Recycled Art Show, IUOMA, and More Fun with Faux Real Stamps

Hello again, blog friends! I got a phone call last night from a lady named Colleen, on behalf of the Flagstaff Recycled Art Exhibition. I'm sure I wasn't very coherent, because I've come down with whatever respiratory bug Mom had while we were visiting, but I do remember that she confirmed the date and time for my demo - I'll be showing people how to make those folded German Star ornaments. It should be fun! I'm looking forward to it!

The Recycled Art Exhibition is an annual event sponsored jointly by Flagstaff Cultural Partners and the Flagstaff Artist's Coalition. Open entry, with a limit of two pieces, the main requirement is that each piece be at least 80% recycled material. It's an amazing show! There are hundreds of entries, an opening reception, and weekend artists' demonstrations. This year, I've entered two new pieces, "Karmalia" and "The Secret Life of Brushes." I thought seriously about entering an assemblage piece I'm working on, "Lord of the Dance," an anthropomorphic assembly of
dead computer parts and, well, lots of other stuff. Kris suggested that I save it for next year, instead of pushing and rushing myself to finish it. I'm sure she's right...Anyhow, there's loads of publicity and several different awards given, including a People's Choice award, but I tend to not pay much attention to that aspect of the show. I attend to see the cool work people are doing; and there's plenty of that! The Exhibition runs from April 3rd through May 15th, and I hope to see you there! My demo is on the afternoon of the 8th, if you'd like to swing through. Love to see you!

While checking out the links in the book from my last post, "Good Mail Day," I stumbled onto the website of the International Union of Mail Artists (IUOMA). Holy Smoke! Hundreds of mail art freaks from all over the world, dozens of special interest groups, including an artistamp group (which I intend to join...), calls for entries, a forum, and pages on pages of mail art. So I applied for membership late last night, and by 7 a.m. Arizona time, five people (two from the U.S., one from Italy, one from Greece, and one from, I think, Chile) had dropped by my IUOMA page to leave a welcome, and most of them came by the blog, as well. I feel truly welcomed. Next task, flesh out my IUOMA home page...and start sending out art!

I'm having way too much fun, still, with the faux postage stamps, and am working at them obsessively. I forget to eat, and have to be reminded to take my nutriceuticals, cook, feed Kris, feed the dogs...I've got the mail art bug BAD. Not complaining...here are three of the designs I came up with yesterday, before I got sick enough that I had to curl up on the couch with hot rice socks.

All three of these faux stamps are 100% digital. The first is a "Pioneer Heritage" commemorative stamp for the Fauxreal Republic. It uses an
image of my maternal grandmother, Virginia Grace, when she was still in school. The second is one I made for Kris (she may be a rocket scientist, but doesn't do digital graphics, and doesn't particularly want to...) and her "Big Sky Republic." "Yote" (short for "coyote") is her nickname, and she wanted a stamp with that on it. It's a commemorative stamp of the poster for an exhibit at the "Tycho Brahe Museum of Art." Tycho Brahe is not just a person, it's a big crater on the moon...which is where the museum is...The third is another exhibition poster, this one from the Capitol Museum of Modern Art's "Digital Expo ~ 2009," with the motto of the Fauxreal Republic up the left side, "Believing is seeing."

What's a hot rice sock? It's our version of a moist heat pack. You take a clean dead tube sock without any holes in it, pour about a pound of rice (any grain will do) into the toe, then tie it off with a rubber band. To use it, simply microwave it on high for 2 minutes or so. Pull it out and put it where it'll do the most good. It's a little piece of heaven on earth. I will occasionally warm my cold bed with them in the wintertime.