from a train station in portugal

Portuguese postcrosser Paulo sent this card, showing a detail from a tile mural in the train station in Santarem, Portugal. Santarem is the capital of Portuguese bullfighting, which, he says, differs from Spanish bullfighting because the bulls are not killed.

suddenly spring

This cute, goofy flower cut-out was in today's mail, sent by Cheryl C., who works at the Springtown post office. The temperature is in the teens today so her colorful spring greeting is truly cheery. Keeping in the spirit, she used stamps from the simple but pretty flower series. I'm pretty sure I'll be copying this idea. Who wouldn't want to find a big flower in the mail?

late greetings

A friend in Japan always remembers my birthday. I never knew when hers was till she let it slip a couple of weeks ago. It's late but I've sent her this acrylic and sticker effort. I've got a cache of acrylics here, bought when I first got into altered books. Suddenly time to have fun with acrylics!

trans-siberian express

This invitation to ride came yesterday from the International Railway Society. (I write for them, I should say.) I love the serious expression on the conductor's face. The tag on the back reads: "Lurking in the heart of every traveler is the Trans-Siberian Express". Alas, the only train travel in my future is a possible trip from Philadelphia to Baltimore.

nathan road to the nth degree

This fabulous, fabulous postcard shows a composite photo called Neon fantasy on Nathan Road. The signs are from famous restaurants and night spots in Hong Kong, all transposed to the famed "Golden Mile". The card arrived this cold, wet afternoon from a Hong Kong postcrosser called Iris, just as I was brewing up a pot of oolong tea. Thanks, Iris!

arizona fall league

I made this envelope from the cover of a program from last year's Arizona Fall League. It turned out to be just right for sending a little Phillies notebook I picked up yesterday to "Mrs. October", my 93-year-old friend who has been to every World Series game since 1964.

doll festival

March 3 is Girls' Day in Japan, traditionally known as the Doll Festival. The French postal art recycling project has sucked me in. I made this card for an 11-year-old friend. The origami emperor and empress were sent to me a couple of years ago by a friend in Tono, where I used to live. The collaged background, which in part uses a sweet motif, is on recycled cardstock. Chikurindo, my fave sweet shop in Tono, always has excellent hishimochi, the three-color rice confection that is part of the festival display.

cats from japan

This thank-you postcard from a friend in Tokyo came yesterday. She's a dog person but knew some of my cats in Japan, hence this antic card of Kuniyoshi cats.

more art

I've had this card on display all month, hoping that I would be able to make it to the show at Snyderman-Works in Philadelphia. But it's not to be. The show ends on the 29th and I'm too busy.

dust-o-grams

This intriguing postcard came the other day, announcing a show called "Dust-o-grams" at the Zoellner Arts Center in Bethlehem, PA. The show is a collaboration between photographer Maria Martinez Canas and conceptual artist/naturalist Kim Brown. The photo shows dust particles that have been stitched onto various forms, then photographed onto light-sensitive paper. The image alone was enough to make me want to see the show immediately. Reading the brief description of the collaboration made it only more interesting.

picasso

If it's so that postcards are slowly disappearing, whatever will happen to art cards? This one, showing Picasso's enigmatic Head of a Faun in Grey, arrived today from my friend Jozef. What if there were no postcards available at museums or exhibitions?

kinkakuji

A postcrosser named Satomi sent this snowy view of Kinkakuji, one of the more famous temples in Kyoto. The little red mailbox to the left of the entrance made me feel so nostalgic. It looks like my old mailbox in Kyoto. Poor Satomi, though. She's drawn me twice in the past six months, which seems most unlikely. On the other hand, in December I got a card from a woman in Malaysia, then in January one from her younger sister. Small world?

Recent Cards

Acrylic paint background, Cut pictures from bulb catalog transferred to card via gel medium, overlay black acrylic paint, paint wiped with paper towel, card coated with gloss medium.

Pronto plate image lithographed on rice paper, background painted in acrylics, torn pages from book, litho image adhered to card via gel medium, coated with gloss medium.

Package image torn from backing, distressed with sandpaper. Acrylic background, package image adhered by gel medium, coated with thin layer of off-white acrylic. Colored pencil overlay.

I've been playing around with various mixed media technique. It's fun to use a postcard format for these experiments.

cool exchange

The postcard from France the other day was in fact to be returned. It was part of an exchange put on by secondary school students in Amiens. The project is designed to integrate art into life, highlight human relationships and fight marginalization and isolation, favor social links and further creative acts, and give people a living guide to motivate their interest in learning. The theme of the project is "The trip." So I put on a couple of stamps which reflected that, one showing the ships bringing those who settled Jamestown and another of the Hershey kiss, made here in Pennsylvania. I also added things to the card front and sent a message, courtesy of Black Elk, on the back. I only wish the sender had put a stamp on the envelope to me! All postcards returned in this exchange will be exhibited this May, I guess at the school.

Desire

I received this cool cloud collage card from Sylwia of Germany (born in Poland). She writes, "I call my card 'Desire.' Hope you like it because I had a lot of fun when I made it for you." I love this card. Thanks Sylwia!

red letter day

On the heels of a San Francisco Chronicle article on the slow but inexorable demise of the postcard, I received 10 yesterday. What a treat! All were pretty cool. One was a postcrossing card from England, with a Santa stamp I had not seen. Another was a surprise card from the projet art postal people in France. That was a handmade narrative card about a little girl setting out on a journey with her dog Oslo. Then there were 2 Valentine cards made by the 5-year-old twin sons of friends, and a bonus card of a self-portrait by one. There was also a great Panjab Hills painting card from a friend in Arkansas and another of a photo of fukujuso (adonis) in the snow from a friend in Tokyo. Rounding it all off were three exhibition announcement cards: one of a local glass show, one of the big craft fair in Baltimore next week, and the last of a group show featuring the work of my co-blogger. Nice going. I was immediately inspired to make a card in reply to one friend, must now think up something for the girl in France.

Our Lady of the Threads

Happy Valentines Day! This card is made with index cards, rubber stamps, paint and the many threads cut from making plastic sleeves to display postcards for the ArtWaves recycle postcard show.

Easter!

That's the name of a marvelous book of vintage postcards put out by Darling & Company of Seattle. I noticed the book while picking up an order at my local indie book shop last week. I'd already paid up, then actually left the shop, figuring I'd pick up the cards the next time. But good sense kicked in and I rushed back to buy the book before it disappeared. Its 30 postcard reproductions are from the golden age of postcards (1893-1918) and some, like the rabbits playing baseball to stands packed with solemn peeps, are bizarrely wonderful. Most of the cards feature rabbits, peeps, and eggs. Rabbits do lots of the painting and delivering, by cart or by locomotive, of the eggs. This is a great book of postcards. I've already found about 10 themed to specific interests of friends, not to mention my own flavors.

Flag Card

I made this postcard out of postage stamps picked up at a white elephant sale and acrylic paint. For several months I haven't painted or worked on art projects because of the 2 shows I'm organizing this month. Today was a gift - a full day to spend in my studio. It was sunny and quiet there, quite unlike my home where the street below my office is being torn up for replacement of water & gas pipes.