Mail Art Monday: Autumn Edition

Did September and October run past you as well? Mine ran past in a screaming blur of school, birthday parties and yard work. Here's what's been arriving in my postbox over the last few months.

In my postbox...

Dana also returned to mail art with a lovely Bert's Bees envelope stuffed full of nautical inspired goodies as well as items with watercolour washes. I am completely smitten with her recent photos of the Praying Mantis on her Echinacea. Aren't they amazing?!

Sarah has a knack for making small envelopes full of interesting ephemera. Her Daffodil drawing was an instant hit for me and the Aurora stickers were quickly confiscated by a certain princess obsessed wee little.

I was in a state of serious Olympic withdrawal when Jill's delightful package arrived and satisfied my British cravings. We are a Lego obsessed house and Jill sent us a Mr Bob Lego. Now I just have to think of an interesting photo shoot for this little guy.

Jessica continued our postcard exchange with an island predator scene. An interesting selection of new material for my turn was included along with some cool stickers and a clipping about my town.

I have several packages on their way to my friends and I'm putting the final touches on a couple more.  The next mail art post should be all about the happy mailboxes across the country and across the ocean.

jeannine

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Returning

Well, it certainly has been a while since my last post. Where have I been? What have I been doing?

Since late this summer I have been exercising vigorously and consistently five days a week. Aerobics progressed to strength training and then running. I have caught the running bug that always seemed to elude me in the past. I started off in the evenings when the kids were tucked into bed. Once school started for my oldest child, I exercised in the afternoon which eliminated my studio time. When evening rolls around after homework, snacks, meals and cleaning, I am worn out and can only muster a few pages of a book or a TV show. I usually fall asleep during both of those activities, too.

There was also a subtle shift that happened in the summer where I began viewing this blog as a chore. One that took me away from the garden, fresh air or my other activities. I know myself well enough to know that if something feels like a chore it's time to step back and take a break.

Several months have passed without any significant time on here or in my studio and I do finally miss it. This weekend I spent my extra hour (due to daylight savings time) in my studio cleaning, organizing and purging. I discovered a few items and supplies I had purchased years ago and never got around to working with. Starting this week I am spending more time in the studio and I'm working on some of these forgotten projects. I have a set of Matryoshka dolls that I am prepping for painting, a family Christmas card to design, several mail art replies and an acrylic painting that I may or may not repaint.

Am I alone here? Do you ever walk away from your art or design to renew your creativity or do you create until you feel renewed? Thank you for waiting patiently. I hope you'll enjoy the posts and projects on here in the next little while.

jeannine

Tradesies

The first time I visited Futuregirl's site I had been searching the internet for tips on hand stitching felt. I wanted to make a couple of small toys and dolls for my first daughter and found some very easy-to-follow instructions on Alice's blog. I lingered on her site for quite some time, reading her past posts and getting to know her through her writing. When I started this little blog, one of the first posts I wrote was about the felt projects I completed using her tutorials. I ignored my shyness and sent her an email with my link. She replied and featured my bag in a post about projects from her tutorials.

Several months later she wrote a wonderful piece about blog comments and I left a reply. I told her about how thankful I was for her encouragement and kind words for my fledgling blog and artwork. We've kept in touch since, via our blogs and twitter.

Another few months (or maybe a year) later, Alice asked me if I was interested in a trade. A painting for some embroidery, knitting or crochet. I may have made an audible 'squee' sound while I replied YES! After exchanging a few emails in which I showed her links as to what type of cowl I might like and colour, I got to work on her painting.

Actually, I had a few moments of panic first. Ohmygod, what have I agreed to? My painting's going to blow and she'll wonder why she ever asked me to trade. Can I get out of this without embarrassing myself? No, no, no, it'll be fine. Just going to do one quick Hail Mary before I tuck this into the postbox. FINGERS CROSSED! While she may not have done the same desperate internal dialogue, it turns out she too gets anxious over trades and was hoping I loved the cowls.

OF COURSE I loved the cowls! They are warm grey, soft and all around beautiful! Plus, I was only expecting one. Imagine my delight when I open the package and find two; one crochet an one knit. I can't wait until our weather shifts just a little bit more so I can wear them.

When creating Alice's main painting, I layered several washes of colour from light to dark. I drew the triangles and filled them in with gouache then outlined them with ink and drew the trees. Alice mentioned she was reading The Hobbit, so I did a little research and pulled a quote I thought was appropriate for life in general. The very last item was four sheets of hand painted watercolour stickers for her correspondence.

The only detail I left out was a title for the main painting. If I had waited to mail it until I could think of a title, it would still be sitting in my studio. I managed to name two little humans, but when it comes to artwork, I'm always stumped. Any suggestions?

This has been a fantastic summer project. One I'm hoping we'll keep up over the years. It's also inspired me to finally tackle the large canvases I have in our main living space. Lots of colour and forest themes are in order!

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Mail Art Monday: Summer Edition

I looked back on my last post and could barely believe that well over a month has past since I last wrote about mail art. What can I say other than the lure of warm weather and time spent in my garden or around beaches took me far away from my computer most days.

In their postbox...

Jill had sent me a few pieces from her side of the ocean and so I sent her pieces of my garden in return. I also tucked in a few pictures from my region along with paper a postcard and a few more lovely chickens.

Sarah received a few photos from my visits (or time living in) BC, Nova Scotia & Ontario along with a few Canadian stamps. A petal from my garden, watercolour pieces and handmade stickers were tucked inside with a local postcard.

I returned Belinda's watercolour card with my fish drawings. The white circles reminded me of bubbles and so a few goldfish popped into mind when I started sketching. I returned the favour with a watercolour sheet of my own along with some handmade stickers, petals, a butterfly sticker and the twenty cents I owed her son for his lovely drawing.

Thankfully, the postcard I made for Jessica turned up while she was unpacking after her recent move.
This time I drew a fan on a scrap of paper and cut triangles out of the paper she supplied to create a colourful breeze cooling the air.

In my postbox...

Barbara spoiled me rotten with two lovely packages this summer. The first was sent during her summer holiday and included a sketch, a gorgeous flower photo, British Columbia paper clippings and the most delightful sprout bookmarks.

Barbara's second amazing package was all about waffles! My family has a tradition of having homemade waffles every Saturday morning. Not only did she create an adorable waffle pop-out illustration with a my very own logo, she went so far as to show me pictures of her own waffles... that she used for printmaking! I'm also assuming she saved some to eat.

Kimi sent me pieces of the Arthouse Sketchbook tour to me with her latest package. She was kind enough to check out my sketchbook while she was visiting (and nicking their paper ephemera for me). A print of a recent colourful and happy painting as well as a clipping of a sweet anchor dress were also included. If I ever came across this dress, I'd have a hard time passing it up!

I'm hoping that I'll post about mail art a little more often than seasonally in the coming months. The idea of spending a few hours tucked in my studio on a cool rainy day sounds like the perfect fall day.

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