Randi Feuerhelm

Mail Art Gallery

2009-05-26T18:40:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine made a gallery recently of all the mail art I had sent her over the years. Wow it looks like a shrine after I died or something. Wish I would have kept copies. Look at all that great tape in her window sill.

Braille Graffiti

2009-05-20T08:06:00.000-07:00

Photo ABC's

2009-05-12T09:09:00.000-07:00

alphabetphotography.com is a great resource for photo ideas. Try to spell out a word today with photographs to get through a very boring Tuesday. Send me your photo words and I will post them for everyone to read.

Lov'in This

2009-05-10T07:02:00.000-07:00

Pray

2009-05-08T08:09:00.000-07:00

How I Spend My Week-ends

2009-05-06T07:30:00.000-07:00

If you really look at this photo there are several tell tale signs about which part of the country it was taken. Send in your observations and I will post them.

Loopy Thingy's

2009-04-22T04:53:00.000-07:00

When was the last time you sat down and leisurely made a woven pot holder on that tiny red square loom? You know the kind that is made with bags of stretchy cloth loops that are always way too small to fit from one side of the loom to the other....so eventually the whole thing pops off . In the end the finished potholder comes out to be about 5 inches wide and everyone knows you couldn't ever really use it. Anthropologie knows that too so they decided to find another use for the loopy thingys. If you are ever walking past their store check out the window displays. They are famous for using found objects in their installations and have great ideas that you can use at home.

Thursday Morning

2009-04-16T07:26:00.000-07:00

Undercover Stencils

2009-04-11T20:14:00.000-07:00

Although most of you thought Mary Ann just cut her own stencils for Visual Journaling and
taught great stenciling classes.... you may not have known she models part time as well.
Here is a photo of her from Modern Mechanix Magazine September 1929 under a assumed name.

Born With a Can of Spray Paint in Her Hand

2009-04-09T14:30:00.000-07:00

Mary Ann Moss was born with a can of spray paint in her hand. When most people plop down on the couch and pop open a diet coke after work Mary Ann mixes a lime martini and strolls outside to her "paint area". If you ever are lucky enough to see her journals you will find layers and layers of sprayed magic, in between photos of her travels and recipes for every kind of martini under the sun. Yes she even has a spray paint martini. Mary Ann will be starting her first ON LINE CLASS so put down that diet coke and go straight to her blog to sign up.....and maybe one day we all will be just like her. Congrats Mary Ann on your first on line class!

Take Your Face Off

2009-03-31T06:49:00.000-07:00

I love this piece done by Henrik Drescher...just the fact that he took faces out of the piece can be interpreted on so many different levels. The small black and white faces also make me think of the International Photobooth Convention coming up this week-end in Chicago. For those of you not going to Artfest this could be the next best thing. Contact me and we can share a hotel. Check out their site for fun photobooth facts (say that 3 times fast) and the current discussion of movies that have had photobooths in them. Can you think of any? This particular face piece would be very cool to write about, interpret, or a starting off point for your own art. If you do any type of art inspired by our dear Henrik send it my way and I will post your work for everyone to see. Lovin these colors...

Prayer Flag Skirt

2009-03-26T16:07:00.000-07:00

Worship Becomes Secondary

2009-03-23T12:38:00.000-07:00

Alternative to Washing Dishes

2009-03-18T08:41:00.000-07:00

Threadbanger
is a great site for unique things to do with fabric or alternative fabrics. Like all those dishes you didn't want to wash last night.

2009-03-13T07:05:00.000-07:00

Throwing Undergarments at the Stage

2009-03-12T10:04:00.000-07:00

Talor White received her BFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2007. She is currently working as an illustrator in Oslo, Norway.

She is part of a on going project called The Sketchbook Project

that is currently touring across the country. Kind of like a concert tour only with sketchbooks. And I am one of the groupies. Blank Moleskin sketchbooks were sent out to participants and returned packed, stuffed and crammed full of their personal sketches. Now all the rest of us can view, drool, pant and wonder why we didn't do more homework in art school instead of those late night pajama pizza parties. Yes that's 3 P's in a row. Yes and maybe some of us should have studied our grammar a tad more too. (sorry Tonia).

