Part 4: If you save it long enough you might use it in a collage

Scraps old and new have ended up in the Layout Scrapbook.  As an artist, people give me things I might use, and a collection of metro tickets from around the world finally gets used.  

If you give me a box of Niederegger Marzipan, I’ll be sure to recycle the foil wrappers.  The remains of a copy of Avant Garde, a short-lived magazine from the 1960s, are in the book after lingering in the family’s attic for decades).  

Go through boxes and find photos of young cousins eating ice cream (he now has five of his own children).  The polka twins are really one young lad who is now becoming a star down in Los Angeles and that punk with the goats is still rocking up in Portland.  You will never forget a trip to Mexico when you think about dairy products and Supradol (the best name ever for a painkiller).  

On the back cover of the book we get an illustration of Allen Hurlburt himself.  And finally, honk if you know Ken Budka.

November Mail Part I

November always feels like an intermission month to me.  This fall’s show are hung, it’s the quite before the holidays and San Francisco is a mix of warm sunny days with intermittent rain as we wait for the real, wet winter to get its start.  Here is some of the mail art that I have recently received: 

1. Jennifer Utter could not resist taking a photo of a spectacular sunset and turning it into mail art.  You might not realize this, but for all we do have in San Francisco, an impressive sunset in our foggy city is a rare thing.
2. Elaine James incorporated the San Francisco MUNI map into a Día de los Muertos card.  The papel picado stamps the USPS put out this year are some of the best for 2016. I used many.
3. Punkie Ebert has done a colorful zine featuring many of cultural icons.
4. Jacqueline Wygant sent a small little booklet from Portland that reminds me I need to make a trip up there to once again spend the day at Powell’s.
5. And a new set of awesome owl artist stamps from Darlene Altschul.

Thank you for the mail art, watch for November Mail Part II in the next post.

Beyond Pink

Putting the overwhelming Pink Mail Art response behind me, it is time to take a look at some of the non-pink mail art that has been coming in recently including a number of pieces from the folks up in Portland at the PDX Correspondence Coop.  Some recent arrivals include:

1. A mail art map card arrived from lezbag.
2. Edith Gillette also sent a card from Portland.
3. Torma Cauli continues the green theme that perhaps intentionally complements some of my own recent work.
4. Marina Salmaso sent a new collage postcard.
5. The crocodiles are feasting on the jewels in Dean Marks latest piece.
6. Steve Howell’s postcard has a nice collection of never-used old postage stamps.
7. Jodi is requesting a reply.
8. Llana Swinks postcard features the groovy little mailster.
9. Ann Symons card included an artist stamp with a cat.  You can never go wrong with cats.
10. Miss Polly sent a handmade envelope with vintage postage and a postal note inside.
11. An altered postcard from Sagebrush Moderne.
12. Some mail art greenness from A.J. Dell’Aringa
13. A minimalist postcard from e. coles in England.
14. A new image with Sutro Tower from Joshua A. Dellinger

Thank you for the mail art, more keeps arriving and I’ll post it soon.

Little Things 10

I just got a card for a show up in Portland called Little Things 10. It's at the Guardino Gallery (see link for details). The show includes work from Dan Pillers. I know Dan from his days in San Francisco and he is missed down here. Check out his work if you're up in Portland.

Dan Pillers at Guardino Gallery

San Francisco artist Dan Pillers is back living in Portland. He has a show opening this week at the Guardino Gallery. It runs from May 27 through June 20.