Mail Art News #33: Pam Chatfield's Whimsical Surrealism

Yellow House by Pam Chatfield (cropped for header image use)

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Thomas Brown (TB): I see on your blog that you've been a mail artist since 1979. How did you get started in mail art?

Pam Chatfield (PC): When I was a teenager I tried penpalling. I found that I wasn't too much into letter writing, but I loved exchanging drawings, stickers, and participating in add & passes. I lost most of my pen pals because they liked long letters and they were lucky to get a whole paragraph out of me.

Eventually the letter writers dropped off and I was left with a few people who were like me, so we continued to send each other art and circulate our little add & pass booklets. Then when I got married my new hubby was in the air force and I moved from Massachusetts to New Mexico. At that point my friends from Massachusetts joined in the art and add & pass correspondence to keep in touch (no internet back then).

My circle of art friends grew. Some lost interest, but more replaced them. Then one day I got a letter from Ryosuke Cohen introducing brain cell. I don't know how he got my name. I'm guessing from one of those add & passes. After exchanging art with people my name could have ended up on some list, who knows. All I know is I was reading this letter explaining how the brain cell is always evolving and changing and if I send something in I'll be part of the brain cell. I was intrigued and I sent a small drawing. That was my first, what I call, official brush with mail art. Of course what I was already doing was mail art, but after that was when I leaned it was a real thing, much larger than me and my little group of friends.

TB: If you have any photos or scanned images of your add & passes or other mail art from those early pre-internet days, I would like to see, but that might be asking a lot, since I'm imagining it buried in an archive somewhere.

I'm reading a book of interviews by Ruud Janssen where he is discussing the internet with mail artists. These interviews were from the 1990s just when the internet was becoming a thing. How did the arrival of the internet change your mail art activities?

PC: I wish I still had some left, but sadly with so many moves over the years, there's not much from those years left. When my marriage ended, I had to pack what I could with three kids and come back to Massachusetts. I lost a lot during that little episode. However, every once in a while I'll come across something. I'm moving in three weeks, so who knows, maybe I'll find some stuff I forgot I have. I've lived in this place 12 years, and I still have a couple of boxes in the closet I never unpacked. lolololol... When I move, maybe I'll find something. I will send you a copy if I do.

The internet changed my mail art activities pretty much in a positive way, in that it's easier to find people to send art to, it's easier to find mail art calls, it's easier for collaborative projects (both joining and running them), and it's nice to be more in contact and get to know other mail artists. On the other hand, I miss the days when we received a piece of mail with an invitation to a mail art call, a piece of mail art from someone new, or documentation from a call with a list of everyone who participated (that was gold). So, even though it's not really a bad thing, in my opinion the internet has changed the look and feel of mail art. It evolved, and I'm just an old timer who feels nostalgia for the way it used to be.

Also, and I'm going to be real careful here, the internet has also made mail art unclear to a lot of newcomers, and it's difficult to address this because of the rule that there are no rules, and there are so many overlaps and gray areas. But there are some differences between mail art, swap groups, and penpalling. Anyway, I won't get on that soap box. There aren't enough pages in this email for that.

That being said, I think we have the internet to thank for more people discovering mail art. Some confuse it with the above mentioned, don't quite get it, and move on, sometimes not before causing a little drama on their way out (sorry, I've seen this too often to sugar coat it), and some come out of their confusion with an aha moment and embrace it.

Bottom line, I think there are more positives than negatives for mail art on the internet.

TB: What is your most recent favorite thing you've mailed out? What advice would you give to someone just starting out in mail art? Is there an addictive quality to mail art?

PC: My most recent favorite thing I've mailed out would have to be my houses, and if I have to pick a specific one I would say the yellow house. I've been drawing a lot of whimsical type houses lately and I really like them. Especially when I use tile floors in places where there should be grass or something else. I have a thing for tile floors for some reason, always have.

My advice to someone just starting out in mail art is to keep it fun. Don't make it work. If it starts to feel like work, slow down or take a break.

Yes, I think there is an addictive quality to mail art. Everyone is different, but I do think the potential is there, for me anyway. Staying up late, when I have to sign into work at 5:00am, because if I can just get this done I can mail it during lunch tomorrow.

