Postal Patchwork Postcard

This mail art call for collage mail art to be shown at Kolaj Fest in New Orleans.   

Mail Art Book #1

There is a finite amount of space in my archive boxes, but I strive to save all the mail art I receive.  Many artists include various ephemera, stickers, and other materials with their mail art.  Things I might use in pieces I create myself.  Many of the envelopes are works of art in themselves.   Starting in January 2020 I began to use much of this material for a new artist book.  I repurposed a large coffee table book that cost a dollar at a library sale of donated and books.   Two and a half years later, the 140 pages are all filled up.   Here are some photos of the completed book of mail art.
Soon I will start filling the next book.

Franked, Stamped and Stamped

I had a stack of old, unused franked postcards from the USPS.   You can still purchase these, but nowadays they are pre-stamped with forever postage.  After rubber stamping these, I then needed to add additional postage from my box of unused, vintage postage stamps

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. 

Vote!

A few months ago, when I was using up my horde of old postage stamps, I put aside a pile of American flag stamps.   I envisioned some voting-themed mail art.  Alas, it is even more timely as the trumpists are now trying to destroy the US Postal Service in order to steal the election.  This batch of mail art is on its way.

Stay Home, Make Mail Art — Royal Mail Art!

From a series of very Royal Mail Art.  It will be mailed while on my safe-social-distancing-walk today. All from old postage stamps featuring Queen Elizabeth (plus a few old stamps of her father, uncle and grandfather).   

Stay Home, Make Art — An Artist Book

Thousands of thousands of old postage stamps.  They came from my childhood collection to ones peeled from envelopes to ones purchased or given to me for making collages.   Many have found their way into this new artist book created while I have been sheltering in place this past few months.   And yes, there are still some left, the remainder are being incorporated into mail art that will be sent out in the coming days.

Stay Home, Make Art — Little Stamp Collages

I continue to use up my vast horde of old postage stamps.  I’ve spent the week cutting, gluing and making small little collages — each from two or more postage stamps.  Here are some examples.

Stay Home, Make Art – Day 34

With all of us sheltering in place and staying home, there are many reports of wildlife reclaiming urban turf.  Coyotes live with us in San Francisco, but now packs of them have taken to howling in the middle of the night.  Apocryphal stories abound with dolphins in the canals of Venice and chupacabras rummaging in Albuquerque dumpsters.  With the that in mind, shouldn’t the birds and other critters break free of their postage stamps?

Stay Home, Make Art – Day 32

The pair of pages done today are all about postage stamp architecture including using all these Frank Lloyd Wright stamps for a little homage to Falling Water.  

Stay Home, Make Art – Day 25

Today was all about mesmerizing green.  I also like the “accidental” patterns that are added to postage stamp collages from the postmarks.  You can see some of my earlier postage stamp colleges here.

Stay Home, Make Art, Make Artists’ Books – Day 24

Today’s pages include this set of Postmark Planets with the help of a large hole punch, old envelopes and vintage space exploration postage stamps.

A Catalog of Collage Objects

Like any collage artist, I run the risk of becoming a hoarder.  When you make collage, you are always on the hunt for objects to use.  Boxes of collage fodder begin to fill up and then, when are you going to get around to using it all? MUNI passes going back to your 1990 arrival in San Francisco, Czech matchbox labels, vintage cigarette cards purchased in New Zealand 25 years back, fortune cookie fortunes from years of lunch specials. It all just keeps accumulating. 

My collage work has evolved.   Nowadays I tend to make my own material by painting paper, cutting and reassembling.  I really have little reason to save these things anymore.  In an effort to thin out the hoard I have been creating artist books and then purging, recycling, donating and giving away the rest.  

My latest effort is a A Catalog of Collage Objects  where each pair of pages is dedicated to 19 different ephemeral objects.  Some of the highlights are show here.

Hot Wheels Mail Art

The moment I saw the newHot Wheels stamps at the post office, I immediately knew I had to make some Hot Wheels-themed mail art.  Growing up in a cold, snowy city, Hot Wheels were a winter toy when my brother and I ran those orange plastic tracks all over the house and raced the cars. I spent a rainy day painting those tracks, this is the result on its way in the mail.

Scrappy Scrapbook

For about two years I have been working on the same scrapbook. I’ve reached the point where the book is full.  In other words, it is becoming difficult to close the book.

It all started at one of San Francisco’s library book sales where they sell donated and discarded books for $1.  I already owned a guide to London’s National Gallery from a visit I had made. I really had no practical use for a much older version, circa 1960.  Or did I?

My original thought was to cut the images out of the old book for collages.  Instead I started filling the book up.  It began with left over paint on my palette and scraps from other projects.  Collage bits, old postage stamps, maps, chocolate wrappers and other ephemera kept getting added.  The folks at the San Francisco Correspondence Coop contributed many of the artists stamps and some of the rubber stamps.  And finally, some of the random scraps I have received in the mail.  Some of the results are shown here.