Mary to Kate - Troll guy

 

I found a folder with some envelopes that Mary sent in a past exchange. You are all welcome to send me photos of the envelopes you send. Mary seems to do something different for each person. This butterfly is inspired by the stamp. 

There have been a couple posts about Thomas Danbo and finally there is a video with him talking about his work and his studio. It is soooooooo good. He is so young - and his *thing* is so fully developed and each troll is well done. I'll be brief with my comments so you have time to watch if you are frugal with your screen time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sfjm3Hp1vzw   [Copy and paste if you like to find things that way or use the link.]

LINK to video.  LINK to his website where you can view all the trolls. The one below was built this year in Clinton Iowa. That's an actual person in the boat, pointing, to show the scale of the troll.

Sept from Susan - Tartan lettering

Susan has a whole series of insects and bugs on her IG - and I was thinking they looked like fantasy creatures. This one makes me wonder if she is looking at actual creatures for the shapes and then being inventive with the details. Susan is probably our most skilled italicist. Or should that be italisizer. Spell check is not fond of either option.

***

Yesterday, I called that lettering of the word TARTAN an abomination. Ironically, it was fun to resolve a twinge of bitterness that had lingered for over 50 years. I spent my sophomore and junior years working on the yearbook. It was my only extra curricular activity. I was the person who had put in the most hours and was the logical choice to be the editor my senior year. The advisor who was the art teacher led me to believe that I would be the editor. I do not know what the formal procedure was for naming the editor, but there were two mommies of two other senior girls who had not worked on the yearbook at all - who pulled strings to get those two girls the position of co-editors.

When the art teacher/advisor gave me the news I told him, "Good bye and good luck." I knew it would be a real pain in the neck for him to teach those two what they needed to know to prepare all the pages for the printer. He was one of those teachers who left in the middle of every class to go smoke a cigarette - and seemed to just *phone it in* as they used to say.

My mom offered to call the school or appear in person to see if she could help me with the situation but I declined. The incident was a good learning experience - accepting unfairness. Now - I am so happy that I did not work on the year book. I knew nothing about design and even less about lettering. My cover  probably would have been cringe-worthy. I'm glad I was spared having to look at my cheezy high school art and that my name wasn't in the list of contributors.

That drawing of the lights and toad stools isn't half bad. I could easily have done something that was 100% bad. So maybe the gods of fairness were just looking out for me. I hope, in their spare time, they will go through the blog and delete all my cringeworthy envelopes. 

The design principle that I used on the Reflections book cover was repetition. Repetition is one of my favorite design principles. So if you are asked to make something out of an existing thing that is not gorgeous - just crop it and repeat it and flip it around until it works. While 6 and 9 are a reflection - numbers are so versatile that any two numbers would have worked. 

Sept from Kerry - Reflections cover

 

It looks like Kerry was in Ireland and either took markers or found some while she was there. The color choices for the lettering are perfect with the stamp. The color in the photo is a little off. I like how the shamrocks run off the edge and I like USA written out.

***

This was a fun 15 minute project. My high school class had a reunion in August. I did not attend, but was included in an email inviting people to submit a "paragraph" about where they had ended up. I emailed the collector of the paragraphs (Mimi) and asked how many sentences in a parapgraph. She said people were sending between 5 and 25 lines. Then she asked me if I wanted to design a cover for the PDF that she was editing. She wasn't a close friend in high school, so I was a little surprised that she had the impression that I would be someone who could/would design a cover - but she must have had some recollection that I was artsy. I explained that I was not a graphic designer and that surely there were some graphic designers in our class.  Mimi said there might be but she didn't have time to look for them.... so I agreed to do a cover.

I told Mimi that I remembered the cover of our yearbook and could do something inspired by the drawing on the cover. She liked that idea. I was thinking I'd do a fun scribbly version of the three spherical lights and three toadstool *benches*  that were at the entrance of the building. The school was new in 1966 - so it was very mid-century. I also remembered that the title [Tartan] was an atrocity. A abomination. More about that tomorrow.