TB: Now I'm wondering about the possible meanings of a tile floor-lawn, sidewalk, and street. It's definitely a fun, fantasy element. Is that watercolor? It's a unique look from most of the other mail art I see. I've been drawing characters for many years, so it's natural for me to wonder: What kind of characters live in these scenes? I'm checking out your blog and Instagram for more examples. How do you describe your style? And speaking of blogs, how long have you been blogging?

PC: Yes, that one is watercolor. Sometimes I use gel pens, but watercolor is my favorite. That's a good question about what kind of characters live in these scenes. I attached a picture of what I visualize may live in these scenes. I describe my style as whimsical surrealism. I'm no art expert, so I'm probably just pulling that out of my ass, but that's what it looks like to me.

I've been blogging since the 90's. I think it was the 90's. Right before Geocities, I made a blog on something, I can't remember what, and a friend told me about Geocities, so I switched to there. My first blog was about knitting. I also started a vlog on YouTube, but I find I don't have the time to keep it up like I thought I would. The blog is easier because I just pick at it all week and it doesn't require the editing and time videos do.

TB: I'm looking at your videos now. Thanks. I like the New England accent. That's not sarcasm. I like listening to different accents. I've thought of making videos, but yeah it seems like a lot of work getting them together.

An idea that's making me laugh is putting on a suit and sitting in front of a green screen to make it look like I'm in a TV studio. "You're watching Mail Art News."

And now a question about community. Do you feel like you are part of the mail art community? ( I do and I don't.) And do you have any desire to be regarded as a popular / famous / notorious / world-renowned mail artist? (I wouldn't mind it!)

PC: I think the green screen idea for Mail Art News is a fun idea, but then there's the time investment.

With the mail art community I feel I'm part of it, but then again not. I feel like there's a community within the community and I've only breached the first layer. Don't know if I'm making sense.

I've never thought about being a popular / famous / notorious / world-renowned mail artist before, but I'm going to answer that with a yes, because whenever I make art, it's always on my mind that I'm leaving something (my art) behind when I die, and when people find my pieces of art, a year later or 100 years later, they'll know I was here.

TB: It does seem like there are in-crowds in the community, and there are notable mail artists who the other artists show excitement for. I admit, I might be a little envious. For example, Ryosuke Cohen generates a buzz, and deservedly so. The role he has taken on with the Brain Cell Project is notable and historically important. I wouldn't mind achieving mail art fame and glory, but I am content sending, receiving, and documenting; promoting myself and others in the process. My main thing is to be part of the flow and exchange of creative energies.

Are there any other topics you would like to discuss? Any more images you would like to share? What is your favorite kind of art to get in the mail? Rubber stamped images, collages, ink drawings, text art? I hear accounts of unusual objects being sent by mail artists, a coconut with a stamp and address label on it, for example. No thanks!

PC: Same here, I'm happy to be part of the process, sending pieces of myself out into the world for future generations to find in an old dusty trunk in the attic. "hmmmmm.... Pam Chatfield, I wonder who she was. Looks like she was an artist. I think I'll see if I can find more information on her. Who she was, where she lived, what she did." Boom! Now I'm a historical person. lolololol...

I can't think of any other topics offhand. My favorite kind of art to get in the mail is art someone took the time to make for me. I don't care if it's a collage, a drawing, a painting, or rubber stamp art. If it's original art, that makes me very happy. I agree about objects being sent through the mail. That's not for me either. I guess there is, or was, a movement for testing the post office. In my humble opinion, that's an entirely different thing. I have no desire to test the post office, and I don't see what that has to do with art. Mail art is the exchange of art. I prefer to keep it that way.

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[Note: I started asking Pam about rubber stamps, but you know what? That topic deserves its own blog post due to the fact that we both love rubber stamps, and I know there are additional rubber stamp fanatics out there in the mail art community, too. Be on the lookout for a future post about rubber stamps in mail art. Thank you everyone for reading and commenting and messaging me. You are Mail Art News! -T. Brown 5/12/2023]

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