Last Call for Mail for 2021

A trip to the post office after Christmas found my box crammed with cats, dogs (including an altered Calder postcard) and some various characters in various altered states — including the latest movable piece from Kathy Barnett.  Below is a list of the artists shown in this batch:

1. Sally Wassink – California 
2. Gregg Biggs – Museum of Unclaimed Ephemera – California
3. Susanna Lakner – Germany 
4. Fleur Helsingor – California
5. Bettina Pauly – California 
6. Eugenie Marek – California
7. James Cline – California
8. Kathy Barnett – Missouri
9. Skooter Fein – California 
10. Bonniediva – Illinois 
11. Meral Agar – Turkey 
12. Margarete Miller – California 
13. Jean-Philippe Gilliot – Belgium 

December Mail Art

It is that time of the year and I have started receiving some holiday mail art — including a beautiful hand-painted card from Margo Hill.   After sending out my brain series I am starting to see brains in the mail back to me (I love when things like that happen).   And if you wondered if an overside playing card can be tuned into a postcard, well, the answer is yes!  Below is a list of the artists shown in this posting: 

1. Deble Faulkner – California 
2. Dori Singh – California 
3. Jennie Hinchcliff – California
4. Margo Hill – California
5. Jon Foster – North Carolina 
6. Wabi Sabi Sews – California
7. Jerome Jacobs – California
8. William Mellott – Taiwan 
9. Fleur Helsingor – California
10. Debra Mulnick – Idaho
11. Maria Quiroga – Argentina 

Celebrate the Rain

My holiday-themed card/mail art is usually unconventional, and this year is no exception.   But what better thing to celebrate in California than with a good wet winter.  So far, we are well on track.  I spent a rainy weekend indoors carving rubber stamps and printing these handmade postcards.   Happy Holidays!

What Time is Your Flight?

 A new commissioned piece for a couple of travel buffs who are collectors of airline ephemera.  They spared some of their old airline timetables and allowed me to cut them up to create this collage.  While I have a long history of travel-themed art and this is one of my familiar quilt-inspired patterns — this is my first time working with schedules and timetables.

A Fall Cornucopia of Mail Art

Postcards, artists stamps, glitter, rubber stamping, clever envelopes, mystery mail, etc.  It has been a little of everything this Fall.   Here is a list of the artists shown in this posting: 

1. Heather Ferguson – California
2. Fleur Helsingor – California
3. Sarah Wildfang – California 
4. Katerina Nikoltsou – Greece
5. Margarete Miller – California 
6. Esther Kwan – California
7. Michel – Oregon
8. Kathy Barnett – Missouri
9. Barbara Stasiowski – California 
10. Jenny Soup – Oregon 
11. The Sticker Dude – New York 
12. Gregg Biggs – Museum of Unclaimed Ephemera – California

The Professor’s House

 It would be ideal if a copy of The Professor’s House was in this bookcase from my Chaekgeori-inspired series.   But this Australian professor teaches computer science rather than American Literature.   And while he has a model rocket on his shelf, he is not a rocket scientist (though his dad is).  Like all my friends, I find commonalities when I paint their bookshelves.  For example, so many of them have Rubik’s cubes on display.  I best not make a snarky comment about nerds and Rubik’s cubes though, because you might find one on my own bookshelf.  

Listopad

It’s November, or in Polish, Listopad.   The Polish name for November literally translates as “leaf fall.”  There is this subjective phenomenon where you can learn a word in another language and somehow find that word quite appealing.  Listopad is one of those words for me.  I like it so much I was inspired to carve some rubber stamps and then use them to make a new series of artist stamps.

Mail Art to Remember the Dead

Covid has kept me home and I have not travelled to Mexico for two years now.  Ideally, I’d be there for the Día de los Muertos celebrations — it is one of my favorite holidays. Instead, I will make my ofrenda at home in San Francisco.  And this past week I have been carving rubber stamps and making some mail art for the holiday.   These postcards are on their way locally and around the world.

