JAN from Gavin - horror vacui

 

Gavin followed the suggestion to put something inside the envelope so that it was not eaten by the USPS machines - which is what happened to his DEC envelope. This one came through beautifully. He lives near St. Louis and must have been inspired by the abundance of snow that St. Louis had. There was so much extreme weather in so many parts of the US, I spent a lot of time wondering how the exchangers were doing...but I didn't say anything on the blog. It seems like real time jabbering throws me off. I need to just write things in order - and no back-tracking.

***

Am I the last person to find out about horror vacui? Spellcheck is not cooperating. It looks like latin and the obvious translation is being horrified at emptiness. That is correct. It is the flip side of my natural inclination to leave some white space. While I lean towards loving white space, I often admire works that fill up all the space gracefully. I'm not a big fan of haphazardly shoving everything into a space just for the sake of filling.

I was allowing myself five minutes to scan through IG and some work by Jurgen Vercaemst. I popped over to his page, scrolled a bit and discovered a reference to horror vacui which led me to Wiki - and this intro:

In visual art, horror vacui (Latin for 'fear of empty space'; UK: /ˌhɒrə ˈvækjuaɪ/; US: /-ˈvɑːk-/), or kenophobia (Greek for 'fear of the empty'),^[1] is a phenomenon in which the entire surface of a space or an artwork is filled with detail and content, leaving as little perceived emptiness as possible.^[2] It relates to the antiquated physical idea, horror vacui, proposed by Aristotle who held that "nature abhors an empty space".^[3]

I felt better when I read Jurgen's blurb (below) along side the above image - which suggests that he, too, has only recently learned the official terms.

Work I did a few years ago without any purpose or goal as to layout whatsoever. It seems I’m avoiding layout issues by using this ‘method’. Or as someone recently put it, horror vacui or a matter of kenophobia.

JAN from Juliana -- street mosaic

 

Juliana included a very fun letter in this envelope explaining that she was overwhelmed with the amount of markers and pens that have accumulated in her house. She used the testing of markers and pens to see if they were dried beyond usefulness as a fun way to decorate her January envelopes. If I had time to slog through the 6,000 envelopes on the blog I think I could find a few where I, too, did some marker testing. I do not recall any of mine turning out this nicely. It's a very pretty design. It's so nice that I can provide a  tidy little address that fits so beautifully and leaves just the right amount of white space.

***

Back in 2019,  this mosaic appeared in the street right where my daughter lives and where I visit so often. She knew I would love it - and I'm not sure how we learned about the *street artist* who was filling potholes in Chicago. It was there for a couple years and then one day the city pulled it up and did a regular repair. I was so sad when it was gone - but happy that there was one for us to enjoy for a while. 

Whenever I visited, I would get a little wistful every time I walked by the replacement patch, which was often, because they live close to shops, school, CVS, etc and I'm always out on walking errands. I thought I had posted this on the blog, but couldn't find it. Also, I had not thought of finding out how the artist is doing. Then, one of his works popped up on IG - and I am happy to report that his business is booming. 

LINK to Jim Bachor's website

LINK to Jim Bachor's IG

I wish I had included something in the photo for scale.

JAN from Morgan - Detritus - Lydia Ricci

 

A previous envelope from Morgan inspired a whole series. I knew when I saw this one that I would want to do a flowery vine name. There will only be one in the outgoing FEB envelopes because I didn't have very many flower stamps. I might revisit this idea. While I prefer the address written on the two colored lines - if we are only considering the design ---  I would suggest making 3 parallel lines and writing the address between the lines. That would be more friendly to the USPS scanners.

***

Here's a question. Is detritus and ephemeral stuff the same thing? I've been writing about ephemeral stuff. Then I ran across this person who is making a name for herself in the world of contemporary art. Her work looks a lot like the work of people who were once called outsider artists. 

It looks to me like the line between outsider (or whatever the proper term-du-jour is) and mainstream artist is not just blurred - it is gone. That's just my view. Feel free to ignore it. If you, too, like found objects, ephemeral stuff and non-traditional art - here's a rabbit hole for you.

