Mail Art Responses
14 DAYS, 14 MELODIES, 14 FILMS
Last October 2020 I sent 14 handwritten postcards to friends back in the UK with an invitation to respond to the 14 films I had made over the 14 days in Garravagh. Co. Cork, Ireland. Thanks again to Judy and Peter at Road Books for been amazing hosts.
And thank you so much to everyone who responded to the films through music, collage, photography, print, poetry, spoken word, textiles and drawing. Today the 14th October 2021 felt like the perfect day to celebrate and share the Mail Art responses.
Woodland Walk
For Jess
20 year old trees grow in the woodland by the cabin. They were planted by Judy and Peter. Birch, oak, beech and conifers are living and breathing and helping other habitats to thrive. Squirrels and foxes dart here and there and an abundance of plants are flourishing and mushrooms maturing in the soft damp earth. On this day the wind was strong and the leaves were alive and dancing on the edge of the woodland. As I walked towards the bottom of the woodland a quiet stillness arrived in the shelter of trees.
Squirrel In Red
For Jo
Each day a squirrel would pass by the cabin. I don’t know if it was the same one or there were many but I only ever saw one at a time. I would catch a glimpse from the corner of my eye. By the time I picked up my camera and switched it on the squirrel was gone. I set up the camera by the window and managed to catch a few cheeky moments. It helped that conkers were falling from the large horse chestnut close to the cabin.
Always in a Hurry
Response to Squirrel in Red
Collage by Jo Boyd
© 2021
"no squirrel tails were harmed during this process ..
I actually do save / hide / store / sometimes remember / sometimes forget / wear my hair like a squirrels tail and have the fondest memories of feeding them with mum on Brandon hill.” Jo Boyd
Tsuga Shelter
For Guy
I brought my flute into the woods. I wanted to write and play a melody in the woods. It started to rain. I found a tree to shelter and wondered who I might write this melody for. My phone rang. It was my friend Guy. I was standing under a tsuga tree with my flute in one hand and my phone in the other. After we talked I sat in the shelter of the tree and wrote a melody.
17,000 Trees
For Judy and Peter
Judy and Peter have been planting trees over many years. Their latest project is a field of 17,000 trees including aspen, holly, oak, birch, hawthorn, cherry, spindle, rowan and scots pine. They designed the pathways in the field in the shape of a butterfly. The field is high up on a hill overlooking the city of Cork. These young trees of one year look so delicate and battle with the elements to survive. Not all will make it but those that do will grow to make a thriving forest.
Map of Road Books Eco Project
Response to 17,000 Trees
Artwork and words by Peter Morgan and Judy Kravis at Road Books
© 2021
October 2005
8th Revealed a few tiddly trees on the way back from the pond. Cut back jasmine hedge in outer front garden. Started digging edges of outer front garden, under roses, hebe & various trees. 'Ware the dreaded bindweed. Dug over (un)onion bed,& (some) garlic bed, in advance of next year.
9th Weeded the leeks under persistent light rain,
11th Weeding up at pond. Removed single figure lemna from pond.
12th Weeding & sitting up at the pond.
14th Pulled up some brambles along the stream. Cut back some autumn danglies up at the pond.
15th Slight but continues de-buttercupping etc up at pond.
16th Ibid
Judy Kravis
An extract from ‘Revealing Angelica' by Judy Kravis and Peter Morgan at Road Books
“Weeding, digging, planting, watering, pruning, picking, eating, looking, thinking, naming. A headlong diary of the things the gardener does in a year, and the everyday things the artist finds there: Hose in its own flood, Plain cotton dishrag left on post in 1977, Orange twine on black corrugated, spattered with lime.”
64pp, sewn, 164 x 210mm, pbk, french flaps, 30 colour photographs. Numbered edition of 501.
By Judy Kravis and Peter Morgan Road Books 2005.
Woodland Rain
For Chris
In the morning when I stepped out of the cabin, on the other side of the gate in a field a woodland of larch trees. Their silhouettes would stretch into the sky as the orange glow of the sun rose behind their long trunks. On this misty drizzly afternoon I took my camera and umbrella and quietly watched the rain fall and the trees stood still as a photograph.
