Notice Left -- Mail Art 8:

I am still going through boxes after my move. My mother is also digging through crap of her own from a move years earlier, and she found this bit of Mail Art. It wasn't something I had done--nor was it addressed to me. It was addressed to my brother (on the other side). It was done by someone named Lawrence Kight and was postmarked in 2006. I have no idea who he is--but I thought I'd post his art here for posterity. 

Yes, I am STILL making Mail Art. I so want to quit it---and I am close to being able to. (I keep telling myself that anyway...)

This is a quickie. I knew I was scheduled for yet another medical appointment on July 8, so I wanted to get something ready to mail. Despite being a rushed, slapped together thing, it came out okay. It's not great, but it doesn't suck. It's going to Coco Muchmore, the last IUOMA Mail Artist that I will be sending one of the dreaded zines to (discussed HERE). With this piece I caught myself trying to adjust the elements so they did not come off the edges of the envelopes (and have a better chance of reaching its destination). When I found that little framing piece atop the address triangle thing, those plans went out the window. Besides, coming off of the dimensions of the envelope is kind of my trademark or signature. It's "my thing." Not that anyone besides myself notices. It's just me being geeky. But truly, some of the more recent envelopes barely had anything exceeding the boundaries of the envelopes. My mom even noticed. I had to convince her that, yes, every thing in the last batch had something outside of the envelope boundaries. She had to go back and look--and texted me that I was right. Ha! (D)

This one is just plain B-A-D. It was thrown together entirely after my Ambien kicked in. Seriously. And just as when I try to write after it kicks in (which I shouldn't), doing Mail Art (instead of, say... sleeping) is also a bad idea. This one is so BORING! I rushed this the night before my next trip off island--and it shows. It is to a new Mail Artist on IUOMA I've had a little interatction with. After this, barring any further mail from anyone, I believe I am done with Mail Art for Mail Artists (unless one sends me something. Boo! Hiss!)...and I can focus on pieces for friends who've commented on my Mail Art. (D)

As if I didn't learn my lesson from the previous piece o' Mail Art, here I am back again (and FAILING again) trying (unsuccessfully) to make an evelope as a faux horror movie poster.This is worse than the previous one, I think...and I wasn't even on Ambien this time. The really awful part is, not only is the envelope lame...but I am now starting to send them off to friends. Sorry, Christa... (?)

The next person on my list to send Mail Art to is my longtime friend Eric in Costa Mesa. Eric's birthday is July 13th. I'm going to be off-island next July 8th. I doubt he'll get this by/on the 13th (if at all), but it is kind of like a bonus for the birthday. (I sent him a card and gift weeks ago--just to get it out of my hair and to make sure it reached him okay. The mail can be so slow here.) It, again, is not great. It's staggering how lame everything I make has been lately.  (D)

The envelope below probably should have gone to my friend Eric above or perhaps my friend Michael O. They are both big tiki fans. However, when I made Eric's, it came out "Hospital of Horrors" instead. The very next day, as I was getting ready to go sit and watch Shirley (the tortoise) in the backyard, inspiration hit. Of course! A tiki envelope! I quickly found/printed some images from online. Voila! The next person on my list to make something for was my best friend Erich. Actually, the tiki theme is perfect for him. Erich has accompanied me on many tiki bar adventures and has aquired a taste for tiki. Plus, I will be going to the mainland tomorrow alone. It's the perfect chance for me to send it so when he gets home later this summer, it will be a surprise! Kowabunga! (D)

This is totally slapped together--and it shows. I had the background on the envelope. Okay, what goes on it? Vampira? Sure. Glue her down. Flip through materials... and how about another toe tag with feet? Sure. Put it on. A bunch of random crap later and voila. It's not great (or even good really), but it will do. I do not know Fraya at all. I'm sure she is very nice. She was new on IUOMA. I left her a "welcome" comment and instantly I got a friend request from her. She'll probably be creeped out by this (Who sends corpse feet on their initial mailing? What sort of first impression does that make?) I just whipped this up to get it done and get back to my list...(which continues to grow. CURSES!!) (D)

And just when I was ready to get my groove on and knock more names off of my list, bam-bam-bam...I got three pieces o' mail from IUOMA Mail Artists. ARGH! As much as I enjoy their mail and hearing from them...GRR! Now I gotta respond.