LINK to Lydia Ricci's IG

LINK to her website  If you have time - I like the first animation - it's only 4 minutes

The following two paragraphs are from the internet - not my words. It's probably off the website - but, I'm not sure:

Lydia Ricci’s practice unfolds from a long-term process of accumulation, care, and transformation. For over thirty years, she has gathered everyday detritus—paper scraps, discarded objects, remnants of lived time—and reassembled them into sculptures that hover between tenderness and quiet disillusion. Central to her work is the notion of Letdown: not as failure, but as the subtle space between expectation and its soft collapse. These works give form to the fragile rhythm of ordinary life, where memory, anticipation, and imperfection coexist.

Her sculptures are imperfectly perfect replicas of quotidian moments and objects, constructed from materials charged with personal and cultural histories. Ricci’s process is deeply rooted in inheritance and necessity: raised by a Ukrainian immigrant mother skilled in improvisation, and an Italian father who never discarded anything that might one day be useful, she learned early on to value what others overlook. Tax forms from the 1970s, dried-out erasers, broken game pieces, old utility bills—materials she cherishes like family heirlooms—are honored through meticulous acts of making. From a tiny roller skate fitting in the palm of a hand to a wall-spanning lace bra composed of canceled checks, her works remain messy, fragile, and human, mirroring the way memory and perception function.

JAN from Janet + miscellaneous add-ons

This one took 2 weeks to get from Janet to me. While we live 17 miles apart - our mail is processed at the same facility.  Janet had a lot going on in January and forgot to include the ZIP code - so we had to wait for someone to figure it out. Their penmanship is pretty good. They clearly put some thought into the placement of the ZIP code in relation to the other lettering. It would be fun to meet more postal workers - especially the one whose job it is to help our mail reach its destination.

Janet and I both used this stamp for the JAN exchange. I've often thought it would be fun for everyone to use the same stamp during one month - but that would be impossible. The artsy component of the exchange supports the *I'll do whatever I want to do* perspective and it seems like the exchange attracts people who just want to do whatever they feel like doing - so we won't mess with that concept.

I appreciated seeing the cancel on the back of the envelope. It gave me an idea for stamp placement on the February envelopes. It might look nice to have the cancel alongside its coordinating stamp. 

***

I found another stockpile of things to use for add ons. This is for the people who like fonts and old lettering. Clover sent the link. Thank you so much. I found it in the 2024 folder <sigh>

LINK to the article

Here is another link sent by Clover - a public domain archive.

LINK to archive

And one more from Clover....font related.

LINK to font article

It's possible I already posted these - but, I'd rather just post them again to be sure. I'm a belt and suspenders kind of person. I was surprised how many people are not familiar with that expression. Perhaps the world has turned to elastic waistbands and belts and suspenders are things of the past. 

FEB to Jacqueline and Maggie - MARch Exchange sign-up

 

These two orphan stamps found. a home on some green envelopes leftover from a 2024 holiday mailing. The bouncy Celtic/rune lettering has become one that I enjoy very much although I will probably move on to something else. The white started out with an acrylic marker with a wide bullet tip. Then it was outlined with a bold white gel pen. I hope the white on green was scanner friendly. 

I am continuing my request for clear scanner friendly addresses even though I miss the fanciful addressing of yesteryear. It seems impossible that the USPS would ever stop delivering letters - but if it can happen in Denmark - it could happen everywhere. Probably not in my lifetime. 

Today through March 4th is the window to sign-up. Lists are sent on the 5th.

If you participated for the FEBRUARY exchange - just shoot me an email that says: SIGN ME UP - you do not need to retype your address and info.

Send your sign-up to:    PTEnvelopes-at-aol-dot-com

Let me know if it is your [Birthday] month or if you are willing to be on [2 Lists].

If you were not on a February list - or if you only sign up occasionally - or are a new exchanger - please send your information in the following format:

Jane Doe

123 Oak Street

Ames, IA 50010

janedoe@aol.com

[Birthday]  [2 Lists]  -- if those items apply

If you are new to the exchange - there are helpful details at this link:

https://pushingtheenvelopes.blogspot.com/p/rules-of-exchangement.html

JAN from Judi - travelogue

 

Welcome, Judi, one of the new exchangers in January. I've had fits trying to use up my gold envelopes and when I saw gold on silver - I knew I would have to try silver on gold. Wish me. luck.  And what's with the 3 stamps?  They are gorgeous - and design-wise, I can see how just one stamp might have. looked a little lonely. I hope Judi sticks with the exchange so we see if that's just her thing - using lots of stamps. 

