Postal Pugs

About a year ago I responded to a  call for art and mailed my pug-themed mail art to Germany.  I really appreciated the Edition 753 catalog that arrived last week.  And my model, Sammy, was quite pleased with himself.

Dogs in the Mail

Sometimes a new stamp from the U.S. Postal Service inspires me to make some mail art.  The Year of the Dog stamp for this week’s Lunar New Year was one of those stamps.  The original idea was to do a printed and individually hand colored series.  But, as I wanted to send a bunch of these, I opted for printing a small batch from an original.  They are in the mail now.

Recycled Cowboys

Things a Cowboy Should Know, mixed media, collage, 8”x8’ on board

San Francisco is a city with a great commitment to recycling and composting.  And we are a city where we all have that neighbor who thinks cardboard goes in the trash and plastic goes in the compost.  We are a beautiful city with filthy streets.  Streets with all sorts of abandoned flotsam and jetsam.  And still, some neighbors purposefully leave boxes on the street for us all to rummage through.   You never know what you might find. I’ve found good books, antique cloisonné, materials for art projects and, in this example, the tattered remains of book titled Lore of the West: Roy Rogers with Gabby Hayes.  The 78 rpm record the book came with was missing (you can listen here).  Here is a website that will give you an idea what the book was like in its complete state. I chose to recycle the remnants into the collage shown here.  I only wish I could figure out who was responsible for the original, wonderful illustrations but for now they remain an uncredited artist that worked for RCA or the publisher.

August Mail

Most of the artists I correspondence with have been sending me pink mail art, but other good stuff has been arriving as well, including:

1. A vegemite print from Anthony Campbell in Australia.
2. Fleur Helsingor has turned one of her photos of an artsy Oakland trashcan into a postcard.
3. Marina Salmaso sent a very happy pit bull piece of mail art.
4. A new card from R.F. Côté – I always love both sides of his work.
5. A John Wayne card from Joshua A. Dellinger.
6. Cuan Miles sent two postcards as well as some ATCs in a mailing form South Africa.
7. Jeniffer Utter wonders how much she can get for $4.00 (in San Francisco you can barely get a cup of coffee).
8. Ryosuke Cohen sent a big print made out of other mail artists’ stamps.

Thank you for the mail art, and if you have not responded to the Call for Pink Mail Art yet, the deadline is October 15, 2016 (link here).

Dutch Treats

What to do on a cold, gray December day. How about Round 2 for the Geo Graphic Mail Project? This time a series of modified Vermeer postcards with stamps, maps, and happy little pets.  There are Vermeerhares, Vermeerdogs and, of course,  Vermeerkats.