After cropping to get just the drawing - a fun idea presented itself. The image could be used to build a 69. The title of the book was Reflections - which was just begging me to flip the image every-which-ways. Voila. In 15 minutes I had a very fun image. If I had drawn something by hand I would have wasted a couple hours [or more] with options.

I sent it to her - without saying anything about the *reflections* of the image - and her response was that she loved how the image was actual *reflections* of the drawing. So, that was validating.

The cover of the yearbook

The cropped image, above.

The cover of the reunion book, below.

There's too much white space at the bottom - but it was a miracle that I even figured out how to do something digital and then the hardest part - sending it in a format that worked for Mimi.

Sept from Patty - Hokey Pokey

 

That's a lovely stamp. They combined the image of a 1923 stamp over the top of a photograph which seems like a new idea. The dots on Patty's initial caps are blue and they show up very well on the black so they must be gel pen. I wonder if they are glaze pens. Her broad edge marker looks nice and crisp. I wonder if she's been treating herself to some new markers and pens.

***

We've all learned to put up with my curiosity about ridiculous details. When I was writing about the distinction that might generate the most agreement and I came up with the Hokey Pokey, I wondered if there was a back story to the Hokey Pokey. 

Holy Moly. 

There is most definitely a back story. It is more than I have time to read. I did a quick scan and of course the U of Iowa jumped out. It has to do with football, so I'll let you football fans find it on your own. It's towards the end of the article.

LINK to more than you need to know about the Hokey Pokey

And you knew I was going to search Holy Moly - which has nothing to do with football so I'll add it to the post.

Holy moly (also spelled holy moley, or holey moley^{[citation needed]}) is an exclamation of surprise that dates from at least 1890.^[1][2] It is a reduplication of 'holy', perhaps as a minced oath, a cleaned-up version of a taboo phrase such as "Holy Moses",^[3] or "Holy Mary". There is no evidence connecting the phrase to Moly, a sacred herb of Greek mythology.^[4]

It was popularized in the U.S. as an expression often used by Billy Batson, the alter ego of Captain Marvel, a superhero created for Fawcett Publications.^{[citation needed]}

^***

^{Jean's final comment: What's with my bias against football? Head injuries.} 

^{If they only knew what it was like to have a brain impairment they might try golf.}

Sept from Liz - LOLing

 

Exuberant Liz had some dragon stamps and some washi tape and gel pens and paint markers and maybe someone slipped something in her beverage at lunch... but all's well because the address looks clear enough for the scanners and it arrived. I have analyzed some of Liz's previous envelopes and enjoyed doing my versions. There is a really good one coming up - but not for a while because I forgot I did it and it's been buried in a stack...but I like to have a little build up to some of the posts. I've enjoyed doing design tips for Liz. This one might have to marinate for a while before I can figure out what to say.

Ironically, she enclosed a lovely and serene watercolor with a very nice note. Since Liz seems to welcome my critiques - my suggestion on the watercolor is that you were headed in the right direction with adding some lines to the borders. Then when you overshot that one - you bailed out. It would have been nice to overshoot a couple more and then maybe overshoot all of them. At that point it might have needed something else. Knowing when to stop is not an exact science. The goal is to enjoy the process of deciding that it's fine - or perhaps do one more thing - and then need to fix that thing.... and repeat those two things until you're happy with it.

On the back of the flowers is a very nice note in excellent penmanship. I don't usually post personal notes - but this one is so funny - I have to share.

It starts out pretty mainstream for a note to someone she has never met. Then when she says, "I'm serious! I couldn't stop," I started laughing. I know the feeling. I live for it. I'm glad you just let yourself go.

Then she says - she *almost* feels like she owes me an apology for assaulting my aesthetic so aggressively. All that alliteration - methinks Liz is a wordsmith. And then with just a tiny bit of space left, she went ahead with an apology. It's charming. It ranks right up there with Rachael's comment that is embedded in our collective psyche - *deeply regret*

Assaulting your aesthetic so aggressively --- that's a keeper.

One last reflection --- where exactly did she start - when she had minimalism in mind?

