Art Days on Vancouver Island!

I have never been to Vancouver Island but I did spend a night in a tent in the Hoh Rain Forest which isn't that far. It was beautiful, if wet.

I love the sound of art days on Vancouver island.  Tonia, are you aware of the tradition of mail art meet-ups? I have had a few mail artists to stay at Nayland Farm and been invited to various events in London. It's a little far for me, but I can imagine you, your sister and some femails making beautiful mail art together!

In England it is colder for a few days.  We aren't giving in and moving back to our indoor kitchen (from our 'outdoor kitchen') We are wandering around inside in hats because our aga (which is off) keeps our house warm. Hot chocolate all around.  Thank you for your lovely postcard.  I will try to reply to both your pieces.

 

The Envelope is the art!

Naughtily I am blogging two of James' pieces together. I got back from Maine and although I got few pieces of mail while away, I hadn't blogged what `i'd received before yet.  The first is a sensational  almost anamorphic  ink drawing.  I love the variety of handwriting, the restrained colour, the stamps and the sentiment.  James has brought together everything you need in a piece of mailart. 

The second ppostcard is more 'au courant', topical and chosen specifically for ME, one of James' New Yorker friends.

BIG THANKS and check out the facebook group!

Toni Hanner Postcard Swap 4.0: Toni Hanner

1304 Splotches from Toni Hanner (IUOMA) Toni at IUOMA is ink (I think) on photo paper with a rectangle of turquoise collage. It feels as if the splodges are taking wing and leaving the postage stamp building to stay anchored. The overlap of colour is one of those things that fascinates me and Toni's splodges are both distinct and splodgy.  Enough said.  It just works. Great stuff!  Thank you.

 

Pelican Island Times Three

This beautiful piece by Mike Dyar arrived a week or so ago.  I don't think I have traded with Mike before.Why not?! I have no context.  The postmark is San Francisco, so I just look and hold and let my mind wander across the imagery and words…

This piece is haptic, curious, moving and strong.  It has a slightly funny smell which I think is ink.  The back of the A3 image is black with memories of paper clips, pressed onto the surface.  I muse that Mike has painted a color print on the back with ink and it has seeped through to create something bleak.

Pelican island, I think, is home to Alcatraz.  I used to live in the Bay area and went to Altcatraz in about 2006 with my family, maybe before when I was lived nearby.  I have a (false) memory of driving around the island in a boat with Stanford friends. We loved the visit, but it was creepy. I wasn't really sure why I was there.

The letter feels like a message in a bottle.  The ink is watery.  The text is confessional. Not every mail artist is willing or able to conjure real emotion. Is that what Mike - conceptual Art is? So here we are in isolation, not quite like Alcatraz, at least not for me, but maybe for Mike? 

Thanks you! I will reply as soon as I can.