INCOMING FROM HOUSTON!!! (I am LOVING this little 'zine-letter and all of the watercolor illustration in it!)

[Hilary Konrad]

Can anyone help me out here on decyphering what this artist's name is? No bother-I'm still all about (first of all) raving on and on in this post about how wonderful an experience flipping through this little MA booklet was for me upon recieving it today! Second most wonderful part of the package was the great postcard & envelope, both of which were totally Trash Po (my first time I think accurately applying this new to me MA terminology!) aka collaged up and down with media like cardboard, Budweiser box siding, aluminum foil, junk mail entrails, etcetera etcetera....JUST BEAUTIFUL. But by far my most FAVORITE aspect of the whole package was the half mini-'zine booklet which contained a kind of stream of consciousness narrative which starts and ends as a formal letter (to ME! YAY.) and morphs at points into assorted essay-like thoughts on art and mail art and the mail art experience as well as what the maker is recently into, plus a wonderful list of fun factoids about the artist-something I treasure when I am crafting my MA response-I can do reandom mailings but my real forte and favorite kind of mail has something/someone/various specifics in mind...So for instance I am glad to now know about this Texan artist (AGAIN: name???) that A.He/she plays the ukelele, B.He/she adores ALL colors (something that resonates with me as whenever I am asked that old tried and true getting to know you inquiry "what's your fvorite color" I'm always like outraged by the narrowness of such a notion-why choose? It's not like we'll ever run out of any one color in the spectrum-I CHOOSE CHOICE! Not to mention my favorite hue right now tends to be anywhere on the grayscale rollercoaster ride of nuance, so...yeah) ANYWYAY! Thank you, oh mystery mailer from Texas! I am psyched now to respond as I always am, but this time you've given me more than I could ask for to go on! If you DO have any other specific interests or recent obsessions just drop me a comment any ole day or night-and thanx again, kudos to YOU! Sincerely Yours For The Meantime:Hilary K.

[Hilary Konrad]

Oh yeah, one more thing: YES, I DID finally get the photo thing going and how after all this time? I actually didn't even relize I was supposed to be posting my own work, just others' I'd received- that is not until you went to the trouble of snailmailing me and just giving me a few really easypointers. That and the fact that you made me realize I actually wasn't unable to post, I just had no clue what I was posting wasn't all I should be posting-I thought it to be IUOMA etiquette or something just to post recieved mail man oh man am I a newbie!!! H.

[Hilary Konrad]

You DID sign it! It wasn't a hallucination or a mistake; I think the ink may have underwent some kind of chemical process or something rendering the words and letters fuzzy- this is on the backside of the postcard, on the top left corner, adjacent to where you wrote the (utterly clever) title of the piece. So no worries there, and I hope I didn't sound like I was annoyed-just curious as hell! I was just dying to know who this mysterious lover (still) of socks was, who's been reading up on art and creativity as of late (me too, me tooooo!!!) and whom I should cast in my next Shakespearean fantasy production as the "incompetant bard..." (LOL!) I feel like we two go way back to my first days on IUOMA when I was desperately posting anywhere and everywhere "how do I?" and "how can I?" in an eager attempt to be part of this whole beautiful community! You were the first (and only) one to even attempt to lend a hand-even you just saying that yes, the site is a bit lethargic at times or let's say quirky technologically speaking, that confirmation looked like comaradery to me even back then-and then here you are again popping up where I least expect to find you! I know I said this probably in my blog about the MA you sent, but the way you kind of hybridized an artist's book + a 'zine + an autobiography + a personal letter...well in short it INSPIRED THE HELL OUTTA ME! I've got a stack of 3 or 4 other correspondents right now I have to tackle first in responding to, but I am totally itching to get to my response to your candid introduction-it'll be a fun one, I know! So far the correspondents I've exchanged with have been wonderful, talented, perhaps ingenius mail artists but none has been quite so forthcoming and warm in introducing herself to me thru the mail, so kudos to you for that!!! More soon: Hilary.

[Heide Monster]

Hi Hilary, looks like you got the photo thing going!  The mail is from me, sorry, thought I had signed it

Heide Monster