Starting Mail Art

[Bruno Andrews]

So I just joined but I really don;t know how to start or what is acceptable to mail.  I have artwork that I would like to send on 6x6 and 8x8 canvas boards but where can I go so send my artwork?  Do I send to strangers, friends, family, etc?  

Please give me some insight.  I did check out the "New to IUOMA" page; while it was helpful, I still feel a bit lost.

Any advice or tips??

Thanks!!

[Ruud Janssen]

Start with sending something for a specific project. That is always a good way to start and mostly the project has a specific subject for you to work on.

[Gü]

I started by looking around the site a lot, favouriting pictures of mail artists and commenting on posts it soon became obvious  who I wanted to send my first 10 altered postcards to. You may find that some profiles aren't active and so may not be doing mail art currently. You can just send someone a message or send them a friend invite. 

[Gü]

Oh yes groups and mail art calls.

[jimmyconnors]

Send me something, the contents of your wastebaskets if you like, I'd be happy. I'll reply one day.

Of course it feels better to send to people that appreciate your work, so friends and family might or might not be a good choice; people who have an account here most probably appreciate your work. I hope.

And Mail Art 365 is still on, I started on February 16th this year. Sending 365 canvas boards though might indeed get pretty pricey in the long run...

[xx Jones]

That is true too. I've been wanting to send something to museums and galleries, but did not have the guts yet!

[Terri Jones]

 I know plenty of folks I've met here who send things out to disrupt people's lives more than to soothe and comfort 

Really? How do they do this? Can you give an example?

[jimmyconnors]

If something I receive disrupts my life that's exactly what I like. And while I like the idea of sending to corporations I guess you would have to use their language so to say to make sure that it really disrupts their life (i.e. send something that really looks like something they expect and then it really isn't). Sending collages or paintings increases the chance of being sorted out to waste very early, I guess. Or you find a collector. Or make someone smile for a while.

I'm collecting business reply envelopes for some time now but I'm not too sure what to do with them yet.

[Heide Monster]

some business envelopes have incredible patterns on the inside, for privacy I suppose.  I love opening them and using the again for the patterns

[Bruno Andrews]

Wow... some great responses!  So it does look like some profiles have physical addresses.  Is it cool to send anyone here "out of the blue"?  

Also, thanks for all the friend requests!

[xx Jones]

Yes, you can. And also once you "befriend" someone, you might get to see their address in their profile. You can ask beforehand of course, but it's fun to send things as a surprise too. Mostly people send something in return, sometimes it takes a while, sometimes it's very quick. You can take a guess from who is currently active on the ning site. Don't be disappointed if you don't get anything back, or not for a long time, but in my experience I got a reply to probably 95% of my mail eventually. I used to send a lot in my first couple of years, now I am much more slow. 

Another tip is, to blog the mail you have received here. It is motivating to see the receiver appreciating your mail and putting the effort into posting it, if you have the time. That might entice people into sending you stuff out of the blue! I used to blog everything, but now I just don't have the time, and have a huge backlog. As others have said there are no real rules (except to be kind and respectful), sometimes people send crazy stuff! Don't worry at all!

[Bruno Andrews]

I also found these blank postcards from amazon. 

I think I'll buy these and experiment with collage on these.  I might also try to experiment on making my own postcards from scratch.

[Bruno Andrews]

Oh! I like those too!  It certainly looks like a better quality paper.