Mail art, of course, and more.

 I used the last of my Louise Nevelson post cards, to alter and send off as Mail Art. This one has a stamp that shows Geo. Washington on a hill over looking rural Brooklyn, NY. It says "Washington saves his army at Brooklyn."

 I was pleased to find two items that matched this golden sculpture by Louise. This is #992, oh my, so close to 1000.

 I'm the August Mentor for IUOMA and I decided to create a Welcome image. I used one of my old altered cards and added the type. I'm really excited that I know how to add type. As mentor,  I say hello and welcome to new comers to the Mail Art union, and offer them any assistance. Today, I welcomed someone in Brazil, and 2 people in the U.S. of A.

 Yesterday, I did more baking, because the Amazing Award winning brownies had been devoured. I had 3 very ripe bananas in the freezer. I defrosted them and made a banana chocolate chip cake using the recipe from my
1965 cookbook. It was super good and we think it's because frozen bananas when defrosted have more liquid to them. You can find the recipe here.

It was sunny this morning and the pool water was a refreshing temperature. Ducky was back in the shady corner, getting some respite from the glare. This is the 2nd day that we've found him there. Hmmm.

We were fortunate to have the rain hold off until afternoon, so we could swim. And we're fortunate to have rain.

Brownies and Mail Art

 I made these brownies tonight to eat while we watched the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. The were called Award Winning Brownies so I thought they'd be perfect for the occasion. You can find the recipe HERE.
They turned out deliciously.

 I'm 10 pieces of Mail Art away from my 1000th since I started counting on 1 Dec. 2010.

This is a series of 3 altered Louise Nevelson postcards that I did this afternoon.  I added the keyboard and 2 postage stamps to a white sculpture. The bottom stamp is a commemorative of the 2004 Olympics in Greece.

 Altering really does make me happy. I really do amuse myself. I added the man's head on top of Louise's, a stamp under one hand and a fish, cut from a South African stamp, to the other hand.

Here's Louise, herself, contemplating the large bust that I put into her room. The stamp behind her head really makes her stand out more.

Which of these 3 do you like the best?

Mail art and calm waters

 My Mail Art buddy Mary sent this card to me, thanking me for sending her some Mail Art; but, I added the postage stamps, couldn't help myself, and sent it back to her. Somehow, those mountains and the water called for alteration. I was in an altering mood! ha haha ha. Again, the scale changes so much with these alterations.

 A letter writing friend of mine, whom I bought postage from via Etsy, sent me a couple stickers of old timey girls. Here's one that I altered and added to a composition. I think what happens for me with making these Mail Art pieces is that I amuse myself. How good is that?

 Someone sent this ATC to me recently, but I took it out of the envelope and then didn't remember who it came from. It's dated 2003 and the eMail address is no longer in existence. I really like it. It's a paper geisha on a piece of silk fabric background. 2.5" x 3.5" I just had to share it with you. It looks lovely and feels really nice.

 I received this sewn card from a member of IUOMA, Rebecca in Arkansas USA. It arrived in a clear envelope, with the notice that the envelope can be recycled. You know, of course, what I'm going to do. Use it for something else, right?

Here's a calm, serene, water view to keep us cool on a very hot day (in RVA.)

SO sunny!

 I arrived at the pool a bit earlier than usual this morning, and it was already sunny and hot. Ducky was taking shelter in a corner!

 The water was cool and still. Just looking at this image makes me feel cooler and serene. I hope it does that for you, too.

 Lucky me, I was able to "grab" these off of Missive Maven's Etsy shop. Letter writing related postage stamps are so perfect for Mail Art and letters.

 Yesterday, I met up with my amiga, Ann, to practice our español. We sat on the cafe deck and it was so lovely. Low humidity, a light breeze, and a view of Jun Kaneko's sculpture and my favorite tree grouping.

I spotted this as I walked into the supermarket. I'd never seen this brand of beer before.  What do you think? Should I try it? Or just buy it for the graphics!

The usual, Mail Art, Pool, all good!

