SMTMA: Debra Mulnick's Bicycling Kangaroo

[Thom Courcelle]

This blog is continuing a series of posts describing received correspondence that is "Something More Than Mail Art"—(SMTMA)—mail art that exceeds the standards of anticipation. (For a fuller description, see my previous blog post: http://iuoma-network.ning.com/profiles/blogs/something-more-than-ma....)

Debra Mulnick has sent me several pieces that are so colorful that one wonders if she is having TOO GOOD OF A TIME creating art... Which is exactly as it should be! Take the above large envelope for example... Only a master scrappbook or collage artist could put that together...a bicycling kangaroo who is about to be pulled over by the traffic police for reading and riding at the same time. Addressee and address completely hand stamped in rainbow colors. And, the back of this envelope (7 inches x 10 inches) is covered in artistamps and print stickers from several other artists...so Debra is clearly making her way around the Eternal Network and connecting with some seasoned correspondence artists.

Inside, more wonder and awe:

A vintage postcard discovered who-knows-where that depicts the old Rutland railway running past a covered bridge and a hillside covered in late-autumn orange-tinged trees. That's about the most thoughtful enclosure treat that someone could've sent from all the way across the country! So here are some factoids about that postcard:

• Rutland, Vermont (the town where I grew up) was at one time the largest train hub in America...
• BECAUSE...the Rutland area was once known as the 'Marble capital of the world" (I kid you not.) Many of the buildings, structures, and memorials in Washington DC are made from Vermont-quarried marble. Immigrants from all over the world came here to quarry marble and sculpt it into statues, columns, and artifice. My great-grandafather moved here from Québec and worked as a marble sculptor (perhaps this is why art runs in my veins!) The Vermont Marble Museum is still located in Proctor, the next town over.
• Also, Vermont has more historic covered bridges than any other state.
• Vermont is trying to reconnect several of the railroad tracks and routes in order to connect the state with other major cities. Currently, there is a train from my town that goes all the way to the Big Apple. (Very convenient !) And the legislature is trying to get the tracks renovated and up-and-running again all the way to Burlington (Vermont's largest city, located on Lake Champlain)...and all the way up to Montréal. The commuter train ceased in like the 1980s due to revenue shortfall (or something), but commuter numbers around the country are climbing and the tourism that the re-opened lines could bring will be great for the area—especially the ski industry that we rely on so much for revenue. Ima gonna get so much use outta that train when it starts back up—just you watch!!

AND ALSO THIS... handmade and machine-stitched card that was enclosed, with googly-eye and gold-tone paint. The hand symbol seems to have been a common theme in my mailbox recently. (Maybe everyone at IUOMA is having a psychic interface moment!!) I like that it lookes like a Hamsa Hand—a protective amulet against the evil eye! And the googly-eye heightens that impression...as does the reverse side with its spiraling gyro...

I'm so glad you are contributing your bright colors to the mail art world, Debra! I certainly appreciate seeing them in my mailbox!

[Melissa Wand]

Nice!