mohiniyattam

This card, from an Indian postcrosser, shows a form of Indian classical dance from Kerala, called mohiniyattam. That, sez Wikipedia, means "dance of the enchantress". Dancers' costumes are typically edged in yellow. Here's to dance in all its wondrous forms!

minnie in iwate

This postcard came from Iwate, whose capital in particular has long been known for wanko soba, mouth-size servings of soba served in tiny bowls. An early form of eating competition, the idea is to eat as many bowls as possible. The card shows Minnie Mouse as a server in a Morioka soba shop. For me, it's a way too exhausting way to eat. I'll take my zarusoba straight.

taiwan tiger

Subtle, and pretty, Year of the Tiger postcard and stamp from a postcrosser in Taiwan.

stamp book

Sandy Sapienza made this charming little book, barely larger than a stamp, for saving, protecting, or documenting stamps. She was inspired by the stamps posted on this blog but says I should use however I wish. What a lovely little treat! It arrived in yesterday's mail with the stamps below. What timing!

flowers in winter

The postmaster at my old post office in Ayaori sent these two sheets of stamps in a New Year's package that arrived yesterday. The stamps show prefectural flowers, top to bottom: peach blossoms, rape flowers, Japanese flowering apricot blossoms and primrose, Japanese bayberry, and (another kind of) Japanese flowering apricot.

brazilan stamps

Anne (below) used some very cool stamps on her postcard. I've posted the trumpet ones before but say, hey. The others are new, including another in the Hector Consani series depicting people at work and one showing a mail carrier. Again, thanks!

pernambuco

A Brazilian postcrosser named Anne painted this wonderful, beautiful card from the state of Pernambuco. It took about two month to reach me but it arrived in great shape. Many thanks!

the departure of lot

Lynn B. sent this postcard showing a Rubens' painting called The Departure of Lot and His Family from Sodom. It made me think about the story of Lot, who was willing to sacrifice his daughters for slights to some, albeit heavenly, guests. It's a sketchy tale of righteousness run amok. I don't understand why Lot is spared, and Rubens' portrayal of his wife has got to give one pause.

tiger's nest

A Kyoto friend sent a late New Year's card to my mother. She annotated her collage image of a tiger with messages and drawings. She writes that her younger daughter, now 40 and a doctor, is the head of a fan cheering group for the Hanshin Tigers, a beleaguered but beloved baseball team. She also writes that their house is a "tiger's nest" (which reminds me that she and her husband last year made a trip to Bhutan) and was featured in an NHK documentary.

Mailart Call: RED

Mailart Fans we received this call from France. Send your red mailart in!

The Françoise Giroud Library of Castries (France) organizes from January 4th to January 31st
2011 a Mail art exhibition. We therefore send out a call for contributions on the following subject : Red.
Please send your work before November 1st 2009 to the following address :
Art postal
Rouge Médiathèque
Françoise Giroud 15 Avenue de la Cave Coopérative
34160 CASTRIES, FRANCE
All works will be displayed during the exhibition at the end of the year, as well as on the Library's website at the following address :
http://www.montpellier-agglo.com/mediatheques,in the "Action culturelle et pédagogique / Art postal" section.
No jury, no fee, no return. Postal delivery only.

utrecht smiles

A Dutch student named Ellen altered this postcard, the very first one she sent as a postcrosser. She wrote that when she read about altered cards, she reached immediately for her stickers, papers, and such. She also pasted the cutout of the apple in lower right onto the card. Thanks and happy postcrossing to her!

blueclaws

It's the time of year for perusing seed catalogs and starting to think about baseball. This postcard came from the Lakewood BlueClaws, in Lakewood, New Jersey. I'm not likely to take a group there or anywhere but I do like that ballpark.

Beautiful Altered Cards

From Finnish postcrosser Kirda, made with Christmas calendar, star stamps and Finnish TV programs.


From Finnish postcrossser Anniina, a distressed card that has been scrunched, sanded and burned.


From Chinese postcrosser "cutestella" a card collaged with labels, scraps and cute drawings.

Peephole

This very cool altered card was sent by Finnish postcrosser Johanna. A very simple idea, beautifully executed!

Bloody Eye

Jacqueline sent this card of a painting by James Turrell called "The Way of Color."

Dancers and Deities of Afro-Cuba

Sue Matthews, an Oakland artist, likes to travel to Cuba to sketch and paint Afro-Cuban dancers. This is a print of her original painting and it was recently exhibited in an alternative space in Berkeley.

Smiley Buns

This bright, cheerful altered card is from Taiwanese postcrosser Jia Yun. Makes me hungry for good old white flour breads and buns!

big cats

I was putting cancelled stamps in an envelope to send to a friend but ended up using some myself. I hope she enjoys these cats. In their own ways, they are all very big.

we like stamps

They speak for themselves.

"cats as cats can"

Priscilla sent this amusing postcard, an illustration from a Tomi Ungerer book named Cats as Cats Can. I used to love Tomi Ungerer. Maybe this card will get me to check out what he's done lately.