Collaborators
Andrea Mullarkey (California)
Erin Wilson (New York)
Gitty Duncan (California)
Sara Pearl Cerami (California)
Christine Mullarkey (California)
Delivery Sequence
Andrea sends to Erin
Erin sends to Gitty
Gitty sends to Sara
Sara sends to Christine
Christine sends to Andrea
PROGRESS GALLERY
February 24, 2026—Gitty Duncan’s completed collage has arrived at headquarters.
February 24, 2026—Erin Wilson’s completed collage has arrived at headquarters.
February 23, 2026—Sara Pearl Cerami’s completed collage has arrived at headquarters.
Andrea Mullarkey, February 11, 2026
It took me FOREVER to finally sit down and finish my collage. I really liked what everyone had turned my little scrap of a start into. I didn’t want to change it. What I wanted to do was to frame it in some way as to highlight all the fun little interactive bits. My immediate thought was to mount it on an old picture frame, giving it enough depth to string some little battery powered lights behind so that it lit up and the muslin speech bubble would show its transparency. But it turned out that was too big a hassle for me. So instead I opted for two layers of book pages. And I’m glad I did. The exhibit is a bit of a maximalist experience and many of my most favorite pieces in years past have been ones with a ton of space around them. I think my eyes or my brain really relished the space to breathe and see anew. So that was my goal with my additions to the piece…not to change the piece, but to buy viewers a little space to really see what my group has done with it.
February 10, 2026—Andrea Mullarkey’s completed collage has arrived at headquarters.
Andrea Mullarkey, January 23, 2026
In the end, I took up these collages out of order. I have a fussy idea for how to finish mine, and it’s taking too long to get to it and the timeline is running on Erin’s so I sat down and did it today. Christine, I took your direction as inspiration but couldn’t quite do it all the way. Sewing wouldn’t work on that piece without obscuring the other side. Let alone your contribution. In the end I added instead of replaced. And true confessions? I’m worried it’s now too twinsy cutesy. Erin, you decide!
January 21, 2026—Christine Mullarkey’s completed collage has arrived at headquarters.
Christine, January 19, 2026
And just like that, the project I started is complete. Last step is to drop it in the mail to Marty.
I could not be happier with this piece and I have Erin and Sara and Gitty and Andrea to thank for that.
Christine, January 2, 2026
Added my touch to Erin’s piece. With the flap opened it invited a poem and the texture on the peaches were so inviting. So I spent a couple days reading the most luscious poetry about peaches and struggled to pick just one. The Kate Barnes I selected seemed to fit the mood of the piece as well as the space available. I wish I knew how to type on velum and attach with thread, but alas all I could manage was this printed on copy paper and glue-sticked on. Perhaps someone down the way will want to change this?
Christine, January 1, 2026
What a treasure trove I received!!!
First, the notes that went with Andrea’s piece. I’ll add my notes and pass it along to them tout de suite.
Second, the final project that I have yet to “touch”. And it is gorgeous! I am almost unsure what I can add to it, but I see there’s a kinetic element and there’s a bit of space there. I also notice that this is the first piece to come to me without any words on it, so the wheels are spinning. See “before” photos attached.
Finally, my original piece has returned to me and it is stunning. I understand it’s incumbent upon me to “finalize” the piece. And the only thing I can think to improve it is to remove something I originally put on that I don’t really love anymore. I haven’t included any photos of this project because I intend to put a separate post when I am prepared to “finish” it.
Stay tuned as I move through the projects!
Christine, December 31, 2025
Just returning from a visit with family in Santa Barbara and dreading the unpacking chores. But then THIS showed up in my mailbox and I am more motivated than ever to get my chores done so I can dig in…
Even the back of the package is beautiful!
Christine, December 5, 2025
I managed to stay officially “”on time”” by working on the last project I received this first week of December. This is the project I thought was Erin’s, but actually it’s Andrea’s. Which explains why it was so full. I resisted the urge to take over ALL the remaining space and I’m glad I did since Andrea now has the option to do so if she wants.
I had so many questions about which direction to follow, but ultimately decided to lean into the theme of scale. The dandelion juxtaposed against the tree was just too compelling. So I wanted to add the power lines with a giant bird on it, but the scale didn’t feel “”upside down”” enough. The natural next step was for an insect – and of course that butterfly paper is still on the top of my crafting stack, so that’s what I did. I also chose to move the speech bubbles since it felt a little too “”real”” when the rest of the piece felt so surreal. I didn’t use a heavy-duty glue, so it’ll be easy to rearrange again if that’s your choice.”
