Sent to Angeltie Päivi: Again an Augmented & Ameliorated card - September 2012

Today, I finally made and sent out again an A&A-card, an Augmented & Ameliorated card. It went to Angeltie Päivi in Finland! 
Some people may consider that I committed a sacrilege with my A&A- actions on this card... 

The card represents indeed a very old ART object: "The Swinging Woman" from the 15th c. B.C., displayed in the Museum of Herakleion (Crete), is a clay model from Hagia Triada, the archaeological site of an ancient Minoan settlement. Yet, in my view, the little sculpture needed at least repair, given that, somewhere during these last 35 centuries, the woman lost her head, perhaps in swinging too enthusiastically! I am afraid, however, that archaeologists may consider indecent the Mickey Mouse head I gave her.

Sent to Siebrich for her 25th BIRTHDAY- September 2012

My niece Siebrich is in Great-Britain at the moment. Yesterday, it was her 25th BIRTHDAY and I sent her a mail-art card & a mail-art envelope. I used my old maps and clippings from an interesting exhibition with some beautiful paintings I visited here, in the 
Landesmuseums für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte - Prinzenpalais, "Ballrausch und Farbenpracht. Ida Gerhardi in Paris". 
And, of course, I added the Frisian flag for my Frisian niece with her Frisian name!

Received from Suus in Mokum: Forms & colours - Sent to Suus: my traveling woman - September 2012

Today, finally back again to publishing recent mail-art—because, for reasons of "connector technology", I cannot access the older ones that I wanted to publish little by little.


I am, at the moment, for 3 weeks in Oldenburg.

That's where I recieved yesterday my first mail-art here! It was from SUUS IN MOKUM, a IUOMA friendin:

see http://iuoma-network.ning.com/profile/SuusinMokum 
and 
http://snailmailsuus.blogspot.nl/

Her sending must have met mine, somewhere, not in the air, but on the rainy roads between Oldenburg and Amsterdam. I sent her a traveling woman.

Received from Mim: MinIMal Mail Art - September 2012

Yesterday, I received a wonderful MinIMal mail-artcard from MIM http://mim4art.blogspot.com.
            

There have been a lot of coincidences with MIM.

Some days ago, looking again on the web to "other" mail-artists, I "came upon" MIM. I both liked very much her mail-art work and her blog, the way she presents herself, her activities, her way of looking to things and of making them into her JOYful daily LIFE! I recognised "things" of myself, but of course, as always, with the differences that make it so fascinating to meet other people! 

Having made a card that I liked a lot and that had not yet a particular addressee, I decided to send it to MIM!

Then, I joined IUOMA. And who was the person who presented me with a WARM WELLCOMing Word? MIM! She proposed to be friends on IUOMA. And —given my enthusiastic reaction to her MinIMal Mail Art, she said that she was going to send me one of her minimal Mail Art pieces!

So, yesterday my SURPRISE was not complete, as I expected "one of these days" "something". It was nevertheless a WONDERFUL SURPRISE, because of the form of this Mail Art piece from MIM: a FRENCH dictionary page with, amongst other entries, "MESSAGERIE" combined with the head of VERMEER's GIRL with a Pearl Earring: a nice choice for the Dutch woman living in France and practicing mail art :)
And MINIMAL it is: as MIM qualifies it: "2 bits, 3 dots"!

 

The address side of the card is rather non minimal —even if it is neither baroque! Many personal stamps, various pieces of couloured paper, tape, postage stamps.

What I ALSO like here is the COMBINATION of MINIMAL and "lots of little things"!

SO THANKS ONCE AGAIN, MIM!

Received from from Gilberte Vermeulen - September 2012

Gilberte Vermeulen http://iuoma-network.ning.com/profile/gilbertevermeulen sent not only a mail-art envelope with 

a front AND a back-side

created according to completely different approaches: 

* the front side made from a very nice fabric

* the back-side made up by a collage of a great diversity of clippings from various sources;

she also included 

* a photo, about which, at the back side, she asks a very relevant question, completely understandable for me as a Dutch woman: "Vlaanderen? Nederland?" (by the way, is the photo not a photo of a painting, which might explain Gilberte's hesitation, which I share totally: the painter might have created an ambiguous landscape...)

* a copy of an old print (a postcard, cf. the stamp) representing "une créole", a creole woman, with a particular graceful carriage of the head with her beautiful dark eyes, expiring a certain melancholia (I do my pseudo-interpretation)

and, last but not least at all,

* some very informative excerpts from (a French version of) Pope Pius XI's "Encyclique sur le Mariage" (Casti Connubii %). In France, with the current plans of the government concerning legalisation of the same-sex mariage, these elements are more than wellcome as a contribution to the discussion!

