Always Watching You

While Sleepless Night, Bedroom Ceiling (oh why did I make the title so long and annoying to type over and over again) was the first piece I showcased here at Amateur Hour, it was not my first creation. Since the friend who received the following piece also follows the blog (Hey, my first and only follower!) I didn't want to post it until after she got it in the mail.

At the begining of this new hobby I did a tour around the crafty section of the local Wal-mart (forgive me mother for I have sinned). I pretty much grabbed things that just appealed to me, I tend to shop that way often, and one of the things I picked up was an assorted pack of googly eyes. The kind you can rattle and will follow you wherever you go...

I knew pretty much from the second I picked them up exactly what I wish to do with them, hence...Paranoia:

(I just love this piece...again dubious artistic merit but come on, love the googly eyes..freaky and cool all in one with a dash of Sesame Street).

This is another Index Card Creation: I did a lot of scribbling with sharpie colored markers and then used a glue gun to attach an entire packet of googly eyes. Also, while I do enjoy the ease of using plain index cards (they were cheap too!) I am constantly plagued by the need to glue two together to give it some extra strength....(Oh and I doodled on the back...sorry no pic of that)

I finished this just before phoning an old friend (by that I mean a friend of long standing...heh) and after describing the project and my googly eye art she wanted this particular piece.

So I blame Fran for leading me astray from the general guidelines of mailart.

This remains to date my favorite work: I love the look of it and it matches well with the  feeling I was trying to recreate. The ideal that paranoia often includes an over-the-top sense that you are constantly being watched and any feelings, happy (red) sad (blue)..and so on and so forth, which you wish you could hide are always visible to others.

Plus, again, googly eyes are so much fun. There will be more: I have some that are all flirty and winky.

Setting Up

I have two mailart projects in the works and one is complete. It is also scanned but won't be posted until after its been mailed out.

I realize I need some ground rules for this undertaking, so here goes:

1. Each mailart piece will be posted and added to a creation page.(Right now there is only the Index Card Creations --- the basis for current work, so more may be added later)
2. Posting will occur after the piece has been either: mailed, received or destroyed (depending on circumstances)
3. Each post will contain a title, materials list and thoughts behind the creation as well as information regarding where it has been sent (which may not be detailed due to privacy issues)
4. Each piece is individual and unique (although of questionable artistic merit)
5. Any mailart received will be also be posted accompanied by any attribution information provided and my personal feelings on the piece.

Again occasional there will be a break in mailart posts for tiny bits of philosophical wisdom by yours truly (which may not include any wisdom or philosophy but will be tiny).