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.

Río Cuale

Río Cuale 
7”x9”, mixed media on paper
From a new series exploring the patterns and color palettes I have been working with for many years.  This time using watercolor, ink and pencil on paper.

 

Mail Art Made in Mexico

While spending a few weeks down in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico I did this new series of 30, hand-painted postcards inspired by the view from where I was staying.   Overlooking the Isla del Río Cuale (the island in the small river that flows along the Emiliano Zapata District).

In the past I have sent mail art directly from Mexico, but it tends to take weeks.  Plus, the mail box I have used in the past (see photo) seems to be closed.   Plus, back in San Francisco, I had an opportunity to use the USPS’s Mariachi Stamps.

Murals in Mexico

 I always enjoy the murals and street art when I am down in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

Kitchen Chaekgeori

This is the newest painting in my Chaekgeori-inspired series.   The books are some of the cookbooks on shelves in my small, San Francisco kitchen.  On the lowest shelf are essential coffee beans and tea bags stored in old spaghetti sauce jars (reuse and recycle), plus filters, mugs, etc.   

From the beginning, I recognized each Chaekgeori I was painting is in essence a portrait — or in this example a self-portrait.  These shelves also include art I have collected and art I have made.  There is even a shadow box I made for my grandmother as a child.  It sat on her kitchen shelf for decades.   There are souvenirs from trips going back over 40 years — to Sweden and more recently Mexico.  Some of the mugs are souvenirs as well.  On the top shelf there are some vintage ice crushers and other kitchen tools — something else I have been collecting for a long time. 
The stuff on those shelves reveals quite a lot about me.

Stay Home, Make Art, See the Sun Come Out – Day 33

Today is about some solar energy postage.

Starting in the fog and finishing in the tropics

La Selva, mixed media on board, 48"x67"

During the last few months I have worked on a new piece in my Post-Folk Art Series.   The finished piece is a large (48”x67) site specific work for my friends’ home in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.  To avoid the complexities involved with shipping large artwork to Mexico, the piece needed to be finished on site.  I have just spent about three weeks in a luxurious villa, making art, gazing at the Pacific and being fed incredible food.  Sometimes an artist needs to make sacrifices.  

The project began in San Francisco.  First, I estimated the quantity for each different size of squares and circles of painted paper that would be required.  I always over-estimate to give me added flexibility.   The scale of this piece required a spreadsheet to track all the quantities needed.

With a set of numbers, I was ready to begin painting paper.  The palette reflects the setting.  In Puerto Vallarta, hills shrouded in tropical jungle come right down to the edge of the city.   That jungle was my inspiration.

After all the paper was painted, it was time to start cutting squares in sizes from an half inch to 3 inches.  To cut perfect circles, I use a series of punches.   I needed nearly 2,400 three-quarter inch circles, as well as quantities of circles that were 1.5, 2 and 2.5 inches, plus thousands of small dots made with hole punches.   I am greatly indebted to the artist Dorothy Yuki.  Dorothy came over one afternoon with her Provo Craft cutters and helped me punch out most of the circles.

When I was packing up art supplies for my trip, I realized the paper circles and squares would need to stay with me in my carry-on luggage.  Those thousands of pieces represented more than 100 hours’ worth of effort.  I could not allow them to be lost in transit.

Arriving in Mexico I found the large the board waiting for me.  The next step was to find a paint store and then get a few coats of color on the edges and surface.  I always use a basic, interior latex house paint. There is no need for expensive acrylics.

With the board now prepped, it was time to set up my workspace.  A large table was protected with plastic and drop cloths and the big board was laid out.  It was time to draw a grid for a guide and get to work.

Over the next ten days I spent many hours gluing and fitting the squares, and then adding the layers of the circles.  Fans kept me cool with temperatures in the 90s.  The humidity is intense, but it slowed the drying down just enough to give me a bit more flexibility.  The climate does make a difference.  In San Francisco, I typically need to wash caked glue off my hands about every 15 minutes, where in Puerto Vallarta I could go for half-an-hour.  It really is that humid.