Check out their website for a current tour schedule and if you are near Washington DC, Boston, Chicago, St. Loius, Brooklyn, Atlanta or any of the other places they are touring go check them out.......and the nice thing about this tour is won't even have to throw your undergarments at the stage.

Tennis Shoe Graffiti

2009-03-11T10:37:00.000-07:00

I am in desperate need for good quality photos you have taken of tennis shoes with graffiti or writing on them. Please send asap if you happen to have any laying around. Meanwhile I am still trying to get the knot out of this lace so I can get my shoe out of the tree....

Lipstick and Coffee Ink

2009-03-10T13:28:00.000-07:00

After scraping the last little bit of lipstick out of the tube with a q-tip for the past two weeks I finally had to break down and buy some. It just kills me to spend that much money for lipstick. But it has been bred in me...I was raised that you never leave the house without your lipstick on, and as a result I am hopelessly addicted. When I was walking to the car yesterday I was thinking ...geez if the economy gets so bad and I have to choose between Starbucks and lipstick what am I going to do.

Mentally I was squeezing radishes, crushing grapes and dabbing on food coloring. So when I looked at this photo from Urban Sketchers and a artist from Taiwan painting his breakfast sketch with coffee ink as he calls it, it made it seem okay. I mean the whole painting my lips with cranberry sauce thing. Urban Sketchers is a is a network of artists around the globe that draw the cities where they live. From Australia to Europe to South America page after page of inspiration will make you want to blow the dust off those old drawing pencils and give it a ol' college try.

This post is dedicated to my mother who always always blotted her lipstick with one carefully torn off sheet of toilet paper. Just one.

Hand Soap is not for Sissy's

2009-03-06T09:37:00.000-08:00

Plastic Foliage
is where you can buy these wonderful little hands made out of soap. Put them in your soap dish, hang some Barbies from your shower curtain rod and your guests will never want to leave.

Custom Made Masks

2009-03-03T21:51:00.000-08:00

Sketchbooks by Lara
Bear Fettish

This piece of Body Art was created after Lara made the journal page below. Journals are not only about paper and books, they continue on in all areas of your life, if you let them. So don't be in a big hurry to move on to the next thing. If you don't want to make a real mask like she did what about taking a picture of yourself with your hands up to your face holding a pretend mask. Then using Sharpies color in your own mask on top of the photo.

Glitter Oil Salesman

Women Are Heros Photo Project

2009-02-26T22:52:00.000-08:00

When working with your photos think larger.

.....and larger

and maybe you will even cover trains with them.

or houses.

So they can be seen by Google Earth like these can.

Artist J-R places photographs of women's faces on the rooftops of the slums of Kibera. You can actually see them from space. Not only is this visually arresting - the photos are printed on waterproof strata so that they literally protect the dwellings underneath.

"The train that passes on this line through Kibera at least twice a day has also been covered with eyes from the women that live below it. With the eyes on the train, the bottom half of the their faces have be pasted on corrugated sheets on the slope that leads down from the tracks to the rooftops. The idea being that for the split second the train passes, their eyes will match their smiles and their faces will be complete. You must watch the video on his site..it is amazing to get to know a little bit about the women in the project.

How to Make a Journal Page from a Photo

2009-02-25T10:36:00.000-08:00

Add all these ingredients: 1. A favorite photo taken at a friends house while traveling. 2. A conversation with a guy on the plane. 3. Recorded thoughts from from my personal journal 4. Cropping a section out of the photo. 5. Putting it all together.

It's kind of like when you put all your stuff in a backpack. There are books, music, papers, a Naked Juice, some old smashed gum at the bottom, pens, and a photo of your old boyfriend, keys, phone, right? Some of those things seem more important than others but when you add them all up, they are your life. Your portable life in a bag. A journal page is like that. It's about writing and sketching and conversations and roomates and what will I do after I graduate. But mostly if we are honest, our journals are about old smashed gum at the bottom of the bag. We carry it around with us daily, knowing it's there but not caring enough to dig in there and pull it out. It is our portable life on a page.

Shadows Don't Lie

2009-02-24T15:09:00.000-08:00

What Starbucks Has To Do With Journaling

2009-02-18T16:49:00.000-08:00

Okay so this coffee wasn't from Starbucks but you get the idea. I actually took this photo in Iowa City at a little cool coffee bar/bookstore.

