A new year!

#1

 Happy New Year!

The holiday season has come and gone and my wrists no longer ache from production knitting, and a new year has begun.

I decided to grab some pieces out of the tin of colored paper. My grand and I have been making circles so I have a lot of paper with holes punched out of them. Layering them makes for a lively piece of Mail Art, I think. 

#2

 Working with this old colored paper is fun but frustrating in that I have to keep it really clean as it marks easily and if glue gets on it, it doesn't clean up nicely. Oh, am I a bit too precise here. It's ONLY Mail Art! And I noticed, when we saw the Matisse Cut Out show that he wasn't precise or neat. And his work is so amazing!

 Our trip to New York City was really good. We saw that Matisse Cut Out show at MoMA, and M took us to the Noguchi Museum in L.I.C. after we went to PS1 in Queens. Really liked both of those museums. My first time for the Noguchi.

The weather was okay, not very cold, though rainy the first couple of days. But who cares when shoes are bright!

This is a view out a bathroom window in PS1. I was on a quest for boring photos for the Boring group that I'm part of. It turned out to be not so boring to me.  Since I've been looking for things to photograph that are boring, I've had a very interesting time. Go figure.

And FYI, summary of my Mail Art 2014 - I made and sent 256 numbered cards. I send a few un-numbered but can't remember how many so maybe I'll round up to 260. I'm pleased with that considering I'm NOT doing a 365 project.

Now, on to my resolution - getting rid of stuff daily, even it only one item. I was proud of myself, I threw away my old date stamp that didn't go beyond 2014 when I got my new one that started with 2015. I did think momentarily of the possibility of the old one being a sought after vintage item in the future. But tossed it anyway. YAY, me! Good start to 2015.

Did you make a resolution? or two?

Yogurt cake, Mail Art, and some more NYC

#63

 I did the background for this then let it dry. Then I tried to make trees. ha ha ha ha! I cracked myself up. Nope, not trees!  I ended up doing some sewing on top and decided that this looked like something from a fantasy sci-fi story. Some aliens under an alien sky?

#64

This watercolor pieces is kind of wimpy. I did it, let it dry, then added some details. Nothing is bold enough. I'm being tense about this. I probably should have sewn on top of it, but instead, I'm sending it out as is. I'll keep practicing.

I decided to make the Yogurt cake recipe that Kristin Espinasse had on her blog - French Word-a-day. I posted it on my recipe blog. HERE.  It turned out really deliciously! It'll be a perfect treat tomorrow, when the weather turns cold. I'll sit with a cup of tea, a book, and some yogurt cake. hmmm, perfect.

Here's Yvette Ho of Panade in NYC, with Monkey of HiMonkey fame. I forgot that I had taken this while a "formal" photo was being taken for Monkey's blog.

 Another kind of monkey is on the "billboard" next to MoMA. Oh, yes, PLAY! That's important for toy monkey's and for all of us.

This church is on the corner of Essex and Henry St. It's what we saw when we walked out of the apartment we were staying in, in Chinatown. This view, for me, looks like we're in a small city, not Manhattan. It was a very cozy corner of a busy, big city.

Mail Art, of course, and more NYC.

#56

 Here I use my current favorite elements, a person lower left looking off "camera", dots and Washi tape. What fun! The color of the large area is not gray, it's actually a green. My scanner didn't do a good job of capturing this.

#57

Here is one of my attempts at watercolor (colour, for my Brit friends.) I took a workshop yesterday, with my friend Rudi, who was very encouraging. I liked it. I have to practice a lot, but I think I can do this. It'll be a nice switch from my usual cut & paste.

#58

So what do I do today, day 58? I go back to cut and paste. I couldn't resist this. I've been looking for this fish, which got lost in my scraps, and just found it today. It went perfectly with this very old postcard. Since it called for a one cent stamp, it's gotta be from the turn of the last century.  

 Now for some food photos from our New York Trip. This delicious quiche was eaten a 103 Monument Lane in the West Village. YUM!

 On Sunday last week, we celebrated our daughter's birthday by walking around a lot! It was a gorgeous day for a walk. We went down to the parks on the Hudson  River, we went to restaurants, we checked out shops, and my honey followed some music and found an event in the courtyard of Westbeth. Great surprise. Good music, including the Bob Dorough trio. Bob did the music on Schoolhouse Rock. In case you don't remember it, check it out. He sang  "Three is a Magic Number" which was such a treat!
This little girl was busy creating art with a gigantic stick of chalk while the music was playing.

Here's some chill refreshment I had at lunch that special day. It was quite tasty! 

This is a creamy tomato soup that I had at Sarabeth's Tribeca restaurant. It was   near where we ended our walk along the Hudson River Park. When we saw the place, we decided to have an early dinner there. The recipe isn't posted on their site which is too bad cause I'd sure like to replicate it. I've never had such a delicious creamy, chunky tomato soup. Got a good tomato soup recipe for me? Anyone?

Mail Art made while on holiday

#48

#49

#50

#51

#52

I made these cards while on our brief holiday in NYC. Card #48 was made on the train using images cut from the Amtrak magazine. I had a little bag of circles and added these which were punched out of the remainder of a sheet of postage stamps.




I made this using scraps that I'd cut from the magazine, while we were in the place we were staying in Manhattan. A shared apartment in the lower Lower East Side (LES) I'm not sure how successful the green dot bits are in the water.






As you can see, I used bits from museums that we visited in this one. I'm sending it to a couple that sat next to us at the cafe in MoMA. They were visiting for a few days on their way home to Tahiti. I got to speak French!









