Mail Art 22: Drop Box

Hi there! Welcome back! If you are a regular reader (i.e. someone I know. Ha! Who else bothers? But thank you for looking.), it may seem like I last bothered, er...shared with you just a few days or so ago. Believe it or not, it has actually been a month since my last post. I know they may not look like it, but the envelopes take a long while to make (Usually hours...literally!)--and "real life" (as if I had one...) tends to get in the way from time to time.  But here's what I've got for you this time...

SLASHER WEEKEND:  I had made an envelope for International Union of Mail Arists (IUOMA) member Greg Diaz several weeks ago called SATAN'S DONUT HUT. It wasn't great, but it was kind of amusing. He never received it (of course). To make up for it, I thought I'd throw something else together. The first image I found to use was the guy with the machette. Right then and there I decided to do--not a typical haunted house thing, but an 80s slasher-type thing. It's not nearly as good as the donut one, but better than nothing (IF it arrives, that is).

THE TIKIPHILES: So... my tiki social life has kicked up a notch or two. Last fall, Ray Wyland, who is better known for his website Tiki With Ray, found my tiki-related Instagram page--which led to my tiki blog, and asked me to be a guest on his YouTube show. That was interesting--and Ray is a great guy. We stayed in touch and I've even sent him some mail art. Several months later, I get a text from Ray and some other number I didn't recognize, inviting me to a tiki gathering at a house in Gig Harbor. Could I come? Sure... Ray suggested I make a piece of mail art for the host. I had thought about doing so after the event as a thank you...but then decided using it as an introduction might be a better plan. This is what I came up with.

GHOST PIRATES OF TIKI COVE:  A second tiki invitation came my way--again with Ray being the instigator/mediator. This time on Camano Island. Thinking up a 2nd tiki-themed envelope so quickly (these were literally done the day after each other) was difficult for me. I asked Ray if he thought one of my spooky ones would be okay instead. He told me his friend Grant likes pirates. Pirates? I don't think I've ever done anything with pirates before. It wasn't that successful...

CEMETERY OF HORROR: I really thought this one would come out okay---and it might have had I used a different background. The creepy zombie woman's hands are outstretched and grabbing at you---but they all but disappear thanks to the backdrop. Most of the grave stones are covered over and you can hardly see the moon. Dang! Oh well. You may also notice that I left a bit more of the address showing than usual. I don't really know Lieven Thomas. There is a guy on one of the vintage movie poster sites I frequent (allposterforum.com) who occasionally comments on my posts who goes by the name of BwanaD. All I knew about him was that he lived in Africa. I shared some links to my envelopes (as they are made to emulate movie posters). He liked them and sent a private note to me. His wife is an artist and does collage. He asked if I'd send them a piece. Okay. He then gave me his address. Jinkies! He works for the Nairobi office of the United Nations in Kenya? Yowza! That's probably the most dignified address I've ever sent any of my silly envelopes to--and by request, no less! Ha! I just wish it had turned out better...

I received a piece of mail art from P. Landon. And it was Frankenstein-related!

On the back of the envelope, there was a poem about THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN.

There was also a reproduction of a piece of stationary from the Universal Film Exchange, promoting BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN. The note to me below it was dotted with mini-neck bolt-like things stuck through the paper. Ha! How clever.

MADNESS MANOR: This is what I whipped together for her. Eh... Not so clever. It's basically another haunted house envelope...withOUT the haunted part. Snore... Oh well.

Above, I had mentioned sending a few pieces of mail to Tiki With Ray's (Ray Wyland) friends. Although I didn't send anything to Ray this time, I did send him something a while back. He got it and shared a picture on his Instagram account. 

Later, I was stunned to find out that he was using a picture of the envelope as his background on his Facebook page. Zowie!

SCREAMS IN THE HAUNTED HOUSE: TIKI WITH RAY's Ray Wyland had texted me a while back about possibly meeting him in Bellingham at one of our favorite tiki bars, Red Rum. I, of course, said sure! When I got there, Ray texted, saying he was bringing along some friends with him. One of them, Grant, was one of the fellows who has the home bar and I'd sent the piece of mail to. The other two were a married couple, Amber and Travis. They were fabulous...and, well, I thought they'd like a piece o' mail, too. So, they got this. Travis goes all out decorating their house for Halloween. A spooky one seemed right up their alley...