I slacked off on critiquing and thanking people who do nice clear block print addresses. Judi's deserves a mention. 

***

Well, we did it. We made it through the shortest month. Often times it provides the worst weather as well. I haven't said anything about being in Chicago for two weeks. I wonder how that went. Maybe I'll leave this spot open so that I can insert stories from my travels. Did the grandkids bamboozle me? Did all the appliances and utilities behave? There are some aspects of Chicago that concern me. Maybe I'll take some pictures. It seems very rusty.

JAN from Nicky -- junk chandelier

 

Nicky is my new printmaker pen pal. She hand carves images and has nice inserts in her envelopes. I sent her a couple of my left over prints from the olden days. I fell in love with printmaking back in the early aughts and had a nice stack of prints. Little by little I've given them away. It's so hard to decide if my kids would ever want them. I guess I'll just make a little portfolio for each of them. 

When I was making prints, I often ran the plate through twice, inverting it on the second pass. Nicky liked that idea and tried it with her bunnies. All my prints were etchings - all in black. She used different colors which I think is very fun. That's why I love printmaking so much. You can make one plate and then the options are exponential. 

None of my 3 kids have any interest in art. I was so hopeful that I'd get an artsy grandkid. Nope. 

This one is my favorite of the three - which surprised me. I think it's the colors.

On the top, the yellow got buried.

***

Hopefully I have not gone overboard with the creative uses for discarded items. While chandeliers are waaaaay beyond anything I would want in my home, this work speaks to me on a whimsical level. During my Swedish Death Cleaning, all the itty-bitty items are being gathered. Perhaps I will come up with a clever way to assemble them into something useful. 

LINK to Harry's work

JAN from Jacqueline

 

The instant I saw this, I knew it was inspired by Alexander Caulder's circus. The note inside confirmed my impression. This is so good. I want to steal this idea - at least the lettering part. I wonder if I can find a stamp that will coordinate.

***

This will be a housekeeping collection. We will see how many images I put in the Download folder to be used for my add ons. Also, it is a test to see how the image looks because Blogger isn't allowing me to upload photos the usual way. I'll try an easy way and see what happens.

Shout out to Chuck for sending photos.

Short comments today because I found this post without any comments at the last minute.

Still working a few bugs out of my system.

JAN from Rachael - Bilston poem

 

Here's Rachael's design for the year of the horse. Somehow she added pink over light blue and didn't end up with mud. The curvy lines in the stamp coordinate with the stylized horse. Inside is a folded origami horse on a card. I was curious about how many stamps there have been in the current series. It looks like the horse is the 7th in the series.

LINK to Mystic Stamp

where there is a lot more information about the series - which started in 1997.

***

I have both actual ephemera as well as digital ephemera. I follow Brian Bilston on IG and have saved a number of his posts. This is a test to see what it looks like if I post something using copy/paste rather than insert. Thank you for your patience while I navigate the Blogger website which has updated some features. They like to test old people to see if we can figure out the new, improved features. 

https://www.instagram.com/brian_bilston/  Link to Brian's IG if you like humorous poetry. It might be too edgy - I only glance at it when it pops up.

JAN from Jessica --- a story

 

I have a stack of January envelopes to post - and the add-on was already here. There is no rhyme reason to which envelope is added to which add-on. I make myself post them in order so that I don't get mixed up. I like the ALI stamp and came close to buying it - but then I switched to the new love stamp. The USPS has a special postmark to coordinate with the new love stamp and I am motivated to use it on the February exchange envelopes with the hopes that it looks great with the cancel....although, we have no idea which cancel I'll get when I mail them. Update - those stamps are still on my desk.

***

From my collection of ephemera:

This story appeared in the Readers Write section of The Sun magazine. Each month there was a topic. This story appeared when the topic was MOVING OUT. I photocopied the story and it's been in my file of items that I sift through (every 5 years or so) and every time I read it, I chuckle. This time, I could toss the hard copy.