There is a fun *lesson* in minimalism coming up in a few days. I might even devote an entire month to minimalism.

Sept from Teresa - proportions/leaves/minimalism

 

This was inside the envelope below.

And the above envelope was inside the one below.

Teresa is a new exchanger. You'll want to click on the link below to see her artwork. Clearly Teresa is not doing the Hokey Pokey italics. I'm including the outer envelope which she might have assumed would not be on the blog - but it has educational value - so I trust Teresa is OK with me posting it. 

Please look at the proportions of the caps on my name and compare them to the caps on the address. I've mentioned how the proportions are important. IMHO they need to be either -more than double-  or -less than double- the height of the lower case letters. On this envelope she went with -more- on the name and -less- on the address. Very nice. 

We were taught in kindergarten to make caps twice the height of the lower case - which is precisely why they are - to my eye - lacking in finesse. It was fine as a starting point - but it's was just a starting point...like the HokeyPokey.

LINK to Teresa's work

Teresa lives in Colorado so it's not surprising that she is inspired by aspen leaves. While flowers are popular subject matter and I do a lot of flowers. Sometimes I think I prefer leaves to flowers. Probably because they are mostly flat....which appeals to the minimalist in me.

Minimalism.... foreshadowing..... 

There might be someone who is already snickering - because she knows that her mailing is coming up tomorrow. 

It's a doozy. 

Sept from Irene - wedding dresses

 

Lovliness from Irene. I actually got my nibs and ink out yesterday - which was Sept 20. It didn't turn out like this. Luckily I was starting my Oct envelopes - so the spooky, wonky, mysterious, threatening style is ok for this month.  

Yes, Irene, we will keep going.

Thank you for the reminder.

***

Recently my daughter passed her 1997 prom dress on to a friend's daughter - and the mom just sent me a photo and mentioned how much her daughter loved the dress. I replied that I was always happy when something that we had loved found a new home. Then I mentioned the three wedding dresses at my house  that need to be re-homed. My friend suggested we have a fashion show. It reminded me that right after my daughter was married, she said she was sad that people didn't get to wear their wedding dresses again. She thought there should be one day a year when everyone wore their wedding dress for the day. She wanted it to be on a work day. At the time she was riding the bus to work in downtown Chicago. She thought it would be so much fun to see lots of people wearing their wedding dress to work. I told my friend about this idea and she loved it.

We agreed that if tons of people were out and about in wedding dresses - it would be a very fun day - with lots of smiles. Maybe we should try to launch the idea.

I suggested that we pick a date - and announce National International Wear Your Wedding Dress Day. It's going to be on Wednesday, July 7, 2027. Bridesmaids may also wear their dresses and the men are welcome to dress up as well. We aren't sure how to promote the idea - but we love it - plus we have lots of time. If anyone wants to be on our research and development committee - let me know. I might start a new blog. I should probably utilize all the other social media platforms. That's going to be a real stretch...... perhaps this idea will fade away after the recent dose of caffeine has run its course.

Sept from Lynne - silver/stainless - part 3

 

Here's a nice rustic envelope to augment my discussion about my *thing* about silver. Maybe someday we can talk about paper and the distinctions between papers. 100% cotton paper is dreamy. Not all 100% cotton papers are the same - but, in general, they are dreamy and it might work to distinguish italics from those other italics by saying it's the difference between 100% cotton paper and wood pulp paper. But - paper is only part of it. The ink or paint - and the tool must be considered. [This is poorly written and misleading - a correction will appear on Oct 25th.]

***

We are still on my *thing* about sterling and stainless. I referenced the privileged people who enjoy the features of sterling silverware and have a staff tending to this luxury. It wouldn't bother me if I knew the staff was also eating on fine china with sterling flatware and had paid vacation, health insurance and a generous pension. Maybe there are places that do offer all those perks. In JeanWorld, we would prefer everyone who contributes to the luxurious lifestyles of people who can afford luxury to enjoy a standard of living that is equitable. 