Flight At Dusk
For Lorraine
As dusk falls I catch a glimpse of a fox disappearing into the woods. A bat darts above my head. Then out of sight. I love the way these creatures suddenly spring from nowhere. So silent they sprint and then vanish. I filmed the trees above the cabin as the night sky drew in. I didn’t see any more bats or foxes but they were there somewhere scurrying in the woods. Invisible beings in flight at dusk.
In Every Leaf, A Tree
Response to Flight at Dusk
Print by Lorraine Fernandez
© 2021
“You know, the smallest thing can change a life. In the blink of an eye, something happens by chance - and when you least expect it - since we’re on a course that you could have never planned, into a future you never imagined. Where will it take you? That’s the journey of our lives: our search for the light. But sometimes, finding the light means you must past through the deepest darkness.” - Nicholas Sparks’ The Lucky One
Skylark & Jasmine
For Nikki
As the sky darkened I decided to take a short walk up to the field where Skylark and Jasmine, the resident ponies, were grazing. I had been a little wary of them at times and avoided crossing the field on my own as the mare was very protective of her foal. I knelt down quietly and could just make out their silhouettes in the distance. The wind sent them galloping from one corner of the field to another. Daughter following mother. So connected. Dancing in circles at dusk.
Hooves to Meet You
Response to Skylark and Jasmine
Words by Nikki Seren
*Words by Alice Walker
© 2021
*“horses make a landscape look more beautiful’ Alice Walker poem
horses are keepers of mysteries of dusk, ephemeral liminal hours
I see more than two
skylark and jasmine song and fragrance skylark up to Summer skies jasmine up to the stars
all becoming one in the velveteen dark, horses carry us beyond the veils, ‘The Listeners’ poem
‘see more than two’ ancestors (?) x o x
this is an inquisitive ‘passage’ (collected and elevated floating trot) when they see you it’s a generous hearted friendly curious namaste ‘hello’ and wondering could be if you have something tasty
thank you with a Native American longing for home
The Listeners by Walter de la Mare
Horses Make A Landscape Look More Beautiful by Alice Walker
In The Holly
For Caroline
Opposite the cabin on the edge of the woodland stands a large holly tree. A thick trunk with dark green glistening leaves and bright red berries. I was looking at the tree from the cabin window. It was a while before I noticed the blackbird nestling in the leaves at the centre. So tiny. Camouflaged into the darkness of the leaves. And then the flash of yellow. That fine beak of ethereal song and those bright eyes shining.
Moon At Midnight
For Tony and Glen
I couldn’t sleep. The light from the moon was shining a spotlight on Garravagh. The tropical plants in the small garden at the side of the cabin were glowing. From below, looking up to the sky, the trees and plants that were normally silhouetted by the morning sun now sliced their sharp black leaves into the white moon like a Japanese print.
Moon At Midnight
Response to Moon at Midnight
Artwork by Glen Eastman
© 2021
“I listened and watched your films in a comfy seat with a glass of wine and saw one after the other so it became a continuum which is why I responded to the whole with pictures that are linked one after the other in a long line. The films/music which did not immediately invoke an image I left blank rather than leaving them out, so the sequence of films should be apparent. I listened and watched the films three times. The first time I did a rough sketch just in pencil, and on the second and third time of watching I added bits to the art work as I listened. I think the size of the images on my computer effected the size of the drawing I produced.”
Glen Eastman
Scots Pine
For Row
I help Peter remove stakes from 50 Scots Pines in the Yin Yang field. 7,000 trees were planted here six years ago. The stakes help to stop the weaker trees from falling. Now strong enough, the stakes have to be removed so the trunks won’t be damaged by the ties. We crawl under the fresh scent of pine, where tiny mushrooms are growing amongst moss and dried pine needles.
Scots Pine
Response to Scots Pine
Textiles By Rowena Dugdale / RedRubyRose
© 2021
“I was gathering pine cones in a gathering of trees that is fenced off right next to our house - in the six years I’ve been here I’ve never actually jumped the fence and gone in. It was so beautiful and the light was shining through the pines.”
Rowena Dugdale
From the west coast pines.
the windblown larches
And salt-sprayed spruce.
crooked from the
prevailing south-westerlies
nestled amongst the alders and birches.
a dyed and stitched
patchwork.