Andrea Mullarkey, December 4, 2025
I received Gitty’s start from Christine and sat with it a LONG time. Weeks it just sat there. I know it’s harder for me as the collages go through more hands. I find myself asking “is it done?” And “what does done mean?” I think about what I can contribute without crowding out any future contributors. In short, I overthink it. So this one sat.
Meanwhile, more than anything else in the piece, that bee kept calling to me. On December 1 the pressure of a deadline put my head back into this. I remembered that Naomi Shihab Nye has a poetry collection called Honeybee. I looked through some of the poems and saw that she has one called “How Do I Know When A Poem Is Finished?” A-ha! A poet who knows where I’m at!
From there it was a quick trip through other poems, grabbing the last lines of one of them, something that evoked that feeling of being together, of wanting to hug all these women, of wanting to live in this world…where not everything is lost. I zig zag stitched it on (thanks for that inspiration previous contributors!) and off it went to Erin in the mail today.
Christine, November 27, 2025
I received Erin’s piece last month alongside Gitty’s. So I set this one aside until December – almost. Today is Thanksgiving and I’ve decided to do what I want to do today and that includes pulling out the next project.
My immediate first thoughts were about this dialogue and also about how the artists are playing with scale. So I’m thinking also about scale. Is the “little rock” they’re discussing a metaphor for the earth? Is the questioner projecting – maybe they are lonely?
I’m also struck by the familiar materials – velum, stitching, metal. Let’s see where these ideas take me.
I know I can’t follow them all.
Christine, November 9, 2025
Gitty’s original piece is so classically pretty and Sara has added some dimension and strong color. For my contribution, I wanted to bring those two feelings closer together while still following the pollinator theme. The butterfly paper was at the top of my paper stash so it was an obvious choice. And now I have used this butterfly paper in each of the pieces I’ve worked on. Might it continue to be suitable for the pieces to come?
Andrea Mullarkey, October 31, 2025
Fully two weeks ago I added to Sara’s collage start which I received from Christine on October 1. (Christine is very reliable!) The start was evocative and suggested right away what I wanted to add: a quilted jacket and four dots. The materials were more things just sitting at the top of my small fodder drawer. This whole project has a very Berkeley aspect to me and so several of the things I added are Berkeley connected (the jacket is from the mailer for the current BAM show Rooted West; the shiny red is shoe leather that I snuck out of the trash in Gitty’s Berkeley studio). Two other dots are transparent because – wow was that suggested right away by what’s going on. I regret that I didn’t add my own calendar circle…a thing I only sort of realized after mailing. But that’s how these things go, right? Speaking of mailing, though…
I get these collages from Christine in person. So when I went to mail it off I got to pick an envelope from my copious stash of old envelopes. The one that was the perfect size happened to be an envelope I’d self-addressed to myself decades ago. The first airplane flight I took after 9/11 I was worried they were going to take my knitting needles from me. So I self-addressed an envelope with enough postage to mail home knitting needles. Why I thought those were precious enough to not throw away I can’t honestly say. Anxiety is a funny thing like that. Well, they didn’t take them and I have had the pre-stamped envelope ever since. Of course it’s been decades and I figured I’d have to add postage. I took the whole thing to the post office and handed it to the kind worker saying “I’m sure it needs more postage I just don’t know how much.” He plopped it on his scale, tossed it in the bin behind him and said “4 should do it.” That right there felt like some kind of serendipity. That and the fact that my address is in Albany again after decades away.
2025 is the year I use the good stuff. Even if the good stuff is 20+ year old preposted envelopes.
PS – Christine, thanks for documenting as we go along. The one thing I can never reliably do in this project is take a “before” photo so it’s super helpful that we have your “after” photo which is my de facto “before.”
Christine, October 30, 2025
This week has been a slog full of administrative headaches and unexpected challenges. Imagine my sheer delight to come home to find not one, but TWO postal collages for me. I was prepared to honor the spirit of “going in order” and only open one. But they arrived on the same day, so instead I indulged and opened them both.
I am instantly inspired for each of these in very different ways!! What an uplifting way to end the day.
Andrea Mullarkey, October 9, 2025
It’s a new month so I took out Christine’s collage start and “resume”d it. (I love that folder that her collage goes on and it’s command to: resume!) I tried to be led by the materials she started with. Soft cottony paper, displaced hole punches, butterflies and flowers and washi tape. And I really couldn’t resist adding a Mary Oliver poem on the back. I hope it doesn’t obscure the butterfly paper too much. I used an adhesive that’s not going to be easy to remove if someone wants to take it off. (Though, of course they’re free to!)