 I'm sending this to Monkey. I altered one of Monkey's Postcards to give the kids in my workshop an example of altering, before I handed out Monkey cards to them. They did an amazing job of altering. You can see examples here.  There's an interview with moi and Monkey, which includes the kids Mail Art.

 I had some scraps of matt board so made these two dotty cards. The dark board worked out well and now I'll peruse my stock to find other dark boards.

 Again, I like the ambiguity of the dots, on top or a punched hole?

 Here I am with this morning's Mail Art. I switched back to altering an existing postcard, having re-discovered my collection of Canadian landscapes that my friend Alexis sent me last year. This makes me laugh, seeing that guy peeking over the landscape, maybe he sent the stamps down the stream. Isn't the scale changed by these bits?

 This morning, the pool water was refreshing, the sky clear, the sun bright, and NO humidity. Oh my. A day's reprieve.

I snapped this with my phone last night after the rain storm. More rain came on a bit later, too. We are a very lucky part of the country right now. Drought going on elsewhere.

Round Mail Art!

#981

 

 

I like the round format of altered CDs. I'm not sure these are actually making it through the postal system as I haven't heard back from any recipients. I hope they are cause I really like them and want them to go "naked" into the world. However, if I find out that they aren't getting to the destinations, I'll use an envelope. What do you think? Envelope? Maybe one with a window cut out in the middle?

Clouds tonight

 The clouds were beautiful tonight.

Mail Art & a 4 o'clock

 This altered CD is being sent to a young person who attended my Mail Art workshop for kids at BBGB. He sent me some Mail Art almost immediately. I think this turned out really nicely. I like the illusion of depth and how the colors worked together to make this sort of a seamless illustration. It's no photo shop, but rather mu usual cut and past. The poem is from random bits of text. If I were the "hang on to all of my pieces" type of artist, I'd hang on to this one for sure. I really like it.  I hope the recipient will like this, oh, I first hope that it makes it through the mail. It's going "naked", not in an envelope.

It's been chilly here, yes, chilly, and gray and drizzly, so no pool for the past couple days. Here's photo of some flowers on my 4 o'clock bushes. This one is giving out two toned blossoms. Pretty cool. I have only 1 yellow bush, which is dismaying as I haven't seen any in the neighborhood to glean seeds from. I like the yellow flowers a lot. I hope my bush produces lots of seeds so I can assume I'll have more bushes in the future in that color. Any ideas about growing 4 o'clocks?

Mail Art & water

#974

 I created this as an example for the children in my workshop last Tuesday. I wanted them to choose a person or animal, some texture, a word and something they could repeat several times. They did a great job! I'll eventually post some of their work.

 

#977

 Here's another of the Louise Nevelson postcards that I've altered. I was right in thinking that it'd be fun to play around with them.









  Here's a boring postcard that I altered. I gave some boring postcards to the children in the workshop with the instruction to make them less boring. They really enjoyed that one.

#978

 Here are some water photos taken at the pool yesterday morning. It was sooo sunny, and we love the way the light plays on the moving water.

Someone remarked that these could also be sky. I think the one above is especially ambigous. Like a science-fiction sky! Right? Some other planet.

Mail Art and water on a hot day.

 I purchased some Louise Nevelson postcards on sale, thinking they'd be fun to alter. This is my first alteration and I really like the way it turned out. I hope Louise would have liked it. We actually met her years ago when she came to give a talk to students at Pratt Institute, in Brooklyn NY,  where my husband was a grad student. I attended because I could, and she was so stunning. She had on thick false eyelashes, white lace stockings, and a turban. Wow! I was in awe.

 I received a "blank" TV from Adamandia, in Chicago, with instructions to fill the screen and send it back to her. What fun! There I am on TV! A collaborative piece of Mail Art. 
Today is the day that I do the Mail Art workshop for children at BBGB. This is so exciting!

The pool was great this morning. The water was a perfect temperature. My swimming is improving, which was my goal for this summer, among other things.
Hopefully, it won't storm tomorrow and we can get to the pool again.

Another week begins, I return to Tiny Town

#972

 I couldn't stay away forever. I'm going to be visiting Tiny Town again, as I find good images to add to it. This one is entitled - "When the BIG tourist season started up again, Tiny Town residents were startled by Eugenia's pale countenance."