[% Casti Connubii (Latin: "of chaste wedlock") was a papal encyclical promulgated by Pius XI on December 31, 1930. It stressed the sanctity of marriage.]
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, Gilberte! I might continue on the theme of the mariage!

Sent to & Received from Emilie Gros - STRIPES / RAYURES - September 2012

The 2nd mail art received yesterday came from Emilie Gros. I was rather surprised. I had the idea that the STRIPES mail-art I sent her was just some days ago: so, she already had received it AND she had time —and was in the mood— to make something for me!

There was the envelope, with coloured STRIPES and there was a little card in the envelope, again with joyful STRIPES!

Looking on Emilie's website —http://coupes-colles.blogspot.fr/—, I see that what she sent me comes from her Production de rentrée

The envelope that I sent her was not very "classical"—and I added some stars!

I wrote my little note to her on the back of a photo showing me putting in the letterbox what was probably my first letter or card. I don't remember if it was already some mail-art: perhaps a drawing for my grand-mother :)

Emilie has two calls: STRIPES / RAYURES and ATLAS (deadline décembre 2012)

Received & Sent to Françoise Chambier, aka Zarou - February-July 2012

 
This polar bear was my first mail-art sending to Françoise Chambier (12 feb'12). 

Having looked for BEARS in my paper collection, I then already had material for several envelopes, so, one week later, I mailed again a bear to Zarou —again a polar one!

Beginnings of July, Françoise sent me a card that I LIKE VERY MUCH, with bear stamps that she made herself I suppose. 

I immediately sent back a "joke", which led perhaps to a misunderstanding. 
I sent an envelope combing BEAR and GREEN —responding to Françoise's other call. I used tape with Disney's Winnie the Pooh version —and his friend Tiger. I wrote on the envelope: "my PREFERRED bear (but in Disney version...) in a green setting". 
And, as mentioned below, today I received my punishment envelope: a squad of Winnies in Disney outfit!

Received from Françoise Chambier, aka Zarou - September 2012

Today, I found THREE mail-arts in my mailbox! That is/was nearly "too much" and I am going to "digest" them one after the other: I "hided" two of them and will only "open" them (again) tomorrow or perhaps this afternoon, when n° 1 has been assimilated...

So, I take at random one of the three and that's the one I received from 

Françoise Chambier. Knowing my love for Winnie the Pooh, she sends me my hero… in Disney outfit. I am "against" all this Disney softification of my —and so many other adults'— everduring childhood heroes and heroines —such as Alice, the Alice from W. Nevertheless, given my enormous love for Winnie, I sometimes like him even in his D-edition. And so I do in the mise en scène created by Françoise, where he is so proud to be my preferred bear. Winnie knows that he is "Son ours préféré... ...quelle CHANCE!"
Winnie3 was nearly lost, but the postwoman or -man saved him —after having stamped the letter! I glued Winnie3 back, over the stamp...

I am afraid that I lost, however, one participant in this mail-art. I am afraid that it was Françoise's hero, BALOO from Kipling's Jungle Book... There is a sticky piece of tape in a corner at the back of the envelope, but without something being sticked on it...

Françoise, aka Zarou (http://lacabornedelourse.blogspot.com) has two current calls: BEARS "L'OURS, l'animal sauvage qui se régale de framboises et de... brebis"] and GREEN ["le VERT, qui pour moi est beaucoup plus qu'une couleur."]

wimplet.blogspot.fr: my other, older mail art

I took up again mail-arting, and as other mail-artists start to send me their envelopes, cards, and other types of "paper work", I decided to —try to— put into my blog both recent AND the older 2011/2012 mail-arts that I sent and that I received.
My blogs of 2007-2008 can be found via wimplet.blogspot.fr

Sent to Luís - Stay in Lisbon (October 2011)

Luís Ferreira is a Portuguese artist (painter and poet, amongst other activities) and good friend of mine. Beginning of 2011, he had sent me a wonderful catalogue with some of his paintings. Later that year, he sent me one of his pen drawings. Then, in October, Luís and his wife received me several days in their hous in Lisboa.

So, in November, I finally sent him a collage that I made for him, in souvenir of my stay and the walks and rides we made together (Collage para Luís, 21/11/11).

Sent to Claes - October 2011: Taking up mail-art again

 
Finally, having joined the IUOMA some days ago and being rather active with mail-arting these days, I decided to create a NEW BLOG!

 

Even if this COLLAGE is not mail-art, I consider it as the start of my TAKING UP again mail-art —and collages!

End of october 2011, I made this for the 60th birthday of my brother (Collage voor Claes' 60e verjaardag).