***

THE FIRST TIME I MOVED OUT, I was only about five years old. With stern intent, I announced to my two older brothers and my older sister that I was leaving home for good. They did not try to talk me out of it. Instead, they helped me gather the things that, according to them, I'd need. 

Although it was a bright midsummer day, the first items they told me I should take where my rain slicker and buckle boots. It was easier to put these on them to carry them. Also: a couple of warm blankets (for those cold winter nights I'd eventually encounter), a pillow, eight or 10 cans of soup, pots, and pans to cook with, some firewood, oatmeal, salt and pepper, utensils, a dozen eggs, some canned sardines, toilet paper, a gallon of drinking water, picture books, teddy bear, sheets and towels, and — last, but not least — the mattress from the babies crib. (I think I also had dry dog food because wherever I went, the dogs followed.) 

With my siblings’ help everything was wrapped in blankets and pillowcases, and tied to the mattress which I would drag along behind me as I traveled the open road in my slicker and boots. My makeshift sledge must have weighed close to 100 pounds. 

I manfully started off down the driveway at a pace so slow the dogs would walk ahead, lie down, and wait for me, panting in the heat. Eventually, the dogs gave up on me and headed back to the house. 

After about twenty minutes, I had gotten maybe two hundred feet with my supplies and had already drunk most of my water, so I'm maneuvered my load into the shade of a tree and took a nap. 

Sometime later, my brothers and sister came out and inquired as to whether I had changed my mind about leaving home. I told them I had just been pretending to leave, and, to their credit, they didn't even laugh, but helped me carry everything back and put it away. You might think that such responsible, wise and sensitive siblings would not repeatedly recount the story of my failed attempt to all their friends for many years to come, but you would be wrong. 

Mark A. Hetts,

San Francisco, California.

JAN from Kate - ephemera

Kate pulled out her hand carved rubber stamps and came up with a layout that reflects the sensibility of the Shaker stamp. It looks like walnut ink - once again, inspiring me to get out my nibs and ink. Or maybe it's time to retire that worn out thought. I've pre-loaded all the add-ons and the posts are full well into March. I've been waiting for the January envelopes to show up. Thanks to the USPS for the very nice love-cancel. That cancel looks great with so many stamps and layouts.

*** 

I found a folder of random stuff. I'm going to make a label called [Ephemera] so that I can post it here and if I ever get to a point where I feel like going through one of those old folders of ephemera, I can just do it here. I'm going to cross post it on the Quotes page.

Apparently the NYTimes has a quotation of the day - and they posted this one.

It is from IBRAHIM ISMAIL ZAIDEN, a postman in Baghdad, Itaq.

It's something wonderful to get a letter. The paper, the stamp, the envelope. It's not just a piece of paper. It's something sacred.

***

Yesterday I brought up balance and thought I would have more to say. But I was interrupted and now a few days have passed and I have no idea what I was going to say - perhaps the thought will return.

JAN from Patty -- balance

 

Patty's envelope has not photographed very well. It's a fun design. She's so lucky to still have eclipse stamps. I wonder if there are any 2026 astronomy designs coming up for the stamps. A+ on the clear address. That is some aggressive stickering by the USPS. There were more stickers on the back of the envelope.  This is the photo I sent to Patty to show her how it arrived.

***

I'm a solid month ahead on writing blogs. The mood of the day is one of balancing. That word seems like a pretty simple word. And yet - the frequency with which it comes up sometimes boggles my mind. I remember the first person who pointed out to me that a significant life-lesson is finding balance. It was a school counselor in elementary school who was offering a suggestion about some random incident that had happened in an elementary school. There is a learning curve when you've been out of elementary school for 20 years and then you return as a parent. Half nostalgic / half scary.

The admonition to seek balance resonated with me and has stuck with me. Maybe it's been reinforced in other ways. Or maybe it's just a hack technique. [Put a pin in the word hack. Didn't it used to mean bad and now to hack something now seems like it's a very clever idea?]

Here we are, 40 years later and the answer to the daily dilemmas tends to be *balance.* I had an interesting exchange of thoughts with a fellow artist recently and it struck me that we covered several things that are fodder for the blog. More tomorrow.