I sent it off to Erin this morning in a reused envelope. I was sad to cover over the fancy stamps that were used to send it to me but maybe Erin will feel adventurous enough to pull up the green paper and see them.
Christine, October 1, 2025
I was inspired by the word “Dream” in Sara’s piece and the sense of movement of those legs. I knew immediately I wanted to add a section depicting a scene with a layer of film/velum over it to get that ethereal dream-like quality I first imagined. When playing with how to add this translucent layer, I found that I liked how it could either lay flat or rise off the page. So I decided to echo that with a butterfly. Only after I was finished did I notice that her original work included a calendar and so did my addition.
Andrea Mullarkey, September 12, 2025
I received a collage start from Christine earlier this week and had the urge to start RIGHT NOW! But I’m recalling Marty’s words that it’s not wrong to be ahead of schedule, but better to be close to on schedule. I’m also trying to learn my lesson from last time so I’ve decided I’ll wait until Oct. 1 to actually get to it. (The fact that the folder it came in says “resume” is that coincidence? Or psychic phenomenon?)
Christine Mullarkey, September 11, 2025
SQUEE!!!!
I received Sara’s project!
I opened it right up and am simmering on the theme before I pull out materials.
Christine Mullarkey, September 9, 2025
Just wrapped up the start to my collage. I don’t love it yet, but I trust you all will contribute and support this work. As I pass this on, I wonder…
Which side will become the front?
What will others add?
Are there themes already emerging?
What might folks remove?
Andrea Mullarkey, September 3, 2025
I am trying hard to stay “not too fussy” as I do this round of the project. So for my start I just picked the top 10 things in my “little fodder” box, the biggest single stamp sized envelope I had on hand, and sat down to do it. 10 minutes later I had this beginning which went out to Erin this morning.
Two fun postal tidbits: 1) I sent it with the return address of my brand new p.o. box (just acquired yesterday!) and 2) I took it direct to my favorite post office in Rodeo and they were willing to round stamp/cancel it for me. I was just so tickled and the worker there seemed more delighted than annoyed so I’m feeling like this project is off to a GREAT start!
Andrea Mullarkey, September 2, 2025
I’ve done several rounds of this project and this year I was thinking about skipping it. I feel like I’ve gotten a ton out of the previous rounds and wondered what new and different I’d experience this year.
This go around I decided I would try to self-organize a group. There are people who have expressed a desire to do this kind of creative work, with me, or just in general. I like that idea. Jill and I had an exhibit of our mail art collaboration at a local community center back in May and I had identified one of my goals in doing that as “help other people see that they can do this too.” It seems to have worked! So for this round I decided to invite folks I know and like to do it with me. Not everyone responded, and not everyone who responded was available to do this round, but wanted to keep in the loop. But I did find four other people I’m very excited to do this with. Hello group 17! Anyway, to kick off my collaborator experiences series here’s one of the emails I sent out that launched this group:
“After I did that mail art exhibit I had all good intentions of getting caught up on my postal correspondence. Life of course has had other ideas. But it hasn’t dampened my desire to be in expressive community with you. So I wonder – will you do this round table collage project with me? In years past I have done multiple rounds of this project before with varying levels of success and satisfaction. Sometimes I’ve been in groups with real-deal artists. Sometimes with little kids. Sometimes I like the art (though not often) and sometimes I find the group dynamics fascinating (if horrifyingly disappointing). Suffice it to say that no matter what the group experience has been I get a lot out of it. It makes me feel connected to the people in the group. Even though they’re strangers. And so I’ve been thinking for a while now that I’d like to do this with a group of people I know and trust. Initially it was because it was important to me to work with “responsible” people who have an aesthetic (i.e. won’t just chop up some magazines and glue them onto the shared work with no seeming rationale to the arrangement). This year I’ve added to that desire a new knowledge that in the current formulation of my life, making art and sending it in the mail to someone I don’t see (much or at all) has been a very meaningful way to connect and deepen our relationship. You are on my very short list that I’d like to do that with. If you’re up for it. It’s not a huge time commitment (unless you want it to be) and it’s a project that won’t yield fast results (unless we ALL want it to). What do you think? Do you want to be part of a group? I also understand if your plate is too full or if this is simply not of interest to you. And any which way, I miss you and like you and all that. Yours in both affection and respect despite my unpredictable correspondence, Andrea“