Unexpected Art

 

This is just a portion of the poster-sized page!

It's been a long time since I've made any mail art, but today, I was blessed with a little unexpected mail love from Japan!

I used to be a really active mail-artist, but because of my studies, it had to take a backburner to my education. I still try to make art every once in a while, but these creative excursions are few and far between and I don't keep up with any of my old penpals.

This particular missive was not a personal note, but an on-going mail call that I've submitted to in the past. For mail calls or CFEs (Call for Entries), artists send out a call, or request, for artworks usually on a specific theme. These often have certain parameters for genres, sizes, mediums, etc. but most are pretty flexible. This particular one requests hand-carved stamped images and arti-stamps (faux-stamps, another vein of mail art). I submitted a Japanese fish I carved into an eraser a few years ago and he sent back a massive sheet of paper bursting with colorful images and addresses and artistamps. Another such poster graced me today.

I remember the first poster I received from Ryosuke-- it had a lot of stamps of naked ladies, which I thought was weird at the time. Now, it doesn't bother me as much since I am older and have been more exposed to the world. (Some people just like naked ladies, I guess.)

Today, I feel a little more submerged in the mail-art world; I miss it terribly. I have no shortage of materials to work with now. In fact, a few months ago, my cousin Ish sent me a ton of cuttings from discarded National Geographic magazines! Such fantastic images must not go to waste. And I'm sure they will not, but in this season of life, time has been more elusive than ever. In the meantime, I must find other ways to fill my creative needs, until my schooling is finished, but this little surprise in my mail box definitely made me smile!