some tiger!

Great tiger! Excellent tiger! Fabulous tiger! The card was sent by a German postcrosser named Denise. It was created by a fellow student for this year's Themenjahr in Halle. Denise studies multimedia/virtual reality design. Her latest project was to create an app, of a digital dream diary, for the new iPad.

henri matisse

This is an Edward Steichen photograph of Henri Matisse. Though Matisse is known for his use of color, the photograph is grand in black-and-white. I am sending the card to a postcrosser in Kyiv, the closest I am likely to get to that city.

billy the kid meets dracula

Lynn B. sent this postcard of a lurid Mexican lobby card for a movie I missed: Billy the Kid vs. Dracula. I'm sure it would give me chills on a hot summer night. The poses in the b&w inset are a bit bizarre.

iris, tulips, jonquils, and crocuses

I would like to see the original of the painting shown in this card. It's called Iris, Tulips, Jonquils, and Crocuses and was painted by Alma Thomas. The work is in the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C.

memphis

Another photograph postcard, this one came from friend Lynn B. It shows a 1971 William Eggleston photo called Memphis, Tennessee. I can almost hear Chuck Berry singing.

welders

Also from the cache of cards recently sent by a friend, this one shows an 1943 Arthur Siegel photograph of arc welders at the Bethlehem-Fairfield shipyards in Baltimore, Maryland. It is likely redundant but I'm sending it to Cal Lane, an artist who uses welding in her remarkable work. www.callane.com

bliss

This wonderful card was sent by a Finnish postcrosser from the little town of Valkcakoski. He writes that in fall he will move to Helsinki to start working. All the best to him!

another italian stamp

Love the grace and energy in this stamp for the Youth Olympics.

quilt show

This may be the summer of found-photo postcards for me. It's odd how these photographs are suddenly surfacing but they are. This one is of Eli Leon, a noted collector and authority on African-American quilts, who sometimes has 'shows' outside his house. I attended one several years ago while doing a piece on the collector. It was fun getting to know Eli a bit. We are now most often in touch by email but I think it is time for a postcard.

green not green

A Lithuanian postcrosser sent this card from a textile show in Vilnius. The piece is called Zalia zole bet ne zole (Green grass but not green).

porto antico

The ancient port of Genoa is shown in this card from postcrosser Rosa, who writes that the galleon was built for a 1980's Roman Polanski movie called Pirates.

the big piece

Here's a postcard for slugger Ryan Howard. Long may he swing that bat.

some light, some bull, and some stamps

Some recent stamps.

Just some bull on the side of the road, captured by a German postcrosser and turned into a postcard. It's the kind of travel encounter I love.

A Spanish postcrosser in Cordoba sent this 'wow' view of el Cristo de los Faroles (The Christ of the Streetlamps) illuminated by candles.

liz whitney quisgard in jim thorpe

New York artist Liz Whitney Quisgard is having a show at the Anita Sharpolsky Art Foundation in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania. Called Pattern and Structure, the show runs through August 22 in the foundation's gallery, an old Presbyterian church. The card at top, from a show earlier this year, shows a Quisgard painting called Moroccan Interior. www.asartfoundation.org

inari

This card shows a painting called Inari, by Susan Seddon-Boulet. It depicts Japan's fox god, who likes to seduce hapless humans into all manner of folly. Inari shrines can be found all over Japan. The old men at my local post office in Ayaori used to tell stories of being tricked by foxes while working in the mountains. What I really like about this fox, ready for a wedding, is its foxy seriousness.

coastal carolina

This is a make-up card for one that never reached its destination. I hope this one does. Having things lost in the mail is so disappointing.

cool sweden

A cool stamp from Sweden.

too damn hot

I'm sending this classic to a friend who loves hot weather. (Is she mad?) Supposed to hit 98F and beyond today and all week. Run for cover!

happy 4th of july!

It's going to be a hot (mid-90's) and sticky one here in the Northeast but enjoy the holiday, folks!

blue

The Swedish postcrosser who sent this intensely blue card wrote: "Midsummer in Sweden. Flags everywhere. People celebrating summer." Perfect timing for this holiday weekend.