Mapping the Brain

More brain-themed mail art on its way in the post.  I like the effect of rubber stamping the brain onto old maps with topography where the roads and rivers becomes veins.   

Brains!

Using some brain power to carve some rubber stamps.  This first round is a collaboration with the Lithuanian artist Mindaugas Žuromskas (he did the painted paper).   These are heading around the world in the mail — more to come soon. 

End of Summer Mail Bag

 

Get busy, leave town, and don’t go to the post office for a few weeks and the box was bursting with new mail art.    Zines + mail art, altered postcards, rubber stamping, fabric sample collages, Fleur’s ongoing documentation of Oakland public art, Kathy’s moving pieces and a more patrons of the Museum of Unclaimed Ephemera.  Some of Kathy Barnett’s pieces get hung on my apartment door to entertain my young neighbors.   Here is a list of the artist shown this month: 

1. Eberhard Janke - Germany
2. MiM – Virginia 
3. Jean-Philippe Gilliot – Belgium 
4. Valdor – Catalonia/Spain
5. Pia Zaragoza – California
6. Debra Mulnick – Idaho
7. Carolyn Oord (aka Kerosene) – Québec/Canada
8. Rani Goel – California 
9. Fleur Helsingor – California
10. Jon Foster – North Carolina 
11. William Mellott – Taiwan 
12. Skooter Fein – California 
13. Patti Wren & Paula Currie – California
14. Margo Hill – California
15. Meral Agar – Turkey 
16. Kathy Barnett – Missouri
17. Gregg Biggs – Museum of Unclaimed Ephemera – California

The Thorn Birds

It has been more than a year and I still am working on my Chaekgeori-inspired series.   

I usually do not paint the book titles in detail, yet many of the books in these paintings are still recognizable.  Viewers spot a few books they have on their own shelves and many of us read the same books.  In my latest painting you might notice a copy of The Thorn Birds — a ubiquitous title on the bookshelves of all moms of a certain generation.  Yes, these are my mom’s books and things.  And even though she has downsized (many of my parent’s books are on my shelves now), a true reader can’t help but fill a bookcase.  Also, like many of the paintings in this series, small pieces of my art appear on the shelves (look for the slice of cabbage).

Dahlia Time

In a world gone mad, one of the ways I cope is nice long walks to Golden Gate Park.  This time of the year the dahlias are in bloom. Beautiful and inspirational.  This weekend was spent carving rubber stamps for a series of dahlia-themed postcards.

Collage Dreams

 

For many years I have collected and held on to a great amount of ephemera to use one day in various collages.  This has included maps, postage stamps and hundreds of postcards.   More recently I have been using up a lot of what I have saved for decades.  Much of the material has ended up in artist books.  My latest artist book, Collage Dreams, incudes 20 handmade, or as one now says, analog collages.   Each collage is 10.5” wide x 11” high and made entirely from the contents of postcard booklets dating from 1910 to 1950.

 

When I started these collages with the goal of creating an artist book, I did it without an intentional agenda.   This project was simply taking images out of their original context and arranging them to make pleasant and even amusing landscapes and cityscapes.  Yet, as this series of collages neared completion, I began to suspect that I might be recreating some of the surreal, fragmented places that I keep seeing when I dream.   I need to ask myself whether some of my dreams are about collaged places I will create instead of actual places I will one day visit.

A book is now available that includes all the collages.   Some of the images are also available as prints.  

10 Years of the S.F. Correspondence Co-Op

The first time I went to a San Francisco Correspondence Co-Op meeting was the group’s first anniversary party — back in 2012.  Here we are nine years later, and the co-op is now 10 years old.  We missed having our party in 2020 and finally had out first in-person gathering this weekend, safely, outdoors in a quiet, financial district park.

Every time we meet, one of us does an artist stamp to be shared with co-op members.  Many keep their stamps in special passports.   For our 10^th anniversary we did something different.   29 other co-op members sent me artwork that was then turned into a set of two commemorative sheets of artist stamps.  Here is our very cooperative effort.

