Some Mail Art - in and out

I received some Circle Mail Art from Sil in Belgium and sent a piece out to her same day. I've been lax about sending. I'm trying to be better about it and sending as I receive, BUT what to do about the pile up on my studio table - all wonderful gifts of incoming from Mail Artists around the world. Any ideas would be appreciated!

Some Circles and Squares

 I made a few postcards for my groups on IUOMA  I originated two groups - one for Circles and one for Squares. The Circle one has a very active following but the squares, not so much.  I used the " let them fall" method of placement, then glued the bits wherever they fell. Then I gave them titles.

Direction, Congestion, & Gravity

                                                                 Direction & Gravity

They'll be sent off to in the mail this coming week. It feels good to spend a wintry morning making Mail Art. You should try it. Really. 

A few altered postcards

 I always write a little story on the reverse. Something about what's happening in the image like, the legs in the first image look like tap dancers so I made a story about the noise, and in the lighthouse how the giant shell appeared and the effect it had on tourism. Can you guess what I might have written about the stamps falling from the sky at the new post office? 

That Post Office building now houses the U.S. National Postal Museum and I'm happy that I was able to visit it several times. It's located right by the Railway station. This postcard is one of the ones they offered for free, so I scooped up a few, okay, maybe more than a few. I can't wait until I can travel again and visit the museum.

Another altered Postcard

2020-20

I was gifted with an old postcard album. The album had a label inside that said Stuttgart. No other identification. The postcards were mostly black and white. Nothing was written on them and they were in the album with those little black corner thingies that held them in place. There were from France, England, and Germany. They appeared to be from the 1940s. They were found in a house that some acquaintances purchased a number of years ago, and recently, while clearing things out, decided to pass this album along to me. YAY, lucky me. This is the first card that I've altered.

Here's the story I wrote on the reverse:

Motorists rarely used this route, so the large painting didn't create any traffic problems. However, how it got there remained a mystery. It remained there until weather conditions caused it to disintegrate.

Random photos during time of Isolation

my "office-studio"

Made banana bread

wrote post cards

Sat in front and watched street

Important information

And I've started to write poetry. I've got 9 poems written so far, in 10 days indoors.  You can read them on my instagram @mimgolub if you'd like or on Facebook where a couple of them are in Spanish, translated by friends of ours because I wanted to have a collaborative experience with them.  Our kids business is going all on-line.    See what they're doing by clicking on the link. Be safe, wash your hands, don't touch your face (teacher voice)

more office but with book & breakfast

Noah's design for ALR

Bizoo - the cat

View from our bed!

Near you, it's where I have to be!

I decided to get back to my blog after a long absence, mainly because I think I figured out how to add photos.  I continue to struggle with my Toshiba Chrome Book, still learning to find my photos! Where do they go? I have to add them to my drive, I think, then I can't find them, oh whatever.

Here are two recent snaps of Bizoo, which came up on my drive, with a bunch of other photos that are boring and I don't know why I saved them, so I'll delete them after I finish this.

What's been going on - well, I've been writing lots more of those postcards to get out the vote. It's been really dismal for me, as many days I'm feeling distraught over what's going on in my country with the separation of children from their parents at our southern border. I think of my immigrant father and how he could have been taken from his mother. I think about our 5 year old grandgirl, mi corazon, and know how devastating a separation would be for her, for all of us.

  I write postcards. So far, since May, 600 for various campaigns. It's what I do now.

So what's going on for you? Do you have a cat? A dog? Do you participate actively in any political actions?

Odd and Ends

Patter of Amtrak Train views

I've been playing some more with the Layout App on my phone. It's such fun!

Pattern of my rain hat on a red chair

 These are all part of my Creative Sprint solutions.

A few days ago, the prompt was to make something in public then leave it there. So I made a small collage while in the library and left it there. I hope who ever found it, enjoyed getting it.

 Our cat, Bizoo looks very regal. He turned his back to the TV which was tuned to the Royal wedding.

I've been writing postcards to get out the Vote here in the U.S.A. I write for different candidates but all are Democrats. It's been very satisfying and feels like I'm doing something real. And I'm using really nice postcards. Maybe the recipients will keep them for awhile.

This is a perfect action for me as I love writing postcards and sending mail, plus I can do this from home.

Mas Mexico y some other memories

Botanical Garden - El Charco

la Parrochia

garden at La Casa del Puesta del Sol

Mural

Mural

Instituto Allende 

In front of the rented casa

 We stayed up above the center of San Miguel de Allende in an area called Los Arcos, which was colonia Atascadero.

It was such a steep walk down, and then up, that I didn't even attempt it, though my honey and daughter did.  We took cabs or called a car. I always jumped in as co-pilota so I could have the "thrill of the ride" like a Montaña Rusa.

I was always able to have conversations with the drivers and learn about the city, the neighborhood, the people. I'm so happy that I can speak Spanish, because de lo contrario, not everyone speaks English there. Even though there's a large ex-pat population, it doesn't feel like it, but it makes it easier for people like my honey who has a small Spanish vocabulary.