As someone whose career included a service that was mostly catering to high end weddings and events, I've crossed paths with plenty of vendors who are perfectly happy to work for people who have lots of money and there is no longing to live life on the luxury end of the spectrum. 

I hope I didn't offend anyone with my remarks. It's a complicated issue which we are going to avoid. It's a slippery slope. I didn't choose my chimney when the stork was out making deliveries. It was a little bit unsettling when I discovered that my housemates were not artsy. Eventually, I found my people and it's worked out.

The bottom line for people who provide those luxury services whist living a modest lifestyle - the providers are tapping into skills that money can't buy. They are fulfilled by the making of very cool stuff and they simply need to market those items.

Sept from Jessica - stainless vs silver - part 2

 

Here's Jessica's September envelope with the US Coastguard Academy stamp. I'm glad the USPS used a wavy line cancel to coordinate with the stylized water.

***

Our comparison topic started with a search for a polite distinction between italics and the other kind of italics. We were searching for a way to describe the ones that some of us prefer because we have studied italics and prefer some subtle nuances. Scarlet suggested comparing a good quality cotton with cheap polyester.

Then Scarlet offered silver and stainless steel as a comparable. I'm fine with ditching fabrics and looking for something else. The sterling/stainless example doesn't fly with me for a couple reasons. We'll pick up that thread at a later date.

We will also remind ourselves that *comparison is the thief of joy.* We are searching for a comparison that is the exception to that rule. We are trying to find a distinction between two things that has a preference for one of them without casting aspersions on the other.

So here's the comparison that is frequently used by calligraphers and the one I should have started with. Dancing. We are not talking about the aesthetics - there are probably people who prefer the Hokey Pokey to ballet - so we won't suggest that ballet is the pinnacle of dancing. We can use folk dancing as the thing that has something to offer that the Hokey Pokey does not. It seems like any folk dance compared to the Hokey Pokey would elicit opinions that a folk dance has *something* that the Hokey Pokey does not. 

Sometimes I call that *something* finesse. But I'd be happy to find a different word. Maybe we are suggesting that the Hokey Pokey is rudimentary. Maybe the word we are looking for is a very current buzz-word - basic. I think basic has been trending as a word that says *meh* - since it seems like we don't hear *meh* as much these days.

Perhaps there is someone out there who thinks the Hokey Pokey is better than all other dances. We will respect that opinion. We might ask more questions of the people who put Hokey Pokey at the pinnacle  because someone who takes that stand might be a very interesting person with a very interesting story. Sometimes we get curious about those people who are way out on the tip of a bell curve or a spectrum.... like the flat-earthers. I bet they like the Hokey Pokey. 

Sept from Juliana - sterling vs stainless - part 1

 

It's so validating when people send me dots illustrating how joyful dots are. It's hard to mess up with dots. To me, the most egregious mistake is to be sloppy and allow more than the right amount of variance. What is that amount? Well, I guess we'll just have to put a pin in that topic and hope we remember to follow up. I see that I already have a [Follow-up] label which I have not used in ages. Maybe it will become a useful feature. Juliana's script is very nice. Of course, my favorite is the itty-bitty script on the address.

***

Back on Sept 19 Scarlet added to our conversation about comparison saying:   

Well I like, and liked your uncials! You are an inspiration.

Ever since the comparison post I've been trying to think of something better than material - but it's really horses for courses, isn't it?! And everything having a place - whether you polish your silver cutlery or stick with the daily stainless steel!

I, too, had been having the topic bubble up in my thoughts. I added a comment to her comment about silverware and stainless ware because I have a *thing* against silver. I know a lot of people like it and I do own that one silver spoon that is perfect for certain things. It truly enhances the eating experience. I totally get it, if you were raised using sterling silver for every meal, it would be a sensory experience, deeply embedded into your being. But here's my *thing* against silver. If you grew up on sterling silver, who kept it polished. If there were servants polishing your silver then I have an issue. 

Oh, dear. Have I just offended a bunch of readers who grew up on sterling silver and just take it for granted. Here I am, only half way through my morning coffee and I am on a tear. I'm going to pause here and collect my thoughts and return to this topic tomorrow. 

