In my previous post--ARGH! I counted THREE typos on my envelopes! So NOT cool. After posting it, I went back to revisit it to see if I had missed anything else and...OH NO! One of the envelopes was to my friend Janet...to make up for the crappy one I'd sent her earlier. But when I looked at it, UGH!!! I forgot to put a stamp on it. NOOOOOOOOOOO! I sent Janet a note, explaining my stupidity to her. But then I got this note back from her. Ha!
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I came across another vintage mail art-related something. It's the July 1996 issue of The Classifieds, a newsletter-style "classifieds" for mail artists back in the day (pre-internet) that was broken into various sections such as "newsletters," "rubber stamping," "pen pals," etc. I thought I'd share it here before it was lost to eternity...
Now...on to the envelopes...
HOMELESS GHOSTS: UGH! This first one is a dud...and maybe politically incorrect (which was not my intent). I was trying to think of different places that could be haunted...and it occurred to me that if a homeless person came back as a ghost, where would he haunt? The street? So we ended up with the HOMELESS GHOSTS. I wasn't meanimg to demean the homeless any further--just giving them spooky representation. The second tag line was a struggle. "They want your soul"? Huh? I couldn't think of anything and it is supposed to be for a horror movie, so why not?
On the 23rd of April, I had to drive to Anacortes on Fidalgo Island for a medical appointment. As I did a few weeks ago when I had to go, I invited mail artist Jan Hogman. She did not show up again. However, this time I also invited another mail artist I'd never had any interaction with, Amy Pfeffer. To my surprise (and delight), Amy showed up!
We had a delightful lunch at Coconut Kenny's. We were there for 2 1/2 hours or so. Thanks for coming out to meet me, Amy. I look forward to seeing you again in the future.
NIGHTMARE OF THE DEAD: I finally had a moment to make an envelope for Amy (the mail artist who met me for lunch above). I wanted to thank her for meeting up. She expressed an interest in zombie movies/TV shows, so...
AMONG THE DEAD: Ho-hum... Here is another nothing envelope. Really, I just slapped it together to get another one done...so I can get my 10 made for this post and go on hiatus for a while. Snore. The only interesting (if you want to call it that) note about this one is that I found an old, scared-looking shot of myself and stuck it in (center). It will be the first thing I'll have ever sent to Michael Orr. Boy, will he be disappointed. Ha!
Adam Roussopoulos sent me something. The envelope was fairly plain...except for a handwritten sentence on the back: "Be prepared to be terrified by the contents." Hmm...
Inside was a folded over (and tape-sealed) blue piece of cardstock paper. It was evident there was something thicker inside. It turned out to be a card made of foamcore. On it is a photo of Adam in his crud- and grime-encrusted coveralls from his job as a plumber. A little space had been carved out in the middle and there is apparently a piece of those same coveralls attached. The photo doesn't really show it in it's yellow, greenish-gray scaliness. But wow! Stunning. (And again, he got my zip code wrong. Ha!)
SOMETHING IN THE DARKNESS: This uninspired envelope is what went back to Adam. Cleasrly I DO need a hiatus from making these.
He'd decorated the back of his envelope, which was nice.
Inside was a note and some postcards he'd printed up. Thank you, Ficus.
NIGHT OF THE BUGABOOS: This is what I sent him. I wasn't sold on the background. I just meant to lay the monsters to see how they'd look against the background. However, I wasn't paying attention and was sort of on automatic pilot...and oops! I glued them down. That was NOT a good call. They almost disappear. Oh well.
A GHOST IN THE HOUSE: While wrapping up my mail art chores until I take a sabbaticle away from them at the conclusion of this post, I decided to send one to my friend Mauro, who lives in Italy with his family. I've been Mauro's penpal for years. He is trying to learn English and has become very good at it. I never shared my mail art with him before. We always exchange postcards though. However, my traveling days are coming to an end pretty much. I don't know how many (if any) postcards I'll be sending him from interesting (and new) ports of call. So... I thought an envelope might be fun. This one was a rush job. (I am trying to finish up. Just ONE MORE to go after this one.) I hope he likes it anyway.
Normally I wouldn't share the news about someone receiving one of my envelopes (unless they sent me a photo of themselves with it), but there's a mail artist in Russia I have been trying to send something to for the past two years or so. His name is Ilya. I sent him something almost right away when I returned to mail art...not thinking/realizing that mail between our countries had been halted due to the war in Ukraine. I have tried to send him envelopes several times after that first time using others (in other countries that still exchange mail with Russia), but none have seem to have gotten through...until THIS one did. I don't even remember who sent it out for me. MomKat? Dr. Zack? Whoever it was--THANK YOU!
Ficus Stangulensis is a mail artist in his 80s who has been fighting cancer. He disappeared for a while and I was worried about him, expecting the worst. I was thrilled to hear from him recently.
DING! DONG! DEATH CALLING: Eh...whatever. I am so out of ideas. This is going to a new mail artist named Matthew Conroy. He burst onto the scene in January...and seemed to be having trouble with a few rude people on IUOMA (International Union of Mail Artists). That didn't sit well with me. He is also a "neighbor" of sorts, living elsewhere in Washington. I had been meaning to send him a welcome note for a while--it just didn't happen until now. (But he seems to have already fallen off of the mail art map--and hasn't been active since mid-April.) Of course, sending a newbie a piece of mail art now is kind of pointless in a sense. This is my tenth (and final) piece for this post...and it's probably going to be my last piece for quite a while...
Oops! Gosh! Did you NOTICE the boo-boo? UGH! DONG! DING!? Groan... Here it is fixed...
Yes, that's IT for now. I am stepping back and taking a break from the mail art thing. Besides having the idea well run dry (and just regurgitating essentially the same envelope over and over), I just don't feel up to snuff--STILL. I feel like I am winding down faster and faster. I believe my GI issues have really taken the wind out of my sails. (I DID get a referral to a gastroenterologist, but my initial consultation isn't until mid-July. UGH!)
So, thankl you for visiting the page. Hopefully I'll be back soon-ish.
CHEERS!
Comments
I've taken a break myself. Not planned, but needed. I'm sorry to hear about Matthew. I've seen how people can be on IUOMA first hand.
Great post as always. Stay groovy, Pam
I do miss your blogs (and, especially, videos). You already know that.
I’m not really sure about Matthew getting a rude greeting or having issues when he started on IUOMA. As I said, I’ve had no dealings with him. It was just the impression I got from seeing his posts early on. I may be totally wrong.
Thanks again for stopping by.
Cheers!
Thanks for the homeless ghosts envelope. While I do THANKFULLY have an apartment, I've been looking for a house and it's no easy task finding something affordable in a decent neighborhood in Maryland that isn't a two hour drive from work...so housing has been on my mind.
I'll keep the Classifieds thing in mind. REMIND ME. I haven't been up to snuff at all lately. But I'll try to get a copy to you.
Glad you liked Homeless Ghosts--and you received it.
CHEERS