August from Janet - Liz's tips - No. 3 - Romping in the park

 

Janet is doing a great job of combining a big splashy design and name with a very scanner friendly address. I like the way the USPS code at the bottom is acting as the base for the vase. I haven't decided if I am going to toss out an idea for all of us to consider for August. I like this. But, if I toss it out - Janet won't want to do it - since she just did it. And then - it looks like Liz likes to do something different on each envelope. I've spent 16 years not tossing out ideas - maybe I should just stick with that... decisions, decisions.....

***

Are there really people for whom making art is all fun and games and it is not work? Probably. Although I can't think of anyone who just churns out a lot of art and every single piece is exactly what they had hoped for. It seems like most people look at the work and evaluate if it is what they had hoped to create. Most people tend to have a range between loving some pieces and finding others to be so-so and still others get tossed.

It seems like very young kids lean towards liking everything they produce. Making art is a joyful experience. As they get older they start looking at the art with more discernment about what they had hoped it would look like. Let's ponder the very popular Picasso quote: 

• "Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up."   

This is what I found on Wikipedia and I DO NOT agree with the *meaning* offered by Wikipedia.

All children are artists. The problem is how to stay an artist when the child grows up.

What it means: When you grow up, you lose the creativity you had when you were a child.

This is Jean's view: People don't lose their creativity - that is absurd. A young child delights in the process. Making art provides a joyful experience. As they outgrow that innocent love of everything they make and develop a critical eye for whether the things they are drawing are good renderings - they either work at learning how to draw - or they give up - and say, "I can't draw." Later on, they might decide to study art and learn how to draw - and they may succeed - or they may decide it's too hard.

Making art is like everything else - you have to want to do it. A few people are born with the ability to draw, but they are way out on the tip of a bell curve - or a spectrum, as we are now calling them.

This tip needs some editing. Let's go back to that other path where we were talking about dots, lines, shapes - and the other elements.

Liz to Irene - Liz's tips - No. 2 - work

 

Here is another one from Liz that she sent during our exchange that inspired this series. I wonder if the USPS scanner could read this. I think I'm going to try some ideas for scannable addresses that still allows for this much artwork on the envelope. The colors go well with the stamp.

***

We've decided on the path of talking about work. Everyone has heard the expression "a work of art." It's my opinion that making art is work. You have to think about what you are doing. You can choose to not think about it. You can take a pencil or marker and "mindlessly" or "without-thought" maneuver the pencil around on the paper without thinking - or without thinking as well as with your eyes closed.

Google *drawing without thinking* and there are all kinds of websites and YouTube videos. It would be great fun to take a side trip, but I don't have time. Feel free to explore and send us a full report from the field.

Most people remember an art class in high school (if they took art) where everyone drew a shoe without looking at their paper. It's a fun exercise - where you just focus on the shoe and let your hand follow instructions from your brain and then after you have drawn the outline and some details - you look at it - and it usually resembles a shoe - but it's not a very accurate rendering.

If you want to learn how to actually render something with accuracy, it's not really hard. There are several systems for learning how to draw accurately. A few people are gifted with the spontaneous  ability to draw what they see without ever working at it or taking classes. Some of those people are autistic. Some aren't. But most of us have to put in the work at learning how to draw.

If you think it's too hard and you don't even want to try, I won't argue with you. If I had you in my class, I'm pretty sure I could change your mind. We'll stick a pin in this and maybe come back to it.

I learned how to draw accurate outlines but I was never interested in shading so that is a huge gap in my body of knowledge. "Shading" is not in my tool box - unless you want to count those drop shadows on lettering. 

Have I convinced you that art is work? Or do you think for some people it's just a romp in the park? Let's talk about those people tomorrow.

July from Liz - Liz's tips - No. 1 (elements & work)

 

This is Liz's July envelope. I just discovered that I've been posting August - and I never posted the incoming July envelopes. So, we will be disorganized for a while. Maybe forever.

I like this exuberant design from Liz. It goes nicely with the stamp. It's unusual to run back to back envelopes from someone other than me. I think the lettering on yesterday's envelope has a little more finesse than this lettering - although this lettering is fine. Something I mention from time to time is when you are doing caps and lower case, the caps do not need to be twice as tall. They only need to be slightly taller - 25% taller is more than enough.

