Mail Art Blog !

I am ashamed to have sent this lady her zine in a plain envelope.
Check out her blog and send her a postcard!

No More NO Machine

When Baby Boy asked me to print a block for their demo cover, I thought,"No way. Too busy." But I had so many ideas on the bike ride to school I immediately changed my mind. And here it is. They had a lot of input and I had a lot of help at Blackbird Letterpress where I printed these. There was a lovely song list on the inside that did not survive technical issues. If you are in D.C. this weekend, check them out playing on tour and covering four Wipers songs.


Or if you are in Baton Rouge, come join this ride, for race or for fun but the end result is food to give to the food bank. Mark asked me to make a flyer for the event and again I expressed my doubts. And here is the flyer.

Sweet!

Perhaps you've noticed that a few of my posts are about food. I really like to eat. When I have time, I like to cook, too. This summer, it was too hot to bake a birthday cake in July so I waited until yesterday. This being Louisiana, it was still too hot and humid for the fudge icing to set and the amazing vegan marshmallows kept attempting escape. We brought a big slice up to the garden plot, weeded, planted more lettuce and cucumber, and snacked on sweets as the moon came up.

The Simplest Solution

I've been trying to work on packaging for sending zines that is efficient, attractive and preferably reused in some way and this morning I remembered how I used to send mail. So here it is, an old print re-purposed.



The backyard garden is defying my expectations. Here, Yzah Yzah inspects the first pea blossom.




Friday I made a little salad of radishes, chard and spinach from the backyard to top falalfel sandwiches. It doesn't look like much but all these were grown in containers in the back yard. A little compost, a little love and some planters I found on the side of the road.

Good Things Going On

The New Orleans Bookfair is one of my favorite events in the city. The ninth annual book fair will be November 6th from 11 am - 6 pm along Frenchmen Street. Radical publishers, independent shops, individual authors and letterpress printers (like me!) will have tables for you to browse inside local businesses who give up their bars for a few daylight hours. It's free and fun. There is usually also refreshments and music. Two years ago, some tables were outside. It was sunny but windy! We had weights on all our things to keep them from flying away. Go to www.nolabookfair.com for information or to register for a table.
Also, my friend Myrtle has put out the call for a second Automata show in New Orleans. The show is for anyone working with kinetics, robotics or bio art and there is a companion show in miniatures, cabinets and models. The show is in April in New Orleans and the deadline for submission is February 18, 2011. There is a rumor that maybe my friend Molly will leave Montreal to construct a site-specific camera obscura. I visited her in Montreal once and she had created one in her front hall way. Good things are happening. Don't forget it.

Fall Break?

So October's postcards are going in the mail today if I can convince myself to leave the house. Technically fall break starts tomorrow but this is really just a chance for me to catch up on things I am behind on. Such as: grocery shopping, baking a cake, cleaning the bathroom and printing! I don't really take breaks. Not with so much to do. Tonight I am printing the covers for Baby Boy's demo for their tour on Halloween weekend. Also, I have been experimenting with the angle grinder as a tool for an intaglio plate. I'll let you know how that comes out. Today though, enjoy a glimpse of these postcards printed as a collaboration with my high school friend, Adam Ross. He finished art school years ago and now lives in Portland Oregon. The last time I visited him I really liked the paintings he was working on. Maybe we will work together again.

For Middle Schoolers!

I am teaching a class with the Baton Rouge Arts Council Community School for the Arts. It is my first workshop with them and I am excited. It starts Tuesday so if you know any one interested, contact Robin at robin@acgbr.com .