Art Collected 2010 – Part Four

As I was saying in Part Three, you can collect art without a huge budget. Along with that, you can also collect art without any money exchange at all. I’ve actually acquired some great pieces this way over the last few years. Here are a few ways to go about this:

Be really nice to your artist friends

Okay, you’re not going to build up a vast, intense collection just by waiting around for gifts, but this year my lovely friend Brittany Peterson gave me a beautiful blown glass ball that she created, and it’s a great addition to my art collection. So remember to appreciate any art gifts you receive!

Trade Art

If you are an artist or maker yourself, trading work is also a fun collecting option! Talk to your artist friends and see who would be interested in swapping art. Or even if you’re not an artist, there is bound to be something that one of your artist friends wants and that you could give them/do for them in exchange for an artwork. I know I would definitely give up one of my paintings for someone to come in and help me paint a room or something.

Here’s a piece my friend Tashana Kjelland traded for a zine and some mail art I sent her:

Mail Art

When I first started feeling the acute desire to fill my home with artwork, I didn’t have any money whatsoever and so I got really into Mail Art. If you haven’t heard of this phenomenon, basically you send art in the mail to a participant and then they send you something back. Simple and effective. It’s fun to make, because there is absolutely no pressure, and it’s fun to get something in the mail besides bills. Plus, you’ll be surprised at the quality of work that abounds in the Mail Art community. A great place to start is the International Union of Mail Artists (IUOMA) website.

Unfortunately, in 2010 I was too busy to participate with my mail artist friends. This year, I’ve already made something that I’m sending to Jennifer Kosharek for her Utopia/Dystopia exhibition.

 

Here are some of my favorite collected Mail Art pieces from recent years:

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Read Art Collected 2010 – Part Three (collecting on a budget)

Part Two (documenting/insuring your collection)

and Part One (selected pieces collected in 2010)

Happy Collecting!

Mail Art: UR Toy Story

Got this postcard in the mail the other day from my Florida friend Jennifer….

and this morning I actually had a little bit of time, kinda, so I decided to actually make some Mail Art! Haven’t done any for a long time so it was pretty awesome!

you can’t really see the stitching but it says “UR Toy Story”

The theme was perfect for me because I am using broken toys a lot in one of my Process Quilts (which I am done with and will be photographing this weekend YAY!!!)

If you would like to be involved in this Mail Art Call, check out Jennifer’s blog :)

MOMA acquires A Book About Death postcards

The recent show, A Book About Death, organized by Matthew Rose and exhibited at the Emily Harvey Foundation in NYC proved to be a great success! It was an open call for artists–many of my mail artist friends were involved, and the image above is the front of the postcard that I sent in for the show.

It was really a tribute to Ray Johnson (his original Book About Death), and a “global exploration of death”. Each artist contributed 500 postcards to the show, which created an “unbound Book About Death”. Visitors to the gallery were then able to select some or all of each postcards to create their own book about death.

The reason I claim that this show is a success is because MOMA (New York) just acquired a complete set of postcards from the show! So in a small way, I can say that I’ve been “collected” by MOMA, and that makes life pretty good! I think the artists involved in the show are excited about this–because even though mail art operates mostly outside traditional establishments, isn’t it true that we all want our artwork to be seen, we all have a voice we want heard, and isn’t it nice to be recognized a little?

Good Mail Day!

Some of my mail art has been published in this great book by Pod Post! You can find Good Mail Day here on Amazon.

Make sure to check out the Pod Post website where you can find some awesome info, pics, and even mail art merit badges!! For more info about the book project, check out the blog!!

I’m so happy to be part of this publication–how fun!!

In the Mailbox: Richard Canard

In the Mailbox

My mailbox has been a little lonely lately…
Thanks Stan for this great postcard, it made my day!

Mail Art from Russell Manning

from Russell Manning
Texas

What a great piece! Love it!

Mail Art from Staten Island

from Andrea Jay
Staten Island, NY, USA

Chromatophore Mail Art Call

Wanted to pass the news along about Chromatophore, a Mail Art call.

Mail submissions to: Jennifer Zoellner
Chromatophore
665 Jasmine Way South
Saint Petersburg, FL 33705 USA

This will be the 2nd annual Mail Art show in St. Petersburg, FL. Jennifer will also be posting all submissions on her blog. Please include your email and your address if you’d like to be informed of the mail art show location and dates. Due date for the art is August 1, 2009. No returns!

Mail Art Exhibition at the 407 Gallery

Lia from Art Junk

Jennifer from Wee Hoo

France

Bill from Art Contemplations

Germany

I installed the Mail Art exhibition today at the 407 Gallery (University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Campus, Studio Arts Building 407) You can see it there through November 1st.

Thank you to all the Mail artists who sent me something for this show–I really appreciate it! If you sent me something within the last month, you should be getting something in the mail from me soon!

It took me about 4 hours to install it, with the help of my friend Elana (thanks Elana!!)
Will be back with pics of the installation soon.

I will be sending out a list of participants to all of those involved. Included will be addresses, expect for those who have requested not to have their address listed. If you are part of this show and you DO NOT want your address listed, please let me know right away. Also let me know if you have changed your address since our last correspondence!

The show looks great and it has been a lot of fun. I am still open to trading Mail Art with anyone. It will then be on display in my office in The Eclipse Gallery on a rotating basis, or in my home if I really like it! Maybe a future themed show will come into being someday…

3-D Mail Art from Milan (Illinois)

I adore this bit of Mail Art sent to my old address and fortunately forwarded to my new place!

1st Mail Art at New Place

How wonderful to start getting Mail Art at my new place. I was hoping that everybody would find me!!