Nancy Bell Scott is Keeper of the COB-tastic-ness

[Thom Courcelle]

Some short time ago, Nancy Bell Scott posted her own picture of this lovely work she completed, and titled it "Finish Line." And I am the lucky recipient. But on the back of the piece she has written a new title: "The Road Between."

I'm not sure, but I think I like the latter title. "The Finish Line" seems so...final. Like we pushed ourselves until we made it across some barrier...then quit out of exhaustion or because we'd vomited our guts. Whereas, artists know, our work is never done...even if we wanted it to be, or we felt like we couldn't take any more. Artists' minds never cease. We are bombarded with stimuli constantly because the world is never done with us. And even if the world was done with us, we'd find something to entertain our curiosity and we'd "play" around with it in a zillion-of-million of ways until we'd created something new for the world to play with, on and on ad nauseum. It's what we do...we're the creators.

Whereas, "The Road Between" has a sense of our keen observation, our ability to see between the veils, read between the lines, take the road less traveled, neither high-nor-low, just middlin' along, like Johnny Appleseed, finding fertile ground wherever we find ourselves...

Nancy's collage-cum-painting-cum-asemic-musical-score-cum-poetry-generator piece is so flakily layered with the leaves of ancient books and artifacts, she might have "discovered" it at the bottom of a paper pulp vat and decided to enhance it with her own glue and paintbrushes. And the "play" goes on and on..which is why I created a nonsense poem out of the bits and pieces that I found in the muliverse of layers comprised of Nancy's artwork... you'll have to visit her original photo post to read the nonsense...

I think I've written already about two or three times today about postal interactions with Nancy Bell Scott, she of SoPo, formerly of OOB. We have our own language now...it's a little corny. That's part of the joke...which you might have to be on the inside of in order to get... but it works for us. It's why she sent this newspaper clipping to accompany her piece...

Which is really the best...  Hey, if we keep the COB-flame alive, does it eventually result in POPCORN??

Pop...pop...    pop.

[Nancy Bell Scott]

More poetry, and this especially from the heart. I hear you, and appreciate all you say here. Most everything since Nov8+before fits well with your descriptor "shredded." You're probably right that the grace of IUOMA prevents more outpourings, so far. Also, for many people, art often is a kind of escape, which it certainly is for me many times--a way to go to a deeper and freer place than what we're faced with nowadays in our horrible so-called president, politics, the news, sensationalist crappola, and so on. But the historical perspective your honest thoughts provide is a wonderful and important call. 

Most of what I've worked on myself the past few months has not been able to avoid the harsh realities (or whimpering fears, depending on how my day is going, ha). One in particular was an immediate reaction to the flat-out and outrageous lies we hear now (https://nancybellscott.wordpress.com/2017/02/01/alternative-facts/). I sent the physical piece to another dear mail art friend, and now I'm inspired to make something again for you, soon.

Thanks for these eloquent thoughts, Thom--unexpected here, and so more than refreshing. XOX

p.s. Had popcorn yesterday. Fire was involved. 

[Thom Courcelle]

Glad you liked this ode, Nancy... And, you're not alone in experiencing flummoxed flabbergastedness since the dawn of destruction eked into America on Nov. 8th...or even more since the tornado of tribulation rampaged into the oval office on Jan 20.

Sometimes I don't know how to express just how shredded my soul is about each successive blow-stroke of that evil executive-order pen. I would admit to some things here: (1) I attended one of the local Vermont Women's March protests—15,000-to-20,000 people showed up in the capitol of Montpelier—and it did amazing things for my heart to know that [many] others feel things are not okay. (2) and I'm...surprised?...that there is not more art here that specifically disagrees with what's going on... or that outrageously screams that we ought to be waking up about it.

I suppose I feel that mail art has a history of outsider-ism, and a branch that evokes the political, because art in general has always held that important role. It's why artists were/are among the first to be exterminated in historically fascist regimes. We're dangerous. So, it's interesting to me—particulary because IUOMA is representative of a global community, and because as a historically wealthy first-world country America has been the idol of "globalism," ...that there hasn't been more outrage, or at least more artistic comment about the man holding the oval office hostage right now...

My best guess is that this wonderful IUOMA community has too much decorum, too much grace, to post or mail things that they fear might be offensive to anyone's sensibilities. That's admirable, considering that the subject whom we're talking about has absolutely no decorum, grace, or diplomacy WHATSOEVER. But my advice, in regards to any distress about the elephant in the White House, is to let loose with the art in order to relieve the stress. We were made for this job... and it's a patriotic duty.

Let's light a fire under our popcorn.

[Nancy Bell Scott]

p.s. "The Road Between" was the original, then was changed as I posted it to you and on wordpress. You're right, the original title was more ... meant ... and now it's fixed at IUOMA and wordpress. Many thanks for your cobby insight, Thom.

[Nancy Bell Scott]

Thom, I love this blog, and the trail to wonderful moments of the past it leads to. Thank you, my friend. Events since November 8 have had me gasping for air, and so, not here much. Your safety-pin mail was perfect. I'll be in touch soon.

[Dean aka Artist in Seine]

Really breath taking.  For the books, this one is a keeper.  Thanks for the wonderful blog.

[Gü]

Beautiful mail from NBS and as ever an entertaining blog post, thanks Thom.