Fruity Booty from Katy

 A little after the New Year we got a piece of mail art from Katy, my sister. Although Katy and I have traded before, this piece was a complete surprise and the surprise continued until tonight when I finally got to it in my blogging pile… Patrick had replied that it had arrived and I meant to blog it immediately but you know.  I had seen the front and back of what I thought was a postcard, an altered postcard. Fun, energetic, and made me smile. 

I've been making fruitcake every year since we moved to England.  My grandmother used to make fruitcake and when she had her demetia and still lived on her own at home, her dementia manifested itself in tables piled with fruitcakes she had made with scrawly names on labels that I couldn't read. We always had a fruitcake in the fridge, for my dad in NYC. So, I thought Katy was remembering that and thinking of me.

And then, today, I noticed that the postcard looked as though it was coming apart. I have to admit, initially thinking that it was a case of bad glueing but on closer inspection… what I found was another world of mail art! And now I have an alter to 2019 and send so much love back to Katy for making me something so beautiful.

International Creative Exchange

In most cases you can find stuff in America that you can't find here in England.  In this case, there are these paper products here that I knew my sister would love and could I get them in America?  Let me tell you, I googled and googled and eventually I gave up and gave in and mailed her some from here.  This zentangle extravaganza is my return.  I love it Katy Kehoe.  I'm sure the little frames would set off some Akua inspired prints too!  Let me know if you need some more in May… can't wait.

You can see more of Katy's zentangles here: http://katykehoezentangle.blogspot.co.uk

Alternative Skype

Katy Kehoe is a zentangle wizard!         http://katykehoezentangle.blogspot.co.uk.  And this one is made with coloured pencils.

When I look at abstract work my first way in is to look for characters.  That turqouise and green fellow is full of confidence and charisma.  Lavender is more reserved and maroon and fuscia is elegant.  They jostle for position. They meet in a room with decorations and colours to die for. My first reading doesn't jive with Katy's own assessment of her handiwork. She says 'coloured pencil zentangle needs work' and 'unfortunate about the brown frame on left.' What I find is it's flummoxing the way sometimes people flock to the stuff that you made that makes you wince and they are indifferent to the one thing that gives you goosebumps. This alternative skype message has come to the right home!  Thank you, Katy.  I love it.

Zima - Katy Kehoe's new kind of inspired mail art!

Katy announces her mail art with a flourish of zentangles.  I have covered up her address in case she objects to having it at the Postal Ledger/ on the internet. Fittingly, I found a little leftover Figgy silkscreen to cover up the details. Look at her signature! K-K- Katy!

I love the way Katy has made pouches for each zentangle tile. It's like a flatpack book.  It's nice and safe from my sticky fingers, and so tempting the way the zentangles peek over the top. 

In case you don't know, Katy is an orange fanatic and the little orange tile is actually an accordion book secret note to me. One thing that Katy tells me in her message is that ZIA (zentangle inspired art) is 'a thing'.  By adding an 'm' (a special letter to us) she has created ZIMA (zentangle inspired mail art)!  I need to connect Katy to Suus in Mokkam who does her won version of ZIMA.

Here are the tiles scanned together.  Below I have zoomed in on each tile. I put some paper behind the zentangles because my scanner is dirty! 

There are lots of things I love about these teeny tiny drawings. The largest, the rectangle, is ATC size.  For one, I like the organic shapes of some of them and the way she composes the shape inside them. I love the way the subtle use of watercolour brings some of the imagery into relief. I like the 'mushrooms' and the contrast, and the white lines.  And I LURVE the exotic, flashy feel of the blue tile.  It is So me! Oh Katy Kehoe, what a treat you ZIMA was to receive!

Love and holding hands - Katy Kehoe

So, quite often we spend the holidays with Katy Kehoe and her wonderful family. Sadly, this year we were in Suffolk while they were in San Fran. This beautiful card, clearly made with love, is a window onto the joy and silly times we've had together in years gone by. The logistics are so difficult... but we sure hope we can organise things to gather everyone together again for a Landmark holiday in 2016. We missed the gang and treasure those days.

Drunkpo from Katy

Katy writes that she is so happy that the days are getting closer to gin and tonics with UP. My guess is UP is happy too as his wife spends most of the long evenings in her warm studio making things. Obviously sisters think alike, well in some things (wink, wink Katy), because while your postcard was soaring across the skies from Sanfran, I was knee deep in drunkpo myself! 

And then I put them all in the post...  There are two more thinking about where to go.