Seren
Because my LA apartment is so small, I can’t keep the mail art that comes to me…I just have nowhere to put it! So, this weekend I spent time making art (I’m sooo behind on sending people art) and creating little bundles of artwork to send.
I have tons of dyed paper I made last summer so I focused purely on using that. I love the texture of the paper, it’s cheap paper towel – 2 ply, and the vibrant colors. I used dye ink and water to create the dye in large Ziploc baggies. I saturated the paper towels in the dye and laid them out to dry. Once dry, I set the color by ironing the paper on high heat (move quickly or you will scorch the paper…also be sure the paper towels are totally dry). I also backed the paper with fabric adhesive. So I could use the paper as an iron on.
The post cards were easy because all I had to do was rip off pieces of paper, arrange it on the book board (you 
need a very sturdy substrate and I had tons of book books already cut) and ironed them on. Now…I wasn’t worried about cards that were being mailed in an envelope…those would be protected…but the cards that would be mailed “in the buff” needed a bit stronger adhesive. I cover the book boards with redline tape sheets and applied the paper towels to the tape. To ensure the bond was super strong, I ironed over the paper towels (on low heat this time) to make the red line tape even stickier.
The finished product was pretty exciting. I put the post cards in small Ziploc sandwich bags with several pieces of random mail art I’d received from my friends. The baggie gets sealed and taped closed with clear packing tape…and an address label is slapped on the front. My post card faces out the back of the baggie (the un-labeled side) for our postal friends to enjoy. I sent out 25 of these colorful little baggie and
they cost about $1.80 each to send because of the new postage fees. Which is ok, because they were fun to make and I think my mail art friends liked them! I still have a lot of paper left so I'm also using it in the Artists' Books and mini zines I'm working on. The adhesive backing makes the paper easy to work with in book form and the color is so vibrant against the heavy craft paper I'm using for pages that the bold, black rub on letters I'm using for text blends really nicely...nothing gets lost on the page. I will upload some pictures of my little books soon...they are still very much in process, but they are interesting, nonetheless.
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I sent out several reminder cards to folks asking about missing books. A few kind souls have gotten back to me with updates...and few have said they will not return the books, but all said they liked my reminder cards -- as odd as that sounds. I was looking for something colorful that would catch people eye, but since I had so many to send out I just didn't have time to make something. I've been collecting paint chips because I've decided to paint my LA studio...so I had lots of those laying around...and several packs of stickers...sooooooo....I made some quick and easy reminder post cards.I thought you might like to see them.
A quick journal project update:
The post office is not my friend. I got several books back, and they are damaged!
AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGG!!!
The journal block in #29 has completely broken free from the cover. I’m going to see if I can fix it this weekend. #25 has gotten wet or something and the cover is loose. I’m working on that one as well. # 13 and 12 are here and safe, but had to be sent back to me partially done…I’ll be sending those back to the artists when they are better able to work in them. #41 is a brand new book and it’s ready to go out the door as well. Soooo…if you’re waiting on books, the delay is mostly about books arriving back to me damaged. I have been trying to figure out how to fix them and whether they can be fixed. (I had to get some professional advice on #29.)
I also have several lost books…actually, at this point…over half of the books are missing in action. I’ve been trying not to panic, but I can’t help myself. Here’s a list of the missing books…if you have sent a book that I have received, please send me an email as soon as possible. If you have a book and just haven’t finished with it, just send it along undone. If you have a book and can’t afford to send it back to me, send it postage due. Send all books to me at this address:
Serendipity
PO Box 3246
Redondo Beach, CA 90277
Soooooo….here’s the latest MIA List:
#1 Sent to Clearlake, CA ~ 12/17/06
#2 Sent to Springfield, CA ~ 1/16/07
#8 Sent to Pinckney, VA ~ 4/23/07
#9 Sent to Mikkeli, Finland ~ 12/9/06
#10 Sent to Davidson, NC ~ 12/17/06
#14 Sent to Seattle, WA ~ 12/2/06
#15 Sent to New South Wales, Australia ~ 9/28/06
#16 Sent to Lake Charles, LA ~ 3/5/07
#17 Sent to Paint Rock, AL ~ 10/19/06
#19 Sent to Valdez, AK ~ 12/17/06
#20 Sent to Mollala, OR ~ 1/9/07
#21 Sent to Milwaukee, WI ~ 10/19/07
#22 Sent to Crawford, TX ~ 10/19/07
#23 Sent to Bel Air, MD ~ 12/2/06
#24 Sent to Avon, NY ~ 2/23/07
#27 Sent to Red Oak, TX ~ 1/9/07
#28 Sent to Tuckerman, AR ~ 11/22/06
BTW, the date is the approximate date that I sent the artist the book. I totally understand that crap happens…but so many books are missing! Please, if you have one…send it home!