Making double tall caps is a holdover from first grade when we had that lined paper. There are some fancy styles in the pointed pen world where the caps are 3-times as tall as the l.c. - or even taller - but that's a whole different world.

***

I'm going to number the tips that were inspired by my correspondence with Liz and call them Liz's tips so that I can find all of them if I ever want to refer back to them - or maybe add to them. Wouldn't it be fun if I had all my tips in one place. 

Tip No. 1

Dots. Yes, we've covered dots previously but it seems like a good place to start. There is a line that I've written about previously: a line is a dot that went for a walk. If you Google that sentence you will find many hits and lots to read about Paul Klee and what he meant when he made the comment. There are also shapes - another element in a work of art. A shape is formed when a line encloses a space.

We have now created a fork in the road. We can keep talking about dots, lines, shapes, elements --or-- we can take the other path and talk about *work of art.*

How many different things can we learn in one day? For some of you, this is is very old knowledge. For others it might seem new, but it's not really new. Both are concepts that you are familiar with - but you might not have given them much thought. Like gravity. You know what it is - but do you ever think about it? 

Does creating an envelope seem like work or is it all fun and games?

Liz to Mia - dots on a mural

 

Liz emailed this image of her envelope to Mia in early August to get my opinion on whether or not it was going to have a good chance of making it to Montreal. Because the grandkids were in town, I was not checking my email so by the time I got back to Liz she had already put it in a less decorated envelope and sent it on its way. I let Liz know how much I liked the envelope. Then we had a little back and forth conversation about art and style and the professional level work by some of the people on the exchange.

Liz said that she thought her work was "a long way from technically correct." I instantly thought of about five things to say about that. Starting tomorrow I will start a series of comments and suggestions for people who are not professionals or who have never taken a class. 

Apologies to the people who took classes with me - it will be stuff you've heard. Feel free to leave comments about how my tips and tricks were easy and fun and life enhancing. I suppose that sounds like an overstatement - but I do think that people who are drawn to mark making and mail reap some rewards for the time they spend on their artwork.

The add on today is so good. It's the mural on the side of the building where I purchase my glasses. I'd like to know how much they paid the artist. 

Check out all the dots - then go back and look at how much Liz's dots add to her design.

Aug from Jeanette - Princess Leia

Jeannette's envelope is inspired by Carrie Fisher's book Postcards from the Edge. I read the book a long time ago and will be looking to see if it's available in an audiobook. I listen to every new autobiographical or memoir audiobook that I can get through my library. I even try the ones that are by people I have no interest in or who seem like the antithesis of everything I prefer and I generally find that they all have interesting stories. I've thought about writing my own book, Living in Duh Moines. Des Moines is often used as an example of a place that is probably boring. I would want my book to be very boring and routine on the surface - but then there would be a twist. I'm not sure what the twist is. Maybe someday I will think of one. 

Postcards from the Edge was semi-autobiographical. Carrie also wrote a memoir that I enjoyed. Wishful Drinking.

This is the blurb at the library website. 

The bestselling author of Postcards from the Edge comes clean (well, sort of) in her first-ever memoir, adapted from her one-woman Broadway hit show. Fisher reveals what it was really like to grow up a product of "Hollywood in-breeding," come of age on the set of a little movie called Star Wars, and become a cultural icon and bestselling action figure at the age of nineteen. Intimate, hilarious, and sobering, Wishful Drinking... 

Someday I'll post the photo of myself in my Princess Leia costume. <pause>

I had a vague notion that I had posted the photo - so did a search - and voila - I ran the photo with a blurb back in 2017. It doesn't show the two side buns very well. I had enough hair at the time to make them without adding any fake hair or filler.

https://pushingtheenvelopes.blogspot.com/2017/11/bonus-post-princess-leia.html#comment-form

Aug from Sue - dog park

Sue has been working on insects/butterflies/moths. I do not know if they are based on actual creatures or if they are fantasy critters. Either way, they are lovely and on my list of *try this.*

As mentioned over the past couple days, I am way behind on scheduling posts. It's 7 pm and I rarely (if ever) write posts at this time of day. Maybe it's a good time to switch things up. Maybe not. Maybe everyone is overwhelmed with the end of summer. 

