Everyday Mail, Frances Holliday Alford

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While I was in Korea in October, I did my usual postcards and sent them to a number of people who were generous about donating to the school for the blind where I used to teach when I was a Peace Corps Volunteer.  These postcards were all made during my stay in Korea, using papers and stickers and found ephemera along with Korean stamps.  Once they have been mailed and have some postmarks and other postal distress on them, they are more interesting.  These are postcards prior to their maiden voyage to their new homes.   Starting tomorrow, I will post one completed postcard per day for auction.

Mail art is an interesting newer art form.   Starting in the 1970s, artists started using the mail system as their medium to make a wide variety of performance art pieces.  Because there is a wide range of activities and a wide range of talent, medium or technique, it is a large sprawling category which is largely hard to define.  It is considered to be a sub set of performance art and is also considered to be avant guard.  If you do an internet search on Mail Art, you will be amazed by the number of people who are involved in it and how they do their work.  One woman did her doctoral thesis at the University of Texas in Mail Art. http://www.mailartist.com/honoria/vita/

My method is unique to me.  I like to have a post card with multiple cancelled stamps.  I found that the fastest way to have this was to mail the postcard to myself multiple times.  When it has enough visual interest, I usually add a few more elements which can cover all or part of the address.  At this point it is a mailed collage.  I mat and frame them.  I like to think of them as small sound bites from a particular time.  The images and marks reflect the time and the moment, but the do not usually have a specific theme.  A pig can be composed sitting next to a coffee pot which is next to a Korean Flag.  There is no particular symbology going on for me.  I am simply using what is on hand, what I have collected and what I am drawn to with an eye for color, balance and design. 

Are you wondering if we are allowed to do this with the approval of the US Postal system?  Yes, lots of people ask that.  In fact you can.  I spent a good bit of time with my postmaster making sure that I did the postcards right because I did not want to lose them.  If a postcard is regulation size and does not have a lot of added on thickness, you may mail it with $.27 in stamps.  If there are multiple pieces of paper glued to the original or if there is some three dimentionality going on, you will need to use a $.42 stamp.  Technically, the stamp should be in the right hand corner of the card.  This is widely open to interpretation, and most postal workers will take care of your mail regardless of where the stamp is placed.  If you want it to be hand cancelled, you need to request this either verbally or by marking your mail.  Otherwise, the card will go through the scanning machine and often enough, the machine does not want to deal with our type of cards.

Be assured that what we are doing is legal and harmless.  Some postal workers look forward to Mail Art as it gives them a chance to chuckle while sorting and delivering.

 

http://digitalmailart.blogspot.com/  This website has an interesting collection of mail art postcards.  One of mine is in the collection and I am glad to see that it made it there without being damaged in any way.  We were asked to use the theme of a mail box.  I cut mine from some of the postcards that I had been sending for a good long time.  There was a lot of texture to work with.

 

Harriet's Birthday

Harriet had her birthday on December 28.  She is my baby sister.  Happy Birthday, Harriet.

 

Back in Texas there isn't much to do besides shop.  The stores are glittering with all their sale signs and ads.  It makes a lot of us feel like we need to go out and save some more money.  Is that how this works?

The pictures above were taken by Taz Cannon while he was visiting his dad, Tom Cannon up in Grafton.  The one on the left is my house in the dark.  I put those lights in the windows just before I left in November.

Boxing Day, 2008

I am boxing up images of 2008.  I will revisit them from time to time, but for now, they are part of the year that is almost over.

John and I went to a Christmas party in December, 2006.  He did not go to any more social events after that time.

 

 

I completed this piece, "Oranges, Lemons and Limes" while recovering from knee surgery.  I was one of a small group of artists invited to participate in an auction for  Fibers for a Cause.  Kay Sorenson won the bid on the quilt for $1,500 and all of the proceeds went to the American Cancer Society.

 

 

Daffney was alone after Henry died the year before.  She wanted a friend to come live with her.

 

 

 

Daisy came to live with us in early April.  She came from a nice family in Pflugerville, Texas.  She is now full grown.  Daffney loves her.

 

 

Henderson, Texas.  Lakewood Cemetary.

 

 

 

"Daffodil Days" was featured as the cover of Quilting Arts Magazine for May/June, 2008.

 

 

 

I went to Sedona, Arizona for two weeks for physical therapy on my knee and to rest.

 

 

 

I went to check on our Rockport, Texas place.  Tom and Blanca went with me.

 

 

 

I spent the summer in Vermont.

