A Passion For Creativity

My latest Thumb!  a mixed-media collage that became part of the exhibit.

The Mail Art Exhibit Thumb! was well received in Kernville. 

About 80-100 people attended the Friday, July 25^th wine and cheese reception, and more folks came through on Saturday and Sunday. Thumb! related displays completely filled the Odd Fellows Hall. In the center of the room a pop-up frame held most of the mail art.

The pieces were inserted into crystal clear envelopes and suspended from fishing line with tiny clothespins.

The viewers were able to walk around and study both sides of the postcards; it was possible to see the contributor’s comments plus the stamps, postmarks and country of origin.

Some postcards were inserted into the pockets of the “clear wall” at the far end (shown in background) of the frame.

Near the Hall entryway, a map marked the contributors’ countries with thumbtacks. Additionally, there was a display of Brain Cell Fractal mail art, with an explanation of mail art in general.  

This display had Thumb! mail art, envelopes, and some other mail art calls available for closer inspection. 

A table set up for making art. It was a popular destination during the evening reception and throughout the weekend. Address labels were available, so some contributors received mail art in return.

                                                                                                                          -all photos by Kat Edmonson

Oh! And there was music! Taped music with mbira, or thumb piano selections, plus a bit of Under My Thumb by the Stones and other favorites played in the background for the duration of the show. Above, the acoustic artistry of Pat Seamount and Kat Edmonson enhanced the reception.

by Mirta Toledo of Argentina & the U.S.A

Theme: Thumb, Pouce, Daumen, Duim, Pulgar, Pollice, Policele, Polegar…

Open Media: collage, photography, painting, drawing, printing, etc.

Format & Size: postcards from 4”x6” (or 10 x 15 cm), up to A5 size

about 5 ¾” x 8 1/4” (or 14.8 x 21 cm) maximum.

Documentation: All received works will be exhibited and the artists listed on the blog http://thumbingthrough.wordpress.com/

Please include your name, mailing address, and email address for acknowledgment and correspondence purposes –we will send a list of participants, and copies of any press coverage of the exhibition.

There will be a three-day exhibit July 25, 26, & 27 at the Odd-Fellows Hall in Kernville, California, USA. Kernville has a rich history as a mining town during the California Goldrush and was also frequently used as the site for old silent western movies.

This is the first time an international mail art show will be held in Kernville. At the exhibit there will be a world map indicating the country and city of the artists.

Deadline to be received: June 30, 2008

No fee, no returns: The postcards will become part of the collection of Thumbing Through.

All works must be sent via normal postal route.

 Mail to:        

                  Thumb!

                  c/o J. Desmond

                  P.O. Box 2287

                  Lake Isabella, CA 93240

                  U.S.A.

More on Mail Art & The Thumb! Exhibition.

Well, I’ve been hinting strongly at a story with these collages. The narrative connection between the masks really came together after I finished designing them. “A Fine Masquerade” consists of the thirteen collage mask images along with a short story that I’ve made into a small (4” x 5 ¾”) accordion-style booklet. Although not an “artist’s edition” in the traditional sense, all of the work is completed by me in a numbered and signed edition of 75.

I think of an artist’s edition as consisting of hand-pulled prints (etching, block, linoleum, etc.) and these were printed with an inkjet printer. The interior pages are cotton paper printed with archival ink, then hand-cut and put together using Yes paste (also archival). The covers are individually collaged and unique. Each booklet is finished off with a wrapping cord and an African krobo bead. 

The price of each booklet is $23.50, which includes CA sales tax. Domestic shipping is $2.00. Contact me at joan@joandesmond.com  to add A Fine Masquerade to your collection.

 Erebos Raven

He’s been rocking in the forceful wind, long claws dug into the top of the phone pole across the road for months. Black feathers rise and fall with gusts, and at times glint white in the sun. Daily, his scratchy Caw! Caw! demands Peanuts! Peanuts! Come scatter the morning peanuts! If ignored he moves onto a pine branch above the house for the thunderous effect. At night he beds in those trees.