In the meantime, stay balanced. Both mindfully and literally. Don't fall down.

JAN from Lynne

Lynne did some pretty pointed pen work in January. The delicate detail does not show up very well. Lynne's insert was this fun postcard of a street sign with her last name. It reminded me of a photo that someone sent recently of a corner in Brooklyn.

My husband is George Wilson. I call him MrWilson because that's the neighbor in Dennis the Menace. 

Here's the photo - and a detail.

I'm embarrassed to admit how many Jean Streets and Jean Avenues I just found.... at least I stopped myself from taking screen shots and posting them.

***

Jeannette let me know that she used matte medium to adhere the white face to her envelope. One layer between the face and the envelope and another layer over the top of the face. I'll have to look closer and report back. Thanks for the info, Jeannette.

 

JAN from JeanR

The USPS and I appreciate the clear addressing. It took me a while to decipher the message on the inside. Then I felt a bit dense because it's just turning each letter upside down. Apparently that's all it takes to confuse me. It's also a folded piece with other sides - so the starting point isn't immediately obvious.

I loaded a stack of January mail and now I am returning, to fill the copy part. I was not aware that there were no add-ons. So, this one is short. Since I will be in Chicago when this one pops up, maybe I'll have a good real time add-on. Apologies to JeanR - I meant to come back with additional photos and the words - but - time got away from me.

***

It was an uneventful trip to Chicago except for the person who was sitting in my assigned seat on the aisle. She was supposed to be by the window. If anyone recalls my rant from a couple weeks ago when I bristled at the suggestion that people's manners would improve if we wore nicer clothes, I assure you that I did not see a single person who looked like they had worn their nice clothes to the airport - except the woman in my seat. I had noticed her bejeweled jeans in the waiting area and thought about taking a picture because I have never seen so many *jewels* attached to a pair of jeans. And such large jewels - some on the back pockets. It looked very uncomfortable.

There were three Franciscan friars and two nuns who were in their traditional garb. One of the friars had a very flashy White Sox jacket over his habit. It was that really shiny fabric. It was an unexpected combo -but St. Frances probably never needed a winter jacket. I wasn't sure what to call the friar's garb - so I researched. That's when I learned he was a friar (not a priest or monk) who wore a habit.

 

Re-run + comments on Pinterest

I'm not going to start doing Throwback Thursday - but last Thursday I did a re-run of an envelope. It was the first one that popped up when I searched mail art on Pinterest. I was still letting my surfer-demons have fun and went back to see what the second envelope would be. When it was this one, I figured Rachael would get a kick out of seeing the idea again and remembering that she was the originator of the idea. Versions of this have come up several times on the blog. Rachael might have found the idea on Pinterest. Either way is fine with me. Does Rachael remember?

The reason I decided to go with another re-post was when I saw the comments left by people. I didn't realize that there was a comment feature on Pinterest. 

 

I can't tell if the screen shot is legible - so here are the comments:

Liz: So pretty

Donna: Or illegal

        debra: Why would decorating an envelope be illegal?

        Bev:  Seriously? there are decorated envelope contests! Most calligraphers and many other wouldn't send an undecorated envelope to pay a bill! <and then she inserted a link to the Graceful Envelope website>

***

Here is a new envelope. It's not worthy of its own post so I'll add it to a rerun for the people who are disappointed with re-runs. Inside were two little valentines in little handmade envelopes. The grandkids like getting mail. I like the new Love stamps - red and blue is an interesting color combo.

JAN from Jeanette - rubber cement

Jeannette might be surprised to know that I came very close to using this envelope yesterday -  as the Happy 16th Birthday to the blog envelope. I am not a perpetually perky person. I'd say I'm a solid 50/50. I like it that way. I'm fine with perky people and if anyone wants to go back and read the 6,000+ comments that people have left on the blog, you'll find one exchanger who said that they were a Pollyanna type person. I think I remember who it was who left the comment. 

If you are the person who remembers leaving a Pollyanna comment - let me know. You are still exchanging - so that narrows it down to about 20 people. If I hear from that person, I'll let all y'all know.