***

Update on youngsters who want to exchange mail - there is an article in the NYTimes about the rise in pen-pal-ing. People are finding each other through TikTok - so I can put my idea on the back burner and go back to random ideas, weed control, hoard reduction and preparing for winter.

LINK to NYTimes article - that might be free if they are still offering one free article per month

Sept from Jeannette - potatoes and navy paint

 

Jeannette featured potatoes. This is a good followup to yesterday's rambling about liking *mud* color as much as gold. Everything has its place. Even the lowly potato might deserve more respect. It was a little bit woo-woo when I pulled Jeannette's potato out of the mailbox. It happened the day after I bought a potato to bake. Weirdly, when I asked MrW if he wanted a baked potato, he said, "No thank you." What kind of person turns down a baked potato? Perhaps I should have him go for an evaluation. 

I am fully caffeinated and will refrain from more silliness and just head out to the paint store. They open at 7 am. 

The color of the potato blends nicely with the bandaid on the stamp. Jeannette did a good job of capturing the subtlety of the texture of the potato. I think I featured a giant potato previously - let's look.

Wow - there are lots of potato posts - I have not read them - so if you have other things to do - get going.

https://pushingtheenvelopes.blogspot.com/search?q=potato

Sept from JeanR - another type of exchange

 

I'm liking this new way of posting the envelopes where I post them in the order they arrive. By Sept 17th, I have only received 3. This one from JeanR has a pretty card - and the photo does not capture how pretty the gold is. It looks like mud in the photo. But there's nothing wrong with mud. In fact, our survival depends on mud which is just soggy soil. Technically, I think we could survive without growing our food in soil. I think there are people who live their entire life on water and survive on fish and the things that grow in the ocean. I don't have time to research. I'm on my way to buy Hale Navy paint. It's been a long time since I painted a room in a dark color. Wish me luck.

***

My son had a friend visiting for a few days. Matt and I had a chance to visit. We were talking about the decline of the mail service that we remembered from the olden days - which for him was 20-30 years ago. I don't think he knows anything about my exchange or blog although he probably remembers the very cute invitations and addressing that I did on the HS graduation  party invitations that I did for the two of them. Our families had a combined party. Matt did however mention that his girlfriend is very fond of real letters and real mail. Whenever I hear about people like her or connect with some of the little shops that still feature all things pens/markers/paper - I keep thinking it would be fun to start an online exchange that was not tied to me. Of course, I would figure out how to run it and also find someone who is interested in building an online presence. It would be someone who is young enough to enjoy *creating content* and doing the internet thing.

We need to maintain an option for the *quiet* people who just want to make something and don't want the chitchat. Maybe people would fill out a profile and would be paired based on whether they are *wordy* or *quiet* or *mixed bag*

If anyone has suggestions, pass them along.

It would be a *one-to-one* connection - no lists - and we would only provide an introduction and tell them to start the ball rolling. Then it would be up to them to keep it going. If people loved it, they could ask for another exchanger and gradually get enough exchange-buddies to keep things going.

We are not going to call it *pen pals* because that was always an exchange of letters. The whole point of this is to make mail art. And yes - I know there are mail art exchanges - but they are mostly like this one - where there is a call for entries - and they just want people to send mail to one place for an exhibit or an archive.

https://artistsforabetterworld.org/about/

Sept from Mary - non-senders

 

Mary's is the first of the September envelopes to arrive and I love it. I'd love to steal the idea but it seems like it hinges on having that stamp. I am writing this on Sept 14th and it is the very first to show up from the Sept exchange which is so unusual. I might post the Sept envelopes in the order in which they arrive. 

I wonder if everyone is caught in the current situation where everything is too complicated and moving too fast. Something else has happened that is a rarity and I'm saddened that I even have to talk about it. In both July and August - there were people who signed up for the exchange and apparently did not send anything. They are not responding to my emails. I only recall this happening once before. Because I am on all the lists - if I do not receive an envelope from someone, I do not assume that they did not send anything. Maybe they sent one and it did not arrive. Maybe the other four people on the list received theirs. 

