Catching up with mailart

This is  a piece with circle to see if I could create a spatial illusion.

This is a series I made using;g a 9B water soluble graphite stick I got at Sennelier, in Paris. I added the rubber stamp dots to show isolation amidst confusion about what's going on with Covid19.

This piece, I received from Monster-A-GoGo. A shaped envelope that made it to me with no problem. He's re-retiring as he has health issues so this is a real treasure.

These two pieces are from my friend Katerina, in Thessaloniki. They took a very long time to arrive as mail from Greece (and to) is very slow. BUT arrive they did and I'm soapy to have them. Look at the cool Greek stamp!

A few things about today.

 I'm getting around to catching up on mail. I have new postcard stamps - including the additional stamps to bring the "apples" up to the new price of 34¢

My new pink and red mailbox is a pequeno regalo from N. today.

A nice reminder to put things in the Mail and a tidy place for some of my new postage stamps.

 We received mail from Katerina in Greece and didn't wait for the 14th to open it. It's our first Valentine's day card.

I've got a few more cards to alter but I'm spending a bit of thinking time on what I might do for a new series.  More on that soon.

 Here's Bizoo checking out the non-activity in our back yard. It's a very wintery garden, not many plants still alive, and our beautiful tree cut back so much that it looks like it'll never bloom again. Oh dear.

Bizoo got very sleepy being the studio cat. A big yawn to show us how tired he got guarding the packing plastic.

Our grand came to visit today but we were too busy with her to grab a photo. Z was very interested in Bizoo who was hesitant but curious about her.

Since we don't have a photo of Z from today's visit, I'll show you Z at Stella's with Katrina in the kitchen. Stella's is our fave Greek restaurant.

We're hoping that she'd leave there with the recipe for galactoboureka!

I was the mentor for the month of January for the International Union of Mail Artists. This is the welcome image that I created for it, using one of my collage images. I continue to welcome people as they join. It's become a practice.

Mail art and more

 I altered a couple more of my NYC souvenir cards. This is Frank Sinatra, circa 1965. Notice the cigarette. I thought it was funny having him looking up at New York, where, if he were around, he'd find no where to smoke!

 I really wanted to find an image of something flying, but balloons would have to suffice. This image is from 1965, notice the camera.

 I received this card, with real olive tree leaves on it, from my friend Katerina, in Thessaloniki. She's got it pre-dated, as part of her 365 project. Very Greek lovely!

Yesterday, a friend stopped by and I showed her the new bags that I'd made. She fell hard for this one and a matching small one (Pocket.) We talked about my name dilemma: What to call these because they are more than a tote, in my mind. She liked Pote but then thought Tope sounded better. What do you think? Tope? In any case, she bought this item and a matching small one. This is unique as I have no more of this fabric. I'm going to make a couple more tope/potes before I stop the sewing part of this endeavor. 
As a post script, I've been glued to reports from London, where my friends are okay, but the devastation is unreal.

Grenoble and Mail Art #123, 124, 125

#123

#124

 We went to Grenoble by train to visit a friend. I love taking trains, and it was fun to board the TGV (fast train) at Gare de Lyon (say that fast as one word, so French!)

#125

For this card, I used an image from the brochure about the Chagall show at the Grenoble Museum of Modern Art. It was more than Chagall, it was also the Russian Avante Garde. A very cool exhibit. That's a map of Grenoble, showing the round bubble funicular, called Le Telepherique, that we didn't ride.







Our friend gave me some old automobile magazines and a French topo map. You know how I love those tropographical maps.

 In Grenoble, while waiting to post a piece of mail art, I was lucky enough to capture this image of a many posting his mail. I was so happy to be in a country with lots of post boxes and post offices. Really!

 How fun is this? I'm not sure what municipal type building this was in front of, but it sure was a nice way to add greenery where there was only concrete.

 Looking up, across the Isere River towards the Bastille on the top of the hill. When we arrived, there was snow on the mountains, but by the time we departed it was gone, as warm weather arrived with us.

 We passed the Greek Consulate. This one's for Katerina and Georgia in Thessaloniki.

Here's the small brocante that we went to in Grenoble, not far from where our friend lives. We didn't buy anything but saw some very cool things we would have bought had we lived nearby. Big things, like furniture. I had a chat with some sellers, friends of our friend, in French and Spanish, which was quite fun.

Mail Art sent!

Sent to Greece

 Hopefully these make the deadlines for their respective exhibits.

Sent to Poland