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Date Joined: January 8, 2010
Last Online: September 26, 2022 Birthday: February 22, 1955 Country: United States collages & mail art |
My name is Fiona Webster, but you can call me Fi (pronounced "fee"). I'm a 67-yr-old artist (collage, mail art) & writer (mostly nonfiction) & retired physician. I live in Maryland (DC area), but I'm originally from Houston, so I'm one homesick Texan. I've been married for over 40 (!) years to a ponytailed botanist. We have no kids (by choice). We live with a pair of cats (brother & sister littermates). We're neo-pagans—IndoEuropean wiccan/druidic with a substantial dash of Hinduism.
Our cats are Stevie Ray, named for the late great blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Emmylou, named for the brilliant vocalist Emmylou Harris, who is still with us.
Comment on 5/7/22: Soon I'll edit and rewrite my profile. It's all still true, but feels kinda over-elaborated & stale. And don't work about all the references to the DARK. I love stuff that's happy & colorful, too.
—collected works of Edgar Allan Poe
—collected works of Oscar Wilde
—Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
—Cormac McCarthy's early works, especially Blood Meridian
—Malcolm Lowry's Under the Volcano
—Don DeLillo's White Noise
—everything by James Salter, especially Solo Faces
—all of horror literature, from its earliest days, through Stephen King, to the latest stuff (not vampire juvenilia, though: note my age)
—Patti Smith (I've been a HUGE fan ever since 1976)
—plus Laurie Anderson, Talking Heads (David Byrne!), Radiohead, Neil Young
—plus lotsa stuff, including contemporary alternative, Green Day, Foo Fighters, Bruce, the Dead, old-rock-n-roll revivalists like George Thorogood, old psychedelia, blues rock in general...I'm always educating myself about old rock-n-roll, and Sirius XM's Deep Tracks channel is my ever-present tutor.
—the collected œuvres of David Lynch (I used to say the only TV I've really liked is "Twin Peaks," but I must admit, I've gotten into "Breaking Bad," "The Walking Dead," and "Game of Thrones." Also, the hub-sand and I are avid Formula 1 fans!)
—"The Ghostbusters"
—"The Rocky Horror Picture Show"
—”"The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension"
—"Fight Club"
—the "Alien(s)" series
—horror movies in general (old, new, foreign, offbeat, you name it)
—but what I really love are SPLATTER movies inspired by Herschell Gordon Lewis (e.g., Sam Raimi's "Evil Dead 2" & Peter Jackson's "Dead Alive")
—and, of course, (look at my avatar (hint: that's not the late great Madeline Kahn up there)...you guessed it: James Whale's "Bride of Frankenstein" (do check out "Gods and Monsters" for further immersion in the essence of Bride-ness)
—collage (cut paper)
—mail art
—anything Dada
—Symbolism
—Photorealism
—I adore abstracts
—dark artists, like Joe Coleman, Francis Bacon, Otto Dix, George Grosz, Matthias Grunewald, Sue Coe
—Dada & Surrealism
—Hans Arp, Pierre Bonnard, Paul Gauguin, Salvador Dali, Paul Delvaux , Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst, Gordon Onslow Ford, Ralph Goings, Keith Haring, Wassily Kandinsky, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Kasimir Malevich, William Morris (arts & crafts!), Gerhard Richter, C.F.A. Voysey, James Abbot McNeill Whistler
—anything related to ART, fine or otherwise (I don't make highbrow-lowbrow distinctions; I especially love just about all of painting from about 1890 onward); art postcards are great!
—anything in French: Je travaille pour apprendre cette belle langue, donc si vous pouviez m'écrire en français, j'aimerais ça!