Add caption

Now to some older memories - someone posted about a postcard company and they had great cards from my home town. I fell in love with the illustrations. And even though I make my own postcards for Mail Art, I ordered a bunch to send to my family and friends who grew up there, too. There's the theatre that did live shows and I ushered there in high school, and Navy Pier, which is now an amusement park but I went to University on it. We used to say, the only school that could be torpedoed. I think it went out 3/4 of a mile into the lake.
And the El train that I traveled on my whole life, as kids we took the train by ourselves to get to the ice skating arena and go to the beach. Who'd let a kid do that now? It helped us to be independent and comfident, for sure. And the fabulous Art Institute, where we were taken to see the art, even as little children, and my honey went to school there. I can remember the paintings by Seurat, Degas, Renoir, which I think is what drew me to study art. Such memories. The company has other places, too. Check out their website. It's actually a family owned business, which made it extra attractive to support. Click HERE to get there.

Adios, hasta luego, mas fotos de Mexico en el futuro, tal vez.

Snow is on it's way! and other things.

#2-2015

#4 - 2015

 Catching up on showing you my mail art of 2015.

Still at it on a regular basis.

What about you? Any routines for 2015?

#5 - 2015

#6 - 2015

Altered Mona #8

Foucault's Pendulum at our local science museum. This past month, there was a train set up around the pendulum, which was a fun touch. Children love watching this pendulum knock down the pegs!

We saw the original pendulum at a not very well known museum in Paris. What a thrill, really.

Oh, and check out my new Mona blog HERE.

Good Grief! A month has gone by?

#210

 What a busy month it's been.

I was knitting lots and lots in preparation for a pop-up shop, making finger-less gloves, giving myself some sort of on-the-job wrist stress!

But it all worked out well, as my Etsy shop is empty, the pop-up shop sale was a success, but I still have a few pairs mitts at NEST! Stop by there if you're in RVA.

Mail Art still happening, too.  #210 has a throw-back look, doesn't it. I'm making lots more using the prints made for both C's and my pages from the Artist Coloring book. Fun to alter, as I've said before.

#244

#237

 I made my "Peace" cards again this season. Adding swashes of Inktense color to them.

I numbered them but didn't scan them individually except for this one. So far this year, while not doing a piece of Mail Art daily, I managed to make over 250 pieces, with a few more to come. My experiences with my 365 projects has made my practice of getting into my studio such a normal part of my life. There's no question that I'll go in daily and make something, even if it's not Mail Art.

We celebrated one night of Chanukah with friends, at Perly's Deli. We enjoyed a little carafe of bubbly, and a whole lot of delish food. If you're in our neighborhood, go there and eat!

We were delighted by our grand's delight at all the candles. Our niece & nephew hosted their annual gathering with many candles and excellent latkes.

It's been a wonderful year, full of lots of enjoyable experiences. How lucky we are and we know it!


Happy and healthy New Year to all of you, just in case it's another month before I post again.

Here's a photo of Bizoo, contemplating the world outside.

Travel!

Oh lovely spring has come at last, and the geese are mostly gone from our little fountain lake, and the trees are blooming. So pretty.





Mary, of Uncustomary, has asked us to write about Travel this month, but I forgot to post on the date that she assigned. So it goes.

I did, however, think about it a lot.

Here are a couple of photos from a couple of our trips, and my thoughts that this topic prompted.

I grew up in a neighborhood and a family where people didn't plan to go to Europe because they CAME from Europe. But I wanted to go travel there. I don't know why, but I did.

I wanted to learn lots of different languages and travel. I can remember thinking about this when I was 10 or 11 years old. Meanwhile, my friends were yelling at their mothers, "Speak English, Ma!"

I never thought I'd get to travel anywhere, other than our car trips to the neighboring state for my father to fish in some new lake or river, or when I was a bit older, cross half the country by train to see my older sister and her husband in California.

But by chance, I got a job that permitted me to go to far away places, and then later, my husband and I got to travel together.

We went to Denmark and Portugal, off the beaten path back in the day. And then we got to France, and Spain, and England, oh my. I loved it. Even later on we were fortunate enough to travel with our kids and spend weeks in a foreign city, soaking up the new and different, and other languages.

My husband received residencies and we were able to return many times to a wonderful studio in Paris, where we met artists from all over the world. We learned that we're all the same, not that we didn't know this, but we really got to experience that. I still think about it and how fortunate we've been to have had this. Amazing memories, and friendships that continue even over great distances.

Now I've added to my traveling in a different way, by sending out Mail Art

all over the world. 

This piece went to Marseille, to an exhibit about Mermaids.

If you've never left home, traveled some place different, I highly recommend it. You don't have to cross the seas or continents, just go to some place new nearby even, and just enjoy the experience. Or even, send Mail Art to people far away. Whatever you decided to do, it'll expand your mind.

365! I did it. Done!

#364

#365

 To me: Congratulations!











My kitties in the landscape will not end with this project. I have many more vintage postcards and several more kitties to go.








Voila! My last card of this 365 Mail Art project. I thought a lot about what I'd end with and since I discovered that I had a two or three more Tiny Town blanks, this felt like the perfect way to end the project.
On the reverse: Mme Brunau brought Simone to Tiny town on the last day of the year, to quietly wish the residents a bonne année. The residents responded, "merci." 

And again, here are the words of my offspring - the motto of their business, The Alternative Speakers Bureau.
Say this to yourselves and believe it.
Do something, make something, and share with me.

I'll be continuing to make Mail Art, and other stuff! See you in the new year.