New Links

So sometimes things get us down (and by things, I mean the daily grind, work, getting up early, rainy weather) and we need a little something to pick us up.  This link takes you to a page on a blog which describes all kinds of happy mail.  This blog is about art, mail and friendship- two of which I think are hit right on with the concept of happy mail.  Pictured here is a set of small drawing supplies packaged in a waterbottle and sent to a waiting postal pal. Sending a smile through the USPS is such a fun idea, I wish I had thought of it myself!

Life Upsidedown (that's good)

This card was drawn by Jessica as she rejuvenated in South Africa with her friend last spring.  But spring north of the equator looks like Fall south of it! Jessica had been living at the equator long enough to enjoy any change in season.  She was also enjoying life's little normalcy's which were a bit easier in Jo-burg, a haircut, new shoes and a cup of coffee. 

Do you think you could live in a place without changes in the seasons? I found it very hard.  While I dislike gray and cold weather, I love the blooming of spring and the colors of fall.  You?

Perspective

Blogging a year ago reminded Lynn about 'perspective.' What she meant by this was that she had remembered that when she was eleven she loved watching the Commander Marc program on PBS. He would draw lots of streets along with interconnected pipes to teach roundness via shading. This card was a back to the roots activity not just in its style, but in that the street is loosely based on Lynn's neighborhood growing up (a postcard from the past I never thought I would receive). Since I know that Lynn's family now lives in a new area, I was at first impressed by her memory, but then I began to think about my own childhood street and I feel like I can remember every blade of grass.

Perspective. It is drawing term that makes you step back and think. Have you been practicing this lately, Lynn?

Walks in Ghana

Jessica wrote on this postcard about her recent decompression by walking.  She was working in Tamale on lots of new projects and living out of a hotel which was dizzying at the time.  She found herself walking at night just to get some space.  Along the way, some kids would try to work up the courage to talk with her or stand near here.  She wrote about the kids calling out "salmiga, hello" and then running away again.  (I'm hoping I read the greeting right, Jess correct me here if its not salmiga).  She would try to ignore them, waving is too scary for them I guess.  I'm  also guessing this image is something she has also seen on her walks, or imagines she might.    Can you tell us what Kayao is Jess?  A woman carrying a load on her head is such an African image.  Enjoy her beautiful postcard.

Photographer to the Tzar

Winter is coming to an end and spring is in the air in the Midwest - or it should be. It sounds as if winter is reluctant to release its hold this year, since it is late April and I have been receiving pictures of my father's snow filled yard in my inbox. However, snow or no snow, spring break must go on and Lynn recently return from her 'spring' break pilgrimage to the Twin Cities just as she did last year.

While she visiting her parents a year ago, Lynn's mom shared a program with her on the work of Sergei Prokudin-Gorskii, the photographer to the Tzar who began producing color photographs in 1906. When you look at his images it seems impossible they are real. They feel staged, because we are so used to seeing that period in black and white. Lynn found inspiration in the photos he took while on the silk road and this postcard is from a picture titled, Fabric Merchant. When I look at the photo now, I again wish I could travel to Russia to see how it has developed in the last 100 years and to have a better understanding of the street view that this merchant may have been looking out on to that day. Thank you for the inspiration a year later my pal.

Fast and Furious

Jessica sent me both these cards last April, after traveling for three weeks she was back to her work schedule.  Jessica never has much free time with her job, but she was trying to find ways to enjoy what little she had.  She wrote about meeting a friend for concert, trying to connect with a potter and spending time drawing in this park.  Nkrumah Memorial Park is a typical developing world park from what she described, well maintained, fenced off, and full of interesting people watching.  I like the way her sketches are loose and fast while still giving a lot of detail- hope that comes across in the scans of the drawings too. 
  What are you up to in your free time, making any time for being creative? 

Podcasts

In what seems like a former life, I used to go to SpeakeasyDC's monthly amateur night at any chance I could get. Brave souls would climb on stage to speak their minds, share memories and spill their secrets to the world - telling true stories on stage without notes. Lucky for me, SpeakeasyDC and its NYC sister The Moth have podcasts that scratch my itch from afar. My happy habit of podcast listening led me to Pen Pal, a story by Boris Timanovsky who relives a online pen pal relationship that he brokered and 'managed' for his son. Not only does the story have a good title, it is hilarious and well worth a listen... even if it does not end up being much of promo for pen pal setups.