Stone and Water

On the way to Italy for a mail art call with the theme of Stone and Water. 

  A desert scene because in California our rivers run dry.

Visiting the Portland Correspondence Coop

On my visit to Portland, I got to attend the Portland Correspondence Coop monthly meeting. It was a real treat.
The meetings are hosted in this amazing place called Cargo. 
Cargo is sort of like an antique mall but for artists and makers.  Instead of antiques, you have booths filled with all kinds of groovy stuff.  Some of the artists represented are even San Francisco refugees.
How I wish we could have a space like this in San Francisco. But alas, pretty much any big warehouse like this would be snapped up by some tech company to make another useless app.   I ❤️ Portland.

Polenta Post?

How to respond to mail art call for Italy when the theme is “Terra Madre”. Maybe a painting of a map of the world that looks like polenta on a plate.  Is it time for Sunday lunch?

Artist Stamps from Cascadia Art Post

Yesterday was a very good mail day.  Three envelopes and an incredible collection of artist stamps from Jack Lattemann at Cascadia Art Post.  These are part of collaborative series where we sent Jack tickets and other ephemera.  The MUNI transfer and old Fast Pass came from me of course. There was a long postal delay, but it was well worth the wait. 

Mail Art Book #2

In June 2022 I completed Mail Art Book #1.  Nearly four years later, the second in the series is finished.
Along with their mail art, many artists include ephemera, stickers, artist stamps and other pieces in their envelopes — and sometimes the envelopes are works of art too. In 2020 I began to repurpose this material in artist books.  I always start with a large, used coffee table book — armed with glue and scissors these 170 pages are the latest results.  I am already looking for another old book to start filling up.

Sailing Away in the Mail

I typically do not use the stamped postcards from the USPS, but when I saw the Schooner Series, I had an idea.  I did not want to paint boats, but this old book was begging to be cut up and collaged. And then I learned about Scrambled Art Co. and their fantastic hole punches to make faux postage.
The results are in the mail…

Postmarked!

The machines at the USPS postmarked the wrong side of the mail art from Thom Courcelle. I like when this happens and mail art is inadvertently authenticated.

Eggs in the Mail

On the way to Hungary for a mail art call.....🥚📬

Year of the Horse

To celebrate the Year of the Horse my new series of mail art uses hand-carved, rubber stamps and was inspired by some of the world’s oldest known horse art. These are on their way to mailboxes around the world.

Guerra e Migranti

 

Mail art on the way to Italy for a call with the theme war and migration.

Día de los Muertos Mail Art

This year’s hand-carved rubber stamped series of mail art for Day of the Dead that is on its way to mailboxes all over the world.

A Different Perspective

I learned perspective drawing from Mr. Rogers and Mr. Hill way back in the seventh grade at Campus School. So, when someone gave me this book, I really thought I did not have much use for it. Unless….   

A series of 30 pieces of mail art are on their way, all with a different perspective.  

Before there was email there was V Mail

Have you ever heard of a V Mailer?  80 years ago, they were a high-tech solution for the U.S. Military. The mailers helped manage and move a very high volume of mail sent to those serving overseas. The way the V Mailers worked is the original copy was reviewed by wartime censors and photographed — then a small negative was transported overseas to be printed at its destination. This enabled the U.S. Military to drastically reduce the weight of all the mail being sent to service members overseas.

 

I was not familiar with V Mail until a friend gave me an old box of unused mailers.  

Currently the anti-democratic regime is actively erasing and altering any parts of our nation’s history that do not fit their white supremacist narrative. Stories are disappearing from many different government websites. This inspired me to start commemorating those stories with a series of American Hero artist stamps.

During World War II, you were not allowed to add enclosures to a V Mailer.  The ones I mailed out this week each include a set of six artist stamps featuring the following Americans:

• Wong Kim Ark
• Private Albert Cashier
• Dr. Héctor P. García
• Corporal Terry Toyome Nakanishi
• Susie King Taylor
• Navajo Code Talkers

Sending mail art that preserves history is just one small act of resistance. One of the ways we can honor those who bravely fought against fascism 80 years ago is to stand up and speak out.

Mail Art inspired by an Orange Crush bottle

 

Responding to a mail art call with the theme Message in a Bottle here is the piece off to Germany with a story.

40 years ago, after a big winter storm, my mom and I found a deep bed of eel grass that had been pushed up out of Nantucket Sound onto the beach.  We found an old Orange Crush bottle. The painted label had worn away and we wondered if it had been floating in the Atlantic since the 1940s. The bottle spent decades on a kitchen windowsill on Cape Cod until it found its way to my home in San Francisco.
 
The bottle is a time traveler.  The bottle is the message.

Year of the Snake 🐍

 
To celebrate the Year of the Snake my latest series of mail art used hand-carved, rubber stamps.  Of course, it’s the endangered and beautiful San Francisco Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis tetrataenia).  Let’s hope the snake can bring us peace and harmony and rid us of all those unwanted pests. Happy New Year!  

Caffeinated Mail Art

 

Can you make art without coffee?   I did not want to take any chances so my first set of mail art for 2025 is Caffeinated Mail Art!

It’s an Aerogram!

Do you remember aerograms?  Aerograms were a single sheet of paper with gummed edges that had to be folded and sealed.   No enclosures were permitted, and you could not even use tape to seal them.  The cost was less than sending an airmail letter.   

In 1985, aerograms came franked with 36¢ postage.  It cost more than sending a postcard via airmail (33¢) but less than an airmail letter (44¢). The cost difference today seems quite insignificant even considering it was nearly 40 years ago.  But when you’re a student, you’ll always do something to save a few cents. 

 

You could fill the aerogram with as much writing as you could fit — write small or better yet, use a typewriter.  The rule was you just couldn’t put anything inside an aerogram. 

 

In the 1990s, as more people started having access to email, the aerogram was destined to become obsolete.  The U.S. Postal Service discontinued them in 2006.  In Britain they lasted until 2012. Very few countries offer them anymore. Australia still has them for sale. 

At a recent San Francisco Correspondence Co-op meeting I found these unused aerograms on the swap table. I knew I had to take them to do a series of mail art. I wonder if some of my recipients will even know what aerograms are.

  

Lead the Way!

 

Monday was Labor Day, and I spent the holiday working. My task was to print over 100 postcards with hand carved rubber stamps reminding everyone to vote for freedom, democracy, sanity and our future.   Vote Kamala Harris!   This batch was dropped off at the post office yesterday.

Via Sea Turtle Mail

Inspired by the new sea turtle postage stamps from the USPS, I started carving some rubber stamps and the results are now on the way.