Mail Art #34

 

Welcome back! My stomach issues have had me sidelined again--but this time, I've managed to at least get some more mail art done. Let's just jump right in...

SOMETHING SINISTER THIS WAY COMES...  Coco Muchmore emailed me a while back and told me that "Nonlocal Variable" had sent her a message asking for my address. She didn't send it, but did send me his information. I had sent him something about a year earlier, but he didn't seem that interested in the envelope or me--and that was totally fine. He was still on my list. (I think I even sent him a Christmas card.) I wonder what he wants? Whatever it may be, I sent this his way--along with my email address. So far, I've had no word from him.

THE VILLAGE OF SHADOWS:  Adam Blackshaw (aka CtlAltDel)  was the last person who "friended" me on IUOMA (International Union Of Mail Artists). I meant to send him something and never got around to it. Even though I left IUOMA, he has still been at the top of my list of "when I catch up." As I write this, I believe I only have ONE more thing I need to respond to. (Fingers crossed!) It's from Coco Muchmore, but I don't think she'd mind me sending something to Mr. Blackshaw ahead of her. Tomorrow I have to go off island--and that means I am hitting the post office!  This less-than-thrilling envelope (made over 3 hours late at night) will be on its way.

WAKING THE DEAD: The off-island medical appointment I mentioned above happened today. If you'll recall in my earlier post, I mentioned that I hoped to be meeting a fellow mail artist named Jan Hodgman today for lunch. Well, she did not show up. That's okay. I am a stranger, after all. She didn't have my phone number. I'm not even sure she knows my name. Anyway, I wanted to quickly send her a note apologizing for being so mysterious or whatever. Hopefully she will come out to meet me another time...

As mentioned above, another holdover piece of mail art I received over the winter while I was gone for 4 months is this postcard of artist stamps and cancelations from Coco Muchmore. THANK YOU, Coco!

DATING APP ZOMBIE: This is what I came up with for a response. Eh...

Today, I went to my mailbox and found a letter in a USPS envelope. It was from Adam Roussopoulos. He had written my zip cofe incorrectly. Across the plastic window someone had written what they guessed was the correct zip code and a question mark. It was also clear the letter was partially burned on the bottom. 

Postmarked Feb. 21, it took more than a month to reach me.

Inside, it was evident that the contents were also somewhat burned. 

It was artists stamps...of a fire! One side read "I do not fear dying." The other side read "I do fear being killed in a fire."  Thank you, Adam.

THE HOUSE OF THE VENGEFUL CORPSE: Another bust. This is the LAST one I "owed" a response to. I tried to rush it--just to be done--and it shows. I used an envelope with a background already on it (bad choice). Everything is too big...and the letters completely cover the house and almost the corpse on his noose. But, it is done. Eh... Sorry, Adam.

THE LATE, LATE SHOW: With the envelope for Adam Rossoupoulos finished (as lame as it was), I was startled to see that I was (What!?!) momentarily "caught up" with my mail art chores. While I have a big, long list of people I want to send things to, I thought I'd start with some of my mail art faves that I feel I've been neglecting. They never send me anything (as requested), so they are never at the front of the line for mail. I also wanted to forward on the rubber stamps (once I make copies of all of them to scan into my archives to use later) that I received in the previous post. For Maxima Strange, I had set aside two (of the four received). This envelope came about due to yet another ink cartridge dying. The creepy figure in the TV was one of the ink casualties. However, the way it printed--with the lines through it and different striations of color--made me think of a broadcast TV image that wasn't quite strong enough to get through. Making it a supernatural telecast was a no brainer. Can you tell the hand and arm are coming through the screen?

HORROR AT CASTLE CHATFIELD: Pam Chatfield is the other one I had two of the rubber stamps set aside for. Since I like to use pictures of spooked or surprised people, I got a screen capture of Pam from one of her YouTube videos. (I hope she doesn't mind...) It wasn't until I was posting the envelope here that I realized Pam's envelope is almost the same plot as Adam's! Ha! I guess the old saying about there only being seven basic plots in the world is true.

I was cleaning out a box of stuff (still from my move...) and came across this. I am NOT 100% sure, but I believe this is some mail art I received back in the day. It's signed "G. (Or maybe that's an "E"?) Yepiz '96". I have no idea who that could have been now, 28 years later...

TERROR HOUSE: Ficus Strangulensus was one of the first people who wrote to me when I joined the International Union Of Mail Artists (IUOMA) nearly two years ago. He's in his early 80s and has been battling cancer. He seemed to disappear sometime last late summer or early fall. I asked several people if they knew anything--no one did. I hoped I was wrong, but I feared the worst. Then suddenly earlier today (as I am writing this on March 30th) he posted a quick note on IUOMA to someone. WHAT!?! He is alive? I sent him a quick email and wasted no time in preparing him a piece of mail art. I don't know where he's been or what he has been through, but I am so glad he is still around.

THE EYEBALL: I have this eyeball thing (toy? prop?) that looks as if it still has the stalk attached. I've had it for years. It was sitting on my desk and I thought why not take a picture of it and use it for an envelope. So I did. That was an easy envelope theme. The recipient, Mark Johnson, was a mail artist on IUOMA. He came on not long after I became a member. When he left, he inspired me to leave as well. I forget his reasons for leaving--but remember not fully understanding them at the time. (They were different than why I chose to leave.) I had been thinking I'd send him something. With Ficus re-emerging after months and sending something off to him ASAP, that sort of prompted me to send something Mark's way finally, too. 

THE MONSTER MASHER:  Hmm. When I was trying to put this one together, I loved the background paired with the images on either side and the graveyard silhouette in the middle. It looked good together. I just could NOT think of a storyline or a title. UGH! What I ultimately came up with is soooo lame. Does anyone know what a "masher" is these days? (And, no. It has nothing to do with pototoes.) It's actually an old term from the 1930s and '40s. Yes, the title is also a play on the old, classic "Monster Mash" song--but it has nothing to do with a dance craze. Add to that confusion with the monster being a "ghoul" who preys on "living women"--which is the opposite of what a ghoul is; one who loves the dead and eats dead human flesh. To top it all off, this envelope is heading to France--and god knows how the poor recipient might try to translate this mess. Oh well...

That's my 10 for this go 'round. Normally I would hate to leave off on a lemon. Instead though, I'll leave off on a cliffhanger of sorts. I had a VERY interesting note pop up in my Instagram messages recently:

Zowie! That someone approached me about commissioning an envelope of mine is mind blowing to me. Huh? It's very flattering. I wrote back and told her that I could not accept a commission, because I do not feel confidant enough as an (ahem!) "artist" to do so. Sometimes my envelopes come out good. Sometimes they are crap. BUT... I told her that, since I am (amazingly) "caught up", I would be happy to make one for the birthday boy...there'd just be no guarantees that he would like it. I asked for some pictures of him screaming--and maybe some of she and their family/friends screaming as well (to put in the background). She wrote back and said she'd send some next week. 

Since it is for a birthday AND she asked for a Lovecraftian theme, I thought why not another of my "A Very Cthulhu..." envelopes? An idea has formed in my head. We'll wait and see how it comes out (hopefully) next time--once I get the photos I need. Hopefully, you will come back and check it out.

Thanks for visiting this time.

CHEERS!