As I was working, an Important holiday was approaching.  Día de los Muertos was on my mind.  In the evenings I would go down in to town to see the ofrendas that were being installed as the day drew near.  Even Puerto Vallarta’s Halloween celebration has most kids in Day of the Dead-themed costumes, and if not that, a costume with a scary theme.  Imagine two year old little girls dressed as vampires instead of princesses.  The night of November 2^nd included a parade and dance performance by youth groups in folk costumes with a Día de los Muertos twist.   

Back home in San Francisco, I always set up my own more elaborate ofrenda. In Mexico, I stuck to some simple candles and some rather pungent marigolds in the tropical heat.  As I sat at the table with the big piece of art spread out in front of me, I began to recall memories of my great-grandmother and her sisters around a similar big piece of art.  For them it was one of the many quilts they worked on.  Patterns from quilts and other textiles have influenced my work for more than 20 years.  Assembling a large, colorful, patterned piece felt like I was coming full circle — all the more appropriate at a time we remember our ancestors.  

As I got towards the end of the project, I realized that I had underestimated the amount of glue I would need.  My preferred choice, GAC 100, was not available.  I found one small shop in Puerto Vallarta with art supplies.  Their best option is a glue called Resistol 850.  Fortunately, it worked well for my purposes.  I liked it so much, I returned to buy an additional bottle to bring home to California.

There was one other complication.  A harsh Mexican art critic forced me to cover up the piece each night with a drop cloth.  It was one of the resident geckos who had a tendency to climb up in the rafters and aim gecko poo at my art.  Tempting as it might be to make a nod to Chris Ofili and include a bit of gecko poo, none ended up in the final artwork.  But the tropics being the tropics, there are a few small insects embedded for all time in the acrylic varnish that coats the artwork.   The insects can only add authenticity to a piece titled La Selva (The Jungle).

Work in Progress

Working on a very large mixed media piece.  I am glad I love yogurt and love to recycle.  If I was one of those tiresome influencers I am sure I could be getting some free product.

Isla del Torso

Traveling can be a break —a break from our normal routines and habits.  For an artist, it can also mean going in a different direction and trying out some new things.  Puerto Vallarta has become a place I escape to a few times a year.  From my first visit I recognized an affinity for Cape Cod where I grew up.  Tropical Mexico or coastal New England, resorts towns have much in common at their core. Unsurprisingly, I prefer the quieter off-season, which in Puerto Vallarta is summer.  

I just returned after a few weeks of low-key tropical fun.  The world of bars, clubs, go-go boys and drag shows has little appeal for me. Give me a beer and plate of tacos, and I am happy.  That said, the alluring advertising is everywhere.  And from that I took my inspiration.  Filling a sketchbook with images of the imaginary resort Isla del Torso (Torso Island).   A tropical paradise of tanned landscapes, condo towers, the warm seas and UFOs that sparkle like a drag queen’s gown.

Mexican Sunsets

Mexican Sunset, acrylic on paper, 12"x9"

Typically I don’t paint sunsets, and purple is not a color with a prominent place in my palette.  But, when you are on vacation, rules can be broken, extra desserts, sleep in late, do nothing if you like, and paint sunsets.  I am home from Mexico now, so it time to get back to my routine.

Tile-Inspired ATCs

I love mosaics and ceramic tile.   San Francisco has plenty of wonderful examples of tiled public art (including right around the block from my home).  That said, I needed to come down to Mexico to be inspired for a new series of ATCs painted on playing cards.  I suppose it took escape-vacation mode to make these happen.  More soon….

Play Money

 

You never know what you’ll find in a dollar store, especially if it is a 25 Pesos store in Mexico.  Big stacks of Mexican play money was one of my best discoveries in 2017 — it immediately was incorporated into some mail art I sent from Mexico.  I came home and began sharing the play pesos with other artists for their own mail art.  This summer I sent a new batch of Meximail and included a few faux pesos in each envelope.

