Confetti and Envelopes

Catching up with photos on my camera. Hazel making confetti from rose petals and an unusual selection of mail going out to the post box. Hazel just volunteered to slip down to the local mail receptical. Its very icy this morning so I'm staying in to do some doodling and collaging. Done my mail art for this week!

Waffle

I noticed whilst researching the date of the Knutsford woggle sale by the scouts that my past blogging efforts were a lot more chatty and descriptive. I guess I have less to say as I get older or maybe I'm more lazy? Anyway chucks - will try to waffle a bit more in this post - not that anyone is that bothered!? This fuzzy photo gleaned from the interweb is a selection of rubber stamps used in mail art circles. It has my hand carved postman in it. One of the first I made back in the early 80's when it was fun and new and exciting - discovering new addresses to write to and the postage was cheap. I do still carve a stamp when the mood takes me but not as much fun now my eyes are not as sharp as they were. I have to use a magnifying glass illuminated doo dad. Its the bank hoilday today and wondering if we are going to a boot sale. Thats why I was looking up the Knutsford woggle sale. Seems they were in early September so maybe none today. Only the big one at Adams near thingy which is far too big and full of professionals who take to same stuff every week. Its the Blakemere next week which is far more interesting - smaller with folkd who have cleared out their sheds and lofts so more variety and usually a lot cheaper as people want shot of it and don't want to take it home again. Have a good day whatever you do!

Grosvenor Museum - Chester

In Chester yesterday putting up this three handed exhibition in the small gallery upstairs. A bit stressful but we managed to do it in good time. Charlie Holt is showing a big collage on one wall with many smaller collages attached. Mine are in frames dotted higgledy piggledy on two other walls togther with Hazel's collection of home made gadgets and found objects that influence her work ( in two long flat cabinets ). I also put up some mail art and filled a cabinet/show case full of postal ephemera, ATC's, rubber stamps and postcards. All a bit of a hodge podge but thats just how we like it. Starts of the 19th November and goes on until February next year.

Rubber Stamp Bonanza!

Thanks to Adam Roussopoulos and Joel Cohen for the excellent Peace and Mail Art Wave stamps that arrived this morning. My designs mostly with one exception . I have cut some wood blocks to put some of them on for personal use. The rest all going out to my regular correspondents.

Interactive Arts 27 Years Celebration

Off to Manchester for 24 hours of fun and elbow greets. Met up with John Hegley to show him round the Curious Things exhibition which he seemed to enjoy especially the hand and feet shaped postcards. Then over to the Interactive Arts celebrations and speeches to open the exhibition in Benzie, The Link Gallery and Grosvenor Gallery in MMU. John read some poems and sung a song about Hazel. Did some colouring in of figs. Met Jim Medway the cartoonist/illustrator. Another former I.A. student as was Ryan Gander ( not present ) and many more alumni who gathered to catch up and knock elbows. Later in the Mezze bar for drinks and impossible quishy tower burger. Stayed night in the nearby hotel as Hazel had to come in the next day to turn on all the videos, TV' s and computers. Sadly because of the flu scare lots of people stayed away.

Curious Things

Some fuzzy views of the new "interactive area" in the foyer of the Curious Things exhibition in Special Collections, MMU, Manchester. There's a rubber stamping table to add to your free stamp card/ exhibition guide etc. A bowler hat post box in memory of W. Reginald Bray and a section to stick your artworks. Here some students from fine art history department are having fun with the stamps. Thanks to Sophie for the photos.#mmucuriousthings

More Tweaking at Curious Things

Nice day depsite the drizzle in Manchester again to sort out the vitrines and print some labels etc. Also made sketch of where everything was in the mailed objects cabinet and did a diagram and key to find everything which will be added to wall. Hazel printed more labels with her Victorian rubber stamp set. The invites are printed and look very nice. Posters look amazing! More soon! #mmucuriousthings

Mail Art All Boxed Up

Piles of boxed up mail art archive ready for the MMU van to come and pick it up. Glad to see the back of it for a while. Still two thirds of the archive in the coal shed. Hazel pretending to be overwhelmed by the task! They are re-surfacing the road outside so will be fun trying to load the MMU van tomorrow if workmen are still laying the tarmac! #mmucuriousthings

Rose Croft, Brentwood - 17th April 1972

Bumper Mail Day

 Bumper mail art packets from two regular correspondents today which was a nice surprise as I hardly ever send any out these days! Postage has reached appalling price now - just a postcard in the UK being 50p and the Australia is around two quid!   Even the nice people behind the counters at the local PO have become very mean - pushing the letters and packets through the tiny slotted thing they are obliged to do these days and tutting, saying "Sorry, its just too big - that will have to be another two pounds in postage!"  When I ask if they could put it through a mangle to flatten it a bit they just smile ruefully and ignore my pathetic jokes!
So  its cheaper for me to just use the internet to send mail now - anyway as Iv'e said before - the coal shed is full to bursting with the 35 year old archive and I cannot get another stamp in there let alone a packet.  Though I do enjoy getting the odd snail mail I must admit.  Curating the OBRIGADO show at the VAC gallery has made me realise how much I've been missing it. It was a good fix for a while but rather glad it's stopped now.  The Sticker Dude has included some stickers based on an old collage of mine so that was a nice surprise. I shall no doubt find ways to distribute them. perhaps leaving them on trains and buses to baffle old age pensioners?

The pack from D.C. Spaulding in Lomita CA. was more of the late John Evans's collage material which his wife has been spreading around the network it seems.  D.C. said he had far too much so was sending me some. Creative Thing in Los Angeles recently sent me a stack of similar stuff he had been given by John's wife through a third party so I am accumulating quite a rich hoard - mostly tickets, labels, postcards and other ephemera. I am arranging them in small collections like Peter Blake's  "A Small Museum For...." series.  More news anon.

Collaborative Flyers 1985

Open publication - Free publishing - More collage