The highlight of my grandson Ben's visit to Iowa was going to a very large dog park. Ben wants a dog and I have a friend who goes to the dog park with her dogs and was willing to meet us there so Ben could play with some dogs. It's a huge place with day care for dogs as well as overnight boarding. It has a bar/restaurant and a large indoor space with huge garage-type doors that open up so it's semi-outdoors and the dogs can roam in the smaller fenced section while the people can stay in a shadier space. Then there is a 3 acre grassy area with playground features.

I was impressed with how much fun it was for the dogs. Here's a link to their website - with some drone footage. Maybe every town has one of these - and I'm just learning about them.

https://pawsandpintsdsm.com/your-best-friends-bar-dog-park/

 

August for Mia, Maggie and Lynne - last of the outgoing August envelopes

Two judge stamps and one of those statues one might see in a big city. I guess they are bronze. Does bronze turn green? Copper turns green. So many questions. So little time. It is still Friday the 21st as I write this and I am having a minor panic at how far behind I am on scheduling the posts.

I would have been perfectly happy with these if only I had made the names larger. Dang.

The following was written on Sunday, Aug 16th. 

These are the last of the Rolly envelopes - for now - I might have to do some more. I'll try to find something else because we all like variety. 

So, it's the end of the August envelopes. I'm writing this as my grandson and daughter pack the car to return to Chicago. After they leave I can find the July envelopes that arrived. I should have posted them first - but I was too busy getting ready for the houseguests. It was a successful trip. My granddaughter needed to fly back to Chicago a couple days early so we tried the *unaccompanied minor* option. She's 12 and was not nervous at all. It went very well and her 10 year old brother says he is up for the two of them flying in to Iowa next year. We started this annual trip thing when they were 2.5 and 4.5. I was 66. Fond memories.

2026 

2018

I hired a photographer to take photos of the grandkids on their first summer trip to Iowa without parents. I had it printed on that vinyl that just clings to the wall to avoid paying a fortune for a huge frame. I think it's around 5 feet tall. The kids thought it would be fun to re-enact the photo since I know exactly where that tree is --- but we forgot to do that. I hope I remember to do it next year. 

 

From Renee and August to Mary and Judi - fancy plates and spoons

This was from Renee in June or July and I don't think it's been posted. The flowers look like colored pencil. The paper has just enough texture to be perfect with colored pencil. She used just enough white to make the flowers pop as well as enough dark to give depth.

Below are more Rolly Crump envelopes - which you are probably getting tired of - sorry. Mary's is on regular paper and Judi's is on vellum and has texture rather than being filled in. The bold parts should have been bolder.

Here is a shout out to Mia who sent the *lovely* dandelion themed mailing. It's a handpainted de Gournay porcelain plates (starting at $597 for one). I'd like to see a closeup of those flowers around the edge. <pause> I just zoomed in on the image and the little flowers are UH-DOOR-UH-BULL.

I should take a picture of the one fancy item in my house. It's a sterling silver spoon that came from my mother-in-law. I have no idea how I ended up with it but it is a perfect spoon for desserts. My granddaughter likes key lime pie and I bought her some Oui brand yogurt that was key lime flavored. That's the yogurt that comes in a little glass jar. I gave her the special spoon and she enjoyed the experience so I will bequeath the silver spoon to her. 

August to Irene - House Rules - Iowa vs Chicago - food and beverage

 

There have been so many times that I wrote "the photo does not do this one justice." For the first time there is a photo that improved the envelope. I used paint markers on vellum and it was OK. That vertical stack of hearts is clunky - as well as the three under the stamp - but the other border is OK. At first I was happy to be done with the Barbie stamps - now I am tempted to get another sheet of them.

First story from the 8th annual grandkid trip to Iowa. At 10 and 12, the kids are well acquainted with The House Rules. The Chicago House Rules are very strict on food and beverages. The Iowa House Rules are pretty loose. It is shocking to my daughter that she grew up in a house that kept 12 packs of soda pop on hand. When we stopped at a store - Ben saw A&W Root Beer and asked if we could buy just one bottle. Of course we could. 