—anything made of paper I can use in a collage (you'd be surprised at what I can use; unusual & foreign magazines w/ interesting pictures especially welcome), especially if it's weird or visually dramatic
—I'm always ready to purchase or trade for unused US postage stamps of any denomination (especially those older than this year &/or with animals on them)
—anything with DARK content; think: imagery like that in horror books & movies, the creepier side of Hallowe'en, seriously bizarre were-creatures, but also progressive political imagery that tends toward the more dark & confrontational side of things (e.g., Sue Coe, Eric Drooker)
—rubber stamps (if weird or dark, of course) —tchotchkes of all types that are related to horror, violence, darkness, horror movies (even if they're kitschy =grin=)
—I'm into ocean critters, especially FISH, especially sharks
—I'm into fierce critters in general, like carnivorous dinosaurs, big cats, monsters both real & surreal (the scary kind, not the cute kind)
—anything useful in the way of pagan religious paraphernalia (e.g., candles, incense, stones/crystals, fabric for altar cloths, small bowls)
—rocks in general; semi-precious, of course, but also just "plain rocks", like one from near where you live
—anything related to Edgar Allan Poe (or related to my other faves in books/music/movies/art)
—things that smell good (see favorites below)
—and if it's from India, I'll probably love it, especially if it pertains to the Hindu religion
—I love long (lightweight) scarves and long bead necklaces, the longer the better
—favorite colors: I like all colors! but if you insist on asking me my favorites, they're purple and orange (except hazard orange, which I think is vaguely hideous), although I don't think they go together all that well, so if you're choosing, please choose one or the other (they both combine great with green!); I also adore all colors in nature, such as greens (all of them, even neon/fluorescent/dayglo green), blues (especially turquoise & royal blue & any marine blues), browns (think tree trunks), greys (ditto), BLACK, and of course all the colors that fish & dinosaurs come in. And I really dig orange & black, both because I'm a Hallowe'en person, and because they're my university colors. When it comes to metals, I'm a silver person all the way, although I do think photos of gold objects make great accents for collage.
—favorite fabrics: silk of all types, black velvet, rayon
—favorite scents: sandalwood, nag champa, frankincense, cinnamon, vetiver, jasmine, orange blossom, lavender, patchouli, vanilla, those in the woodsy/grassy family & all essential oils
—have I mentioned I'm into the DARK side of things? =laugh=
—cutesy stuff (e.g., kawaii)
—pop culture aimed at children (e.g., Disney or Japanese cartoon characters)
—anything super-feminine: I'm not the girly-girly type
—Christian religious items
—scents that are super-sweet floral or artificial scents (especially those intended to smell like food)
—recipes (I don't cook much)(but you can send me sweets, including black licorice =grin=)
—sincere apologies if you're into it, but I think Zetti is evil; if you think so, too, write to me and maybe we can start a movement =laugh=
Postcard Swaps: I'm not all that picky, so long as they're not cutesy, but I prefer PC's that are either (1) made by you, (2) reproductions of art, or (3) very peculiar. Send me your PC's that you think are too strange or dark or ugly. I adore the older PC's with the wavy borders. And I'd love it if you wrote a note about your day, or told me something weird about yourself! =grin=
Envelope Swaps: I especially like 4" x 9"—or 6" x 9", because I tend to write my letters on 8.5" x 11" paper, but I can use other sizes, too. I love envies made out of way-out interesting paper, especially colorful maps. If you're decorating it, please dial back on the cuteness, if you can. =smile= Weird is great! So are nature themes (animals, plants, whatever).
Journal Swaps: I like it when you use the journal as a journal—that is, not just theme topics & quotations & lists & artwork, but also a little bit about your daily life—what's happening during the period you're writing the journal. You can write about anything: your religion, your family, your perversities, whatever. It's impossible to offend me. I really enjoy people!
Comments
Please read your private messages, thanks
Happy Birthday Month from WIYM group!
Aw Fiona... You haven't given up on me and man that's just so kind and also great! I'd like another go at getting a correspondence going. I don't know why my last attempt failed..? I still have the letter I started, a couple pages worth I think...I'll dig them up and see if they are still worth sending. Written words are a challenge I guess, though I love words, and stories. Cheers!
Happy Birthday Fi.
*about!
I had to wait almost exactly a year to be early for your birthday, but I did it! HAPPY big milestone BIRTHDAY, FI! 60 years on you, and don't you wear them well? If only you could spread yourself further and wider. Every little girl deserves to meet interesting, inspiring women of all ages who keep the pilot light of life alive in them. Young G. will have to be the lucky keeper of the flame for now. ;) Enjoy your special day! Do N + O know anout candles? Supervised mischief only, kitten mittens! x x x
I'm happy you like the PC! No rush at all on sending something out to me. I'm terribly jealous of your new kittens! Have fun with those little cuties! :)
Your kitties are sweet! They certainly do have large ears, but how adorable!
Thank you so much for the fantastic postcard! If I'd been braver in my youth, I might've stood next to those girls in similar garb. ;D
Hello Fi!
I was Delighted to find your gigantic Beautiful PC in my mailbox today. It is absolutely gorgeous. I checked out its animation and Love it. I am honored to receive such an amazing piece from you. You are so talented! The Real Deal. The art stamps are excellent, as well. Thanks for brightening my day, Fi! I am so happy we bumped into each other in the Creative Collage Mailart Exchange Forum!