Another etegami card--"etegami" literally means "picture-letter" in Japanese and I owe my own discovery of the practice to Amy Irwin from the IUOMA (International Union of Mail Artists). Etegami is a form of Japanese mail-art. The general idea is to draw an informal picture on a card of some everyday, generally overlooked item, add a brief message, and mail it off to someone. As I've seen the practice defined, clumsiness isn't only acceptable, it's even encouraged. The best etegami has a spontaneous, almost doodled sensibility to it. You aren't setting out to create a work of "Art"--and, yet, in that ineluctable, indirect, and oblique way so much of Japanese culture prizes, from the composition of haiku to the preparation of sushi to the drinking of tea--you are. Or rather, you aren't making art: you're living art.
A good etegami blog to visit for additional examples: etegamibydosankodebbie.blogspot.com/
Debbie seems to be one of the principle pioneers in bringing etegami to attention here in the U.S.
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