One month to go, send that Pink Mail!

The deadline to receive mail art for the upcoming Pink Mail Art show is September 30th.  Below is some of the pink mail received so far that will be shown in Sacramento for Pink Week.

Tomales Point

Tomales Point, mixed media on board, 36” x 12”

Point Reyes remains one of my favorite escapes from the City and, as always, a subject for my work.  My collagescape series really started with two works based on Point Reyes.  In this latest one, I continue to move towards larger and larger collagescapes.  This time I strove to capture the gray, green dry landscape up at Tomales Point.  This one is made up of over 10,000 small pieces of cut-up, painted paper.  Prints and additional items based on this piece are also available at Society 6.

Looking for Amy and finding much more…

I loved Amy Winehouse.  She remains part of the soundtrack when I am making art.  An extraordinary talent that sadly lost her battle with her demons and died far, far too young. When a show dedicated to her turns up locally at the Contemporary Jewish Museum, I knew had to see it.  I also was curious, what could they tell us that was exhibit-worthy in Amy Winehouse: A Family Portrait?  Honestly, one would have to be the most obsessive of fan to really appreciate this show.  Frankly, Amy Winehouse grew up in a most ordinary family – as do many people who go on to do great things.  What would Amy ask if she saw this show?  You know I almost can hear, “What kind of fuckery is this?”

By no means was the afternoon a disappointment.  I love repurposing globes myself, and Dave Lane’s Lamp of the Covenant installation is outstanding (shown above).  If you don’t want to visit the entire museum, you can pop into the lobby and get a look.   And the second floor has a strong show titled Night Begins the Day: Rethinking Space, Time, and Beauty.  It features the work of 27 artists including a number of recent pieces by Fred Tomaselli that come close to stealing the show.  Personally it was a good follow up to a show I saw of his work in May.  This show closes September 20, 2015 – it’s worth getting a look before it ends.

Mail Art, Books and Zines

Along with all the Pink Mail Art that has been coming in there has been some other mail art that I wouldn’t want to overlook.  Some of the recent arrivals include:

1. A new card from Gregg Biggs, this is part of a series (more can be seen here).
2. Asli Omur’s “New & Improved” mail was received. 
3. Barbara Stasiowski is putting old Green Stamps and Blue Chip Stamps to good use.
4. A Doodle Therapy card from Rebecca Guyver.
5. Rebecca also sent the Maritime Mail Art catalog – it was an exhibit she curated that included a piece from my Trouble at the Lake Series focusing on Lake Erie.
6. Finally, Rebecca sent one of the Doodle Therapy zines (see below) that fits right in with all the color in my studio. 

A big thank you to Rebecca and everyone else who has been sending some great mail art.

Paths and Paintings

Año Nuevo Path, acrylic on paper 10”x8”, 2015

With nearly two decades of landscape painting to look back on, there are continual themes in my work.  The work reflects the places I regularly visit with a heavy dose of western national parks and state parks, especially along the California Coast as well as the deserts of California and the Southwest.   So many times my paintings include a quiet road, or empty trail.  That might be expected because I love road trips and hiking.

A few weeks back I was having a conversation about the author Thomas Hardy.  He is one of my favorites and I have read all his major works.  I was saying how many of his stories seem to begin with a traveller on a road or path.  Suddenly I had this realization of this common thread between the literature I love and the landscapes I paint.  Thomas Hardy was a genius that was able to render a landscape in writing better than many painters.  Of course this could all be one big coincidence, but as an artist, I often wonder about those more subconscious influences that drive my work.

The painting above was painted last month, shortly after a nice hike at Año Nuevo State Park near Santa Cruz. 

Romanian Pink

Four pieces of Pink Mail art arrived this week for the upcoming show in Sacramento (see more about the show here) and this was a first – the first time I have received mail art from Romania.  The first piece is from Marian Serban and then there are pieces from her students Daria, Lidia and Matei.

August Mail, Round #1

There have been a lot of trips to the post office in the past two weeks because I have been shipping out my new book.  And each time there has been mail art waiting for me in the post office box.  Here are a few of the newest pieces:

1. 19715 arrived from Adrienne Mason in Canada.
2. A new card from Jennifer Utter.
3. Some Pink Mail Art form Linda Roberts Sweeney in Sacramento.  Have you sent a piece yet?  Here is the call for artists.
4. An enigmatic postcard with polaroid from the author St. John Karp.
5. And a new print from Serse Luigetti in Italy.