#973

Ana in Paris sent me a wonderful piece of Mail Art and in the envelope she included a postcard of one of her art pieces that consisted of circles (or plates?) I couldn't resist, I placed my own circles on top of some of hers. I'm sending this altered piece back to her.

 Saturday, we went to Antique Village on Route 301, in quest of some magazines from 1962. While there, I came on this Fiestaware set. Lovely color. 

 This curious plaster statue attracted me. It's entitled "The Doctor!" Oh I should have gotten it. It could be him in another guise, right? Note the skull at the bottom.  We found magazines for our gift to friends having their 50th wedding anniversary, and I got materials to cut up for collages. We stayed at the place longer than planned as a HUGE rain storm hit the area. It sounded amazing on the metal roof of the building.

This morning, we went to the pool and it was an excellent idea to do that. The water was a perfectly nice temperature. As we were preparing to leave, C spotted something swimming back and forth by the steps on the opposite side. What the heck!! B grabbed a net, ran over there, and rescued a chipmunk. What a surprise for us, and for it!

Now to get back to preparing for a workshop. I'm going to be doing my first ever Mail Art workshop for children at BBGB, our Children's book store. What fun for me!

Mid-week update

 This guy is Mail Art #970. Oh my, only 30 away from 1000! I decided to alter a postcard today, instead of being dotty. The text makes a random poem that turns out not to be so random. The postcard is from the hotel we stayed at in New Orleans, Jan. of 2011. Place d'Armes.

 This dotty card was made yesterday. I like the way only the recipient will know if the dots are punch outs or dots on top. It's one of my minimals. I have to be minimal in some part of my life, since my studio is maximal!!

 Ducky looks like he's alone in the ocean, doesn't he? The water was only 85F this morning and the sky overcast. This photo was taken on a sunny day, as today's photos were sort of blah.

I've posted a few more items in/on my FritziMim Etsy shop. A couple more of the small purses made from vintage tea towels. While I think they are adorable, as well as immensely useful, they aren't generating much interest. What do you think - should I tag them as Tea Bags? Would that get some interest? Or what? Any ideas? I'm going to do a blog post about tea, soon, so maybe that'll get some attention. I have lots of vintage linen tea towels that my honey got for me but don't want to make bags if there's no interest. You know what I mean? Any thoughts welcome.

Starting a new week.

 What a weekend, with unbelievably hot weather. What to do? Make some mail art, that's what.
Here's another altered CD going out into the world. I hope it makes it. I'm sending it to someone on the opposite coast. The last piece I sent her, never arrived. Dang!
This one is called " her smile seemed to see everything. Piano attempted not to stare. For Sure!"

 This is soothing, so cool, so perfect for a hot day. It's going off to someone as a birthday card. Some of the circles are punched holes, some are dots on top of the paper. Fooled you!

 I like these chairs outside of a little restaurant nearby. It was too hot to sit outside of course, but, aren't they inviting anyway?

 Since I was staying indoors to avoid the heat, I thought I'd clean my refrigerator. Also, there was an odd smell in it. It was very satisfying to take everything out & discard odd things. I emptied an old bottle of Liquid Smoke and this is what the bottle looked like emptied. An interesting design left on the inside, residue of smoke? I never found out what smelled, except maybe the blue cheese? I used vodka and water to clean the 'fridge.' It worked great. Have you tried that?

This morning, the temperature was pleasant, the humidity low, and there was a warm breeze. I sat out on the lounge chair with my morning coffee. Here's my view of the bench corner. It's very gray and rain appears to be on it's way.

Since it was cooler, I actually went out in my car (which doesn't have air conditioning) to the post office this afternoon. I mailed this little book, 3.5" x 7", to a Book Art exhibit that will be in Moscow in November. The book is an altered catalog, with 30 pages. I started it in 2008, while in Paris - left it sitting around my studio all this time - worked on it more this past week, and voila Mail Art Booklet completed. I scanned all of the pages in case this doesn't make it to it's destination. Oh I hope it does.