I rarely participate in traveling/mail art projects however, every once in a while, I jump in.
While traveling in February, I had a chance to visit with artist Bonnie Ruttan who had received a passport-sized book to create artwork in and then pass along. It was so compact and interesting. It had originated in Austria, then traveled to Ireland, and now was being passed around in the US. Eventually it will (hopefully) make its way back to Kevin Geronimo Brandtner who started the project.
Inside cover of the mail art project book.
Intrigued, I decided to participate. The pages were small and had some stamps already in place as a background. Most artists were giving a nod to the passport/travel theme in their collaged responses. One of the fun things about the package was that it included a small packet of business cards and paper ephemera from artists who had participated before me, along with earlier mailing envelopes with scars and stamps.
The starting spread…
Here’s an image of what I started with and another of what my page spread looked like when completed.
My finished contribution to the project.
I included a ticket from Denver’s light rail A-Train to the airport that features a squiggle of reflective holographic security foil, plus other imagery that related to the colors and design already on the page. A nice departure from my usual work in the studio and the book is now off to its next stop in New Mexico.
Fun!