Letters of Encouragement

I found a new fun way to share my free art. I've always loved mail art and sending letters. But the high cost of postage put an end to that for me sometime in the 80's. Then one day I found a site called MoreLoveLetters.com that is a random act of kindness where you write letters or notes of encouragement and then tuck them away for folks to find. I get all the joy of writing, with none of the postage costs. And I've been squirreling away notecards and stationary and colored index cards for year and years.

So I made a stack of these letters of encouragement and decorated them with stamps and stickers and then when I went to the library today I tucked them into books for folks to find. Just a little pick me up in their day. I've been signing them all *Desert Witch*.

Dear Friend

Decorated with a panda stamp I carved.

Bee happy.

A New Home and New Art to Give Away

Last October we moved to the Mojave desert, so now I'm thinking of new ways to give away art. Right now I'm thinking of a box on a fence post where passersby could reach in and get some free art out. Or maybe something made out of a gourd.

We just emptied a storage unit full of things I could give away to spread joy and art throughout the Lucerne Valley. I'm looking forward to it.

Wallop the cat likes his new house.

Our yard is full of quail.

Found Art and Geocaching

Best Friends Forever Sachet Star

I just saw a documentary on Geocaching. In a geocach you can typically leave a small art object for the next finder. So I'm thinking this is yet another way to spread your art out into the world. You could also design a geocaching coin or a hitchhiker art object designed to be carried from geocache to geocache. So there's an idea you can run with. If you don't know what Geocaching is, Google it up.

I just signed up for Tagfoot. http://ping.fm/lfV6m Come see all my links and comments and my wishlist.

Want to join ping.fm too? Go to http://www.ping.fm.Use the code 'legendofping' and you could have the luxury of posting to all your blogs in one fell swoop like I do. Way more efficient than doing it one by one.

I'm not sure what 'ping my default' means but I guess I'll find out when I hit send.

The week sure went by quick. I had a lot more planned but didn't have the energy to do it. My hands are still sore from woodcarving, and so I've had to lay off the knitting and crocheting. I'm looking forward to the weekend. My daughter may visit. We'll see.

Come view my Flickr photo stream. Over 3000 photos I've taken are waiting there for your pleasure. http://ping.fm/3TTAi

I just signed up for Ping.fm to make social networking more effiecient.

Knitted Bookmark

Waffle Stitch Bookmark.
I'm still going to add some ribbons and the found art tag, but this will give you an idea of what I'm talking about.

Bountiful Bookmarks

I just thought of my next found art project. Knitted or crocheted bookmarks! They should work up pretty quickly from scrap yarn. I can embellish them with crochet flowers or ribbon tassles or charms. And they would be easy to smuggle into any place that has books or magazines. Heh heh. Can't wait to design some.

Vegas here I come.

I just realized that if I plan ahead, I'll be able to leave free art in Las Vegas, NV when I go there next week, as well as wherever we stop along the way. I better get cracking on some new art.

Ten reasons to give away art.

1. It is a type of community service that is way more fun than painting park benches.
2. My inner child likes it.
3. It is satisfying. The randomness of the whole idea fascinates me. I make this art, and a complete stranger ends up with it. It makes me feel generous. I'm not rich enough to build a hospital wing or fly to Ethiopia, so it's a way I can give even if I'm not wealthy.
4. It's fun. Sort of like treasure hunting in reverse.
5. When I learn a new technique, I have to practice over and over. All those extra projects clutter my studio. If I give them away, I make room to do more art.
6. It's a cool and positive thing to do. Everyone wins.
7. It reaffirms that I am an artist, even on days when I don't sell any art.
8. It might save a life. Even one random act of kindness can make a person hang on for another day and have a wee bit of hope that good things can happen.
9. With all the art cutbacks in school, in gives us one more chance to inspire the artists of generations to come.
10. Someone might actually come to my site and buy a piece of art some day.

Can't beat free art.

I've been a member of www.found-art.com for a few years now and I'm glad to see they've linked up with blogspot.com to help all of the artists and their fans stay in touch. If you've found a piece of my art, I hope you are enjoying it and I hope you will take a moment to register it on the found art website.