Mail Art & Challenges

Santa Fe BAG is currently hosting three different challenges. Please click on the links below to go to each one:

Mail Art | Anything Goes! | Round Robin Art Journals | Artist Trading Cards

Mail Art 2026: A Scene or Detail From My Life

Each month you will create a 4×6 postcard (using cardstock) that focuses on a scene or detail from my life.

Then email Linda Zwick (nmwildflower@pm.me) with your address before the third Saturday of the month. She will email you the name and address of your recipient the next week.

You have the entire month to work on your card. Please mail it to your mail art recipient by the end of the month. (For example, if you sign up in December for the January mail art, please mail your card by the end of January.)

Also email a photograph of your card to BAG (santafebag@gmail.com). These images will be used on social media, the BAG website, and occasional BAG slideshows. If you would prefer not to have your card exhibited in any of these venues, please just skip sending in an image.

Anything Goes! Adventures in Art: Famous Artists

Create a piece of art, any size, shape, and with whatever materials you choose.

There is no assigned exchange involved in this project, so send to anyone you like or keep for yourself.

Please photograph and email an image of your creation to BAG (santafebag@gmail.com) by the end of the next month. As with Mail Art, your image may be used on social media, the BAG website, and for a Zoom presentation. Emailing an image serves as your permission for BAG to use this photo of your art.

The themes are just suggestions; create whatever suits your fancy!

Click the links below to see examples of the artists’ work.

January – Dimitri Kozyrev was born in Leningrad and moved to the US in his mid-twenties. According to his website, his various bodies of work can be described as an attempt to understand and manage change; to capture it by holding change in a single visual moment so that it can be remembered. Suggestion: create an image of a time or event as you remember it. https://dimitrikozyrev.com/

February – Sigmar Polke, a German painter and photographer, stated that he wanted his art to be the basis of a conversation between himself and the viewer. His painting Hope is: Wanting to Pull Clouds follows a 16th Century German woodcut, the earlier image appearing to be based on a combative interaction; but Hope Is offers an image allowing for positive interpretation by the viewer. Suggestion: create an image that suggests a positive outcome is occurring or will occur.
Painting “Hope is: Wanting to Pull Clouds”. https://www.nga.gov/artworks/82992-hope-wanting-pull-clouds

March – At age 88, Palestinian artist and resident of Tribeca, New York, Samia Halaby, won a 2025 Norwegian Munch award for artistic freedom. This followed a December 2023 cancellation of a retrospective of her work at her alma mater, Indiana University. Halaby’s work is considered to be analytical rather than emotional. She says, “Art is a craft. I take it very seriously. I know the science of light, the physics of light, as much as I can, the physiology of the eye, how we see the attributes of colour, now to manage colour.” You can see images of her paintings here: https://samiahalaby.com/ Suggestion: create a composition of various colors and shapes. Thanks to Ashisha for recommending this artist.

April – Per Wikipedia, English artist Edward Alexander Wadsworth (born October 19, 1889, died June 21, 1949) was initially associated with the Vorticism movement. This modernist art movement was partially inspired by Cubism and was introduced to the public via the publication of the Vorticist manifest in Blast magazine. This art movement favored a geometric style that tended toward hard-edged abstraction. In the First World War, Wadsworth was part of a team involved in the transfer of “dazzle camouflage” designs to ships for the Royal Navy. After the war, his maritime landscapes and still-life compositions were infused with a surrealistic mood. Suggestion: create an image of geometric abstraction.

May – Spanish watercolorist Nuria Riera paints images that are described as “deeply contemplative,” with a focus on the particular image she wants to illustrate without distracting detail. The Sea is a perfect example of her approach to painting only the essential elements of a scene. https://www.nuriariera.com/sea Suggestion: create an image of elemental images only.

June – In Japan, Shimenawa, ropes made of rice straw or hemp, are hung to denote that a place is sacred and to indicate that gods reside or visit there; they limit access by evil spirts to the gods.

By at least some people, Shimenawa is thought to represent clouds. Shime no ke, rice straw dangling from Shimenawa, is thought to represent rain, and Shide, paper zigzags dangling from Shimenawa are thought to represent lightening. All these are components of summer storms that provide rain to gardens and agricultural areas, and thus also assure good harvests.

