Tag Archives: sealing wax

No54 gets posted with no fuss

#Letter365 No54 gets posted
No54 with another stamp of bling goes in the box

Sometimes there just isn’t anything to report. I did the piece; signed and date-stamped it; photographed it; made the envelope text and printed it; stuck a stamp on the envelope; put the piece in the envelope and sealed it; put a sealing wax seal on the back of the envelope; date-stamped the envelope; photographed the envelope; walked to the post box and took pictures of the envelope in front of the post box; pushed the envelope and its contents into the post box ; walked home; downloaded the images to my PC; and wrote this.

It’s what I do without much variation every single day. That’s all ok and I usually enjoy doing most parts of it, but there is a limit to what I can write about. It’s part of my job at the moment that’s all.

Not supposed to be giving clues…

#Letter365 No53 goes in the post box
No53 goes in the box with hints about its contents and a little slightly poetic message on the envelope

It’s only fair that people who will only see this on the internet will not be disadvantaged, should they be interested in buying it, compared to someone who might see it physically at the Arts Centre for example. This one is fatter than average! So fat that I was worried that it might not go through the little 5mm slot that says you can pay ordinary letter rate and so left off the sealing wax except for a tiny bit at the edges where it’s a little thinner.

Sealing waxon #Letter365 No53
No53 has only a small dab of sealing wax at each side

Of course it could be a very tiny and thin work that I have wrapped up with stiff, thick material to protect it. Whatever it is I like it very much and for anyone who likes my work this would be a good one to pitch for. I’m going to post a couple of other works that I completed today on my David Smith Artist blog – these will not be anything like this #Letter365 piece so that will help you guess what area this might be in!

Posh sealing wax and a pale envelope for No37

Red sealing wax stick
Upgraded sealing wax – a more traditional recipe

I seem to have got bound in to this thing of sealing my envelopes with sealing wax. It started because the only envelopes I had were old and the self-seal had lost its stick so I used Pritt stick and some sealing wax. I rather like the way that things like this develop. Quite often in the repetitive drawings I do, rules develop: perhaps if I make a “mistake” I will respond with an over-correction, which I then have to do each time  that “mistake” happens. It all goes back to the thing I have about the wave-carved ripples on hard-sand beaches, where regular patterns develop and anomalies occur in turn spawning predictable reactions to the anomalies.

So anyway, I am now probably stuck with sealing up with sealing wax each day (except when I am away) and I started using the decorative gold wax I already had and then bought some more from the art shop in Dorchester. Neither of these had the satisfying sticky quality that the sealing wax my father used. There was always a long stick or two in the sideboard drawer (along with the little machine for cutting rug wool, the wooden darning mushroom and the little reedwork pen nib box my father brought back with him from Egypt during the war, amongst other mismatched sundries). This sealing wax had the manufacturer’s name or the brand embossed on one side. I can’t remember what is was called, though for some reason i think it may have been “Houses of Parliament”. Over the years the sticks got broken and gradually eroded at the breaks though still held together by the wick like a string of flattened red sausages. This was real “legal” sealing wax and was very different to the decorative stuff I used to date on the project. So the first one I found was this one pictured above is Waterson’s, supposedly made to a traditional recipe and unchanged for years. They are quite small sticks but they certainly have a much more satisfying stickiness to them. I am confusing myself with these sticky sticks that stick!

~letter365 No37 goes in the post box
Pale No37 goes in the box to sit there till Monday

I posted No37 hours ago. I’ve had to renew the ink cartridges and tried to keep the same tone as before but the grey came out far too light really, a pale ghost of its former glory! The piece inside is worked up precisely from the idea I had this morning. It all went smoothly apart from a brief moment of doubt just before I completed it. It feels great when it goes like that – and it feels great when it gets a life of its own and finds its own resolution. It doesn’t feel great when it turns out to be rubbish and goes on the fire or recycle pile!

I didn’t expect that!

#Letter365 No34 goes in the post box with a stamp on
The mad rabbit and a reminder on the envelope ensure a stamp goes on today

My name may be mud at the Arts Centre following yesterday’s forgotten-stamp debacle, but I am undaunted! I altered the writing on the envelope in the hope that its pale words would remind me to put on a stamp and as it was sunny the mad rabbit was about to threaten me with its credit card!

And the piece I created for #Letter365 today surprised me. I had started it this morning and left it in a volatile state as I had to be in the house to await delivery of a replacement credit card as I had cut up the other one by mistake and used it in a #Letter365 piece – no, not really, just joking! No, I had cut it up by mistake when my new debit card arrived! Anyway, when I returned to the studio it became immediately apparent what I needed to do and I really like the result.

Talking of things in a volatile state, the whole piece and its envelope nearly went up in smoke.  A piece of burning wick from the sealing wax fell off and continued to burn on the back of the envelope. Initially I tried to pick it up with my steel rule or my scalpel, before being tempted to let it all burn a bit! In the end I just blew it out, but it has given me food for thought to digest at leisure.

The other volatile thing is me! Oh, you knew that. Well I’m a bit on the incandescent side because my special #Letter365 camera has managed to download device drivers which I never asked it to do and which make it harder for me to use the camera the way I want to use it. It’s odd how so many manufacturers decide for its customers that their way is the best or force you to use their crappy, buggy software. People accept these things from Sony, Apple, Samsung – thank god there is not much you can do to a pen or pencil or paintbrush!

No10 goes in the box

No10 goes in the box at Bradpole
No10 goes in the box at Bradpole

While the lambs in the field opposite chased madly round and round, and my neighbour sat in his car listening to sport on the radio, I popped this one in the box. It’s been a beautiful spring day and I have been working in the garden for most of it, but the beautiful work inside the envelope has nothing to do with any of the subjects mentioned so far!

I have also changed the colour of the sealing wax – I don’t like this wax either. I must get some proper wax if I am to continue using it – or, as I have said before , make some!

Sealing wax on No10
Sealing wax on No10

I hope tomorrow i can find some time to develop some of the rules of engagement for this project and fill out some of the basic notions I am working through.

No1 ready to go

The first #Letter365 envelope ready to go
No1 ready to go

The project is underway. The first piece is finished and sealed in the envelope ready for delivery to Polly at Bridport Arts Center in an hour’s time.

I had originally planned to design the envelopes before the event and get them printed so they would all be the same, but the swift start has meant that you will be able to watch the process towards the final design over the coming days. I had thought I would have this first one just drawn in pencil but I need it to stand out in a photo with Polly for sending to the Press!

I also didn’t manage to find any suitable envelopes in our lovely but small town of Bridport so I am using some old ones where the self seal has gone. So I have used sealing wax to secure this:

Sealing wax
Sealing wax

Of course you also cannot buy proper sealing wax in Bridport so I am using an old stick of not very good decorative sealing wax. The impression is part of our branding iron for beekeeping equipment. I suppose I should make my own sealing wax! Perhaps I will.

Anyway i am really pleased with the piece I created today and will be happy that the future purchaser has got good value!