Later I asked him if he would like to paint. I have a couple big canvases and a lot of leftover craft paint. Most of it is 20+ years old and I always thought it would be fun to use it up with the grandkids but until now, they have not been interested. I was wildly excited. We set things up in the garage and it was hot - so I told him to just take his shirt off. Then I recorded a short video and sent it to his parents. I neglected to see the bottle of root beer in the background. His dad spotted it - and responded "Ben looks very boho - shirtless and a (root) beer.

The dad assured me that it's OK to drink soda pop in Iowa. I'm not sure we'll mention the other discoveries - like Blue Bunny makes a soft serve ice cream. It was gone before we had a chance to try a DIY root beer float.

I thought it would be fun to add a photo of a shirtless Pablo Picasso - and there are so many. In fact, someone has taken the time to make a blog post with as many as they could find - so you may choose your favorite. It gave me flashbacks to when I lived in a house with boys - and they were not very interested in wearing shirts.

 https://ridiculouslyinteresting.com/2012/05/01/a-lot-of-pictures-of-pablo-picasso-without-his-shirt-on/

August to Sharen - stories from the visit - preface

 

Yes, more Rolly Crump lettering. This one was pretty far along in the series as I started to add my own doo-dads. The proportion of the name is very pleasing. It's a bit of a stretch to say that the zigzags on the lettering coordinate with RBG's lace collar - because the lettering itself is contrary to RGB. Or is it? Judges are so reserved that we rarely get to find out what they are like as people. Who's the zaniest judge? I can think of that one guy who was maybe Italian and I think he died unexpectedly. Seems like he would say things from time to time that were not as reserved as what we usually hear from judges. I could Google and find his name in one click but I'm more interested in filling up blog posts since I only have 7 scheduled. [I am doing a quick edit on the 21st before this pops up and I think the judge's name was Anthony Scalise - but that might not be the right spelling and I'm not going to look it up.]

That's right. I am writing this on Aug 14th. This is close to the end of the nine day visit with the grandkids in Iowa. They are heading into 5th and 7th grade so they are much easier than little kids. I'm debating about telling stories. Plumbing and roof leaking? Dog stories? Or kimchi-gate? 

Accidentally leaving a bottle of A&W root beer in the background when I sent a photo to the parents who do not allow such things might be worth a story. The kids are old enough to weigh in on which unreasonable rules they have at their house and whether or not the rules my daughter sets are things that came from me. 

August to Teri - Laboratorio Paravicini

The pink could have been muddy over the blue. I would have liked a little better color coordination on her last name. Maybe black would have been better. The idea of little silver robots was a good idea. Where I missed the boat was making then so small. Remember one of our best design tools - scale? Make something really big. It's not my finest border but it has potential.

Our add on today is swoon-worthy plates from Italy. Our five remaining plates that are perfect for sandwiches and have had 49 years of daily use are getting too crazed for me. I can handle a certain amount of patina on a plate but they are starting to bother me. Sooooo - in searching for replacement plates, I found this place in Italy - all hand painted and way out of my price range. But, there are tons of good ideas for envelopes.

https://www.paravicini.it/pages/ready-made

LINK to Instagram -- if you prefer Instagram. They have videos on Instagram which are swoonier than just still shots.

 

August to Liz - artists in their studios videos

 

This is one of the last envelopes I did using the Rolly font. I did black on white and then white on black. Then I decided to try some color. Forgetting my own solid advice about having a stamp in mind prior to choosing colors, I just pulled out purple. Big mistake. I currently do not have any stamps with purple. There is a tiny bit on this stamp. It would have been so much better if the *LIZ* had been in that light blue. It would have been better to have some much larger stars running off the edge of the envelope. It would have been better to reflect the verticality of the stamp somewhere.

***

I've watched several of these videos and thoroughly enjoyed them. Many are interviews with artists living in lofts in NYC. Most of them (or maybe all of them) are older people. They are unique however there is a common thread through most of the interviews when they share their perspective on how gratifying it has been to live life as an artist. It seems as though one doesn't choose to be an artist - the art chooses the person.

This is the most recent one - 8 minutes. LINK to Ben Schonzeit

LINK to the filmmakers main list   with lots more. Some videos are not about artists - there's one about the guy who releases the confetti on Times Square, some tapestry restoration, painting ballet shoes and the last flower factory in America. 