Where am I going with this? Maybe just acknowledging that whatever people are experiencing or feeling, I can probably relate to it. A lot of my envelopes lean into the flowers and generally upbeat stuff. But, I really like this envelope. Maybe I'll get serious on some of my envelopes. Somewhere on the blog I think there is an envelope featuring the top row of the keyboard with giant symbols for swearing. But, I think they are all colorful and fun. Can Jean go dark? Hmmmm - something to ponder.

Jeannette gets an A+ on choosing the right paper and adhesive. It's stuck! Clover K left a comment suggesting rubber cement a while back. I meant to pass that tip along. Rubber cement is not archival. It will discolor your paper. But, if you are on board with ephemeral - then rubber cement is your friend. 

Also - it works best if you apply it to both surfaces and let it dry - and then position the piece to be adhered. Then you need a rubber cement *pick-up* to rub away the excess. Then you need to open the window to come down from the high you will get from breathing the fumes. 

Rubber cement thinner is an essential in the world of noxious chemicals that we sometimes allow ourselves to use. It's probably hard to find these days.  Thanks, Clover, for reminding me about rubber cement.

Here's one picking up masking fluid which is used by watercolorists to mask off and retain white space on the paper.

 

JAN from Irene - 16th Blog B'day

Ooops - if you saw a March sign-up post yesterday - that was an erroneous posting.

Irene's card and envelope in January is perfect for today - imagine that the card says Happy Birthday - because today is the 16th birthday of the blog. There are over 6,700 posts and nearly that many comments. What a wonderful place this is for me. I hope I am not getting too mushy too often - but I really do enjoy how some of us exchange mail. Some of us just lurk. Some of us roll our eyes. Some of us have questions. 

I was thinking of having a live stream where I went online and invited people to ask me questions. That would be about the same as me trying to hang glide or maybe try that DIY brain surgery that I've heard is a thing.

Live streaming is a hard NO - however - I am perfectly happy to answer questions. You may leave them in the comments -or- if you prefer - just send them to my email - PTEnvelopes-at-aol-dot-com.  There might be some prizes involved.

Thanks, Irene for the perfect mailing to post on this celebratory day.

 

JAN from Renee

Oooops - if you saw the March sign-up for a few minutes - that was an erroneous posting.

Renee is fairly new to the exchange. I really like her layout and can see myself appropriating it. And I like that she enclosed her inspiration image. her old man winter reminds me of the suns I did on my Jan envelopes. I did another set of sun images for my Feb exchange envelopes because I thought the ones I did in Jan were fun. So far, the Feb ones are looking a little wacky. I hope I find a style of lettering that saves them. It was surprising that I was able to make green suns work. 

 

JAN from Mary - Celtic-esque lettering

Mary still had (has) some Goodnight Moon stamps. I love that little mouse. While I had more misses than hits with my GM ideas - I ended up liking the stamps and now that mine are all gone - I know I'll miss them. Good on ya, Mary with the big bold address. Do people hear the Australian accent when I write good on ya?

I'm staying about a month ahead on loading my blog posts and very happy with the Style/Tool Project. The only snag I have hit is that I don't have a name for that style that is not runes - and I wrote that I was going to do runes. Then I looked at them and thought - nobody would ever want to do runes. 

Then I wrote all the January names in Runes - in pencil - to see if they grabbed me. They did. Now I like them a lot more than I thought I would. But, that doesn't mean I can make them pretty - or do something that will lure others into trying runes.

***

Later - I found the exemplar and it says *New Celtic* - and this topic will come up again.

Searching for a font I already have that I would like to find the source for just leads me to more fonts.  I'll post this one that is new to me and include the source. Then, I'll use it on my Feb envelopes and when I get around to posting them I can reference this link.

https://creativemarket.com/BuchandBee/7485330-Viking-font-alphabet-letters

Who designed this? Buch&Bee. I did a search - but all I found was someone who has over 11,000 images for sale and has been selling for 16 years. I wonder what it's like to be young and interested in graphic design. It seems like the universe is saturated with digital images. Maybe the pendulum is ready to swing back to ink and paint and various tools.

LINK to more Buch&Bee.   If you feel like scrolling, there are more alphabets.