Lesley Magwood Fraser's Blog (89)

Now here's an ATC with a difference! It is hugging itself and then unfolds into a wonderful shape full of lovely things. The envelope is also a gorgeous artwork with a great quote on the back. Your digital work is wonderful Em, thankyou! Creative soul.…

Fabulous Angie! I like the delicate handmade paper with circles within the fibres and the suspended circles on threads, so fragile even though you have used red and black, hard colours. Thankyou! What must I do with the enclosed little envelope boekie from Samuel Montalvetti? Send it back to you or to samuel? Must I do something in it?…

A great card from Heather today..... all black and white with a diagram carefully drawn by Heather. Is it a computer chip? No. Is it an architectural plan? No. Is it an asemic map? Who can tell. Maybe the barcode stuck onto it has the answer?

The Latin botanical names may be the clue..... Thanks for the puzzle Heather!

 …

This beautiful handmade Japanese envelope is an artwork in itself, I didnt want to open it, but after carefully cutting the top open I found this very fragile piece of handmade paper inside, Marie says it is about her state of mind....Marie has stuck sand onto it, and a shred of japanese newspaper. This work says so little, yet SO MUCH. Thankyou Marie for sharing your state of mind. I see with horror on the news the continuing earthquakes, it must be terrifying for you, so I continue to keep…

My mailbox was full of these 3 goodies yesterday, I was delighted to receive work from these 3 for the 1st time.

An abstract landscape format card from Cernjul in Argentina, I am about to start some landscape drawings so this is good inspiration!

And one of Stephanie's "quilted" cards, I love it, the random images all go "sew" well together in their colour group YELLOW.So they are not random any more.

And finally 2 ATCs from Angie - I am so pleased to finally own a print…

In my mailbox on Friday were these 2 wonderful postcards - from Dosankodebbie and Marni Zainodin. Thankyou both very much! Debbie's is a hutch full of rabbits running about, and Marni's a lovely colourful watercolour rendering of tropical flowers and pattern. Lucky me!…

This BEAUTIFUL little ATC arrived today from Karen. I love all things French after my trip to Paris and Provence a few months ago so this little card pleases me a LOT! The colours are divine, and the envelope  made me want to rip it open! Thankyou Karen.…

Yesterday I found this very exciting envelope waiting for me in the mailbox.... ejva's letter U for project 26 and some wonderful Chinese documents and a savings book! U's images convey the sense of the world's overpopulation - masses of people, some beavering away on vast production lines, and an aerial view image of housing, an image all too familiar at the moment of Japanese towns devastated by the tsunami and earthquake. Unity? Yes I think so evja.

The savings book?  Add, pass,…

Another treasure in my mailbox yesterday was from Bifidus - a postcard full of information and images! Thankyou Bifidus! Great stamps too.

The reverse side is wonderful - it seems to have a Gothic feel to it, maybe it is the image of the bones and Centaur - dont know - and the happy rabbit behind the mesh? Nice! I like it a lot.…

Jennie Hinchcliff! You rock! What an adventure....I can totally visualise your saga, so well written, I was immersed in the late night greasy diner and the 4 day roadtrip! The map is ambiguously presented adding to the mystery of the whole journey's events. Well done Jennie and thankyou.

And a clever idea to include the insert with a description of the…

Lucky me - I received 2 works from Marie yesterday all the way from Japan. I must say I felt a sense of sadness when I saw the beautiful envelopes, knowing that when they were mailed Japan was in a normal happy state of mind.... by the time they arrived here  Japanese life had changed forever.

Marie your windmills contribution is wonderful, so interesting to see how everyone has portrayed the lyrics in so many ways. Your work is delicate and quite ethereal, looking through the clear…

If any of you are in Kloof South Africa in the next month come and see my upcoming exhibition!

Growing up in the 60’s with 3 sisters and a mother who cooked and sewed for us all has left me with a strong sense of domestic life. I have never sewed but two sisters followed in my mother’s footsteps, even making their own wedding dresses. Two of us love cooking. I prefer to express myself visually, combining drawing marks with collage for this body of work…

My first piece from Helder arrived from Portugal today.... a gorgeous little work.A scarecrow who does not think he has a future. The grass, glued on and painted - is it the field he is guarding or is it his stuffing? Is he disintegrating? Thankyou Helder, I love it!…

Lucky me! I was presented today with Cheryl's contribution to this project at our printing workshop that we are both attending. No postal service quirks to worry about with mail friendly hand delivery! Cheryl manages to cover all aspects of issues discussed in the various mail art groups in her windmill mind - asemics, haptics, vispo and layers on layers of paint, text and collage - such a clever girl!…

I made this concertina book with signatures in Cheryl Penn's bookmaking workshop last year and decided to use it to store mail art that I have received from Karin Greenwood and Elize Rowan, 2  of my South African friends. As in my last mail art book that I made to store Cheryl's mail (see my photos of An Extraordinary Correspondence with Cheryl Penn) I used old drawings of mine cut up as the "pockets" to hold the work. As I dont sew or have a machine I stapled the pockets on....

This…

Another special playing card piece, I like the Asemic marks on the front as it seems to say EM, my daughter's name! The reverse side has layered cutouts with a hidden image underneath, rather like the cutaway applique method used in needlework. Thanks Cheryl!…