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. 

 

Handmade with love and humour - by Carina

 Finding the right image for an envelope is a skill that Carina definately has. Having never met, I wonder at her power to elicit an emotional response in a way that feels like not even trying. Just look at that young woman, yearning in her tropical paradise, so full of determination.  Does she know that is me in my past?  Does she know that I met the man of my dreams in just such a place?

Cutting tape is a pain.  But Carina cares enough to do it repeatedly and with such care, but not too much care… Boo is there to remind me that she's enjoying this process of wrapping her book and imagining my response!

THOSE XXXX what a loving touch and look at the way the green and the pink sing! Flip over the packet and you see where Carina got the idea from, or maybe she found the image after the idea.  Fabulous repetition of form, so much thought for someone she's never met!

You mail artists are changing me… I find myself wanting to use Carina's palette.  Just because you can't wear the colour doesn't mean it isn't perfect.

What Love is a poignant story of desire, longing, maybe waiting and possibly friendship. It's made from old magazines glued together to create a seemless history, complete with the patina of time.

I hate to put What Love away in its sleeve but it feels like the magic will grow if it goes back, sending lots of hope, joy, humour for all those people still looking.