World Collage Day in a Library

Sending this one to Belgium for a mail art call for World Collage Day (May 8^th).  The exhibition will be in a library, so it seems appropriate to make a collage from left over event calendars from the San Francisco Public Library.   I always recycle the calendars and use them when I am painting.  Now for recycled a second time and turned into collages.

Swedish Bookcases

As I continue painting books and things for this Chaekgeori-inspired series, I am never surprised that some of my friends have the same books on their shelves — and in a few examples the same objects.  The other thing we have in common is Ikea bookcases.  Not all, but many of the books in this series sit on those ubiquitous bookcases (including some of my own).   The first time I was in an Ikea, it was in Sweden, many years before it was a global empire.  It is weird to think that the plastic silverware tray in my San Francisco kitchen drawer was purchased in Stockholm in 1984.  

Look closely, you might even notice the holes in the sides of the bookcases for the shelf pegs.  This painting shows the multilingual dictionaries, books and things of artist friends in Sweden.

Mystery Mail

Sometimes with mail art you receive mystery mail — it is all part of the process.  This week I received an altered postcard from the U.K. as well as a collaged postcard with my address nearly hidden (the back is blank).  The British one does not have a postmark, the other one was sent from Grafton, Vermont in February — so it made it to San Francisco fairly quickly. 

And now, a Professional Bookcase

A real San Francisco home has a certain look that reflects the personality of the person(s) who lives there.  Never cluttered, but always quirky.  We are a city of collectors who treat our homes like museum installations.  In apartments, it starts with the old telephone nook near the door.  They make for perfect altars.  A San Francisco bathroom is an art gallery with plumbing fixtures.  Our small kitchens never have an empty wall.

What San Francisco homes are not, in spite of the worst efforts of stagers and flippers, are the gutted Victorians that have been sterilized into white and gray modern lofts.  Stainless steel and marble slabs with all the charm of a mortuary.  We do not want to live in banal furniture catalogs.

 

The bookcases and things I paint for my Chaekgeori-inspired series are just a small glimpse into these wonderful San Francisco homes.

 

My friends have generously shared photos for me to work from.  When I asked one friend to send some snapshots, I waited anxiously for their arrival in my inbox.  He and his husband have a delightful Hayes Valley apartment that is like living in an actual cabinet of curiosities.  It is one of my favorite San Francisco apartments.

 

The photos he sent, and what I have painted here, are of his office bookcase.  Early on, I realized painting bookcases was, in many ways, painting a portrait as much as it is painting a still life.  This made me think about a person’s bookcase in a professional office.  Many of us wear different personalities to suit the occasion.   A downtown office bookcase is going to be different from one at home.  Maybe a little more restrained, a little more reserved.   This is a professional bookcase.

Year of the Ox — Year of the Cure!

I am ready for the rats to be gone and for the ox to rush in and take charge.  To celebrate I am mailing postcards with hand carved rubber stamps — the Ox vs. Covid-19.  Happy New Year!

Wintertime Mail

The holidays are over.  Now, when I dash into the post office to check my box, it is far less crowded again. The speed of the mail is sporadic but good things keep arriving.  Two big, full of envelopes from Eastern Europe — stencil work from Mindaugas Žuromskas and collages from Virgo.  There are artist stamps celebrating the NHS from Rebecca Guyver.  Kerosene proves you can print with lettuce!  These are the artists for the pieces shown:

1. Carolyn Oord (aka Kerosene) – Québec/Canada
2. Marina Salmaso – Denmark
3. Peter Müller – Germany
4. Fleur Helsingor – California 
5. Bonniediva – Illinois 
6. Jean-Phillippe Gilliot – Belgium 
7. Kathy Barnett – Missouri
8. Virgo – Russia 
9. Mindaugas Žuromskas – Lithuania 
10. Rebecca Guyver – UK 

 

Books and Connected Things

 

As I continue painting books with my Chaekgeori-inspired series I am also documenting.  I am recording my own home as well as the homes of my friends.  This latest one shows the top shelf of the bookcase that sits behind my television.  Yes, don’t get fooled by all the books, I also watch TV.  Note the remote control and the even an antenna.   I don’t pay for cable, I have Sutro Tower beaming PBS into my living room.

The other things with the books include some spider plant clones, a vintage folding measuring stick and a piece of mail art from Robin Sparrow.  I display some of the favorite pieces of mail art that I receive on my bookshelves.  There is a wooden folk carving I picked up in Poland years ago and, on the wall, you can see the bottom of one of the Post-Folk Art pieces I did — a series inspired by Polish folk art.  

Tucked behind the remote control is a 4x4 inch piece I did for the 2011 Project.   

In 2011 I made a small piece of art each day for the entire year (365 in total).  It was not planned, but it is perfect that this 2011 piece was inspired by a visit to the Asian Art Museum — much like this series of Chaekgeori.