This is my little travel journal that actually matches two other journals out there in journal land. All three were made ahead of time before attending a journal marathon with two other friends that lasted for several days and nights in Chicago. The best way to journal is to set aside uninterrupted time with friends and stay up all night feeding off of each others ideas. Bring lots of junk food, a sewing machine and little journal type goodies to share with each.

I decided to combine this Chicago book with my trip to Portland since they were within weeks of each other. I knew I would never get two books made so combining them seemed to be the next best thing. Making your travel journals smaller gives you more of a chance to finish them before your next trip. I don't just talk about my trips in these journals. Whatever is going on in my life while I am working on them goes in there too. Otherwise it gets very boring and I loose interest.

My stuffed full book is a representation of my life, it includes, trips, writing, photos, thoughts, dreams and sketches. It is combined because our lives are combined. Get it? and yes I just realized I did use the word combine 5 times in this paragraph. ( I highlighted them so you don't have to go back and search. )

Now here is the deal-e-o about Starbucks. When I travel I always look for two places to shoot pictures. Anthropologie and Starbucks. From their displays to color choices to the style of graphics used I glean off of this for my pages. And since I live in a cow town these two places have become something I miss. I took this photo of the coffee cup on a wall in Starbucks. Look very carefully at all the little details around the cup. The dots, triangles, lines, how the cup is drawn, ect. It is very simple but there is a lot of bits and pieces you can take home to your pages.

This is a clip from a insert for my pages that I attached with masking tape. Using masking tape I made a primitive tab on the end and simply wrote Bits and Pieces, which is really what the coffee image is all about.
Another clip off of a larger page shows charcoal scribbling a rough sketch of a coffee cup. I mooshed it around with my fingers to make it look blurry and messy. Then I copied those original Starbucks circles and lines with quick strokes using colored pencil and ink. Don't think about it, just scribble quickly.

Now this is the best part. The green dots where done with my fingerprints. Quick uneven prints randomly placed taken from the original circles on the Starbucks ad. Quick lines on the right side with colored pencil. Keeping the background simple leaves more room to write. Then write in and out of your composition. Using various fonts and pens. And there you have it.

Mail Art On It's Way

2009-02-16T13:31:00.000-08:00

Congrats again Lavida....Your mail art is on it's way to Oregon as soon as I go buy a stamp. In my world you can't just slip on your flip flops and book off to the store. There is this thing here that is called "warming up your car" which was a whole new concept to me. So that's what I am doing this very second and then your mail art will be safely tucked into the mail pouch at the post office. Thanks again to all of you who participated. We will do another one sometime down the road, it was way too much fun.

And the WINNERS ARE..........

2009-02-14T19:03:00.000-08:00

Tied for Second Place in the creativity category is Stacey Mattraws "Make Sure you Turn on the Night Light" photo and DJ Pettitt's "Come Hither" Self portrait. I love both these pictures so much I want them poster size for my living room!

GRAND PRIZE WINNER!!

Lavida Mattson from Central Point Oregon is 1st Place WINNER!!! Ta Da da da! She hung this heart in a tree in her front yard so she could see it when she drove in and because she "likes hearts". Not planning on a perfect shot with drips of water and a little icy nest sitting on top. Congrats Lavida!! Sorry to say nobody has seen the red hat guy in days, so the Valentine Date is off... He unfortunately has run off to a land that doesn't celebrate Valentines Day because he couldn't take the pressure. (being so good looking and all) BUT you will receive some brand spank'n yummy MAIL ART as a thank you for winning the photo competition. Keep taking pictures girly girl, you are a inspiration to me.

Some of the Contest Photos

2009-02-14T17:37:00.000-08:00

Tess Mahieu

Artist Unknown

DJ Pettitt... "Please choose me for the date so I don't have to take back my new shoes."

DJ Pettitt waiting for the man in the red hat.

DJ Pettitt still waiting for the man in the red hat.

DJ Pettitt...."Don't make me get ugly".

Paula McNamee-Oregon

Judy Mangiameli -So. CA

Lee Krek

Who Could Resist Me?

2009-02-12T06:30:00.000-08:00

..........and my new Valentine lipstick.

A Valentine Date for Sure

2009-02-11T13:16:00.000-08:00

I know I will get a date with my new Valentine Shoes!

