The mail art genre is so fascinating and versatile. To start with, the envelopes can be made of so many different materials. You can start out with a pre-made envelope and decorate it, or you can use any number of substrates to build an envelope from the ground up.
And there are so many different media to decorate an envelope with. Collage, paint, spritzers, stamps, artistamps, tape, watercolor, pen and ink - the possibilities are endless.
Then I haven't even begun to talk about what goes inside! Postcards, little works of art, cards made from the leftovers of cutting out the envelopes, letters written on the remnant of a magazine page. The letter could be the envelope, itself, opened out all the way. Can you imagine a set of holiday greetings made from the holiday issue of a magazine, with envelopes from whole pages, and greeting cards or notes made with clipped-out ephemera, stamped and hand written? Holy smoke...Or smoley hokes, as my sisters would say.
Sooo...As I was noodling around in the studio today trying out different media and techniques for dressing up envelopes, a thought began to take shape, which turned into an idea and then morphed into something a little more real. A class. A mail art class where we play with the media and the substrates, where we paint and spritz and cut and fold and stamp our hearts out, where we learn how to make little works of art to send to everyone we know. Where we make faux postage and play outside the box. We could start a network of mail artists, with everyone in the class participating in a mail art swap! What do you think?
Rules # 1 and #2 for anyone teaching art are to share your passion and to teach what you're passionate about, and I seem to have developed a quite the passion for mail art, so with nothing to lose, I'll think I'll start working up lesson plans. Toss them up and see where they land. I'm intrigued and excited by the possibilities.
In between noodling with mail art I've been playing with a new "upcycle" themed book titled Craftcycle: 100+ Eco-Friendly Projects and Ideas for Everyday Living, by Heidi Boyd. Filled with fabric, plastic bag, paper, cardboard, snack bag, and aluminum can projects, it more than fulfills the promise of the title, and provides a great jumping off point for personal interpretation and creativity. Having tried a couple of the paper projects, I find that the step-outs are somewhat lacking in detail, but if you're willing to wing it a bit it IS possible to muddle through on your own. And what is there to lose, really? A magazine or two that can still be recycled? So, despite that one shortcoming, I'd still recommend it to anyone interested in playing with upcycled crafts. Before buying, why not check your local library?
It's day #14 of that yucky bug I picked up during the trip to Arkansas, and it feels like I'm almost done with it. Yay! Kris is a couple of days behind me in her process, and we're devoutly hoping she's feeling better by Sunday morning when she leaves to go work back east for a couple of weeks. Nutriceuticals and chicken soup; fingers and toes crossed!
Preparing food for her journey (chocolate chip cookies), then I'm off to the post office for - what else? To send out mail art! If you'd like to receive a piece of mail art, or participate in a mail art swap, just send me your mailing address here. Fun!
Thanks for visiting; come again soon.
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