Mail Art

For the past 8 years I’ve been (sporadically) making postcards and other mail art. Some are handmade collages, some are digital, and (more often) some are a combination of both. I also make envelopes, but we won’t be talking about that now!

Why make mail art? They’re not exactly huge sellers. It’s just that they’re fun to create. If they sell, great. If not, I still had a good time in the studio!

The top one’s my latest, focusing on a Noh (Japanese stage play) mask I photographed at a mask-carver’s studio in Kyoto, Japan. I added old postage stamps from my collection, bits of stained papers, and more.

Below the mask are a couple of the many I offer at Fine Art America/Pixels. If you’d like to see them in higher resolution, just click the links below.

The card “Do Not Affix Stamp” was used as part of a Dolcezza clothing line last year, which was rather exciting!

All images copyright ©2020 Carol Leigh.

Noh Mask
Do Not Affix Stamp
Mastodons Are on Their Way

Recent work: "Big 5 Postcard"

I hadn't made any "faux poste" cards in awhile, so the other day I came up with this one.

I uploaded it to Fine Art America (why not?), and here's how I described it:

This postcard consists of some painted and walnut-stained papers, drips of walnut ink on a piece of waxed paper, a big “5” I’d stenciled onto a painted page, and more. The orange stamp is an old Internal Revenue stamp. The triangular stamp is called a “Cinderella,” a totally made-up, fictional stamp that’s a part of my collection. The rest? Various bits and markings that I included in the mix. Oh, and there’s part of a letter someone wrote her family.

Overall, just a fun montage to put together on a rainy day. No deep meaning, unless you can find something I can’t!

If you'd like to see a high-resolution version of this picture, here's the link:
https://fineartamerica.com/featured/big-5-postcard-carol-leigh.html

Copyright ©2010 Carol Leigh

Last work of 2019 . . . "Antique Japanese Postcard 945"

This was the last piece of art I made in 2019. And yes, I know it has (yet again) a Japanese vibe to it, I consider it different simply because of the color palette. There aren't any browns, beiges, sepias, solid blacks, etc. here.

I have a collection of old Japanese postcards from the late 1880s, and one of them forms the basis of this mixed-media collage -- the blue in the upper left. I added some of my own scribbles, postmarks, and a Japanese postage stamp that was issued in 1947. My own hand-painted papers are what created the unusual color palette.

Whenever possible, I make a square version of the original so that my buyers have a choice. Sometimes a square, or a number of squares, works better than one "full-frame" image.

To see these in high resolution, here's the link:

https://carol-leigh.pixels.com/collections/asian+influence

Images copyright ©2019 Carol Leigh