Envelopes and Postcards and More

The mail art that arrived this month included quite a few envelopes trying to upstage their contents.  Marina Salmaso sent a handmade envelope that needed to be disassembled to reveal a collage celebrating the 100^thAnniversary of Joseph Beuys’ birth.   Thea Albert’s mail art needed to be assembled — and the box now is on one of my bookshelves.    The mail shown here includes: 

1. Jon Foster – North Carolina 
2. Carolyn Oord (aka Kerosene) – Québec/Canada
3. Jennifer Utter – California
4. Virgo – Russia 
5. Deble Faulkner – California 
6. Chocolatine et stooby – France 
7. Serse Luigetti – Italy
8. Meral Agar – Turkey 
9. Margo Hill – California
10. William Mellott – Taiwan 
11. Gregg Biggs – Museum of Unclaimed Ephemera – California
12. Maria Quiroga – Argentina 
13. Marina Salmaso – Denmark
14. Thea Albert – Washington State

The Bird Revolution

 Cutting up old postcards and making some ATCs.

Back to Museums

Yesterday was my first museum visit since before-the-Event.  It had been 15 months since I have been inside any museum.   About one year ago, I walked by the de Young Museum for the first time during the lockdown.   That moment made me profoundly sad.  Since then, I have walked by the museum many times and gotten used to the museum being closed.

I always prefer weekday afternoons for my museum visits — it is the best time to avoid the crowds.  Yesterday it was nice and mellow.  Masked up and vaccinated, with our reservations on our phone, my friend and I got to get in some museum time.   There is signage reminding us to social distance, passageway walls have had art removed to prevent visitors from lingering and some of the gallery benches have been removed.   The museum felt a little bare, but it was still good just to be inside and wandering around.   

The big change, after spending a year painting books, I am now really paying attention to paintings of books.  I have always enjoyed the de Young’s gallery filled with trompe l’oeil, yesterday it was becoming a real favorite.   John Frederick Peto’s books are so inspirational.   Although, I will never have the patience to master that level or realism in my own work.

May Mail

Sometimes with mail art the envelopes try to upstage the contents — and this month has seen a few examples of amazing envelopes in my mailbox along with some great contents.  Plus, I am noticing more and more postage stamps and artists stamps honoring, doctors, nurses and medical research.   I even hunted down some Jonas Salk postage stamps for the vaccine-themed mail art I sent out a few weeks ago.  

The mail shown here includes:

1. Rebeka Torowin-Borowicz – U.K. 
2. Wabi Sabi Sews – California
3. Kathy Barnett – Missouri
4. Jennie Hinchcliff – California
5. The Sticker Dude – New York 
6. R.F. Côté — Canada
7. Peter Müller – Germany
8. Margo Hill – California
9. William Mellott – Taiwan 
10. Fleur Helsingor - California 
11. Katerina Nikoltsou - Greece
12. Gregg Biggs – Museum of Unclaimed Ephemera – California

Cat Chaekgeori

This is the newest painting of books and things in my Chaekgeori-inspired series.  One might ask, where are the books?  I believe there is a small one tucked in on the lower shelf.  But in this modern example, clearly that iPad Mini is filled with ebooks.  Does Spinerboy actually read?  He is clever, but he might prefer cat game apps over reading.  And what sort of cat has his own iPad?   There is even has a special shelf where he keeps his fancy cat dishes.  Spinerboy shares a home with Scarlett Jo, so that shelf is a necessity.  Scarlett Jo is the type of girl that thinks nothing is more charming than a dog with cat food breath.  

Happy World Collage Day!

May 8^th is World Collage Day.  These collages are examples of double recycling.   I always re-use the event calendars from the San Francisco Public Library when I paint.   And now I have cut them up for colorful collages.

Don’t Hesitate — Vaccinate!

