Hairstyles and Dandelions in Manderley

As a Rebecca, I bask in the characters who share my name.  When I was a kid I was Rebecca of Sunnybrook (farm). Herman has found an iconic Rebecca in this mailing. I don't really look good in brown but I love the style of turn of century Rebecca. As for hats, I LOVE them.

This collage of shapes is also a collage of words, poetry. Read the first line of Rebecca aloud…. it sounds even more magical in french! And Herman summons a corner of Matisse's studio and his big scissors in the way he assembles his shapes.  

As is customary, Herman places an envelope within an envelope, nesting his imagery.  When Herman layesr character over character he develops his stories. This Rebecca was once a child. She has watched children, delighting in them delighting in nature.  Iconic Rebecca gets some nuance, we are all more similar than you might think.

Herman's collages are also a mixture of what is 'real' and what we expect.  The Herman adds a patina of experience.  The sculptures become more unique but also deeper and more universal with the addition of scraps of patterned paper.

Perhaps i am reading something into this, but do you get the feeling that Herman's ink drawing feels trapped, perhaps in a Covid lockdown?

I don't often include notes, but Herman's handwriting is so beautiful I can't resist.  I also enjoy the marks of colour, not to mention the very kind words! 

As ever, Herman's mail art is always a little more beautiful than it translates in scanning. Each collage portaits fells great to hold and i am lost in the texture and pattern.  Thank you, Herman.

 

Mail Art Exhibition to 'create a new International circle of hope'

 

Delighted to receive this invite to participate in Echigo-Tsumari's  International Mail Art Exhibition  Triennale 2021 to  'connect your HERE and NOW with ours'.  I can support this initiative and maybe you can too? Anyone who supports the purpose of the exhibition is invited to participate.  There is no jury, return, participation fee. accepting work May 1 -  June 30th.

Belated April Fool's greetings

I guess Cascadia knew that this wouldn't arrive in time for April Fool's day, and for once it wasn't De Joy's tactical dismantling of the postal system that was to blame.  It was posting on the day of the event! But I'm not complaining.  My incoming mail sits by my computer for at least a few days before I settle down to blog it, bt this time it wasn't me that misses the deadline.

Look at that April Fool's Day stamp, I particularly love it. It's also good to be reminded that around the world we have our traditions and some of them are similar, if called different things.  In our house we do ' a pinch and a punch for the first of the month' on the first day of every month.  It is not a friendly activity, pinching and punching.  In our house it is very competitive, although gentle.

One Christmas, when I was a kid, we got stilts.  We lived on the fourteenth floor of a NYC apt and practiced constantly.  I'll bet our neighbours loved us.

Meanwhile, I am having trials at the post office, these days. There are all kinds of new rules for posting things (since Brexit) I have had many things returned. I have a new sticker - ' I am a mail artist.  this is personal correspondence. There is nothing of value inside!'

Thanks Cascadia.

 

Lockdown at the Flicks and Doodle Mania

I always associate airmail with birds, so I begin here with Ted Trager's envelope of curiosities. I am struck by how much I learn about mail art correspondences by what they send, even if what they send comes from a world that I am not party to. I hardly ever watch films, I'm sorry to say.  It's a time thing… if I did I would never be able to blog or make artistamps or...

Another thing is how much I like Ted's drawings / doodles. I've embarked on another big art project but if I can fit it in, I would like to resurrect DKULT Doodle Therapy to put out a lockdown doodle edition. I will try. Send me your doodles!

The mark making in and on and through this mailing is wonderful! I wonder if Ted's film watching has impacted on what he chooses to represent? Am I missing something by not watching? Eeek!

By the way, I have had a message from Blogger that Feedburner will stop sending out emails as of July.  Does anyone have a solution to this and how many of you will still want to get emails from me?

Thanks Ted. 
 

Received: haptic digital collage stamps

Kevin and James sent me this beautiful sheet of stamps, which pre-perforation make an exquisitel collage of imagery and textures.  As I archive my mail art, I wonder about photocopying this, perforating the photocopied page in order to use the faux-faux stamps to send out on other mail art. I am curious about what each stamp would look like and how I could use them on my own mail art. If I do, I will photograph the pieces.  Thank you!

I was honoured to find that a photo of some mail art I sent in to Mailart Worlwide is now the cover page!

 

Honesty implies an Audience.

As we fill our envelopes, make our artistamps, select our postage stamps, imagine the opening and the response, we are performing for our audience. And, according to the sticker dude clipping service and Sarah Viren, (below) in particular, we are being responsible creative non-fiction writers, of a sort.

Sticker dude has enclosed a host of prompts for the mail art world to select from, re-use, afix, delight in; and in this mailing he also offers opportunities forus to gather material that may help me/us to tell our stories. Look at those artistamps, those stickers - the collaborative imagery we can make!

When I used to go into schools to work with little kids, making books, one of my favourite activites was making envelopes and letting them make and choose images that they could use to tell their own stories.  They would pick images out, arrange them and create a narrative. Joel is sending us that kind of valuable stuff so we can tell bigger, bolder stories and learn from him through the stories he tells.

Great mailing!  It is a tough old world that we co-exist in, but luckily Joel is one of my correspondents! Contact him, get some stamps and stickers and be empowered to create, protest and change things!

A3 collage by Carol Stetser with images from the Eternal Network, reproduced by the Ssticker Dude, 2021

stamps: Cracker jack Kid, Piermaro Ciani and the Sticker Dude

 

OXquises/OXquisses Serie EG-2021 Aristide 3108

I trust you will enjoy Aristide 3108's beautiful concept, drawing and presentation. I wonder whether Keith's mailbox ephemera is the inpsiration for this encarted?

 http://www.keithbates.co.uk/proxy.html#

Happy Year of the OX and thank you for this beauty, Aritide 3108.

Front Boekie

envelope for encarted Ox

Back Boekie

Encarted Ox

Encarted Ox II