 

I Googled Ben's name to see more of his work since I had not heard of him - some spectacular photorealism of flowers and food as well as some more abstract work.

Aug to Jessica and Jeanette - Mimi

These two were returned to me. They had stickers with bar codes and I had used a return address label on the back. I didn't follow my own advice and put the sticker on the short edge of the envelope so that the orientation was vertical so that the scanner wouldn't pick it up. Let this be a warning to all of us that we really have to work at making our envelopes scanner friendly.

The style of lettering is the one from Rolly. I used two different types of white gel pen. I like the detail provided by the finer pen on Jessica's. But I prefer the whiter white on Jeannette's. 

***

It is so much fun when my pen pals send me things like this. It's from Mimi who has an impressive career in the special collection world. It is a 15th century book and the rubricator is complaining about their fingers being tired. Now that I look closely - that looks like a book that is typeset. And the first typeset books were from the 15th century - 1455 is the date most often associated with the Gutenberg bible.

I wonder if they only printed in black, leaving space for the red - and then all the red had to be done by hand. Note to self...ask Mimi if that's how it worked.

Aug from Patty - guinea fowl wallpaper

Patty researched and found one of the Barbie fonts which looks great on that hot pink. I almost wish I had another sheet of Barbie stamps. Patty used the Posca paint markers and mentioned that they can be too juicy and then dry up faster than one would expect. In my experience, the type of paper can influence the behavior of the markers. Art supplies require a lot of trial and error. Then, in a perfect world, you keep a log of successes and failures so that you can refer back to what worked and what didn't. Sometimes an ornery pen or marker can be a failure on everything you try - and then you finally find something that works well ---- but then it doesn't last long because there were so many test runs that used up the ink or paint. 

***

Here is a long video with Juan Pablo Molyneux showing the restoration of his mansion in Paris. He's a charming person and the mansion is quite lovely. I have no idea if anyone is interested. I included it because there is one room where he had the entire wall space covered with the feathers from guinea fowl. I have fond memories of tending to a flock of guinea fowl while visiting my grandmother and uncles on a ranch in Montana. I loved the polka dot feathers. And we all know how much I love dots - and how I rely on them to solve design problems.

Link to 1 hour video go to 55:32 minutes for the feather room.

Aug to Lisa and Amaya

 

Two more from the Rolly series made towards the end when I stuck closer to Rolly's style. The two of them show that the particular letters make a huge difference. Amaya's is sooooo good - and Lisa's is clunky. It's only slightly clunky. Maybe it's just blah. There's no visual interest to the way the letters fit together. Of course, I could look at this as a challenge and make myself work harder on this style. 

Would the readers enjoy that journey or would they rebel? And if there was a rebellion, exactly what would that look like? Can anyone tell that I have just finished my noon coffee? 

These two envelopes were also hand made. They don't bother me as much as the pink one. How could anyone be bothered by gray? And there was nothing wrong with the pink one before I put colors and a stamp on and they were all clashing. It would have been fun to find something perfect to go with that pink.

Aug to Carole Violett

Carole was an exchanger back in 2018-2020. If you do a search for [Carole] many envelopes will pop up. I think there were two Caroles - so I'm not sure all of them will be from CaroleV. She always included a fun handmade card and letter. It was fun to hear from Carole out of the blue so I responded. I usually respond to all my mail but I think some of it has been lost to the ages. I mimicked the flowers that Carole had put on her envelope and mine are OK. 

I'm not happy with the lettering and the stamp doesn't help things. I made the envelope out of a random piece of leftover paper and I hope I don't try that again. Random paper needs to be used as filler. Making envelopes by hand is way too tedious for me in my current situation. If I ever get to the point where I can no longer drive around and get lots of stuff done - then I will relax into the gentle art of making envelopes by hand. I will also treat myself to those crazy expensive roller tape dispensers.

 

August to Chuck

 

The next few days will be mail that was sent around the time I was working on the August exchange envelopes. This is that font I borrowed from Rolly. Although it was probably never turned into a font. It was probably always hand lettering. This was done very close to the end after I had followed Rolly's work and then gone off on my own tangent and then a few days later I reined myself in and followed Rolly again. While all y'all are probably weary of me saying that a person needs to do 15-20 envelopes to really decide how they feel about a style - I'm saying it again. When people try something on one-five envelopes and say they didn't like it - I'm not sure they really gave it a chance.

