Medicine against War

This mailing from Herman has the push and pull of life in every pen mark and pixel. I see the infinite beauty of man and woman of them and they in the midst of the trappings of this world we share with each other. I want to run my fingers over the skin of this statue. The person it represents is long gone but in art he is immortal.

'Library After Air Raid', is so sad and so prescient. Herman made the envelope as the troops amassed at the border.  No one knew for sure what would happen next but, sadly, history repeats itself and there is nothing but beauty to take our minds away from the mirthlessness of the moment. It's hard not to read the image as anything other than a performance piece. Surely no people could do this in any world that isn't make believe. And yet. 

Luckily Herman pointed me in the direction of who this lothario was: Benajmino Gigli was a man of contradictions. An adored opera singer and yet he was aligned with Mussolini. He raised money for othersand yet was also a reknowned womaniser.  

I could win the look-like-your-pet contest. Lyra and I have wiry grey hair and love to run around the fields. Our expressions are similar sometimes.  The space between us is paper-thin. Man and animal, man and nature, ashes to ashes. Why can't we all just cohabitate, giving gifts, loving each other, satyr or not.

After all, don't we all want to be loved, admired, part of someone else's bigger picture?  But what of this power that some crave? Like the Gorgon, power to turn others to stone?  Power to raze a city to pieces of stone and wood?  

Herman and I are in  our studios gluing things,  painting others, using the salve of art to block out some of the tragedy of the moment. We are also in our gardens, caring for things, gathering leaves and weeds, recycling them, feeling joy at nature.

Herman brings the rich tapestry of life into one envelope inside another, inside another. He marries the joy of creation with a fascination for other.  His drawings embody emotion and that helps us to see the other side. Herman is empathic and makes me more so. In this mailing Herman also included some photos. The captions are what Herman wrote on the other side.  In 2007 I certainly would have turned to admire Herman if I had seen him!

Before my transformation (when I was young) 2007

when I was young, 2007

when I was young (after my transformation)  2007

Herman 2007

and theatrically, while we have the chance, we should live, dance, make aretplay statues and above all find our empathy.

 

Treasure and memories from New York and the Netherlands

When I have many competing demands  (in the nicest possible way) I channel my Peace Corps me and don't engage with the things that aren't in the here and now or that aren't the priority.  So, in December it's things like filling up the flour from the big bags I keep upstairs; it's making pumpkin soup for everyone at lunch; it's writing the 100+ cards I love to write, annually to feel connected to my friends from around the world. Mailart takes a backseat.  That isn't to say I feel good about letting the beautiful envelopes pile up, but thankfully my correspondents know that eventually I will look with care and attention at their offerings, and even, eventually, respond.  

Herman was compassionate about my seasonal plight  and I thank him.  I have wanted to open this russian doll of mailart for weeks.

I say 'Russian Doll' because Herman has multiple envelopes inside of envelopes in this mailing. The first envelope is the white one with the drawings of human heads juxtaposed with bodies of insects.  The stamps echo the envelope and add the winter red of Europe to the palette. 

Inside is the 'Fuller street balloon man', brightening up everyone's socially distanced Covid walks. Herman's marbled paper ties in with the scene. On the flip side are the two scary looking birds, talking to each other, ready to rip the skin from a rodent's frame.

the next envelope is a window onto the postman of the Great Lakes. Are those cubby-holes for post restante or are residents coming soon to collect their mail? The drama of the scene is enhanced, again, by Herman's marbeling.

While the bridges all over America crumble, people wave from the fences.  Welcome!

Also by a fence is this handsome couple taking in the NYC sights. Hello Herman's parents circa 1975! Can you spot the Twin Towers behind?

And finally, more treasures!  Inside ad outside herman's studio.  The last image is a fragment of a collar, perhaps left over from a visit to Markam?

Thank you Herman, beautiful as ever!

 

Quasi una Fantasia - Herman Kamphuis

I'm not sure where my original postal ledger has been put for safe keeping… but I know that I have been trading with Voyageur Postal since at least 2012.  He is very sweet and sends me something special at the start of a new year. this mail has been sitting by my computer for about a week and Ionly just opened it before I scanned it. 

