Signed, sealed, delivered and it could be your letter on the wall at a new exhibition, Mail Art: E17, now open in Walthamstow.

Curator Marie-Louise Plum, a local artist and illustrator, is welcoming submissions from artists both professional and amateur to have their work displayed at Walthamstow Wine Club.

The only stipulation is that the art relates to a mailable or mailed form. That could be a painting on a jiffy bag, a drawing on an envelope or collage made from stamps and franked labels.

“Anything goes,“ says Marie-Louise. “Mail items are great to illustrate and make art, so literally anyone can make a great design with a little imagination.

“Everyone can afford an old envelope or some brown paper, it is cheap, easy to get hold of and the fact that these materials are not precious makes it all the more accessible to people, especially those who might not think they are ‘artists‘ as such.“

The concept of mailing art can be traced back to the early 1960s when artists used the postal system to show and share art, free from commercialism.

It is still championed today by artists and collectives like Spike Dennis and Cut-Click who turned Marie-Louise on to the idea.

“I love the immediacy of it and the fact that anyone can participate,“ explains Marie-Louise, an illustrator of mischievous vignettes and creepy characters who says she enjoys ‘nothing more than creating nonsense and mess up in my attic room‘.

Walthamstow will be the first leg of this touring exhibition and future curators are also urged to get in touch to relieve the works in the post and gather more from their own locale. For Marie-Louise, her hometown is the perfect place for the show to begin.

“I live in Walthamstow and love the vibrant, friendly community here,“ she says. “I know that the area lends itself to community art work and events and that people would be very interested to take part. Get in touch today!“

Mail Art: E17 is at Walthamstow Wine Club, 56-60 Grove Road, Walthamstow now. For more information on submitting work, email mail@marielouiseplum.com