Exchangers rarely contact me if they are missing an envelope. But after I didn't get the August envelope, I started emailing to see if others had received theirs and found out that they did not - which led to me emailing the wanna-be-exchangers and not hearing back.

So, I have to decide how to handle new people. So many of the newest exchangers are excellent at exchanging and have told me how much they enjoy exchanging. I guess I will ponder ways to engage in a little conversation about how to join.

I thought of asking people to send me an envelope if they want to join. I rather like that idea. But - it might be intimidating. On the other hand - it might be an OK idea. 

Aug from Nicky

This is a postcard from Nicky. She was on a trip in Eastern Europe in July and was inspired by vintage stamps. I especially like any Czech reference because my maternal grandpa was one of 9 kids in a family that immigrated from Czechoslovakia. So, I am one quarter Czech and I love poppy seed kolaches. Czechoslovakia is no more:

On 31 December 1992, Czechoslovakia split peacefully into the two sovereign states of the Czech Republic and Slovakia.^[11]

I've mentioned previously that I'm thinking of doing postcards. Maybe when I do my Nov/Dec combined mailing - I could do one side like this - just art without a stamp and the other side would have a lovely design featuring a stamp.

I love the idea of redrawing a stamp. I love the quality of your lines and shapes, Nicky. You've mostly done relief prints which are lovely - but drawing with a knife or whatever we call that v-gouger thing is a lot different than a pen or pencil. <pause> Interesting - they are called linoleum cutters.

From Wiki:

Early in the twentieth century, a group of Dresden artists used easy-to-cut linoleum instead of wood for printmaking, creating the linocut printmaking technique – similar to woodcuts^{[citation needed]}. Prominent artists who created linocut prints included Picasso and Henri Matisse. 21st-century linocut artists include Angela Harding.

Linoleum sheets were easier to carve and work with than the traditional method of wood block printing. Typically the blocks of linoleum can come mounted or unmounted to a backing such as canvas or MDF. The unmounted sheets are pliable and flexible and may be more difficult to work with for bigger prints.^[20]

August from Juliana - The Art Newspaper

 

This one ranks right up there with the blueprint Juliana did for Thanksgiving which might be in my top ten envelopes. I need to flip through my stash and see if I have a top ten. I can think of a couple that would make top ten. Although, there's nothing magic about ten. I guess it should be the Hall of Fame. There's no limit on how many whatevers get to be in a hall of fame. 

***

The add-on today is from my bulging folder of emails that I have been slogging through. It's an article from The Art Newspaper which is a digital newspaper. I don't know anything about it and now that I'm on my surfing sabbatical, all y'all are on your own to decide if you want to surf a new place or move on to other things. 

LINK to The Art Newspaper

August from Kerry - Steve Hay website

This is my favorite one, so far, from Kerry. I might have to appropriate it since I have those stamps. 

https://store.usps.com/store/gifts 

Lots of fun gifts at the merch section of the USPS website. 

I mentioned Stephen Hay a couple days ago and then forgot to add a link to his website. 

This is one of his gilded botanicals. It's probably 3-inches square. You can scroll round on his website to see other types of work.

https://www.stephenhayart.com/

I have to keep searching the blog to find one of my all time favorite stories. Steve had a commission that was very large and interesting. He worked on it for months and then at the end he wanted/needed me to do some handwriting on it. I was very nervous about doing it - and there is more to the story..... I hope I can find it.

 

August from Kate - Sign up for October

Super fun design from Kate. It's so nice when the cancel adds to the design. That circle is so perfect with the other circles. Ali's fists and afro are all somewhat circular. Kate used ModgePodge to adhere the circles which are the top layer of a napkin. She paid attention to my warnings about collaged materials surviving the aggressive USPS machinery. Enough layers of ModgePodge works. I'm tempted to buy some of these stamps - and appropriating her design. I wonder if I could tweek it into something for halloween or T-day or Xmas.

Time to sign up for the October exchange.