Photos of Shimenawa are available on the Web, including here: https://www.his-usa.com/destination-japan/blog/shimenawa_sacred_ropes_in_japan.html

Suggestion: create an image or object that denotes something you feel is special or sacred to you.

July – Jay Ryan is an American poster designer, rock musician, and screen printer. In 2005 he published a book titled 100 Posters, 134 Squirrels: A Decade of Hot Dogs, Large Mammals, and Independent Rock: The Handcrafted Art of Jay Ryan.

The company Field Notes currently is selling uncut press sheets of two of Ryan’s designs of squirrels holding flashlights that glow in the dark.

https://fieldnotesbrand.com/products/haxley-press-sheet

Suggestion: create an image of an animal or other object that is the beginning of a story.

Other examples of Ryan’s illustrations are here: https://www.google.com/search?tbnid=Fty6gI8KcnxQKM&tbnh=0&tbnw=0&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS899US900&sca_esv=9dc6e452c0e4b509&cs=0&sxsrf=ANbL-n5PR8BwpR_WpTBgK6BC0XsAqPxBNg:1769625509742&udm=2&tbs=rimg:CRbcuoCPCnJ8YfWudcFQ-pB64AIA&q=jay+ryan+artist+images&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiKupHf8K6SAxVyLEQIHYqFIs0QuIIBegQIVxAA&biw=1420&bih=847&dpr=2&aic=0

August – Though he was not broadly celebrated during most of his life, Maurits Cornelis Escher is a now well-known graphic artist whose art included woodcuts, lithographs, and mezzotints. Per Wikipedia, his work features mathematical objects  (and operations, including “impossible objects” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impossible_object) , explorations of infinity, reflection, symmetry, stellated polyhedra, and tessellations. In April 1966, his work was featured by Martin Gardner in the Mathematical Games column in Scientific American titled “The eerie mathematical art of Maurits C. Escher” (a preview of the article is here:  https://www.jstor.org/stable/24930915). The article notes that poet Howard Nemerov, writing about Escher’s work, described it as the “mystery, absurdity, and sometimes terror” of the world.

In 1922, Escher traveled broadly and found himself impressed by decorative designs of the Alhambra that are based on geometrical symmetries featuring interlocking repetitive patterns in colored tiles or sculpted into walls and ceilings, leading him to experiment with tessellation (the covering of a surface using one or more geometric shapes with no overlaps and no gaps).

In 1935, Escher designed a Netherlands semipostal stamp (https://www.linns.com/news/us-stamps-postal-history/m.c.-escher-designed-1935-netherlands-semipostal ). In 1949, postage stamps designed by Escher were issued to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Universal Postal Union; the stamps designs used the international symbol of postal services, the “posthorn.” https://library.brown.edu/create/stamps/exhibit/art/art-3/

Suggestion: create an image of a tessellated shape or form, or an image of an “impossible object.”

September – Per Wikipedia, Emma Willard, born in 1787, the 16th of 17 children born to her father Samuel Hart and his second wife Lydia Hinsdale Hart, demonstrated early in her life her passion for learning. Her father supported her personal development and included her in family discussions about topics traditionally discussed only by men: US politics, philosophy, world politics, and mathematics. As a adult she taught at girl’s schools, providing the students a broader base of education than was traditionally available.

At a time when maps were primarily simple visual representations of the map’s creator’s view of a geographical area in the current time, Williard cowrote, with American geographer William Channing Woodbridge, The Woodbridge and Willard Geographies and Atlases (published in 1823),. This publication provided a broad over-arching understanding of chronological periods and transitions in geographical areas of the US. She also co-authored with Woodbridge  A System of Universal Geography on the Principles of Comparison and Classification. In these publications, they created the first widely used historical atlas of the US that included maps, graphs, and pictures integrating the details of the nation’s geography with the nation’s size and complexity. Modern author Susan Schulten has written extensively about the evolution of maps from simple overviews of specific geographical areas to maps containing data and historical information that provide a broader understanding of a place over time.

Suggestion: create an image or map of an area you know and include historical information or information about the specific nature of the area (such as types of animals in the area, the properties of the environment in the area, or a history of how the environment has changed, or…..).

Round Robin Art Journals

To participate, you must be a BAG member in good standing (i.e., your membership dues are current).