BonnieDiva sent me this collaged postcard creation.

The last TWO envelopes I made for BonnieDiva NEVER arrived. Waaaaagh! We will see if this one makes it to her. I also had to reprint the little zine I had made as there had been a copy in one of the missing envelopes I had sent her way. Fingers (toes...and eyes) crossed she gets this one. I am NOT wild about it. I literally slapped it (and the two below it) together in one day (a record -- but, with my disease, I was literally too tired to do anything that day but sit) to get their mail answered and out of the way. All of the elements were already cut out (I have a stash of images cut out for future use) and the backgrounds already applied to the envelopes. That helped--but the result are just iffy... (D)

Mike Parsons, and the other IUOMA artists, I have asked repeatedly NOT to send me mail.  It was a nice gesture and kind of him to send it, but... I DON'T want it. PLEASE!  But it is a nice piece o' work.

I had told Mike I was not going to respond to him any further...but one of the envelopes I had sent him never reached him. So he gets this, which I think came out like a piece o' crap. Fingers crossed it reaches him. The address is a little hard to make out on the "wooden" background. I do hope it arrives... (D)

P. Landon in Florida sent me this repro lobby card for the William Castle flick THE TINGLER. We had previously been sending space-y, Venus-y things to each other. This breaks that trend, so...

She gets this busy non-space-y, non-Venus-y horror mess. It's so busy, I had to put green behind the address-holding zombie so he would show up. The stamps are lost in the background. I HOPE the post office can find/see them...and I hope P. gets it. (D)

Last night, I could not sleep. I had taken my Ambien, but it never really kicked in. I'd try to sleep--nothing. I got up several times. One time I saw that I had been invited to join the Octopean Epistolary Society, which deals with octopi, the sea, etc. It's a group on the IUOMA. Ugh. I accepted the invitation. I don't know what I am supposed to do, but here is my one and only contribution.  (Let's see if it makes it to Kansas... (D)

I usually end these posts at 10 new envelopes (or less). However, I do NOT want my best friend, Erich, to see his tiki envelope before he returns home in mid-August. (Hopefully it will be there waiting for him--and NOT stuck in Mail Art postal prison somewhere...)

The very next morning, in my emailed daily mail preview from the post office, I saw that I was receiving something from IUOMA member, Mark Johnson. I remembered that he was sending me a zine. I should have stopped him, but I didn't get around to it in time and received this:

I have had insomnia. Before the mail even arrived that day, I had whipped this together for him. Not great--and the lower left-hand corner seems...naked. But it's DONE! Pop-offs are at a minimum (just the stamps and the foot of the spider), so hopefully he will recieve it. Having pieces printed and cut out beforehand has been great. Putting it together is like a puzzle--what fits where. At least I had it ready for my trip off-island scheduled that day. 

I know it is no big deal, but I didn't go off-island that day as planned (it had been pushed back a few days). So I took the opportunity to fill in that blank space that bothered me. NOW it's "done." (D)

A new IUOMA artist, Pam Chatfield,  who I had sent a piece to (scroll up) but she has yet to receive it,  sent me these personally created pieces in the mail.  I do not know how she got my address, as it is no longer on IUOMA. It was sweet of her to send it. I appreciate the thought and I love her work, but... I would rather she hadn't sent me anything. 

This is what I came up with for her. Eh...  The bulk of the envelope (entire background) is just the printed photo of a seance. I only added the items floating in the air (bell, crystal ball, tambourine, and Ouija board)...and the stamps (also "floating"). My tired and oft' used skull is back as well. As weak as the whole thing is, that skull is the thing that makes the scene work (although it is still not that great. It was totally dead before I added the skull). As I said in the enclosed note to her, you never know how a project will come out when you start it. (D)

FINALLY (momentarily?) caught up on my responses to mail artists, I was able to start tackling the list of friends I need to make something for. Cathy and Travis were next on my list. Their envelope didn't come out all that great--but it doesn't totally suck either. I did have issues though. The envelope was one I brilliantly (or so I thought) salvaged from some junk mail mailing. However, it was noticeably smaller than a regular-sized envelope.  As I was trying to enclose the letter that went with it, the sides started to tear! Yikes! So, I had to fold it in half again ( It was already folded down to thirds or forths) to get it in the envelope...and that left it rather "fat". That, coupled with a very cramped address space (it's much smaller than the usual triangle address labels I have been using), make me concerned about it reaching these friends in San Francisco. That's why there are THREE stamps on the thing. Again, oh well. I tried... (?)