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

If you participated in the September 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 September 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

 

Sept to Liz - Grrrrrr - Steve Hay

 

The candles are a little better - but the last name should have gone the full width. That would have been better but it would still have been boring. I might give one more try on the back of the envelope and then I will be done-done-done with candle writing with candle stamps. I'll still make words out of candles - but I won't combine them with these stamps. Unless --- there is a first name and a last name made up of perfect letters that I can create something that has the right scale and proportion. The big LIZ was a pretty good start - but it needed to be a longer name. Maybe I'll do ELIZABETH and show how that name done super big would be the right combination with the stamps.

***

The day after I wrote that first pp I did flip it over and do a rough draft of a better idea. The solution to a scale problem is to make something bigger. All the candles on the first one was just too much of a good thing. The design needed some contrast. It needed something soft and loopy. This would have been so much better. The LIZ could have been filled in....but I'm writing this on Sept 10th and the month will be half over by the time this reaches her. It's amazing how fast the days go. I need to figure out my October envelopes - and then do my combo Nov/Dec mailing. The year is basically over for me.

Three stamps and the three letters in LIZ would have worked very nicely if I had started out with that idea....

***

Did I already write about Stephen Hay? A while back I pondered how every month I end up with a range of liking as well as disliking my exchange envelopes and I wondered if there were any artists who could plan and execute every piece of work so that all of it was equally satisfying. I thought of someone who I've worked with and who does extensive planning on all his projects. To me, he seemed like a person who would only produce work that was up to his standards.

I tracked him down and asked him if he was satisfied with everything he produced or if he had pieces that were not going as planned and that he would eventually toss. He thought about it for a while - and then said that he has works that are unfinished and will probably never be finished. This implies that he, too, believes there is always a way to remedy something that is not pleasing to the artist's eye.

Then we talked about the watercolorists we know who prepare stacks of 20 - 30 pieces of stretched watercolor paper on boards. With watercolor, you have to wait for it to dry so you work on several pieces at a time. We both know people who say that out of 20-30 works - they might only get 5 or 6 that they deem worthy of keeping or selling. Neither of us were ever drawn to watercolor. We also know watercolorists who paint from photographs and have techniques that are close to *paint-by-number* so they probably have mostly keepers.

Stephen works in oils - so there is endless opportunity to change things. He also does pencil drawings that are figure studies - so they are planned out and layered - and I guess he doesn't screw up on those. He also does a lot of botanical studies with gilded backgrounds. He said he has done so many of those that he can approach them knowing that they will always turn out as he intends.

I suppose if I took time to run around and have this conversation with lots of artists I'd get lots of stories - but - I'm not sure what we would do with that information. I don't even remember how I got off on this topic. Maybe I was pondering that *thing* where we commit to doing our monthly envelopes - and then we ponder whether we like what we've done. Let's stick with the theory that it's not the content that matters - it's the process. We don't do envelopes to create masterpieces - we do it to clear out the cobwebs from the obligatory activities of daily life.

Sept to JeanR - Principles in action

This one was tricky. The colors needed to be as close as possible. I thought colored pencils were going to be the best option for mixing colors to get what I wanted. It might have been better if I had more experience with colored pencils. I'm sure there are techniques that I don't know. It's a little bit staid. But, I think I achieved balance and harmony. The A and N should not be touching. That was a mistake, but it probably didn't jump out and I probably didn't need to mention it and now that I have pointed it out - I can see that it would have been better to make all the letters touching. 

When I did the two little olive branches on the right - I remember thinking - dang - I should have made the one inside the A really large - and behind the EAN - that would have been so much better. Or a curved branch behind the AN that filled up the circle on the right and then a smaller one that went behind the opening in the A and curved over to the E.  This was a scale and proportion issue. 

I should do my corrections on paper and insert them in the envelopes. Or do better layouts and work out the bugs before I do the envelopes. But sometimes - after doing a nice layout - I overwork the envelopes. Quite often, when the layout is fresh and spontaneous - and then the envelope isn't as good as the layout - I end up putting the layout inside the envelope to show that I had a good idea - but executed it poorly.

