A Slice of Summer

A Sandia Series of mail art, handmade postcards is off in today’s mail.

Happy Pink Week

Last Saturday we kicked things off for Pink Week in Sacramento with a meet-up at the Verge Center for the Arts. Then, in all our pink regalia, the flash mob marched over to a light rail station where we rode across town to Artspace 1616 for the Pink Week Show.  The show is up at the gallery until December 3, 2017.  You can see my piece below and read the story behind it here.

Polish Wallpaper

The Lewandowski’s Wallpaper, mixed media on board, 10”x10”x1.5”

Recently I have been exploring ideas about memory and color.  Pink Week will be coming up in Sacramento in just a few months, so it felt like the time to explore some pink memories.

When I was in my 20s, I spent a lot of time travelling and living in Europe.  Different countries, different cultures and some color palettes and home décor that was not what I was accustomed to.  There was a lot of wallpaper, including in the places I lived.  There was also a more liberal use of the color pink in all shades imaginable.  Go back to an Easter Monday (Śmigus-dyngus), over thirty years ago in Poland.  It was a visit to the home of my cousin’s in-laws to celebrate the holiday known for water fights and, of course, another big meal.  Poland is the sort of place where the most distant and long lost relative, like I was, can be made to feel incredibly welcome by everyone you meet.  That afternoon will always remain in my memories, made to feel so very welcomed in the Lewandowski’s home.  And, here is where the pink comes in.  I remember that every room I saw in their home had pink wallpaper — each room different from the next.

I would have never imagined, decades later that I would recreate that day and their home the way I have, in the summer of 2017.  But here it is.

Inspiring Pink Hats

After witnessing 100,000+ people gather in San Francisco on Saturday (photo link here), I felt inspired by the Women’s March and those pink hats.   I started by digging into my horde of unused art postcards, got out the pussy hat pink paint, and these are the results.  Here is some of today’s outgoing mail art.

The Lady in the Pink Hat

Is it okay to rename Joshua Reynolds’ portrait originally titled Lady Cockburn and her Three Eldest Sons?   Last year I paid a dollar for an old guide from London’s National Gallery. I have been altering it ever since.  I just felt, the times being what they are, that Her Ladyship was in need of nice pink pussy hat.

The Importance of Numbers

After receiving 400 responses for the Pink Mail Art show, it is incredible to see the way some elaborate pieces can make it through the mail unscathed from the other side of the world, yet other pieces arrive in tatters from just across the Bay in Oakland.  But, part of the risk artists assume when sending out mail art is they never know if what they send, will actually arrive.  Lena G. mailed her piece (shown above) with plenty of time to spare from Sacramento.  Alas, it just arrived after six weeks.  She had just one number off in my P.O. Box address.  I suspect it was waiting just a few boxes away for me the entire time – probably in a box that is rarely checked.  It is a nice one, so I wanted to be sure to share it online. 

Slipper Shells for Pink Week

Slipper Shells, acrylic on canvas, 10”x10”

This year, the main emphasis of Pink Week in Sacramento is the big Pink Mail Art show with 400 participating artists.  Along with the mail art show there is a companion show of Northern California artists who work in pink.  Pink is a seldom-used color in my palette, but above is painting you can see in the exhibit.  Slipper Shells (Crepidula fornicata) is inspired by the mass of seashells at low tide on Kalmus Beach in Hyannis, on Cape Cod.

Both shows can be viewed through November 30.

Warehouse Artists Lofts (WAL), 1104 R Street, Sacramento, California

A Very Pink Art Opening

Yesterday we arrived in Sacramento and spent the afternoon installing the 400 pieces of pink mail art received for this year’s, 23^rd Annual Pink Week.   As we blistered our thumbs pressing in all those pushpins, it was amazing watching the space transform into walls of pinkness.  That evening was First Friday in Sacramento and we had a busy opening that included quite a few local artists who mailed in handmade pink postcards for the show.  Thank you again to everyone who participated and helped make the show happen, including our hosts at WAL and to Gioia Fonda, the incredible force behind Pink Week.

The show will remain on exhibit through November 30 at Warehouse Artists Lofts (WAL), 1104 R Street, Sacramento, California.  If you cannot get to Sacramento, you can still view the pieces on flickr and pinterest.