Suzanne....you've got mail!!

Continuing the "Mail Art Tradition", I exchanged addresses with the highly-talented Suzanne Berry last month.

I finally finished my mail art to her!

Here it is!

Markers and ink on standard mailing envelope - 5" x 7" (NFS)

Originally I planned on creating something "cutesy". Butterflies sitting on a mushroom, surrounded by flowers. You know, pretty things. But that felt soooo contrived and it made me put down the project for a while.

I wanted something with real meaning to it! Something I could identify with. A piece of myself in the actual artwork.

So while listening to my Gundam Wing soundtrack and flipping through the CD's booklet, I thought about doing a face, specifically in a manga style, which I haven't done in ages.

The concept was born and the rest naturally blossomed!

This is my first piece of mail art done entirely in color! Hooray!! Since the artwork is the actual envelope itself and will eventually be mailed, I wasn't sure if I could use paints on this. Instead, I decided on markers with black ink for the details. Looks very much like anime, no?

The backside!

The back of the envelope reads, "Cry for me. Cry for me. Cry for me. Bleed away the pain. The most beautiful colors ran down her neck."

Suzanne has been going through some rough patches last month. God knows I can relate to that! So I thought maybe this lady would inspire her a bit.

A lot of work went into this and yet again I'm worried, frightened even, that some devious postal worker is just going to keep this piece of mail art for themselves! They better not!!!

Enjoy Suzanne! This was a lot of fun to create! Can't wait to see what you mail me in return!