Sending out some handmade rubber stamped, vaccine-themed mail art. If you are eligible and vaccines are available, get it.  If not, I hope you won’t need to wait much longer. 

Meaty Mail

Can you mail some steaks?  How about some meat art mail art?  These hand-painted, meaty postcards are on their way in the mail.  I would not recommend cooking them.

Travel Chaekgeori

Here is the latest painting in my Chaekgeori-inspired series.   Nearly everyone tends to put souvenirs and things we pick up when travelling on their bookshelves.  When I paint one of these, I usually spot a travel guide on the shelves too.   But with this painting, it is all travel.  The books and things belong to a couple in Milan that has dedicated a whole corner of their adventures.  The travel guides, custom photo album, the model of the iconic VW van — it is all there.    Does anyone who travels not have at least one piece of driftwood on their shelves?  A piece of wood that has already been on its own journey before you find it and bring it home.   That might be the best souvenir one could have.   The only thing missing from these shelves is a California travel guide.   But one day, hopefully soon, we might start wandering our planet again.

Shopping in Lithuania

No Easter eggs in the mail, but Mindaugas Žuromskas assembles old supermarket receipts to make collages. If I could read Lithuanian, I might be able to figure out the price of eggs in Vilnius.  The fish, or are they Poisson d’avril, come from France.  More Lithuanian including a streetcar ticket in a collage from Peter Müller in Germany, also some nice local work that did not travel so far to reach me.  The mail shown here includes:

1. Victoria Gray – Nevada
2. Gregg Biggs – Museum of Unclaimed Ephemera – California
3. Peter Müller – Germany
4. Artist in Seine (aka Dean Marks) – France 
5. Rani Goel – California 
6. Mindaugas Žuromskas – Lithuania 

Hand-Painted Wood Pisanki

This is the time of the year when I gather with friends to spend a day making pisanki — the traditional springtime eggs that are made in Poland, the Ukraine and other parts of Eastern Europe.  Often associated with Easter, this is a custom that predates Christianity in that part of the world.   Alas, Covid is still shutting down many traditions.  

On my own, I have been hand-painting wooden eggs (a form of folk art also found in Poland).  With pisanki the process involves layers pf dye and wax on the eggs.  A layer of wax, a layer of dye, a layer of wax, etc.  When the wax is removed from the surface of the egg, the complete colorful design is revealed.  

With wooden eggs, it is just paint.  But I do not have the steady hand required for the delicate paint work.  I have been experimenting with using small pieces blue painters’ tape to cover areas of the egg as I apply different colors.  The tape method is similar to the wax method.   These are the results so far.

“Traditional” Ham Eggs

 

Over the past few years, I have been exploring what I call post-folk art.  I have used traditional Polish and Kashubian folk art as the inspiration for a new direction in my mixed media work (see tofuart.com for examples).  

Painted and dyed eggs, pisanki are a spring tradition in Poland.  I realize I have pushed the limits of what might be post-folk art – but another great Polish tradition is producing the best ham in the world.  Could you make folk art by painting wooden eggs to look like they are made of ham?  Well, of course you can….

The Mail Marches on

 

The past month has seen everything from late arriving Christmas and New Year’s mail art to Kathy Barnett’s fabulous King Eggshire Eggbert (is that for Easter?).  Some of the mail is still incredibly slow.  But zines and prints and postcards and collages are still arriving, and I appreciate them all.  These are the artists for the pieces shown:

1. Meral Agar – Turkey 
2. Debra Mulnick – Idaho
3. Katerina Nikoltsou – Greece
4. MiM – Virginia 
5. William Mellott – Taiwan 
6. Kathy Barnett – Missouri
7. Fleur Helsingor – California
8. Serse Luigetti – Italy

Ham in the Mail

It might surprise people to learn an artist known as Tofu has a great appreciation of meat art.  I have a modest collection of meat-themed art and have been known to create meat art myself.   My latest effort involves sending slices of “ham” in the mail just in time for all those Easter dinners.