What a great surprise when William Mellott incorporated some of the play money and sent it back.  This gets me thinking, I need to start including American play money when I send mail art off to other countries. I hope other artists start sending me some play money from their countries too. Yen, Krona, Pounds, Australian Dollars, I want it all.  And now, off to find a dollar store….

Meximail

Last month, when I was in Mexico I picked up these geography-themed loteria sets at a 25 Peso store.  I was trying to think of way to use them in some mail art — then I saw this story about how the Mayans invented a rare shade of blue.  That got me started, it was going to have to be about blue.  A series of pyramids were painted on the backs of the loteria cards.  Too delicate for postcards, they ended up in envelopes. This series is being mailed out this afternoon.

Mail Art from the Tropics

It feels good to get a different perspective and be out of my usual San Francisco element.  Reading, relaxing, listening to the surf and enjoying afternoon thunderstorms on the Bahía de Banderas in Puerto Vallarta.  I travel with art supplies and have been making some mail art postcards.  Before heading out to find a mail box, it is important to ask the Magic Iguana to make sure these arrive — eventually.  They might take a couple of months to get to their recipients, but it will be worth the wait.

Who needs souvenirs when you can buy art supplies?

When I travel I always have an eye for some inspiration and often find art supplies on the road.  Oh sure, I could go to an art supply store anywhere, that isn’t quite what I mean. I’ve been picking up things down in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.  After a trip to the arts and crafts aisle of Woolworths, I now the word in Spanish for googly eyes — ojos móviles.  The 25 Pesos store had Loteria de Los Estados – Mexican geography-themed loteria cards. Had to have them.  And I could not resist these sheets of neoprene at a fabric store, the plain ones were 2 pesos each, the glamoury glitter ones were 5 pesos a piece.  And shopping at the fabric store was amusingly bureaucratic, three separate counters to make a purchase.  Now, what am I going to do with all these supplies?  Hmmm….

Post-Traditional Folk Art

My personal art collection includes many folk art pieces and others which I would describe as “post-traditional” folk art.  By post-traditional I am referring to work where the artist has gone beyond recognizably traditional work, yet the influence of centuries of artists before them is clear in what they create. For myself, I have often relied on traditional textile work, especially quilting, for many of the patterns I incorporate into my own art work.  My map collages and map quilts have been some of the best examples.  During the creative process, I often think about expanding on folk art motifs. 

Recently, I had one of those aha moments when I was watching an episode called Neighbors from the PBS series Craft in America (it’s a fantastic show!).  The film included a segment on the ceramic artists Carlomagno Pedro Martínez and Magdalena Pedro Martínez in Oaxaca (you can watch it here).  As Magdalena was demonstrating how she preserves and depicts traditional Oaxacan folk costumes in her ceramic work, I was immediately, instantly inspired!

I follow a blog of Polish folk costumes which got me thinking about how to depict the folk art of my Eastern European heritage within my own work.  My collagescape series has been focused on capturing the palette of landscapes I wander through.  Much of my work in 2017 centered on ideas of color and memory.  It all is starting to coalesce in a new series where I capture the colors of Polish folk costumes.  The first three pieces, shown here, are inspired by Kashubian folk costumes — a place some of my ancestors emigrated from about 130 years ago.  You’re seeing a preview of what’s to come in 2018.

Mexican Mail Art – Part II

The first batch of mail art was mailed from Mexico a few weeks ago.  I am not sure if anyone has received the postcards yet.  I started working on a new series of ATCs when I was still in Puerto Vallarta.  Two explored the local palette, including the day of Tropical Storm Pilar (which was a humid, rainy day but not much of a storm where I was).  When I got home, I finished the series and used more of the play money and lotería cards I picked up at a 25 Pesos Store and a local bookstore.  Like so many San Francisco artists, I can’t resist using lotería cards and have been incorporating them into my mixed media work for 20+ years.  What is it that draws us to these cards?  A new batch of mail art was dropped at the post office yesterday and is on the way.