Tuesday, May 22, 2012

treats in the mail

Received some beautiful treats in the mail yesterday...

letters
letters letters letters
I wish I could read French. This envelope is from 1879.

letters
Or German. 1886.

letters
Chile to Colorado in 1909.

I find most of what I use in my artwork at thrift stores or estate sales, or on my own road trips, but sometimes friends will bring home interesting material from their travels abroad and sometimes stamp dealers I've made connections with online will keep an eye out for material they know I'd appreciate. Sometimes the envelopes are empty and just become that background of a collage... sometimes they have some amazing surprises inside.

letters
 A letter from Carnegie Hall to a musician/dancer seeking work in 1901... awesome.

I'm not interested in antiques at all... or collecting stamps or anything else (besides, uh, cups... weird) but I love finding these old things and reusing them in my artwork. I like that these long-lost stories find a new life in a way most modern correspondence - emails, text messages, Instagrams - never will.

2 comments:

  1. That is so fantastic that people you know and don't know send items to you. I've recently started collecting old stamps and letters to put into my art, they have so much history and soul. Love your art by the way, it is so calming and beautiful.

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  2. I think it's what brings life to art. Those things that lived up to a hundred years and still manage to be made into something beautiful to this age.

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