Coulrophobia and Cascadia's model city

Back before August, Cascadia Artpost and Mail art Martha teamed up for their celebration for Clown week: August 1-7 by inviting all of us to send clowns to them. You can see more here: http://clownparadeproject.blogspot.co.uk

Not only did they collect lots of mail art from what looks like (without counting) more than 125 mail artists. By sending my clown in, I got a fancy booklet with everyone's names and addresses as well as a history of the project and a visual snapshot of life in the tiny town of Cascadia - 'a near-future representation of  small city in Cascadia 1:87'.  Two of the nine pages included below).

Great project and fabulous documentation.  Thank you Mail Art Martha and Cascadia Artpost!

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International open call boxed collages - homage to Joseph Cornell

Nichola Orlick has created a cut and paste boekie for the people who took part in the International open call boxed collages - homage to Joseph Cornell.  I will put mine together one day. for the moment I am admiring it as is.  

I sent my framed boxed collage and it was displayed for the exhibtion. I so wish I'd been able to see them all in the flesh, but Nichola documented it brilliantly and seeing all the work side by side makes me especially delighted to have been part of such an esteemed exhibition!  Thank you Nichola!

Lessons in how to behave

This evocative card from Cascadia Artpost has been hanging around for some time. I've picked it up and shuddered. Since it was sent things have only got worse.  Now we must not kneel in protest. 

Heavy with irony, Cascadia's brilliant stamp - that pointing finger, is absoultely spot on. Absolutism is such an interesting response to life where we intersect and share so much. 

It's good to get mail art that makes me think even when my reaction is a degree of despondancy.  We all need reminding and to face up to the way it is now in order to regroup and move forward to protest.

Press the reset button with your foot, OR ELSE

 In our apocalyptic precipice David's story has a ring of hope. I can't decide if David printed this or if it was found. Whichever way it came into being, that sillouette reminds me a little of the first first lady and I have a suspicion she never resets anything. As for me, I am going to try to find a few reset buttons.  The one for making mail art must be out there somewhere. Thank you, David! I will reply and thanks for your patience and the enthusiastic stream of mail art!

Taidgh Time

I love the time warp that Taidgh and I inhabit! I'm not sure if he wrote this in 2013 or whether it is more modern than that but Halloween is coming around again and when I carve my pumpkin I think I'll look to one of Taidgh's drawings for inspiration. In a funny way, this card reminds me of Glasgow.  And did you now Ireland is really close to Glasgow?

Thank you! I love the card and will be responding soon.

The cultivated fields and ga of Asemic Front

Inspect the postmark and that will say it all. Before that, I got a message asking if I wanted to take part. Of course I do, but when? It's great that DVS gives me an elastic timeline. But perhaps that is why this has drifted.  I posted these a while ago but I wanted to remind everyone that I have them!

In a way it's good that I have not tried to respond immediately.  I am out of my depth, a feeling I love, but my first response would probably have been to look at what everyone else was doing and to respond with what I thought I should do.  Instead, when I finally get around to embarking on this, I should have embodied it in a way that will keep me from over-thinking it that will come from some other place than thinking.  Overthinking is something DVS has observed that I have a tendency to do… He can't have known I would be so swamped for so long, but it's worked out well, I think.

This is DVS' project, and I am delighted to have received these Asemic Front starters. They appeal to my sense of colour, history, multiculturalism, line, shape and that elispsis thing. I am in a very figurative place right now.  I haven't got my iron out in weeks and weeks.  Either that means I am chomping at my abstract bit, or it means I will struggle to think asemicly. I want to read the pictures - that's probably a bad sign, a bad idea. 

The thing is, I will respond and it should be reasonably soon, I hope. Huge thanks and so pleased to be part of it.  Hope I'm not holding anything up! And if anything will move me to action, it's these inspiring beginnings.