Sketches From the Heart

2009-02-10T19:26:00.000-08:00

These are from the amazing sketchbooks of http://esterwilson.blogspot.com/2009/01/no-more-hearts.html. When I grow up I want to be just like her.

Photos Coming In

2009-02-10T07:38:00.000-08:00

Stacy sent this from the Island of the Dolls in Mexico City. Check out her other doll photos at http://http//www.arcangeloproductions.blogspot.com

Win a Valentine Date With This Man

2009-02-09T08:39:00.000-08:00

What: A Valentine Photo Party

Where: On my blog

When: This Week

Why: You have to ask?

Details: Send your most creative heart related photo by February 13th and

I will post the winner on Valentines Day. You could get a possible date with

this man and for sure some mail art from me for winning the contest.

More Valentine Graffiti

2009-02-09T06:14:00.000-08:00

Artist: Unknown

Artist: KrieBel

Artist: Unknown

Valentine Graffiti

2009-02-07T10:18:00.000-08:00

All my new songs are dedicated to Hollywood, you know who you are.

2008-06-26T05:54:00.000-07:00

http://www.brenthouzenga.com/

Mail Art

2008-06-18T12:24:00.000-07:00

The mail art train is picking these babies up today and taking them

to you. You know who you are.

Entitlements

2008-06-17T12:03:00.000-07:00

This weeks journal pages and sketches

I Come From a Land of Seagulls

2008-06-06T05:00:00.000-07:00

I noticed last night at my husband's softball game,

I am the only one who looks up when the geese fly over.

I still can't get used to the large

V shaped silhouettes that routinely tower over my head.

I came from a land of seagulls

who grabbed at left over sandwich crusts,

while the sandwich owners were busy with magic castles

and sloshing buckets of water.

More Mail Art

2008-05-29T11:29:00.000-07:00

Thanks for the great mail art you guys!! I just received a envelope sewn together out of a screen, tapeology, found object painting and a meaningful visual diary of deep feelings about Katrina. You guys are way too creative. Maybe this all stems from me having boatloads of pen pals when I was a kid.

A journal page from one of my smaller books. Aluminum tape, stencils, photos, sketches, found object prints, decorative tape, and journaling all make up this spread. See how I cut out part of the photo on the right and included it in the chest of the sketch? Try drawing off of your photos and don't worry about "getting it just right" whatever that means.

2008-05-11T09:32:00.001-07:00

New Travel Journal

2008-05-05T16:55:00.000-07:00

Attach a extra long piece of paper to your journal and then fold it over to make a file folder like this one. Hold the whole file together with a piece of elastic. Attaching pages and making folds is a great way to improve a boring journal. These pages are spraypainted, have glued fabric strips, and see that red stripe? That is a paper napkin from Target. Use masking tape and sew on the pages to add some other textures too. On the inside of the folder I have a list of things I saw when I was on my trip.

Grapefruit Graffiti

2008-05-02T15:39:00.000-07:00

Grapefruit graffiti mail art on it's way out to some mail art buddies. I always get the mail art bug this time of year, enjoy it while it lasts you guys.

Rick Rack

2008-04-26T16:57:00.000-07:00

I went to a wedding today and when I saw this cake, two words came immediately to mind. I mean it's obvious right?

Rick rack.

I mean, look at all the wasted years of round, plain white, wedding cakes when you could have something cool like this. AND look at all the years of wasted maternity tops with obnoxious rick rack around the sleeves and neck. What is that? Why did we have to look like I love Lucy when mothers to be, today, look like they could walk out of a fashion magazine. Why were we punished because we had wedding receptions and got pregnant in the wrong century? Life just isn't fair. Kind of like the whole ironing pillow cases thing.

I remember my grandma telling me as a young bride she was sitting on the front porch one hot summer evening hemming white cotton fabric. The nieghbor asked her what she was hemming and she mumbled "dish towels". Her face was red with imbarrassment knowing these were really diapers for her first little baby, my mother. Being pregnant, even when you were married was something you didn't talk about. Then they went right into the next century letting us tell people we were pregnant by our circus clown costumes.

