Seren
My mailbox has been full of interesting stuff as of late! Lots of traditional stuff…which is awesome…but lots of variations on the typical mail art themes. I love that and am wondering what’s sparking the change. Naturally, you know me, I have an opinion!
I think that crafting has had a huge impact on mail art. More and more people are starting to realize that scrapbooking and rubberstamping can be somewhat solitary hobbies. Most kids don’t care to share the scrapbooks their mom’s slave over. Not now anyway, but maybe in years to come. Spouses may enjoy the books, but again…when the pictures are recent…the events are recent…there’s not as much joy in reliving the moments. So…I think more scrapbookers are becoming mail artists. I see the style and products cropping up more and more …and that’s not a bad thing, its’s just a fact.
I think there’s a sense of accomplishment for scrappers who are also mail artists. Scrapbooks may take years to complete (if they are ever truly complete) whereas a piece of mail art has a beginning and end, if you consider the end being the moment when you drop it into the mail. And it is that sense of accomplishment that seems to be driving the Scrappers.
Now, the Stampers…they too have come to the land of Mail Art. I am one of those so I’ll tell you what brought me. I love my rubber stamps…I love creating detailed, hand painted cards, envelopes and invitations. I used to write and embellish love letters for my husband, make one of a kind birthday cards for people in my family (some of which took hours or days to create), and send out special invitations – including a menu – for Thanksgiving dinner at my place. Then I realized that although my work was appreciated …it was not kept. (Well…the hubby keeps everything…but in the drawer of the nightstand on his side of the bed…not somewhere he can see it and enjoy it.)
My hours of hard work were being thrown away once the holiday or event passed and I couldn’t stand it. So…now I send hallmark cards for birthdays…I make phone calls to invite people to Thanksgiving (which probably isn’t necessary since people kinda assume it’ll be here)…and I send the hubby emails (which is a whole new post in and of itself).
And because my work isn’t driven by theme – birthday, Christmas, wedding – I have found that I have branched out in totally new directions. My love of color and texture has become more profound now that I’m not bridled by the “who, want, when, where and why” of greeting cards and event invitations. I am also more willing to embrace art focused products like high-end paint (what a joy to finally work with the good stuff), handmade watercolor paper, and various kinds of gel mediums and glazes.
Every now and then I do lean heavily on the crafty look I used to love…and when I do, mail artists around the world boo me. They talk down to me via email, as if I’ve soiled their mailboxes with a big pile of crafty dog crap. I smile and thank god that it’s MY stamp, MY paper and MY time…and I can spend it creating whatever it is that I like though I do hope that they don’t merely throw it away. I hope the recipient cuts it up and recycles the pieces…or…merely mails it out to someone else to consider.
No matter what your style…what products you use…whether you buy your paper or make your paper…the bottom line is that mail art is about expressing yourself artistically and sharing expression via the mail. So, don’t worry about the line between craft and art. I doubt you can really figure out where that damn line is anyway…so why bother.
Go make something.
As a matter of fact…if you feel like it…send me some post card art with your thoughts on the influx of crafters into the mail art community. You can only write as much as you can fit on the back of a post card, though, I guess a post card can be any size as long as you’re willing to cover the extra postage.
Write soon.
Serendipity
Crafters & Mail Art
PO Box 46035
Eden Prairie, MN
55344
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