Mail Art Assignment

When we first got assigned the mail art project, I knew instantly that I wanted to do something more personal than the art I usually display to the class. I love drawing floral, mandala-like figures with ball point pens and have an entire sketchbook filled with these intricate designs. I began drawing these because I was given a "stress relieving" coloring book with these types of images in it as a gift. I found it to be more interesting and therapeutic to actually draw out my own designs, rather than color in existing ones. I do all of these drawings in black ballpoint pens, all with different widths. I am also really intrigued by the art of Henna. People draw these designs with Henna paste on peoples' bodies and I think it is a really interesting way of making temporary art. The designs usually fade in 2-3 weeks, but they can take hours to complete. When I was younger, I would draw all over my arms with pens and try to recreate these Henna tattoos on my own skin. My notebooks are also covered with these designs, covering all of the margins in my notes, blank pages left over in my notebooks, and just about every hardcopy form I have been given by a professor. For each person in the class, I looked up a different Henna tattoo design, and created a piece based off of it on small, white cards. I allowed myself around 20 (ish) minutes per design, and then sealed them in white envelopes. I purposely kept everything black and white, similar to my sketchbook at home. I think the concept of sending art through the postal service is a good idea and very rare these days, since everything can be done electronically. I had a really good time doing this project and would definitely do it again!