Inside Those Walls

Nancy titles her bigger pieces. 'Inisde Those Walls'measures about 21 x 10 cm; the three-scrappers are smaller, 14, 11 cm tall.  I prop up Nancy's pieces for weeks.  Some live semi-permanently in my mail stand.  Sometimes they even make it into a painting.  I think Nancy's pieces are lovingly made.  They are pure joy - gifts when they arrive For ME. 

I want to read them but I also like the fact that it's not necessary to read them.  They are perfectly harmonious without being obvious.  They are challenging without being confrontational. 

I turn 'Inside Those Walls'  over, to take in the B-side and the words 'absurd conceit' hit me. The text seems to be about about an army. The title conjures up our shared Covid years, for me, too. 

I feel as if I have fund a relic, something pieced together, taped, because of its value.  It is worn, used, revered. 

This two scrap is as worked on the b-side as the main side.  The synesthesia of the visual poetry and the music are audible.

Above is folded.  inside is a note I have not shared.  Feb 02, 2022. I see two figures, dancing across a divide.  Inside walls, leaning in, breaking out, post Covid.

Nancy has filled the os and letters like holes with gold, like a tooth.  They sparkle, like lightening bugs in a hedge.

Such a delight to receive a brown envelope from Nancy. She manages to create the passage of time, a labour of love, a butterfly kiss everytime she sends me mail art. 

 

Les Jeudis de Mme Charnonneau From Herkalux (Herman Kamphuis)

Herman has learned that the postal system is a crocodile, chomping at corners.  This is at least the second crumpled envelope I've recieved from him.  Luckily the exquisite interior envelope is unscathed. The paper Herman finds is like nothing I come across here.  It's as though he has found a magic writing desk with papers from the past..  He doesn't treat them as the little treasures that they are (THANKFULLY), he uses them playfully with panache.

 Herman has completed this beautiful altered book page juxtaposing the colour of the portrait with a rich brown ink that comes forward and recedes obscuring and revealing the words.

 Herman's note speaks of a stamp I made from one of his doodles. I am sure this delightful character will make it into a stamp too!

I got doodles from Herman from two people this weekend. These two and a collab book Carina returned, completed. FABULOUS! 

The last time I wrote to Herman I asked him how his trip to Blighty had been. Did he visit the Tower of London, Sissinghurst,  Brighton Pier?

Herman stamps

Another doodle collab coming your way soon but this time it's mostly your drawing!  I tried to use colour that you might find in that magic drawer.  Big thanks!