For this swap you select an art journal that will pass from artist to artist. You will not see your journal for about four months; but when it comes back, it will be filled with art! Those who participated in previous rounds have been thrilled with beautiful artwork our partners created.

When you sign up, the coordinator will send you all the instructions. Briefly, here’s how it works.

  1. Select a book (handmade or purchased).
  2. Select a theme (or you can have no theme).
  3. Write your guidelines, if any.
  4. Create your sign-in page(s) and at least one art journal spread of your own.

We will exchange our books monthly on the first day of the month. There are two subgroups:

A. Those who live locally will arrange a place to meet and exchange.

B. Those who live outside of the Santa Fe area will mail their book to the next person so it will **arrive** by the first of the month.

To participate, email the coordinator, Cymantha Higgins, at cymanthahiggins@gmail.com with the following information:

Your Name:

Your Email Address:

Your Mailing Address:

Your Phone Number:

Which Round-Robin Swap(s) You Wish to Participate in:

A. Round-Robin Art Journal via local contactless delivery only

B. Round-Robin Art Journal via U.S. Priority Mail

If you do NOT receive an email confirmation from the coordinator within one week after you’ve emailed her:

  1. Check the spam folder of your email program, then
  2. Email her again or call/text (check the membership roster for their phone number)

Artist Trading Card (ATC) Exchange

This group is for current paid members of SFBAG and Libros only. Artist Trading Cards are small artworks measuring 2.5″ x 3.5″, intended for trade with other artists, never sold. They provide an opportunity for artists to experiment and play with different media and techniques on a small scale, allowing them to quickly release their creative impulses and to experience the thrill of receiving unique artworks from other creatives. Coordinator: Jeka Lambert, jekalambert222@gmail.com

How it Works

  1. Starting in June 2026, participants will produce 4 different Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) per month.
  2. Place your 4 cards PLUS a SASE (self addressed #10 envelope that measures approximately 4.125″ x 9.5″ stamped envelope) in an envelope and send it to: ATC Exchange, c/o 725 West Thornton Avenue, Space 54, Hemet, CA 92543.
  3. Your self-addressed stamped envelope MUST contain sufficient postage for the post office to deliver your new ATCs to you. ATCs received without a SASE or without sufficient postage to cover return mailing will be distributed to other participants and you will not receive new ATCs.
  4. Mail your ATCs and SASE to arrive at the above address no later than the last day of the month. For example, June cards must arrive at the above address no later than June 30.
  5. At the beginning of the following month, the coordinator will send you 4 ATCs made by other participants via the SASE you provide. For example, the coordinator will send exchange ATCs from June at the beginning of July.
  6. If the ATCs you made are received by the coordinator after the last day of the current month, they will be held for exchange in the following month. For example, if your June cards are received in July, they will be held for participation in the July exchange, meaning exchange cards from other artists will be placed in your SASE and mailed to you in early August.

Basic ATC Rules

  1.  ATCs must measure 2½ inches x 3½ inches (2.5″ x 3.5″)—no more, no less. Orientation can be portrait/vertical or landscape/horizontal.
  2. Extensions beyond 2.5″ x 3.5″ must be folded toward the center of the card so no part of the card exceeds the 2.5″ x 3.5″ dimensions.
  3. Make 4 different cards each month. Each card should be one of a kind. If there are fewer than 4 participants in a given month, recipients will receive more than one card from the same artist. Digital prints must have different images on each ATC. Nobody will be thrilled to receive duplicates of the same card. Do not photocopy your cards for exchange in following months. Again, nobody will be thrilled to receive a duplicate of a card previously received.
  4. Any media is fine—painting, drawing, collage, prints, rubber stamps, digital art, paper cutting, embroidery, mixed media, etc. To make sure that cards fit in the SASEs used to return cards to participants, keep your cards as flat as possible and do not adhere anything that would add unexpected weight that might cause the recipient to have insufficient postage on their SASE.
  5. Avoid controversy. Your ATCs should be suitable for all audiences—no sexually explicit images, no violent images, no hate speech, no profanity, no political endorsements, no political criticism, and absolutely no commercial promotions.
  6. LEGIBLY write your name, the date, and your email address on the back of each ATC so the recipient can thank you. We need to know if it’s a 1, L or i, etc. I like it when artists also list the media used to produce the ATC on the back of their card.