And More Mail Art

Why the sudden obsession? For one thing they're the perfect size for small studies; that sounds plausible, doesn't it? How about, I need the distraction from the daily craziness. This one says, "Semi precious. Undeliverable as is."

      

Photograph image, Fleur-de-lis motif, taken in Florence last summer when life was a little more normal, or at least I thought there was a chance of some normalcy.

"Delivery failed." Photograph taken on our first night in Italy, June 5th, 2009, Hotel Villa Stanley, Florence.

Quote:  "For us to go to Italy and to penetrate into Italy is like a most fascinating act of self-discovery -- back, back down the old ways of time. Strange and wonderful chords awake in us, and vibrate again after many hundreds of years of complete forgetfulness." --D.H. Lawrence                       

More Mail Art

I like the postcards to look like they've already been through the postal system, though, perhaps not as beat up as some of the mail I've received lately. This one says, Cannot be delivered for unknown reason.

 

Household has moved to unknown sphere which sums up mom's brain.

Quote-less today.

Mail art

Working on these small pieces reminds me of the 52-projects that I did last year. Everything is in the timing and this certainly wouldn't have been the year to take on a weekly project. The fabric background is a serendipitous piece created when I wiped off the squeegee between screen prints.

Have I mentioned that I'm not fond of wasting dye even if it's supposedly exhausted? The blue background fabric wouldn't exist if I hadn't spread dye print paste onto fabric; I wasn't expecting such vivid colors. The torn aged text is from a French book so I have no idea what it says. Don't you love a mystery?    

Quote and good advice: When we are unable to work, we can work at the work of getting ready to work. Julia Cameron          

Mail Art

"Embrace Mistakes," Seth tells us in the current article at MMCA. And I couldn't agree more. One of the mail art pieces I've been working on absolutely refused to behave itself. I should know better than to use StazOn ink over top of dyed fabric, the ink prefers a clean slate. The Fleur de Lis was barely evident. Okay, now what? I painted some wonder under, stamped the Fleur de Lis image on the back of the dried fusible, cut it out and ironed it over the stamped image on the fabric. Oops! left the iron on the wonder under too long. Okay, now I'm annoyed, but wait, the result is something that would never have happened if I hadn't kept making so-called mistakes. I'm fond of the distressed effect, so much so that I attempt to achieve it in  nearly every piece, perfection is over-rated, at least that's the way I see things. I'm hoping to over-iron some wonder under on another piece that I'm working on. Wish me luck!

Quote:  The antiquity and general acceptance of an opinion is not assurance of its truth.
Pierre Bayle

Stencils

Finally! Some new work! Stencils, as I feared, are difficult to cut out! Armed with a self-healing mat, a new craft knife, and hours of quiet all to myself (who says that insomnia isn't a good thing?!) I browsed through the clip art books until I came up with a few possibilities. Sleep eluded me until 3am.

The animal is supposed to be cougar; he ended up stenciled onto a journal page. The mono-printed flower stencil is more interesting to me than the stenciled version. Today, I woke up late and was immediately assaulted with, "I can't find anything! I was reading a book and when I came out of the bathroom it wasn't where I left it." This happens frequently with mom and I have absolutely no idea if she's finished the book and put it away or if she's put it in a "safe" place. She does put things in odd places for "safe-keeping" and I can only assume that she's done it again. I'm not in the mood to go on a hunting expedition so I said that I was positive it would show up. A few minutes later she came shuffling into my room again. "Now I can't the water glass! This is an awful day!" I have to agree!

Anyway, to squash today's frustration I worked on a postcard. Lots and lots of layers of stencils, rubber stamps, gesso covered foreign text and anything else I sitting around that I thought might look like mail art.

I have a huge urge to take flight and run away from home! This week has been full of stressful moments including receiving some alarming news about my health. The idea of being sent to a cardiologist wasn't something I expected to happen to me! Quote: Art is the only way to leave home without leaving home. Twyla Twarp

Later: A few additions to the postcard including a transparency from my personal collection. Yes, I've used the image before; it's obviously a favorite one. The placement of the transparency amused me. Notice the circle around the guys eye; it's from an earlier stamping of the number 8.

Mail Art!

Does anyone not love receiving mail art?! The postcard below is from Darlene. The mailing deadline for the A2Z/favorite quote postcard exchange is on Monday; today is Saturday! I of course waited until the last minute to put the finishing touches on mine. Darlene's work never fails to amaze me and this one is no exception; it's elegant in its simplicity and I'm thrilled that it's now in my collection!

The page on the left is from a foreign text book, Italian, that I dampened and placed over the rust sludge in the bottom of a plastic container. A couple of hours later I was treated to a beautiful stained paper! The container is dedicated to rusting fabric in and I imagine will continue to create wondrous amounts of sludge for dyeing paper in.

Quote on the postcard: Discovery consists of looking at the same thing as everyone else and thinking something different.

Albert Szent Gyorgi