Having fun with a Gondolier!

#88

#89

#90

 After a friend saw my previous use of The Gondolier on a postcard, she commented that it'd be fun to see him in different situations. So I tried that.

Here he is in a fountain at the World's Fair in NYC in 1964.

#91

#92

Unfortunately, my printer didn't do a very good job of printing so that he came out a little pale.

This is NOT a Gondolier card, obviously, rather something I did with the scraps on my table. I like using up my scraps this way.

Below, more of the Gondolier in his many environments. Which is your favorite?

The Gondolier

The usual stuff and some funny stuff

#76

#77

 Here's a series of table scraps cards with circles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

#78

 Our grand-girl added color and put some googly eyes on a fashion model in W magazine. it tickled me SO much. I took a close up photo of the face. and then made this triple portrait. So silly and funny. I laugh every time I look at it. What do you think?

Googly eyes

triple portrait with googly eyes

my car

On Friday, I drove over to the museum to attend Zona española and parked between two behemoths. I looked back at my car and was astounded at how tiny my car looked. I had to snap this photo. Doesn't it look like a toy car?

No catchy title, Mail Art and more.

#72

#73

#74

#75

#75 reverse

Back side

 I'm trying to find a pattern to replicate this little folder.

I made it a long time ago, and ended up sewing it into a little art book.

I thought the pattern was in a book but I can't find it in any of the ones that I have. Could have been a library book or a book that I lent out.

I think it was given as a Stamp Holder.

Does anybody recognize this?

inside

Front

Mail Art, of course!

#38

#39

#40

#41

#42

This past week, I was using up more of the scraps from my table, but couldn't resist altering a commercial card.

#40 is an old card that  shows a motel that no longer exists. We stayed there probably 20 years ago when we first got our dog, Smitty, because they permitted dogs. it was just over the dune from the Atlantic Ocean on the OBX of North Carolina. We had a nice time except that we got kicked off after 2 days. A big storm was expected so they closed every place and made us all leave. Normally, it takes 3 hours to get home, that day, it took seven. The dog was freaked and never rode in the car again.

With #42, I started a new series, hands and butterflies/moths. There'll be more of these coming up.

Finishing up January 2016, WOW!

#28

#29

#30

#31

#32

Zinn's altered card

Zinn's collage as an Add and Pass

Here's a group of my abstract collage Mail Art pieces made from scraps on my table. Love calling them my table scrap collages.  #30 is an alteration of a show card for an exhibit in 2008, of sculpture by our friend, Keith Long. I sent it to him, won't he be surprised!
#32 is for Connie Jean's on-going squirrel art exhibit.

Zinn was playing at my studio table and, as usual, wanted to collage on a card. She chose the pig card to alter. "I need some small people to go on this card," she told me. And She made up a story, which I wrote on the reverse.
Anyone want to receive this card? Let me know. Her parents aren't archiving all of her work, so I'm sending out, after scanning.
She also made this collage from more of the bits on my table. I decided to make it into an Add and Pass which I'm sending to one of my Mail Art buddies. Miss Z has quite the eye, doesn't she. She'll be 3 mid-March, just to give this some perspective.

I'm learning from her, as well as her observing what I do.

A good way to archive my makings. More Mail Art.

#18

#19

#20

#21

#22

These were all made using scraps that were on my studio table. I had such a good time making them.

#18 and a guest Mail Artist.

#18

Zinn #1

Zinn #2

birthday cakes

With #18, I returned to making an abstract collage, using scraps left from cutting things out. I really like how this looks and if I were still painting, I'd use this as a sketch for a large painting. In my mind only, now.

My grand girl was hanging out in my studio and said she wanted to glue a woman on a card too. I let her choose a couple postcards and anything from my pile of scraps. Card #1 she said was her mother and father looking at the sunset. She was down on the beach with us, her grands. This is based on our time at the beach in November when we saw the most spectacular sunsets on Currituck Sound. (OBX, North Carolina)

Card #2 the paintings on the lower right represent her mother and father. The large woman is also her mother and the postage stamp is a mural on the wall that goes up into the sky.  

The cakes are a collaboration we did last week. She wanted to make cakes to put into a toy that she was pretending was an oven. She told me what colors to make the plate, the cake,  the frosting, the candles and even what "cake topper." This from a child who has NEVER eaten cake. She'll be 3 in March. Toward the end, I got her to put the frosting on the top, and the candles. I added the flames. Yesterday, I got her to make the all parts except the plate. I figure, she'll eventually make cakes on her own.

What do you think?

Busy days, and Mail Art, of course.

#80

#81

#82

 The first three pieces of Mail Art here, I made using scraps left over from cutting out patterns for mailing envelopes. I really do like the randomness of them. The color, for me, suggest the 1920s design palette. What do you think?

#83

The fourth card, the sea, is for an exhibit in Argentina. The theme "Lo que el Delta ve." I didn't have a clue what the curator might want, but the Delta of the Tigre river was referred to, so - water it had to be.

I used an old photo that a friend gave to me as the substrate, then added the hand and the circle.

These are all standard postcard size.


You know that I don't often share photos of our grand-girl, but, these days, she's been busy making collages, using stickers. I took her shopping at the craft store and we came away with a lot of sticker books. I find backgrounds for her to use. Here she's putting them on card stock from a paper company sample book. I love how she layers the stickers, and has no concern  if the animals or letters are upside down or right side up. I want to copy her compositions!

 These are some flowers from a bit ago. I love the color and the design of them.

I had to share them with you.

Do you know what they are? I don't, but I like them.

I forgot that I wanted to show this to you. This was the post office in Duck, N.C. It was a real post office, in a crowded little space, that included all of the things listed on the sign out front. The postal worker was very helpful. He wanted to be sure I knew that postal rates were going up, which I did.

This isn't the official DUCK post office, as I think that's in Kitty Hawk, but this is the post office IN Duck.

Quaint!

So many days have gone by....

#76

#77

#78

#79

 Why have I been gone so long?
So many things have been going on and all good!

For one thing, we went off to the beach for an entire week, renting a beach house with family and friends. It was delightful. We could see, and hear, the Atlantic ocean from the house, a short walk along a wooden path took us up over the dune onto the beach. The beach was very lovely, with hardly anyone on it as it's early in the season.
The weather was perfect.

Our grand-girl had a great time in her gigantic sand box.
 We can't wait to do this again.

A couple of the cards above were made at the beach with scraps of paper cut from the beach brochure.

 We saw the sunrise on the ocean and the sunset on the sound. How perfect.

The water was too cold to do more than walk along the edges.

 We saw lots of dolphins leaping and lots of pelicans flying, often they were in a line low over the dune. Both the dolphins and pelicans were closer than I'd ever seen before. How perfect.

One day, there were several bicycles parked on the board walk to the beach, behind our house.

I took this photo and used it on my new bicycle blog, for entries to my Mail Art call. See it HERE and do send me something.

This has been something keeping me busy. Also, while at the beach, I set up a blog to archive the artists coloring book that my honey produced. You can see it HERE.