Friday, January 22, 2016

Mail Art with the Portland Correspondence Club


Last March I joined the first year of the Portland Correspondence Club (PDXCC). It was started in January of 2015 by two mail artists and it's held at the IPRC in Portland.

I met Niko, one of the founders, at the Portland Zine Symposium the summer before and he somehow knew I would love mail art, even though I had never done it before and I didn't think I was that into it. Niko invited me to join and finally after missing the first three months I went to a meeting and found my people and a fun new hobby.

Mail Art people are into mail, envelopes, office supplies, stationary, stamps, stamp pads, typewriters, history, snail mail, writing letters. They're the kind of people who squeal with excitement over a box filled with vintage penny stamps and who hoot and applaud a mailman when he's introduced to the group.

Mail Art people understand when I swoon over a certain washi tape or a get a little obsessed with fountain pens. They get me.

Mail Art Club - Meet Make Mail - Ponyboy Press blog
A banner I made and sent to each member for a Meet Make Mail themed project

The club meets once a month and each meeting usually includes a few to several vintage typewriters you can use, often there is a skill share or project, but mainly we visit and exchange our faux postage made for that month. Each member gets a passport book and people who make stamps each month put them in your book and often cancel them. It's damn official and fun to see what everyone makes.

Mail Art Club Passport with faux postage by members - ponyboypress.com



Every month members can choose to be a part of the monthly mail art exchange based on a theme.
Here are a few I did in 2015
Mail Art of The Titanics Menu - ponyboypress.com
This was my first project. The theme was food and this was a study on the different menus on The Titanic. It folds and I sealed the sides before sending.



Collage Mail Art from Teah House Postcard - ponyboypress.com
Postcards of a Tea House with images from old photos. The other side has a fake stamp and Tea themed address. This theme was collage 
halloween themed mail art - ponyboypress.com
October's Mail Art Project

christmas mail art - Portland Correspondence Club ponyboypress.com


Here are a few of the mail art projects that I received from other members.


mail art from mail club members - ponyboypress.com

Everyone likes getting fun things in the mail. If this interests you, there might be a correspondence club near you. I know there is one in San Francisco and Olympia, Wa. 


typewriters going strong - pdxcc club

1 comment:

Cappuccinoandartjournal.blogspot.com said...

I see Miss Polly in that last photo! And I am trying very hard to make it up to Portland to a PDXCC meeting -- rumor has it my passport is waiting. And I am off to a San Francisco mail art meeting this afternoon.

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