Return to sender.

A glittery surprise was waiting for me when I checked my P.O. Box earlier this week. A piece of Mail Art in the shape of a heart!

Wait a minute! It was one of mine that I mailed out several weeks back! Oh no!

Smack dab on the front was a "return to sender" sticker saying the dimensions were too small.

Oh no they didn't!!

Whatever.

So far, 12 of the 15 hearts I mailed out all arrived without incident. Some post offices are pickier than others apparently. Hmph!

Even though the mailman dared to mark up the artwork with a red arrow and postal sticker, I think it adds some character to the piece now. It showed it traveled many hands but was ultimately returned. Just another unexpected side to Mail Art!

Now I need to send the heart in a standard envelope to ensure it's delivered this time.

But I'll have the last laugh with the post office.

I'm going to make the next piece of Mail Art I send covered ENTIRELY in glitter. Imagine the mess it'll make in the postal worker's bag!

Hee hee hee.....

Wordless Wednesday - Chicago Blues

Nude Male Torso Pencil Drawing

Here's a male nude I completed earlier in the week.

Colored pencil on paper - 8" x 10 1/2" (SOLD)

I'd like to get back into figure drawing on a consistent basis again. I've got to study, study, study if I want to make the dream of becoming a comic book illustrator a reality.

I've put it off far too long.

The way the muscles move and stretch, proportions, the skeletal structure. There's A LOT to learn to make my art better.

Close-up detail

When I scanned the drawing for this post several days later, I noticed small anatomical errors I didn't see the first time around! Uggh!

Cringing and feeling like an amateur, I was able to make slight tweaks to get the nude back where I wanted it. Thank goodness!

In the past I wouldn't have noticed such mistakes until months later so I give myself credit for spotting them sooner. To be able to see how artwork doesn't look right is a skill that needs to be honed too.

I've got to get the rust out and practice!

I never looked so good!

Look what surprise came in the mail last week. A neatly wrapped portrait of me done by Suzanne Berry!

WOW!!

Here it is!

Pencil on paper - 5" x 10" (image) - (11" x 14" final artwork)

Suzanne clearly used one of my previous blog profile pics as a reference.

If you look at the my Ugly self-portrait, you'll see I have issues with the way I look. But here she totally tweaked me in all the right places! In her drawing I'm more masculine, my hair is fuller, and my cheeks and jaw are nicely chiseled.

Now if I ever go to a plastic surgeon, I'm taking this portrait with me and saying, "Make me look like this!"

And I love the how the contour line leads down to her signature too.

I've been studying Suzanne's technique in the drawing. It's just light to dark values carefully blended with the white of the paper. Deceptively simple yet even holding it up close in my hands, I don't know how she did it.

Makes me realize I still have a lot to learn as an artist.

So what do I do with a drawing of me? I'm trying not focus on my image and instead looking at it as a work of art from a talented lady....which is the truth!

Thank you, Suzanne! It's an honor to own a Berry original!

Hands against the wall.

The original plan was once my uncle passed away and I was no longer needed as a caregiver that I'd go and kill myself. Find a remote spot in the city, quietly slit my throat, and bleed away my existence.

Now my uncle is gone yet I'm still here. I haven't had a serious suicidal thought since before he died. Is that progress? I'd felt dead for so long but that's beginning to change.

It's not that his death made me appreciate the wonders of life. No, not a saccharine sentiment like that. But watching him slowly wither away made me see I have more time than I realized. That as long as I'm living I still have a chance to change things in my life.

So while my "issues" still dance inside my head, this new element has been introduced to the mix.

I'd gotten a call from the therapist I used to visit, asking if I planned on coming back. I left a voicemail message in return, informing him my uncle passed at the end of June and that I'd like to take a break from therapy.

I only went four times but now I know what it's like and can always return should the need arise.

In an e-mail from another blogger, I was told my recent blogposts seemed much happier. I noticed that too.

Slowly but surely the desire to draw and paint and create has returned. I'm finding myself being inspired by colors and shapes and nature again. That is what I want to immerse myself into right now.

You could find me by the side of the house the other day, pressing my hands against the brick facade.

I felt the HOT summer sun sting my skin. My fingertips played with the tooth of the masonry as I watched morning light magically elongate shadows on the wall. And in those sensory-filled moments I knew I was indeed alive.

Sending a little love in the mail.

This is my MOST ambitious Mail Art project yet!

15 hearts which I mailed to 15 special bloggers. Bloggers who banded together to show me a private act of kindness and support.

I wanted to give something back in return. Return the love they sent me.....

My heart went out to them....literally! Bwah ha ha, get it?

Cut paper on archival backing board - 3 3/4" x 4 1/8" (NFS)

Backing board (used for storing comic books) was cut into the shape of a heart.

Origami paper was used for the stamp side while strips of decorative paper were cut and glued on the back. Then the excess was carefully trimmed away.

Lastly, the rim was adorned with jewel-toned glitter for a bit of magic and pizzazz!

The glittery backside!

Eight words were randomly written on the strips of paper. Words of meaning. "Love. Joy. Open. Faith. Hope. Healing. Kindness. Strength."

While these all have a similar look, each heart has its own unique arrangement. No two are alike!

At the post office, I watched the sparkling hearts slide down the mail chute in clusters of three and four and couldn't help but smile because I was sending a little love in the mail.

I'm such a tease!

It's consumed me for the last two weeks.

Decorative and metallic papers strewn about my workspace. Glitter everywhere! [Note to self:. glitter is so hard to vacuum out of the carpet!]

I'm working on a very special Mail Art project at the moment and wanted to give you all a sneak peek!

Here's a little something to whet your appetite!

I'm really, Really, REALLY excited about this and can't wait for everyone to see the finished results!

But you'll have to hang on until the next post!

LOL....I'm such a tease!