Again, using bits from from the Amtrak magazine and my ubiquitous circles.











This is the one that I made on the train, on the way back home. It was a pleasant ride, in the quiet car, with nice memories of a short but excellent holiday.

Back home, catching up

 We went up to New York City to celebrate the launch of our kids new business and our daughter's birthday. A quick trip via the train. Well not quick cause the train ride is 6 hours long, but the stay was short.

Here's the old U.S. Post Office that is across from the train station in NYC. It's one of those wonderful old buildings. I think it's being converted into something else. I hope not condos!

 This is the building still under construction at "ground zero." We've been watching the progress. This time we are closer to it, down on the west side of Manhattan in the Tribeca area.

#46

I added 4 circles and a piece of paper with holes in it to this. To me, it now looks like figures on a boat with portholes. What's it look like to you? It's an altered postcard.

#46a

Someone sent me an Artist Trading Card and I wanted to send one back to them but not in an envelope. I made the ATC, then I attached it to the front of a postcard with Washi tape - my new one with stars on it. I like the way it turned out. The recipient can peel off the tape to get their ATC (which is in a plastic sleeve) or just leave it like it is.

#47

I decided that it was time for another collaged piece of dead technology to go out. I like that the information on this is unreadable, a mystery that will remain forever locked in this plastic thing.

In New York City

Happy this was available!

We took the train from Philadelphia to New York City on Monday afternoon (last week.) and by Wednesday, I needed to see the Doc at the Duane Reade. Happy me, got diagnosis and meds and on the road to recovery. But this trip to the city was at a way slower pace than usual. 







One of the exhibits we saw was at MAD. Artists who don't usually work in glass, showing glass pieces. Very cool! I wish I'd written down the name of this artist, because I really liked this piece, but I didn't. If you know who did it, let me know. It's a broken red glass chandelier with crows on it.

 This glass piece was done by Mike Joo, a sculptor, whom we met many years ago at the Cite International des Arts. This is a beautiful piece.

 We went to MoMA on Thursday, a day we forgot the umbrella and needed one, so I ended up buying the one I'd wanted for a long time. It has clouds on the inside and you know how I love clouds. Here are some clouds as seen from MoMA. Here is the link to see the umbrella I got.

 We stopped in at MoMA cafe where I had a cup of lovely peppermint tea. For some reason, I wanted that kind of tea while I was ill, and everywhere we stopped in the city had it. Lucky me.

 Clouds viewed from the High Line. We walked slowly down the path, the sky cleared. It was so nice to have the views from this elevated park.

 Clearer skies, lovely clouds, more from the High Line.












This is some vegetarian sweet and sour soup from the really good Szechuan restaurant on 9th Ave. & 24th Street. If you are in the city, stop in at this place. Reeeeally delicious food.

T

This is Buddha Delight. I had this at a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown on Canal Street east of Broadway. The tofu is made there and is excellent. It's so busy and the food is so fresh and delicious. Even though I wasn't feeling 100% well, I enjoyed eating this kind of food. Yummy!

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.

Optimism, mail art, and the duck

 I'm thinking that we all need a bit of this these days. I'm avoiding the news, since there's not much I can do about any of the grim events taking place (though I do what I can when I can) and spending lots of time in my studio making mail art and items for my booth at the Jonny Z Fest next Saturday. I keep this Metro Pass in front of me. It's a reminder to me that life is a flow, that everything changes, and that, for me, optimism is necessary and important.

 I made three cards in different styles yesterday. This is day #249 of my 365 days of Mail Art, though this card is actually #400 and something. I made it to send to Reed Altemus as a thank you for sending me a Hannah Hoch Fan Club rubber stamp. How cool is that? I'm a real fan of her work so it's a treat to be in her fan club.

 I made this card as a thank you for someone who organized an ATC trade. I haven't made any of these tiny art works in a couple of years, but still have some to trade so I participated. I got three in return to add to my collection.

 This card is for my mail art friend Val, who lives in the south of France. He comes up with really fun things for us to do. This one is my application for standing as an "IUOMA Advanced Mail Artist." I hope I pass the examination.

 The pool was very still this morning.  I couldn't see Duckie? Where is he?

Ah, here's Duckie, at the far end, in the shade. The water was only 84F today, which was cool compared to the air temperature so it felt very refreshing.

Now, as soon as I finish posting to my mail art blog, I'll get back to sewing.

A real Tiny Town, mail art and more

 When we visited New York City in July, we went down to the area where the city began as New Amsterdam. There was a wonderful bronze sculpture of the area set into a tiny park by the Staten Island ferry dock. This was it, the tip of the island of Manhattan, a small village, little houses, farmland.

 Looking at this village, and then up at the buildings around me, was such a strange experience. This Tiny Town represented in the sculpture became this tall, densely populated island. Wow! I mean, really, Wow!

 I was sorting through old photos, pre-digital days, when I came across several packs of photos from my old art foundation teaching years. I'd used them to remind me of what the students had produced. This photo cracked me up. It's from March 03. Since the students are wearing masks, they are unidentifiable (except one guy's face wasn't covered so I put a paper dot on it.) I wonder where they are, these now grown up people? They were for the most part 18 years old at the time of the photo.

 More of my Minimal 1 + 9B graphite series #246

 Again, I used a large sheet of water color paper, made lines with the 9B graphite stick and then worked with water on top of the line.

 I wanted a simpler look than in the previous series and I think I achieved that.

The circles were cut from the 1965 McCall's magazine and again, I was pleased at the way I was able to integrate them into the composition.