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.

Pandemic Chaekgeori

Whether casually chatting with friends, having a business meeting or being interviewed by the media, stationing yourselves in front of your bookcase seems to be the default way to communicate in these times.   Our books send a message, “Yes, I do read.” 

The books give clues to our tastes and personalities.  The seriousness of PBS NewsHour put Judy Woodruff showing off a red room of books to match her hair coloring.  One would think with her penchant for red dresses, we would find historian Lucy Worsley surrounded by red books — but she opts for a contrasting blue and grey wall of books without a red tome in sight.  Comedian Seth Myers manipulated old copies of his mother’s favorite book, The Thorn Birds.  And not at all funny, yet ironic, Betsy DeVos, the amoral and corrupt Secretary of “Education”, posed in front of a bookcase devoid of books.

The times we live in can certainly influence an artist’s work.  I am no exception.   While I have always lived surrounded by books, my inspiration came from a brief video posted by San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum.   I discovered Chaekgeori — it’s a Korean still-life where the artist depicts books and objects on shelves.  My color-coded bookcases demanded to be painted.   Soon after, I started asking friends for photos of their bookcases. In some ways, each painting is as much a portrait as it is a still life.

All paintings are acrylic on paper, 9"x12".  These are the first ones, with more to follow.

Five Months and Counting….

Or should we ask who’s counting? Yesterday marked five months of lockdown in San Francisco.  A few things have returned to normal, but we have a long way to go.  The post office is an easy one mile walk for me.  Page Street is one of our “slow streets” with less traffic and plenty of room to social distance.  Masked up, I can duck into the post office and check the box.

Here is a sampling of some of the mail art that has arrived this summer:

1. Jennifer Utter – California
2. e. coles – England (yes, that is remarkable and wonderful hand-embroidered mail art).
3. Peter Müller – Germany
4. Virgo – Russia 
5. Marina Salmaso – Denmark
6. Gregg Biggs – Museum of Unclaimed Ephemera – California
7. Jon Foster – North Carolina 
8. Katerina Nikoltsou – Greece
9. Jennie Hinchcliff – California 
10. Keith Chambers – California
11. Lubomyr Tymkiv – Ukraine 

The Unleashed TheARTre

This piece is on the way to Eberhard Janke (Edition Janus) in Berlin for his mail art call with the theme The Unleashed TheARTre.   Sending something from San Francisco, I felt the need to get out the glitter and memorialize one of our greatest homegrown theatre troupes — The Cockettes.  They were before my time in San Francisco and the Palace Pagoda Theatre is no more.  But I loved the performances when the Thrillpeddlers revived their shows in recent years.

Oak Woodlands

The story of Golden Gate Park is of a windswept landscape of dunes that 150 years ago were transformed into 1,107 acres a public park.   As beautiful as the park is, it is essentially artificial.  The waterfalls, the gardens, the redwoods, the meadows — none of it was there before.  Thanks to irrigation, horse manure and gardening, the natural landscape was transformed.   And while I appreciate coastal dunes, it’s hard to argue with Golden Gate Park — it is the escape from urban life we all need at times.

But the story has a twist.  This week I visited unspoiled nature with a lovely walk through some typical California oak woodlands.   Hiding in the northeast corner of Golden Gate Park, generally overlooked by most visitors, is a magical place.  A pocket of the original landscape that was never altered. 

It is difficult to capture the woodlands in photos or a painting, but it was worth a try.

June Mail

Things are far from getting back to normal, but the flow of mail art (sent and received) seems to be picking up.  Mail art does make for some safe, socially distant fun.  A recent trip to the post office box included zines big and small.  Theo Nelson is taking mail he receives and turning pieces into one-of-a-kind zines.  Robin Sparrow’s delicate, shimmering, hand sewn piece made it through the mail all the way from New Zealand.  And it’s good to see things are busy at Gregg Biggs’ Museum of Unclaimed Ephemera.  

The mail shown here includes:

1. Debra Mulnick – Idaho
2. Kathy Barnett – Missouri
3. Gregg Biggs – Museum of Unclaimed Ephemera – California
4. William Mellott – Taiwan 
5. Fleur Helsingor - California 
6. Theo Nelson – Canada
7. Robin Sparrow — New Zealand 
8. Dori Singh – California 

Pandemic Park

This weekend I stayed at home and painted.  This was my view one afternoon last week while I read a book in shady spot in Alamo Square.

Because I can enjoy our parks on weekday afternoons.  I tend to avoid the crowds on weekends.   This was true even before the pandemic.   I’ve noticed that most people seem to be practicing social distancing and, until they safely settle into a spot, usually wear a mask. That said we have a certain amount of careless and self-centered fools right here in San Francisco — for example, in 2016 9% of San Francisco voters chose the racist, Russian stooge who will remain nameless.