New Project for September

So I decided that I am going to write a note or letter every day the month of September. This will prepare me for participating in the October #CreativeSprint.

So far, so good. But then it's only day 5. I've sent mail to Morocco, Canada, California, New Hampshire, and Florida.

I even made some note cards using one of my SMILE collages.

Now for my pitch - Join me in the #CreativeSprint.  Sign up. It's easy. You'll get a prompt in your e-mail box everyday for a month. You can choose to do it or not, but doing it daily is an amazing practice. Anyone can join. It's an international art game, sort of. It will change your perceptions, make you less anxious, buoy your spirits, reveal amazing things about your creativity, and you'll make a lot of new on-line friends all around the world. Really, it's amazing. It's free. Anyone can participate. Young, old, classrooms, schools, businesses, social groups. Do it. Join me. Please.

Therapeutic endeavors!

two tote bags

a couple more tote bags

dreaming of fishes

Because of the political turmoil in the U.S., I'm feeling the need to do things that are therapeutic, like making Mail Art, and sewing bags. They're both meditative activities for me.  Plus I get to use up fabric that's been hanging around, and scraps of paper and cardboard, so all good.

following along

another bag

The partial eclipse shadow

The odd eclipse sky

The eclipse was seen partially in our part of the country and, even at 86% or whatever, it was pretty phenomenal. The sky turned an interesting color, the light changed to something eerie, and not describable.

Fishy tale

The sweet thing was the people came together to appreciate the event in impromptu gatherings. We went to the park near us. People shared their eclipse glasses and exclaimed at the crescents in the tree shadows. Marveling at the light change, and even a slight temperature difference that was noticeable. Oh for a sweet few moments, we were all friendly and neighborly. It buoyed my spirits considerably.






And I hope that my Mail Art recipients' spirits are lifted by receiving something fun in their mail box.

Hope you share some neighborly moments or get some good mail.

Hugs for everyone.

Mail Art

I've been working with these three elements for awhile. A pair of glasses, a mouth, a hand. I think I did the first one in the fall of 2016.  They made me laugh so I started to collect these images from magazines.

When I was notified that Micro Galleries was doing another event, I submitted a few images to see if they'd be interested and they were.

Yay, these pieces will be seen in Jakarta, Indonesia. I hope they "translate" visually for people of a different culture.

I'll have a total of 27, and will label them with letters of the alphabet for simplicity.

I'm not sure how they'll be displayed, but they'll be kept original size which is 4" x 7" (10.16cmX17.78)

Do you have a favorite? I do!

More in the JFK series

#79

The Mail Art on the left with the Kehinde Wiley painting as the background is the most recent of my JFK collages. I'm really fond of how it turned out. I'm, also, using old postage stamps in these collages.

Number 80 was made today, to send to an Internet friend, who found out she had a life threatening illness.

Butterflies always bring some joy into the world.

I don't know why the image of that Mail Art moved down below, but it did, and I can't move it back up here. Dang parameters of this platform. Dang.

  I included a photo of the commemorative postage stamp sheet that the JFK images are coming off of.  I scooped up a bunch of them when we were doing a mailing for a friend of mine, who's running for political office locally.  I have lots of them, so let me so you'll be seeing this series a lot in the coming months.

The stamp sheet

#77

#78

#80

La ciudad de Mexico (February visit)

A beautiful mural in a difficult location.

 We came across a courtyard full of sculptures like this. Charming, I loved them. I have no memory of the artist. Anybody recognize these?

A church interior, very peaceful even with a lot of people in it.

 So much gold. It's real, too.

Architecture against a blue sky is kind of perfect.

In the gallery at the Museum of Design. There's no collection, but rather shows of design work that change, and a nice shop.

The exhibit at the time we were there, two sisters from Buenos Aires.

Fabulous jewelry, and all for sale!

They used vintage materials for parts of their work. Very different.

I got a pair of earrings, but at the moment, I'm thinking "where are they?" I can't remember where I put the. Uh oh!

Mail Art Mail Art Mail Art

circa 2003

 I rediscovered a small cache of my own small collages that I made when US postage was $.23. I used them as samples in classes that I was teaching. So I added something to each one, and made them into current Mail Art to send out. I'm more minimal these days.

This card was sent to a VisPo mail art call.

 This card is going to a fish mail art collector.

I can't remember where I sent this one but it turned out interesting, spacially.

circa 2003

circa 2003

circa 2003

 I sent this one to Margate, U.K. for a fundraiser for Margate Caves something or other. A community center is planned and they're raising funds. AND since my pseudonym when I was worked in reservations for a now defunct airline was Miss Margate, I had to submit. My British colleagues were much amused by my pseudonym. It was like saying Miss Coney Island to an American.

This images is from the sheet of JFK stamps put out by the USPS. My friend used lots of the stamps for a mailing and I got the part left over. You'll be seeing a lot of JFK in the future.
This collage is on a CD. I'm not sure who'll receive it, yet.

More altered collages and some ATCs

Here's a group of three ATCs that I did in early April. For some reason, they made me smile. An old-time quality with the old stamps and illustrations.

These two postcard collages are from the early 2000s.
I altered them by adding a circle and a stamp to one,
and a single stamp to the other.

This feels very satisfying.
I have more of these old collages to alter and mail out.
If you'd like to be added to my mail list, send me your postal address via a comment on this blog or to my e-mail address in contact on this blog.