THE BELLY BUTTON BEAST:  Eh... this is CRAP! I started this the night before my tax preparation appointment...and was just so exhausted (mentally and physically), I threw in the towel and didn't even try. Oh well...

MIDNIGHT MANSION:  I started this right after the disappointment above--and finished it AFTER my tax appointment. It's not horrible--but it's nothing all that interesting either...

NIGHTMARE HORROR: After a little 3-day road trip and Easter with the family, then a day doing errands that Monday, I realized I'd be going off island again the very next day for a doctor's appointment. It was the perfect time to mail something...except I had nothing to mail. So, using an envelope with a background already applied, I dug through my scraps, quickly found some crap, and slapped it on. It's not great--but it somehow really works. And it was just a last-minute quickie with old leftover stuff. Ha!

BonnieDiva sent me one of her fab-o-rama Bon-Zines, a note and a request for (4"x6") mail art for a show she is presenting at in New Orleans! Zowie!

Riffing off of the previous envelope (Creativity is dead...), MONSTER FROM THE BEYOND is what I came up with for BonnieDiva. Eh! Another dud.

For the 4x6 card she requested for her presentation, I didn't know what to do. So...I jusr pretended like it was a small envelope and made another faux horror movie poster out of it, TERROR CHAPEL.

One of my mail artist friends from IUOMA (International Union of Mail Artists), Coco Muchmore, recently taught a class on mail art. She asked for people to send things in so her students could see/experience mail art. Although I only do envelopes (with letters in them, of course), I sent her 8 of them. She posted a photo of the class somewhere, and one of my other mail artist friends, Pam Chatfield, saw it and sent it on to me.

Pam thought she spotted one of my envelopes in the picture right there at the edge of the table. Yep! GOOD EYE! That is one of the envelopes I sent, NIGHT GHOSTS.

One of Coco's students sent me this cute, tiny envelope with an even smaller piece of art inside! How sweet. Apparently I was one of only five people who received one.

I did also get something from Coco herself not long after.

In it was a personal note to me, a list of all of the mail artists who'd sent in mail art. And a little 4-page story (with pictures) of how the class went. It sounded like it had been a great presentation.

For Coco, since I am creatively bankrupt, and since I usually take the cards I make for projects and make an envelope version, I made her a TERROR CHAPEL envelope. Some things are in different places, but the elements are all the same. However, in this version, the titular "chapel" is almost totally obscured. Oh well...

About two weeks later, I got another little envelope containing items sent by a student. How nice! It must have been turned in late, I'm guessing. There is no way of knowing who the students who sent them are or how to respond. Maybe that's for the best though...

It isn't mail art--but clearly mail art-inspired.  I recently needed to make a logo of sorts for my tiki blog, Monster-A-GoGo: The Tiki Tourist. I used the avatar that I use everywhere...and just tiki-fied it with the hat and added a camera for the tourist aspect. I printed, cut, pasted and then scanned. It came out okay...

Maxima Strange sent out another bundle of cards from a project she did that I participated in. The theme was TRIBUTE, as in paying tribute to a gothic artist, figure, character, story, etc. that meant something to you. Here is the package and all of the responses:

In my last post, if you'll recall, my friend Sue Nan had found some of my old mail art from back in the day (30+ years ago). She said she'd send it back my way. Oh my stars! What arrived wasn't a large envelope, but a small box. Inside there was a bit more than my old mail. For example, there was this book, MAIL ME ART by Darren Di Lieto from 2009. 

There was an even bigger book (508 pages) called CORRESPONDENCE ART from 1984, edited by Michael Crane and Mary Sofflet.

There was a thin strip of tissue marking a page. I haven't asked Sue about it yet. Perhaps one of the artists shown (Jerry Dreva on the left, Tommy Mew on the right) was a friend of hers?