One of my former bosses from my days as a writer for The Fresno Bee newspaper reacted favorably (or perhaps, politely) to my mail art blogs--so I added her to the list. I made this and saw that she was next on the list. Another nothing-to-get-excited-about envelope. Sigh... (Sorry Monica...) My least favorite thing about it is the checked background. I have several envelopes I pasted backgrounds on weeks ago with no idea how I'd use them. But, despite the great picture of the woman in the bat-like dress, there is nothing interesting to see here. Move along. Move along. (?)

This is what I churned out next and it went to the next friend on the list, Robby. Robby isn't really a horror person, so (providing this finds his way to his mailbox) I hope he likes this. I actually do. It's very simple and plain--but it works. (?)

Maxima Strange is a delightful Mail Artist on IUOMA. I don't "owe" her any mail. However, one day we were messaging each other and she mentioned that she had stumbled upon an old GODZILLA movie. She said she loved Godzilla. Hmm. I found a great picture of the big guy, some ruined buildings and fire. So far, so good. But it was missing something. Maxima uses a picture of this cute goth-like doll as her avatar / icon / whatever it is called that represents her. I decided to make that version of Maxima the "star". I added a screaming mouth and a pair of frightened arms and...voila! I just hope she likes it, gets it, and does not think I was making fun of her character. (D)

BonnieDiva graced me with mail again. Among the artist stamps and tiny postcards, there was one of her delightful Bon-Zines! THANK YOU!

Using another recycled envelope from some junkmail, I zipped this piece together for BonnieDiva in response. Poor BonnieDiva. She has sent me several things, but--with the exception of the first one--everything I have sent has never reached her. This one only has a tiny amout of off-the-page elements--the chimney and the peak of the roof. Hopefully it reaches her. Darn it all. (D)

Earlier this week I was super fortunate to get to meet one of my fellow mail artists, Amy Kiessling. Amy lives in Seattle not too far from a new tiki bar (that is NOT a tiki bar--long story...but it really is a most incredible tiki bar!) called Inside Passage. My friend Erich, who is up visiting, and I planned to go this past Tuesday. Amy and her beau Chris surprised us a little after we had arrived. It was super duper groove-a-rama getting to know them. Thank you for making that happen, Amy.

As a thank you for a wonderful evening with wonderful company (and new friends), I pumped this piece out. She knows (from past mailings) I like creepy, horror stuff. I do hope this envelope is okay with her. Again, just part of the roof of the house is outside of the envelope's borders.(D)

As always (unfortunately it is becoming a far too frequent thing), more of my mail art pieces appear to be lost and have not made therir final destination. I have made postcards of photos of the missing pieces to send out and see if, by chance the envelopes did arrive. I won't hold out much hope...

That's it for now. I was going to wait until mid-August to post it, but it's already gotten so long. We'll call it good now.

Fingers crossed my mail reaches their destinations.

Thanks for visiting.

CHEERS!

Jump to the next part HERE!

Revisit my Mail Art journey:

Part 1:  https://monsterago-go.blogspot.com/2022/03/i-used-to-be-mail-artist.html

Part 2:  https://monsterago-go.blogspot.com/2022/03/return-to-sender-mail-art-2-son-of-mail.html

Part 3:  https://monsterago-go.blogspot.com/2022/04/postage-due-mail-art-3.html

Part 4:  https://monsterago-go.blogspot.com/2022/04/dead-letter-office-mail-art-4-horror-of.html

Part 5:  https://monsterago-go.blogspot.com/2022/05/address-unknown-mail-art-5-ghost-of.html

Part 6:  https://monsterago-go.blogspot.com/2022/06/please-forward-mail-art-6-house-of-mail.html

Part 7:  https://monsterago-go.blogspot.com/2022/07/delivery-attempted-mail-art-7-terror-of.html