I am sure the bride today didn't have rick rack on her mind when she looked at the pink flowers on her cake. Most likely she was thinking how she wanted to get out of her uncomfortable shoes, and on that plane to Hawaii, so she could work on her tan with her handsome new husband and come home to open wedding gifts.

Knowing she will never, ever have to do two things in her entire life.

Hem diapers or wear rick rack.
I can't think of a better way to start a marriage.

Congrats Kevin and Whitney.

Self Portrait

2008-04-23T23:59:00.000-07:00

Personal shrouds left behind.

Forever imprints of once was.

Blurry from lack of purpose

thick stains from not giving in

or maybe you didn't leave a mark at all

blending in with everything around you.

Living Life From the Air

2008-04-16T07:37:00.000-07:00

When you think of Wisconsin you think of cheese right? I mean not just the cheese you wear on your head at football games but like the string cheese you buy at gas stations. It's kind of like when you think of California you think of cross dressers and traffic. Or Oregon you think of Birkenstock's or Alaska really really depressed people. But while I was eating my string cheese from the gas station (really), I took these photos and realized that Madison, Wisconsin is just a place to be.

http://www.converse.com/index.aspx?bhcp=1#c1

Personalized Door Art

2008-04-03T09:30:00.000-07:00

These are some of the door signs I made for Camp Runamuckus at Artfest. I can't believe I didn't get to go this year. There are ball chains hanging from the bottom of each one for everyone to hang their swaps, charms, business cards or whatever else they can find from their trip. At least they will get some sleep this year because I won't be there keeping everyone awake all night. Thanks Nikki for all your work decorating and bringing food, I know you all are going to have a great great time.

The Gaze

2008-03-29T10:37:00.000-07:00

March 29 Journal Entry

I have decided that I completely missed yesterday. And the day before that. And maybe even the day before that. I didn't look out the window or stand on the porch or even look up from my keyboard. I remember I did make a couple dozen lattes. and pee. and brush my teeth. But other than the days all blended. But you know what? I think even when I am not writing I still miss days. I am too busy looking at "what was" and "what could have been" and lots and lots of "shoulds". The gaze has become bigger and louder and wears a disguise.

I did find a guy who knows how to do it. I mean he knows how to be in today.

With hot sauce, mashed potatoes, bed sheets and bell peppers he just lets things happen the way they are supposed to.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3VDNaikh1w

http://blip.tv/file/450008

If I could spend a day with anyone I think it would be him....

2008-03-22T10:52:00.000-07:00

So we think that Sodom was this way bad place that was destroyed because of all their sin right? I heard someone say that we are so much worse now in our society than Sodom ever was.And then I found this verse today. Ez. 16:49 "Sodom was arrogant, overfed and unconcerned they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things." I keep thinking about that word unconcerned and how easy it is not to do something. Not read my bible. Not make that phone call. Not go to church. Not pray.

It's kind of like we are these little gods running around living our lives based on what we want and when we want it. Sacrifice isn't in our vocabulary and neither is the word inconvenience.

So as the day's go by we continue to put God in our God box and leave him there until we have a really big problem. The blood continues to drip and we don't even see the trail it has left behind us.

Pick a Team

2008-01-24T19:24:00.000-08:00

22 steps.........that's how many there are in Hastings bookstore from the Christian books to the porn. 22 steps, one after the other, like no one will notice if they are far enough apart.

It made me think how we position things to our advantage.

Kind of like my dog , when he knew he did something wrong, would hide around the corner and peek just one eye out enough to see thinking no one else could see him.

Positioning ourselves. If I distance myself far enough away it won't count. From that person, that place, that memory.

But in our hearts, we secretly know it is only 22 steps, from dark to light.

From seeing, to being blinded.

2008-01-19T15:11:00.000-08:00

Hands

Studying body language in art this week reminds me of something a drawing teacher said, "When you can master drawing hands and feet you can draw anything." I have decided to let the hands I draw be what they want to be.

And I will be what I want to be as well.

Not lowering the bar or making excuses for wanting to do my best. This is a year to proceed.

"To proceed; to go forward after an interruption. Continue. Move on, in a orderly fashion".

I saw a exhibit recently of Enrique Chagoya's work and he uses a lot of hands. Micky Mouse hands, chopped off hands, sign language hands, menorah hands, the more fingers the more powerful for his 9 fingered hands.

And Jesus with holes in his hands.