Here's a postcard I sent. I have a whole pack of them that I have had for a couple years and it's hard to part with them because they are so fun - but, I'm going to make myself mail them.

The pack even came with a fridge magnet of that mail carrier. 

June from Juliana - Rolly Crump

Juliana had a marvelous idea. She deconstructed an envelope and covered it with her own design...a watery scene to go with the beach stamp. She colored part of it in with colored pencils and left the rest for the recipients to finish. 

Our add-on today is Rolly Crump - a designer for Disney who was 93 when he died in 2026. His work popped up on Pinterest and was the inspiration for my August envelopes. At the moment (2:42 pm on July 19th) I have found 23 letters on this screenshot. I'll figure out a Q-X-Z and a set of numbers. 

He was a major figure in the early years of Disney - LINK to list at Wiki

LINK to an article about Rolly

LINK to Pinterest images of Rolly's work

 

June from Jackie

 

This is so pretty. I can't tell how Jackie did it. It looks like mixed media - not just watercolor. Maybe gouache. It doesn't look like it was done with a brush. I'd say that it was impressed with something - but each petal is a little different. 

It reminds me of some past envelopes with a large half-flower. I remember copying one that my friend Jan had done - or received. It took a lot of time but was so worth it. I still see it pinned on Pinterest quite often.  A half-flower design would be a good prompt if we ever did the thing where I toss out an idea to give people ideas so that we can enjoy all the variations. 

Would anyone do that? I don't think anyone would want to draw flowers in September. I wonder if I could remember to toss the idea out next summer. What kind of theme would people like in September? Leaves? Pencils? 

This layout would work for snowflakes. Should I toss it out in January? I'm curious to know if people would enjoy a theme. I don't think it would be popular. Should we find out?

July to Liz - Helena and her yarn

Ironically, Liz, who has been my inspiration to go wild and crazy ended up with a very orderly envelope. It was fun to find the right number of stamps and arrange them symmetrically. Liz has the short/long situation with her names. 

Not all of us are paper people. Some of us are yarn people. Here is an orderly yarn person who has had an impressive career.

LINK to Helena's website

I was going through my address book and found the name Helena Hernmarck in Ridgefield, CT. That's where Lynne and Maggie live. I wondered if there had been a third Ridgefield calligrapher. When I Googled her - this is what I found. Maybe Lynne or Maggie can remember another Helena.

I found the image below in the Portfolio section of her website. Knocked my socks off. That is a tapestry - she created the image out of yarn. At least I think she did..... maybe I read too fast. While I like this image - a lot of her work is colorful - so - you might want to surf through if you have time.

 

July to Kerry

 

I had this one all stamped - and the numbers filled in. Then I had to decide who might like something like this. As I finished up the July envelopes, I had not found a good design that was going to fit with Kerry's name - so she ended up with this one. I hope it wasn't a huge disappointment. Kerry is a newer exchanger and I'm not sure the new people have a feel for the way I fill the blog. I don't even know if Kerry reads the blog. Some people have been reading it for more than a decade. So the newer people might be perplexed by what shows up. Maybe the variety is fun. 

Tomorrow will be the last of the use-up-the-orphans - and the end of my July envelopes. I can usually get 14-15 days of posts out of my envelopes. Assuming all 20 of my incoming exchange envelopes show up, I'll be able to fill August.

July to Janet

 

When I started posting my July envelopes I mentioned that I was nearly done with using up my orphan stamps. This is a good example of what happens when some careful planning kills all the spontaneity. 

I drew the flames on the candles and if I had something I could have cut and adhered that had super sticky adhesive - that would have looked better because the stamps look like cut paper. I'm not sure I could ever do marker letters and make them as crisp as cut paper. The right kind of outlining can do a lot. Maybe it's the outlining that is off. 

Even though it is disappointing - at least I can show that I took the time to redo something that was dreadful. I thought I'd get a better effect if I did all the red strokes, then all the blue strokes, and so on. That's what I tried - but my spacing was way off. So I did a template to give me the order of the strokes and numbered them.

Maybe someday I can go back and look at all the candle letters I did when these stamps first came out.