THANK YOU! Mass Blog (Suus In Mokum, ARTLIKEART, Carina Granlund, Dean Marks, Stephanie Blake, Guido Vermeulen, Erica Durante AND Mim Golub Scalin!)

[Lynn Radford]

Suus In Mokum had the unfortunate duty of reminding me that I had let summer take over my life, neglecting to blog or even say, "Thank you!" for some of the wonderful mail that has been gracing my humble box these days. Embarassed, but glad to have been put back on track, I am here now to shout out to all of you amazingly wonderful folks!

Beginning with Suus... she's been patiently waiting since June, to hear if I'd received this lovely piece...

Artlikeart, sent me one of the prints from her "letterpress reign!" Simple, elegant and punny!

Guido's envelope art, "Breathing Polluted Air Blues," was a treat that made my soul happy, oddly enough.

Erica Durante delighted me with this piece of trashpo/receiptpo. I loved the inclusion of the library receipt and bit of russian text. The security envelope print cloud was a bit serendipitous, as I have been working with the stuff a good bit these days...

I love the minimalism of "Color Study #16" from Mim Golub Scalin! A most excellent composition to be sure! :D

Dean Marks' affinity for barcodes is known far and wide. Imagine how delighted I was to find this 9"x7" piece in the mail. Upon closer inspection, I found that it did not fare so well on the trip from France... there are several spots where pieces have literally been ripped from the whole. I am interested in a glimpse of this piece prior to mailing... Maybe Dean made a scan?

The back side of Dean's piece was as interesting as the front!

No Andy Warhol fan should ever be without Campbell's Tomato Soup Can art! I have Stephanie Blake to thank for this laminated gem!

I call it like I see it and this piece is just plain FUN!

Carina Granlund's style always delights! I love the retro feel of this one:

 A BIG THANK YOU to everyone!

Now, it's back to the studio to make art! See you in the mail!

[Lynn Radford]

One friend (NOT an artist) said, "I know you artist types are flighty and get caught up in your own little world, that's why I wait patiently to hear from you. I know you will eventually get around to it." No truer words have ever been spoken. :D Why do the mundane, when you can MAKE ART? Right, Mim?

[Mim Golub Scalin]

What a fab' batch of mail art. I'm behind in scanning, and thanking, also. So this is a reminder to me, too.

[Lynn Radford]

Hey Angie! It sure does! If it were up to me, I'd be in the studio and online for much of the waking day... but alas, the world won't let me. Dogs to walk, obligations to fill, life to live... Ah, but for a week of bliss! I may just get that come September... Trying to talk the hubby into going it alone for a week while I camp out in the portable studio in Cook Forest! My only concern is that I might not be able to pull myself away from my mailbox for that long! :D

[Lynn Radford]

Not a chance in H-E-double hockey sticks of THAT happening Dean! I have a six drawer filing system set up for my collection of mail art. :D I think my daughter might be interested to know this info. though, as she has an extensive postcard collection. :D I wonder if she'd miss any....

[Dean aka Artist in Seine]

Well I looked it up, and you can buy this post card for $8.00 usd + shipping.  Just to let you know in case you put it on e-bay!

[Lynn Radford]

Such high hopes were had, but alas, the world may never know what Number 93 looked like in all it's original glory... The mail art gods have looked favorably upon me, indeed, that I rated one of the 99! All my best to you and the monkeys, Dean! I now have a clearer sense of you as a TrashPo Banana. :P

Carina, inquiring minds want to know, is there a secret to your possession of Priceless Parisian Postcards? How and where did you procure this gem? Please post positive proximities promptly, preventing possible premature panic! :D

[Dean aka Artist in Seine]

Well Lynn, they are all starting to look the same to me, give or take a few pieces, it doesn't really matter.  I like when the postal system alters them a bit.  I see that yours is n° 93 which means only 6 more to go before I stop making these and start moving on.  (An artist friend told me that one should never make more than 99 of any series.)  So here it is in all its glory:

 

OH NO, I just have a copy of the B side.  Well I'm sure the empty spaces just had bar codes in them, nothing more, nothing less.  They're just bar codes.  DVS says you can get a monkey to make Bar code cards.  (And he is right, I have 12 monkeys in the back room working 12 hour shifts.)

PS I like Carina Granlund's old post card of Paris. (Yes that is the Alexandra III bridge in Paris.)  Those post cards are priceless, where does someone in Finland get old post cards of Paris?   Amazing

[Lynn Radford]

Beauty lies in the eye and heart of the beholder. My view is thusly: Those who see TrashPo in all its splendor will embrace it as "New Art" and it will be chic and stunning and coveted. Those who did not originally embrace it will be scrambling to join the in crowd!

 

[De Villo Sloan]

You certainly have received some very nice work.

I think the individual-environment debate will go one forever. Good point about the impact of art in the environment on the individual.

Of course, when Trashpo replaces "art" as the dominant culture (as predicted in (D(as) K-apital), what will it look like?

[Lynn Radford]

Thanks DVS. The art arriving in my mail box has been amazing. Hard not to have a great blog when you've got this kind of quality to work with.

Carina's art really does make one think... I liked your thought trail and agree wholeheartedly! Not long ago, schools in our area were trying to figure out how to get the students to treat their school environment and supplies with respect. Turns out, if the Environment is left to decay, the effects are felt by all who dwell within. They found that once things started getting fixed and being painted, etc. the students responded with pride and respect, some even helped to bring on further improvements, like art murals and such. I found myself thinking "DUH!!!" at the time. Are we really so lost as a people, as not to see the simplicity of things? Does it really take a committee twelve weeks of study to rediscover simple truths?