Each time I get mail from Herman , my first impression is that it feels European. Herman works with a particular palette that is like the tubes of paint or the pigments you'd find in a fine art dealer - no imitaion, no fluorescents, terra verte, red oxide, naples yellow.  a refined palette.

Another thing you might not be able to sense is that the papers are different weights, haptic, tactile, and perfectly glued. Herman selects imagery so that we are party to new conversations. He tells stories that never existed but suddenly do.

Herman's mail is like a safety deposit box (see below) full of precious personal items. Similar to a Russian doll, Herman nests imagery and layers it in an exquisite way.

Herman likes to compare and contrast beauty with more awkward motifs. I love his doodles.

I love the enhanced decay  of this piece. 

Herman's mail is like a good book, a beautiful song or a piece of sculpture that weathers beautifully.

 Thanks Herman, Happy New Year, and see you in the post.

Don't you dare ask!

Herman may know what this maid is up to, but the only thing I can see when I look into her eyes and notice her hands, disappearing into a metal receptacle is election interference. This ingenue looks like she might mess with ballots. And if you questioned her, good luck to you! 

Amd then again. today marked the day that they validated the ballots. We are turning the page,  in a new chapter. Maybe those are just come hither eyes?

Upon opening the outside envelope, Herman's distinctive style and presentation greet me. The front and back (above) are in a letter shaped folder that was closed and encircled by a folded and taped piece of a map. Unfolded this works as an abstract collage. 

Herman has drawn my attention to the names of the places he has used in his folder.  They look benign, but Herman tells me that 'terrible things happened in Putten', but doesn't know about Ingelton. 

about Putten: One of the biggest Nazi raids held in the Netherlands during World War II took place in Putten. On 1 and 2 October 1944, the majority of the male population was deported from the town and most of them died in concentration camps such as Neuengamme and Birkenau. Following the war, two of the responsible German officers were tried and convicted for this action. The raids were a retaliation for an attack by the local resistance that killed one Wehrmacht officer near Nijkerk. The first and second of October are commemorated every year in Putten. A war memorial at Putten Church and a memorial garden (Vrouwtje van Putten Herdenkingshof) commemorate the event and the loss of life.

Herman has juxtaposed England and the Netherlands.  He asks me whether anything happened in Ingelton.  I look and it seems to have a quiet past.

Wihin the folder I find myself partying without a qualm about social distancing while Herman's mythological creature looks on.

And look who has magic physio fingers? Or perhaps she is dreaming of tattoos? Whatever, beautiful eye candy!

Glad to hear you are very well, Postal voyageur. Here at Nayland Farm, we are well to,o but here's hoping the vaccine is around the corner.  

 

If you've got a head, get a hat!

 ...and if you don't have a hat, you'd better have a full head of hair! This gorgeous inside outer-envelope is an example of content and style all rolled into one.  The story of the characters, the red and black hats, the repetition of 'sou' in the titles, the way the nederland stamps recede, decpite the full hairdo. and the juxtpostion of orange pattern and salmon with flashes of marbling all meld to make a really appealing design.  On the flip side, the colours heat up  and the hats get more spectacular!

 In Herman's original style, the next set of cards, russian dolls of material nested inside of each other are always a welcome sight.  They tantalise and fill me with curiosity .  Below are the contents, opened and dissembled. To me, they are the items you find in the bottom drawer of a loved one, nestled with the holey socks. Or perhaps in the pidgeonhole of an antique desk, YES, that's it.  Look carefully at Herman's stamp ' Bureau Herkalux'...  these people and drawings belong in a pidgeonhole.

I am delighted to see Herman's anthropomorphised  'infectious diseases' Wear your face mask and wash your hands! and let's make some new doodles about viruses.

 Herman always writes me a little something.  This time he responded to one of my more political mailings, aligning with my views. So even though we will be brexited in four days, all is right with the world between this American living in Great Britain and that dutch man. 

Thanks Herman! Beautiful mailing.