Which reminds me we have a different topic to return to.....

 

Sept to Teresa - Principles of Design (7-12)

 

Teresa is new to the exchange. I found her artwork online and it's gorgeous. I pulled out the Hipster font that I was doing a few months ago. It reminded me a little bit of some of her work - not nearly as detailed - but good enough for an envelope. I went rogue with the stamp placement. I hope it doesn't get an aggressive grease pencil slash. Maybe Teresa will send me a photo of what it looked like when it arrived. I did enough Hipster envelopes to be able to make something I like. Note to self: go through all the blog posts and find all the styles that made it into the *predictably successful* category. I wonder how many of them I will find. I wish I had penciled in lines for the address. When I bounce the name - I shouldn't bounce the address. There's a principle behind that comment - but I'm not sure which one. Maybe movement. Or harmonious movement. Or balanced movement. 

***

There are many websites with the elements and principles of design. I chose two off the top of the list. One has twelve and the other has seven.

LINK to twelve principles of design

Emphasis, Balance, Contrast, Repetition, Proportion, Movement, White space, Rhythm, Pattern, Hierarchy, Variety, Unity.  Jean asks: What about Scale? Jean says: It can be lumped in with Proportion.

LINK to seven principles of design

Emphasis, Balance and alignment, Contrast, Repetition, Proportion, Movement, White space

I agree that Emphasis and Balance are two things that should be considered on every envelope or any other work of art. Also a meal or an outfit or a garden or a room. Even though I am drawn to minimalism I do like a focal point. But, I can be satisfied without one.

On an envelope, I often emphasize the name. Other times I have something else that is emphasized and the name is understated. The stamp can be the star of the show. 

I suppose I should find examples. A recent one was this one:

When I posted this one I couldn't really articulate why I liked it so much. Now I know. It's because I was able to emphasize the stamp by understating the name and address. The principle of Hierarchy is at work in my choices of size and colors for the name and address. Also - there is some strong contrast between the name and address. I wasn't thinking about those things specifically as I composed the envelope. I intended to put the address under the name - but it would have been cramped. Those two two elements  were blah - until I found that stamp - and then voila - I loved the stamp with the name and I knew that I had to Balance the address with the stamp - over the name. Once it came together - I had to restrain myself from adding doodads, drop shadows or anything else. I had to convince myself that Jeanette would not be disappointed that I spent so little time on her name. Maybe it looks like it took very little time or thought and that I just threw it together - but it actually took time to consider options and do something with that name that created Harmony.

Why isn't Harmony on either of those lists. That's one of the main Principles. I wonder if there are others that are missing.

And -yes- we're not saying that everything should be harmonious. Dissonance is the flip side and heaven knows that there are a ton of people who thrive on dissonance and create all kinds of controversy. 

Sept to Juliana - The Design Manifesto/Principles of Design

 

Juliana's got lots of add ons. This envelope is not in the top five this month. It's just OK. I'd like to do something else with that stamp. I might even buy some more of them because they are loaded with cute details. I'm not happy with the three cattails. It's not a good use of our time to keep nit picking at all the details. It was done after I had warmed up and produced some good ones and then was on the inevitable decline.

I've lost my train of thought on the manifesto but it might pop up again. It's probably time to list the Principles of Design. A principle is a thing. Let's have Wiki help us. 

A principle may relate to a fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of beliefs or behavior or a chain of reasoning. They provide a guide for behavior or evaluation. A principle can make values explicit, so they are expressed in the form of rules and standards. Principles unpack values so they can be more easily operationalized in policy statements and actions.

Did Wiki help us? I dunno. It seems like the umbrella of art principles is that nobody wants to agree on anything like a system or a chain of reasoning or a guide or evaluation or values or rules or standards. Art seems to be the flip side of everything that is orderly and principled. Entropy.

So I think my definition is the best. A principle is a thing. If you want a fancier word you can call it a concept. 

We'll post one of the lists tomorrow. There are lots of lists - it won't matter which list we use. Feel free to add or subtract and make your own list.