I want to post this before midnight but can I do a simple image adjustment on the picture of the envelope back. No! Once again I fail to see the logic and cannot make it do what I want. So much for my new-found confidence with it. Perhaps I’ll add it later.
Someone has got to buy today’s as I somehow missed taking a photo of the piece itself. Maybe I didn’t do a piece and the envelope is empty. Now there’s an idea!
As you can see, there is a nice fishy picture on today’s stamp. Only thing is they were released yesterday and I missed the first day of issue. Peter apologised as soon as I got to the Post Office window where I had gone to buy stamps! Never mind it only would have increased the value of yesterday’s by minus a little less than nothing and that only if a stamp collector had an interest in odd conceptual art pieces. Come to think of it, stamp collecting is a bit like an odd art form in itself.
Loads of interruptions today, mostly good but my good intentions of finishing my #Letter365 early so I could relax with friends came to naught, so it was another late one to finish it off. The back of the envelope is below.
Trapped at home manning the Dorset Art Weeks installation Margaret Toft came to my rescue with a bit of friendly company, some yummy cake and A L Kennedy’s book “On Bullfighting” – the same A L Kennedy that once publicly spoke a love poem to me. Well Margaret certainly deserves a mention!
The reverse of the envelope has been left free of annotations as you can see:
I am caused to remember the final chapter of Richard Brautigan’s novel “Trout Fishing in America”, The Mayonnaise Chapter. At the end of the previous chapter he writes, “Expressing a human need, I always wanted to write a book that ended with the word Mayonnaise.” The last chapter is in the form of a short letter with a P.S (the last words of the book) which reads “Sorry I forgot to give you the mayonaise.” It probably explains a lot about me.
I’ve done the work, created the envelope, annotated the back, posted it and now when it’s late and I am dog tired you expect me to write witty things or deep philosophies. Give me a break, I’m going to bed.
Having talked about the envelope becoming part of the artwork it seems like something in me is wanting to make it mandatory to decorate the envelope back. As if i need more things to do each day!
If you were missing the envelope going in the box, that is here below:
Another busy day with preparations for Dorset Art Weeks. The decorator is here. I washed the curtains and did some cleaning. I went over to the framers. I did some writing for this project and of course the artwork for today. I have been asked for some more clues so here goes: same materials as yesterday, bold with a Spanish feel!
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.
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.
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!
All ready to roll but as i am off to the Midlands tonight I will post it from a box in Redditch probably! I will try to post from there too – but no promises that I’ll get enough bandwidth!
I had a bit of a disaster with the envelope for tomorrow and didn’t check what I had printed on it before sticking the stamp on it! Luckily it’s a commemorative stamp so I can steam it off some time and use it another day. The backside of Buckingham Palace tastes horrible but sticks fast!
The piece today was quite interesting in how it evolved – a shame I can’t say much about it. I like the result and it has legs to go elsewhere, but now I have sealed it up I am wanting to have another look!