Biden Our Time in the Biden Wagon

 

For me political Mail Art is the about opening up a dialogue. If we want to change things we better talk about them and listen to each other. 

This piece from Cascadia is hard for me to think about. The former guy was so polarising and much of what he did was obviously going to lead to heartache and disparity. the repercussions are far reaching and affecting us all and will do for a long time. But this guy isn't perfect.  HE IS FAR FROM PERFECT. and yet, I find myself wanting to give him the benefit of the doubt.  'In the round he's OK... well, at least he's better than the former guy," I say to myself when he does something that I disagree with or when he doesn't act quickly or enough. How do you thread that needle.  I need to think about that. Thank you Cascadia for beginning the conversation with me.

It's Been Too Long

Quite a long time ago I received this mail art from Ted Trager.  I had it in my head that I would get all caught up before I went to Maine and send out the stuff I planned to send out.  I even had some labels all ready to go and then my scanner went on a go slow.  I'm not sure if it's a memory problem on my computer.  It persists but I was dogged today, finally. I hoped to scan in Maine so transported my M/A to America.  I failed that too.  I was just gardening too much.

And then it was Open Studios, a trip to Normandy, two commissions and countless deadlines as well as THE GARDEN. 

Enough preamble.

I love this mailing. Chris Clother's illustrations are beautiful and poignant. Ted's bookbinding is glorious.  i love a perforated stamp! The photos are random and interesting and in a funny way familiar.  They put piles of road grading material on a loading bay at the bottom of a hill where I run with Lyra.  I made a monoprint called 'Battisford Mounds', they intrigue me.  I don't have any tattoos. Asemic overtyping is gorgeous.

Thank you.

 

The Language of Flowers

I have already printed off a set of these to bedeck my next series of mailings! When the US postal service produces flower stamps, I buy my fair share. I also love bees and birds. Nature, attending to it and having it around me, well it's key. So, seeds from Cascadia to plant here. a highpoint and receiving them is now part of the rythmn of my year.  Now to find the time to get them into a seed bed!

Love the poem on a postcard - its aesthetic and the words.

The precision with which Cascadia makes this mailing is fabulous.  A few years ago in the seeds Cascadiasent me some siberian wallflower seeds in the mix.  They bloomed for months and the scent was irresistible.  Using jack's key, I figured out what they were and about two years later I ordered some of my own. Now I have many many siberian wallflower plants and they appear in my paintings often!

                                        

Thank you SO much!

 

Sinclair Scripa's Culture of Flux

I am not familiar with Sinclair Scripa's process but the haptic quality is what hit me first. You want to feel this mail art. But then again, it is so graphic. It's curious and strong - so individual. I don't know what Sinclair Scrippa or Tara Verheide looks like but I can imagine a magical workspace.  It would have to be to produce this kind of work!

I love the way the marks are made, the variety of papers, the way some pieces feel scrappy and others feel loved and laboured.  The hand colouring takes me back to the 80s but there is nothing tired about this work. 

I am in love with the minature figures… they evoke the Mary Shelley in me and make me want to get my surf board out to dance and contort on the waves.

PS there is a hologram in the sky on the first stamp with a face. HOW was that done?

and then there is the textual stuff that demonstrates Sinclair Scripa's ease working across disciplines.

Yum yum.  Thank you.  I'm inspired!

 

Gardeners and mailartists NEVER sleep

Just brilliant to get all the Cascadia news and ideas about what Jack plans for 2022! Jack has a wonderful habit of writing letters as well as sending mail art. He has bespoke Cascadia Artpost letterhead and writes in beautiful longhand. 

When I was writing my 100 + holiday cards (and I fill them up with writing for every person I send them to), I thought I should continue this with my mailart and write one longhand letter every day in 2022. (So far, that hasn't happened, in fact, no mail art so far:( ), so I am even more impressed by Cascadia.

Another thing that knocks my socks off is the way Cascadia attends to his garden! It's a definite.  He can't possibly sleep.  

I also attach an article Cascadia included in the mailing following on from his 'Kabul Moment' cards. Thank you Cascadia, see you in the post, soon!