Mail Art Monday: A Flickr Friend Swap

Masha Andreyeva found me on Flickr and was interested in a mail art exchange. I kicked it off with a variety of items including three silhouettes, which she really liked, a sketch of mushrooms, an 'I'm puzzled' clipping tag, a mountains framed clipping, and a personalized name sticker. Inside the large handmade feline envelope a mini star envelope contained stamps, googly eyes, an M (well, a W, but I was all out of furry M's) and a few shaped figures.

Masha asked me to go through her photostream and chose any so she could send me prints. It was hard to chose only a few because she has fantastic collection of close ups of natural elements. The colours are gorgeous and I hope to use them for inspiration on paintings or for colour palettes in my work.

Thank you Masha! I look forward to checking in on your future pictures to see your photographic exploration unfold.

...J

Say Cheese - for Polaroid Week

When digging out all of my art supplies after our move and setting them up in my studio I found my old Polaroid 600 series camera. I had never used it much, mostly for the odd shot here and there in college. I also rediscovered my black and white film! I was so excited with big plans for taking pictures of the blossoms on our tree. 

The film was about 10+ years old and had been moved at least half a dozen times in all sorts of weather. I think the abuse was too much for it as the pictures exited the camera with dried emulsion and general wonkiness. It seemed like such a shame to simply chuck it out so I cut out the inside and decided to reuse the frame. I've sent a few along for mail art exchanges and kept a couple for my own hijinks. Here are the results of my experiments with my polaroid frame.

 

I was planning on posting these pictures this week anyway but them stumbled on the fact that it is Polaroid week! Even though these aren't proper instant pictures, I'm honouring the style of the beloved instand film.

... J

BLOOMS!

The blooming tree just outside my studio window has reached its peak and will now slowly start to shed its blooms. We will likely be trying to dig up and move our tree this summer as it was planted far too close to the house. It's already outgrowing the space and I fear its roots will start to reach our foundation soon. I am not optimistic that our relocation project will be a success, so I'm savouring its beauty this spring.

They seemed to open in an explosion overnight a few weeks ago and were tough enough to withstand a few frosty mornings. I crept outside a few times while the kidlets were occupied to snap a few pictures.

The buds start out pink and then open as white with the most delicate shade of pink. Against a very blue sunny sky (which is not very common here) the tree is truly stunning.

While there wasn't a strong scent for me, it attracted the entire area's bee population!! I could hear them buzzing from inside my house one morning and took this little video. Excuse my neighbour's car, I'm too lazy to edit the short video. The buzzing you hear is ALL BEES and not static.