps and collage by Katerina:

 Banana  tesselation by Lynn Radford:

 Banana statue annotation by Mathom House:

 and my banana book (photo courtesy of Katerina):

Bananas!

Well if you didn't know before you will know now that February 21st is World Banana Day, at least according to Dean Marks and other mail artists at IUOMA. Eleven of us agreed to exchange banana greetings, aiming that they arrive on world banana day.  To be honest, I wasn't sure how bananas fit into mail art in general but discovered that Anna Banana was key: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Banana
This was my first year to celebrate this particular day but I suspect I will get involved again in the future.  In order of arrival on my doorstep (I think) these are what I received from the banana bunch.

You will recognize momcat's characteristic greek labels, layers, colour and overall joyous  approach, not to mention her signature stamps. 

Carina's humour and tape borders alerted me that this was from her.  My first response was to utter a guttural 'ah-uh-ha-ah' and to be transported to New York and the empire state building, athough juggling bananas works just as well!

Mim, master of scale and absurd juxtaposition, was again obvious at first glance. This one was mailed on valentines day.  I suppose I could claim it as a valentine too!   On the B side Mim's caption reads:  'Banana enjoyed the admiring glances of the ladies. '

One of Dean's goals in the mailart he makes seems to be to challenge the postman.  I loved getting a box top in the post! I also love the way Dean has made asemic road blocks in this banana maze. Dean writes, ' The city was like a giant labyrinth.  One banana was on one side of the city, the other banana was on the other side of the city.  It was unlikely that they would ever meet.'  I get the sense that Dean is talking about something profound... oh the randomness of it all.  Does Dean know that I had to travel half way around the world to meet my husband? Dean's stamp is amazing too! 

Louise, who I've never corresponded with before,  sent me a lively banana creature with a delicious recipe for the precious loaf, which I can whole-heartedly recommend.

It's funny when I see yellow I think banana now... and I'm tempted to detach this banana to carry around with me.  Alicia captures what we all think when we think banana: a sort of silly (naughty) smile.

Suus speaks to me in dutch.  I'm not sure if that's because I told her I lived in Soestdijk but my dutch is rusty.  What I think is that Suus' idea is a banana dream catcher. Suus brings together a few of our favourite yellow things: eggs, ducks and bananas and created this adorable practical egg cosy!

Another first, this time from Dame Mailarta.  I received this fused card-stamp-holder (I think) cheeky banana wondrousness and it makes me wish I had banana coloured hair! 

My final banana greeting was from Anna Banana! She sent me her annual Banana Rag and samples from the 2012 edition of the International Art Post no. 25.  I could participate in the future! Anna says 2013-2014 will probably be her swan song in terms of producing the dry gummed paper stamps, as you need to order 8 years worth and, well, even I can understand why you wouldn't do that twice!

I believe some IUOMA mail artists were there when Anna performed her above illustration for Mayworks 2013 with bananas.

Thank you, everyone, and finally, happy banana (k)night.

Hooray, 

I received this unconventional banana - a Dole organic, eating a smaller conventionally  grown banana from Cheryl H!.  Thank you Cheryl. Love it.

Last week ( mid April) the slowest banana in the bunch inched past the finish line for this year's banana day jamboree. Jen Phillips from Las Vegas sent these wise words for the anxious among us. 

Thanks Jen!