I finally met the artist responsible for the mesmerizing woman on the Feria di Primavera cards. Barbara Roche is a professional artist in the Twin Cities with training in Flamenco Dance. She created the image for the post cards based on a 1930s Spanish Feria poster.
During our visit we chatted a little about the history of Ferias…or Fairs…in Spain. The long and short is that wealthy families used to host a fair each year. Tents would be set up for food, drink and entertainment…and the highlight was the dancing – both the dancing by professional dancers as well as social dancing. Feria Posters were made to advertise the fair and highlighted popular bands and dancers.
Barbara came to the Feria card project because she is personally involved with the theater…a personal friend is/was on staff there. She enjoyed going through the cards with me and was thrilled to take possession of them. I figured it seemed fitting that she have the cards instead of them sitting in a plastic bin in my Minneapolis studio. The plan for now is to create a display of the cards for the 2008 Feria here in Minneapolis and I will keep everyone up to date on when the event will be held. If you haven’t sent me your altered card yet, please do so…I will forward them on to Barbara. Also, look at the gallery and make sure your name is spelled correctly and attributed properly because that’s where she will gather information from for the display.
Barbara is a wonderful artist and will currently has one of the 10-day art journal books to work in…however if you’d like to see her work in its ‘natural habitat’…please visit her website at: http://www.barbararoche.org She does incredible stuff and its worth the time to take a look…or to buy a piece. My favorites are Crimson Tide, Garden, and draw08 -- all very different, but absolutely captivating!
The Richmond Zine Fest will be held Saturday, April 28th, 2007 from 9:00am-3:30pm at the Firehouse Theatre at 1609 West Broad Street and The Camel at 1621 West Broad Street. Admission to the fest is free.
I just sent out the most recent Swap Shop List.
For the new visitors, the Swap Shop is the Serendipity Network of Mail Artist. These are people that have said they want to be on my list of swap friends and they are awesome mail artists, indeed! I have made a commitment to send out an updated list every 6-8 weeks and I thought I would post a new call for participants here. If anyone wants to be added to the list, please send me some mail art! I will naturally send you something in return AND add you to the Swap Shop List!
For old visitors, grab a pen and paper – or the last copy of The List -- I have yet another new address! The California address I’ve been using is a Postal Center, not a Post Office and not matter how hard I try to make it work, it just doesn’t. So I have gotten a true Post Office Box. The new address is:
Serendipity
PO Box 3246
Redondo Beach, CA 90277
I think I have the mail problems with my Eden Prairie, Minnesota address corrected. All mail sent there is being forwarded to Redondo Beach…but if you’d gotten mail back from that address, please let me know AND send it to the my new address when you have a moment.
I’ve gotten a lot of questions about zines so I did some legwork and found some sites that might be of interest. This is great information…take time to take a look at them all…especially this one: http://chinesesweatshop.com/index.html and this one: http://www.atomicbooks.com/products/-/4476.html . The first one shows you what a zine could look like, the second one highlights a zine that tells you how to create a zine. Oh…and this one: http://www.parcellpress.com/shopfront/zineshop.htm is where I bought my first zine…including Stolen Sharpie Revolution.
These are good general information links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zine
http://www.barnard.edu/library/zines/#definition
http://www.multcolib.org/books/zines/
http://www.zinebook.com/resource/sean.html
http://grrrlzines.net/agogo.htm
And this one offered a definition that was really good: http://www.bl.uk/collections/britirish/modbrizines.html
“ Zines or fanzines are magazines written by enthusiasts, "fans". They have various forms but are typically self-published, designed, written or edited by a single person. They tend to use inexpensive production techniques such as photocopying, and are distributed through local and personal networks and specialized distributors ("distros"). Although zines usually have more than one issue, some are one-offs. Some have a highly visual quality and use the conventions of cartoon strips and film animation for more adult themes. These are also known as alternative comics, adult comics, or comix, and, when telling a complete story in one volume, they are known as graphic novels.”
All of these sites offer interesting information if nothing else!