In addition to the books, there was a flap from a grocery cart.

It had been turned into a piece o' mail art--NOT by me, but by one of her friends, Don Clarke. 

At last we came to my old mail art. This first piece wasn't that old. I had sent it to her less than a year ago. Still, it was cool to see it after its adventures in the US postal system. 

The next item was an invitation to a failed mail art project of mine--the only one like it I ever attempted. There is a large piece of poster board that has been hole-punched. Through that, there is some fishing string. The fishing string is wrapped/glued around the edge of one of those plastic egg-like things containing a small toy, like you used to be able to get out of a larger gumball machine for a quarter. (I'm sure I glued the egg together as well.) It's addressed and includes some A-TEAM puffy stickers. Ha!

I think the project failed for a number of reasons. As you can see from the image below, the return address was the name of the project, The Island of Misfit Toys, based on the classic RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER holiday TV special. But I don’t think I had enough information to make what I was after clear. The idea of unwanted, malformed or non-standard (“misfit”) toys from the animated special didn’t mix with the attached “toy fetus” (small toy in the plastic egg) and some of the verbiage about toy abortions (whatever those might be).  Also, from what I heard from others, several had the toys fall/tear off of the card, further confusing the issue. At least you can see one of my old aliases, Mr. Hokey Pokey—The Multiple Amputee, named on the card. (That alias seemed fitting for the project.)

The old glue holding the label onto the “toy fetus” has yellowed horribly with age.  When I did the project, I remember it getting a positive-sounding mention in Global Mail, which was the zine at the time that listed projects, shows, and mail artists looking for correspondence.  I think I only got three or four responses. I never promised documentation or a show, I don’t think. (I don’t see anything about either on the card.) I don’t think I responded at all. As I recall, I was busy with school at the time, hoping to become a teacher—and just did not have the time. Oh well.

These next few pieces are envelopes—my comfort zone.  This first one is a faux poster for a “sequel” to DRIVING MISS DAISY (if anyone remembers that movie all of these years later.) “She’s Back! Now she’s withered, she’s old, she’s lost control of her bodily functions! Jessica Tandy and Morgan Freeman star in CHANGING MISS DAISY.” And there she is, sitting on a doodled toilet with a roll of toilet paper hanging nearby. Classy. Ha!

The next two are faux double features. This one is for CHEERLEADERS EXORCISM (“It’s non-stop puke & pom-poms”) and CANNIBAL CO-EDS (“Guess what they’re cooking in Home Ec 101!?!”). How fun—but how unfortunate that the “Ann” of the CANNIBAL CO-EDS title got lost in the mail. (Or maybe they just ate poor “Ann”? Ha!). On this one, you may notice there are no stamps. How was that possible? I put them on the BACK.  Amazingly it went through.

Finally, we have the double feature advertised as being in Odorama: “Blackout! A group of people trapped in an elevator! Dangling 100 stories above the ground! A savage night of groping hands, wandering eyes and the utter horror of…” STRANGE SMELLS IN A CROWDED ELEVATOR. Then: “No deodorant could stop them. No cologne could make them go away.” NIGHT OF THE PERSPIRING DEAD. “When there’s no more antiperspirant in hell, the dead will walk the earth.” I was especially thrilled to see the zombie again. The photo is from a still for the early 1960s 3-D flick THE MASK. But that hand reaching out is from the movie poster for a flick called DEMONOID. Why mention it? Although you can't tell from the photo, the hand has been glued on 2-3 layers of posterboard, so it actually pops up off of the envelope as well as coming off of the side. It's a marvelous little 3-D effect...and it's got my little mental wheels a-spinning!

There was one more item included in the batch Sue sent. It was sitting about staring at me for weeks. Now that I want to go and photograph it for this post, it is NOWHERE to be found. HOW does that happen? I guess I'll have to save it for a future post.

Anyway, that is all for now. (More 30+ old mail art can seen in this previous post: https://monsterago-go.blogspot.com/2023/03/mail-art-19-blast-from-past-up-to-date.html )

Thank you, as always, for visiting. 

CHEERS!

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