Streets of San Francisco

This week’s batch of mail art heading to the post office includes a new series of ten San Francisco streetscapes – collages made with assorted San Francisco ephemera from my collage box — including old tickets, MUNI transfers and a reproduced Sanborn Map of Nob Hill.

Lights on at the Conservatory of Flowers

I am usually not a big fan of gimmicky light shows, but Obscura Digital’s Summer of Love installation at San Francisco’s Conservatory of Flowers is a winner.  I avoided last week’s crowded opening with concert and mob.  Last night we walked down to Golden Gate Park where it was calm and quiet with just handful of people enjoying the show.

It is happening every night until October 21, 2017 and worth checking out.

June Mail Box

It’s been a busy couple of months and some great mail art has been arriving and piling up.  These are just some of the artists who have sent work to brighten my P.O. box the last few months:

1. Katerina Nikoltsou
2. Rebecca Guyver
3. Meral Ağar
4. Gregg Biggs
5. R.F. Côté
6. MIM
7. Madame Butterfly Valerian
8. Eduardo Cardoso
9. Andrea Grimes
10. Marina Salmaso

ATCs from Dame Mailarta

Dame Mailarta (aka Dale Roberts) sent an amazing envelope of ATCs from Canada this month.  Earlier this year, I sent up a set of my own self-portrait ATCs to Dame’s Portrait Palace.  What came back in return is fabulous!  The envelope included a book featuring the self-portrait ATCs of 12 other artists, myself included.  Be sure to check out the portrait blog for more.

Glad Midsommar a Swedish-themed Artist Stamp

When the San Francisco Correspondence Co-Op meets to talk, demo, do and plan all things mail art, we also have an artist stamp for each meeting.  Different artists take turns designing and preparing a stamp to share. This month was my turn and we were commemorating our sixth anniversary.  Because the Swedish Midsommar (midsummer/solstice) holiday was also coming up, I went for a Swedish theme and created a pair of summery stamps celebrating both the holiday and our group’s anniversary.

Locke, California

Locke, acrylic on paper, 12”x9”

The small town of Locke, California is now a National Historic District with a fascinating history.  Located in the Sacramento Delta, the town was settled in 1915 by Chinese immigrants and Chinese-Americans at a time when discriminatory California law did not allow Asians to own land.  The original land was leased from George Locke.  More about the town’s history can be found here.

I have visited Locke a few times and it demands to be photographed, and, as you can see by yesterday’s project, painted.

Paleta Pacífica

Bahía de Banderas

mixed media collagescape, 18”x6”x1.5” on board

My latest collagescape is inspired by a very different Pacific Ocean.  The colors in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico are not the ocean colors of the cold Pacific in Northern California.  It is a piece of art to look at when I want to warm up in a chilly San Francisco summer. 

Collagescapes are a series where I combine landscape painting and collage.   I start by painting paper with areas of color representing the palette of a specific place. Next I cut up the painting into hundreds of small pieces.  The final step is to randomize the pieces and then reassemble them.  Collagescapes are both landscape paintings and collages. They may appear abstract, but the intent is to retain the color palette of the places they represent.