The latest post from Japanese mailartist Ryosuke Cohen dominates today's REAL wall. Ryosuke has been sending out his Brain Cell pieces for many years. He collects rubber stamps from people, then periodically sends these stamped awesome pieces to most of the mailart community. This one, number 782 (I told you he's been doing this a while didn't I...) has contributions from at least 3 mailart365 members, Jennie Hinchcliff, Katerina N and Lady L, who I know has only recently taken up carving rubber.
New pieces are in from Lindsay and Postmuse too and I've moved your one around a little Louise, cos I know you always tune in to find out if your pieces are up!
I am a huge fan of Kiera Pannel's work on mailart 365 and have been since her first This Is Art card came through the postbox of my REAL wall last year. Imagine my delight then, to be hosting 2 of her recent Film Alphabet series on one wall, A to Elena and E to Andy. Sly!
Today's calendar entries are from Okami and an Aussie called Molly McGrath, who has added a REAL like button to the site! How cool is that!
Americans joining in today are Jennie "Red Letter Day" Hinchcliffe, Paula Smith and Mad Madge.
I'm not exactly sure how the Webbys card got there, but they have somehow got my address. Perhaps there's someone over there watching my REAL wall. I'd like to think so.
Last but not least is the third of 12 pieces from my childhood friend Louise, who has seen my REAL wall and been inspired to start creating mailart, though not to quite the intense pace of mailart 365, one a month for 2011 which will be coming through my mailbox.
A quick REAL wall story for you all before I finish. As many of you know, I'm an e-learning advisor at a university. On Friday I attended a conference for pretty much all the e-learning professionals in the country.
There was a call for presentations, and I decided, as it was my first time there, to present my postcard thing as a way to integrate electronic networking and social interaction between students as proven by my university portfolios thing. Social interaction and keeping it REAL.
When I walked in there were way more people than I thought. 250 of them actually. All the e-learning professionals I know and respect and many I don't. It was terrifying.
The speakers were chosen by random selector and every time the selector spun, I got really really nervous thinking "What the hell am I doing - presenting to a bunch of esteemed e-learning folk about sending postcards!"
Every time the spinner span, I drank half a bottle of beer to steel my nerves in case it fell on me to present my REAL portfolio project, and by the end, with only my name and about 5 others in the hat I was so drunk I couldn't really remember what I was meant to be saying.
Luckily (or unlucily, I can't really tell) my star didn't shine that night and I stayed in a corner drunk instead of presenting my REAL wall to an unsuspecting group of educational technologists.
Probably for the best...
Thanks to everyone for keeping it REAL!
Another bumper mailart week at my REAL towers, with a steady influx of mailart from fans and mailartists the world over.
This week I met my mailart mentor, the man who introduced me to mailart 2 years ago, Grthink, for the first time. The wonderful world of the internet huh!
He responded to my ad for mail on the London online noticeboard Gumtree then pointed me in the direction of postcrossing and IUOMA and I've never looked back.
He popped over after a tech show this week and stuck his piece up himself, which was a real thrill! Not only that, but it's also a label piece, reminiscent of my recent label work, merging labels and his ghosts with some QVC cards he's been trying to get rid of.
Check out the new stuff from IUOMA member Jen Staggs and from Keira Pannell (E for Egoyan)
Paula Smiths huge parcel of collage material arrived and I have some new post from a new mailartist I've not seen before called Janet Heritage. Hope to see more in future, it's great, check out the metallic embossing.
Michalis Kotsaris has 2 pieces up on the wall today. It was really cool that one was addressed to me and one to Elena. I love Michalis Kotsaris's style, so it's a huge thrill to have 2 of his pieces up at once.
A bumper day on my REAL inbox today, with a stonking 11 pieces coming in, so many I couldn't fit them all on the wall at once!
Great to see 2 pieces from Ria and Camel (thanks Camel's son!) and the first of the year from B, whose site The Snail Mailer goes from strength to strength. It's great reading, and her choice to accept sponsorship last year on it has made it a vital read at least once a week as there are always competitions on there! B is a newcomer to the letter writing/mailart blogging sphere but I'm proud to be on her mailing list. She writes great letters!
Also on the wall is Missive Maven, a welcome return and a timely reminder that I need to send something out to Newport, RI - it's been too long!
#1 from PamelaArt and Jumbo soup from FarStarr too. A lovely mail day!