A smaller female has joined him.  They’ll both chase and dive-bomb hawks venturing into this air space as if somehow a red-tail might steal the precious meal. Lately, their biggest competitor is a coyote who also likes goobers. Not as successful as expelling that raider, they boldly swoop and hop around him hopeful of leftovers.

In an opportune moment, the ravens stuff several peanuts in their beaks and fly off to dissect them. Only then is it quiet.

Of course there had to be a raven collage mask!

Magenta Cat

She is fat-cheeked and cutesy, but don’t underestimate her. She is a mask after all. Magenta is a balance to that which is darker, in a world that’s all about balance. She also represents the colors of the evening, the colors of the setting sun. 

Amethyst Rat

Did you ever read the children’s story series about The Borrowers, the tiny people that lived under the floorboards and freely took what they could from “human beans”? In grade school I eagerly read Mary Norton’s fantastic tales.

We‘ve all had small household items mysteriously disappear. It’s a lovely imaginative plunge to consider a world of minuscule people carrying off safety pins, socks, buttons, and usefully recycling them on their scale, glove fingers into pantaloons for instance. Norton, a British author died last week and as far as I know, didn’t reveal her muse for “the borrowing” story.

I’m speculating that her inspiration could easily have been the antics of pack rats. One’s been scurrying through the garage and pump-house this past year. Can’t leave anything out overnight. Every portable item is fair game. Nails, bolts, pencils, are carted off and later found piled up behind a toolbox, in a flowerpot, or buried in a nest. The foot ruler must have been a challenge as it only made it to the floor, but the bit of Velcro, store receipt, and plumber’s tape roll carried to the hoard just fine.

That’s how Amethyst Rat scampered into the mask story.

Thumb! Update: Exhibition Announcement!

Thank you for all of the great contributions so far to the Thumb Mail Art project. There is about a month left to the June 30th deadline.

A three-day exhibit is planned for July 25, 26, & 27, 2008 at the Odd-Fellows Hall in Kernville, California, USA. Kernville has a rich history as a mining town during the California Goldrush and was also frequently used as the site for old silent western movies– think Roy Rogers, Hopalong Cassidy, Gene Autry, and others. This will be the first international mail art show held in Kernville. At the exhibit there will be a world map indicating the country and city of the artists.This is the first time an international mail art show will be held in Kernville.  A reception is planned for Friday evening, the 25th (time to be announced).

Thumb!

Theme: This call invites your creative visual responses to the theme of the “Thumb,” that thick first digit of the human hand. Whether it’s thumbs up, all thumbs, or pull your thumb outta your, this art will explore the various connotations of the thumb, with irony, with humor, or in all seriousness.

Open Media: collage, photography, painting, drawing, printing, etc.

Format & Size: postcards from 4”x6” (or 10 x 15 cm), up to A5 size about 5 ¾” x 8 1/4” (or 14.8 x 21 cm) maximum.

Documentation: All received works will be exhibited and the artists listed on http://thumbingthrough.wordpress.com/.  Please include your name, mailing address, and email address for acknowledgment and correspondence purposes –we will send a list of participants, and copies of any press coverage of the exhibition.

All works must be sent via normal postal route.

No fee, no returns: The postcards will become part of the collection of Thumbing Through.

Remember: WE LOVE MAIL ART! We love the concept, the images, the sense of community and feedback it inspires. We look forward to your participation in this project. Questions? joan@joandesmond.com

Deadline to be received: June 30, 2008

Mail to:  Thumb!,  c/o  J. Desmond, PO Box 2287,  Lake Isabella, CA 93240   U.S.A.

Hydros Goat

Can weather be bi-polar? Today the thermometer has flipped over to 50 and it’s drizzling rain.

It’s a good time to introduce the goat mask image.  Hydros is the Greek word for water. You may have noticed that many of the mask images have Greek names. The goat represents the aspects of water in the story: blue watered creeks winding through the woods, deep dark purple pools, and bubbling water running over rocks.