 

 

 

"Molecular Structure,"  17"x22"

 

 

 

 

In Knoxville, Tennessee we boarded the Quilt Train as part of our recreation during the board meeting for The Alliance for American Quilts.  My dontation quilt was called "Floral Compliment"

  I taught a class and had a one month long one person show at the Stalder Gallery in Falls City, Nebraska.

 

 

 

Mrs Kim, Oh Kee greets me at the Cheongju Blind School in Korea.  I taught at the school from 1978-1980 as a Peace Corps Volunteer.  I returned in October 2008.

 

 

 

 

Christmas, 2008

Crossways, Grafton, Vermont 2008

 MERRY CHRISTMAS to you, my friends.  This year has been a combination of sadness and hope.

We all grieved the loss of my husband, John.  He had been ill for a long time and was tired.  It was time for him to go.  He died in the way that most of us would wish to die.  His family was close by, he was not in pain and he was loved.  We will continue to miss him while we celebrate his life.  He died on April 13, 2008, just four months short of his 80th birthday.

After so much time caring for John, suddenly the house was very quiet.  We had returned to Austin from Henderson, Texas where we buried him.  The flowers had been shared and the relatives had gone home.  The  caregivers had removed the medical equipment and said goodbye.  And then I was home alone with my dogs. 

By June, I was able to return to Crossways,  my house in Vermont.  The fresh green of the land welcomed me and I felt renewed.  I spent most of the summer resting and recovering from the emotional roller coaster I had been riding.

Most of you know that staying still is not my habit.  The Korean government invited all the returned Peace Corps Volunteers who had served in their county to return as their guests.  Fifty of us met in Seoul in mid October.

The quiet in my Austin house had become way too loud.  I put it on the market and climbed on a plane headed for Tokyo.  I figured that the best way to show a house is for me not to be in it messing it up faster than the real estate people could show it.  With the low real estate market, I figured it would be a considerable wait.

I spent five days in Japan prior to my Korean visit.  My friend Yoshiko Kawasaki had returned to her home several years earlier.  We had a wonderful reunion and she showed me parts of Tokyo that I could not have imagined. 

Five days later, I took the short flight to Korea.  After checking in to my hotel, I read my email to find that an offer had been given on my house in Austin on the third day that it was on the market.  I was encouraged by my Austin people to continue my trip and let them handle things.  The trip was wonderful.

I was able to make friends with volunteers who had served at other times than I.  I was able to reunite with people from the blind school where I had taught.

Returning to Austin, I was informed that I had seven days to move out of my 4,000 square foot house.  With no plan about where to move, I called my friend Tom, the GO TO GUY.  He agreed to show up in the morning so that we could make a plan.

The first word that came to mind as I awoke the next morning was "Marquis."  Was I getting a crown?  Or a car?  Or a diamond?  After considering the word for a  few minutes, I remembered that there was an apartment complex near my house called the Marquis at Barton Creek.  They had one unit available.  I signed a lease. 

Moving the contents of a 4,000 square foot house is about as logical as the way I pack when I am on my way home from a long trip.  Mainly impossible.  With a storage unit and some professional movers, I was able to re-locate within the agreed upon time.  I took only what I needed to my new apartment.  Except for all the things I didn't know I would need and that stuff is in boxes. 

I left for the month of November and returned to Vermont.  It was cold and dark there and I relied on fires in the fire place and drives in the day time.  Two fourteen pound lobsters shared with friends replaced the Thanksgiving turkey.  I could have had a traditional Thanksgiving dinner but it was cathartic not to.

Back in Austin, my apartment was welcoming and ready.  My friend Ellen had spent time unpacking and giving it her magic touch.  I returned from a long trip to find soft lighting, a pineapple on the kitchen counter and sea shells in the bathroom.  It was one of the most heavenly experiences to return to a home that was magically unpacked and ready.  

Now, Christmas is upon us.  The present economy has slowed a lot of people down .  There seems to be a quiet calm that covers the stress that people are feeling as we enter an uncertain time.  There is some advantage to having lived a few decades.  I know that "This too shall pass."  Unfortunately, I do not know if it will be better or worse.  It is the perfect opportunity to re-evaluate what we do and how we do it. 

I will spend some of Christmas with John's daughter Elizabeth and her family.  They are a great part of the treasure that John left me. 

Yes, it was a hard year, but one with many blessings.  Thank you, all of you who gathered round and helped.  I wish you my best.  May the blessings of Christmas lighten your life this day.

Love, Frances