Pages

Monday, April 23, 2012

Mail Art Monday: Colour and Postcards

This week had a colourful package arrive to a dear friend. My first collaborative postcard and a small surprise arrived in my mailbox.

In their postbox...

Kye received the most colourful package I could gather together. I enlisted the help of my minions children to paint some cards as a thank you for the little mail art bags that Kye sent to them. I decorated a couple of small envelopes to match and tucked then inside a larger envelope with prints, stamps and clippings.


In my postbox...

The first postcard in our new exchange arrived in an intimidating timeline. Jessica's first piece shows a masterful use of materials, balance and restraint. The words on the card read "you and I the entire species represented in paintings". Lovely, right?


Her package also included a wealth of ephemera including clippings, stickers and string for my contribution.


I have been working on her reply and it appears that I may need a few rounds to get my collage kinks out. I don't seem to have Jessica's talent for balance and restraint. The fact that it makes me a little uncomfortable is a good thing. It's a challenge and it's making me push my limits a little.

Catherine put together a delightful collection of items shortly before welcoming her first child into the world. Along with pictures of boats and sheep, she included a card with her first repeating pattern.

 
My orphaned postcard from Post Muse arrived this week to my surprise and delight. I sent her an email in September and had long since settled on my email being lost along the way. This fountain in NYC holds a special memory for my husband and I. We visited the fountain on one of our two trips to New York in the Fall. On this occasion I didn't feel like battling any crowds and we spent two glorious days walking through all of central park.

 
This next week will be a mix of mail art, scanning and mailing my Limited Edition Sketchbook, and lots of gardening, if the weather permits. What are your plans?

.

5 comments:

  1. Great idea you set up with Jessica. : )

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thrilled to see that you've decided to participate in the Orphan Postcard Project (although you've been patiently waiting! did my post last summer inspire you to sign up?). Bonnie Jean is a super busy lady, but somehow she never forgets what goes where. Looking forward to seeing your work featured.

    Thank you for the compliments on my "mixed media skills." To be honest I think I learned the fine balance from PRINTMAKING, more specifically with Etching. Because you can take your plate to the acid as many times as you like, as there is always the possibility to add more/re-work the image... however because it is acid that creates the marks, you can never take anything AWAY, therefore it becomes this fine balance of knowing when to STOP.

    My exploration in TRUE mixed media started about 6 years ago when I began working on my altered books. Because of these explorations, I have co-taught several mixed media workshops with a great friend Carney Oudendag, who is a prolific mixed media artist; to be honest, i also learned plenty from her while I was there as a 'teacher'.

    I'm sure you are over-exaggerating your struggles and that the piece will turn out lovely as always... although I agree with you, sometimes it's nice when art pushes back - things shouldn't always be EASY BREEZY. So you know, it took me a little while to get that postcard going until I found the poem... once that happened, it was flood gates.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I was inspired by your summer post! It looked like a lot of fun so went for it. Now I'm tickled that I can participate. I'll request another postcard once this one is done.

    That is an excellent point about Etching and Printmaking being a primer for general design and composition. I do know all the 'rules' of balance, repetition and placement from years of design but I think that the ability to copy, paste and undo so quickly has spoiled me.

    It's true, it's not awful, but I feel like it's not quite as strong as I'd like it to be. I still have a bit left to finish and then it comes with a memory I need to write in a letter.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks Barbara! It's also proving to be a challenge but in a very good way.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...