Revisiting old collages

 While organizing my received Mail Art, I came across a group of postcard sized collages. I think I made them as samples back in the early 2000s when I was teaching and doing Mail Art workshops. They are very "fussy" by my current aesthetic, which tends toward minimal.

However, I wanted to do something with them, I so I altered each on slightly.

A landscape postage stamp opens up this image.

 A circle mirrors the circle already in place.

A postage stamp which directs the viewers' eyes in yet another direction.

 Three postage stamps flowing down to the girls.

Postage stamp faces giving directions.


I've turned these into Mail Art. They'll all be sent off to people on my mailing list. If you'd like to receive mail from me through your postal address, just let me know via a comment on this blog, or to my e-mail address.

Time to post more Mail Art

 A CD that I collaged and sent to Adamandia in Chicago. It got there without damage. I used the Dean, Artist in Seine technique of NO return address.

 My really good good news is that my Mail Art archive has been deeded to Special Collections of the Virginia Commonwealth University Library. And I'll pass along more this summer. I spent a lot of time sorting through my mail, putting artists work together, remembering all the wonderful mail days. Oh my, such fine work. And from all over the world.

I was excited to let everyone know, via social media and IUOMA group, that their work has been put into a library for ever! The work will eventually be digitized and made available to the public.

This summer, the librarian/curator and I will plan a program to be done at the library. She was very excited to learn that Mail Art is still being made and that the network of Mail Artists is very large.

Here are a few of my face pieces. I have such fun with these.

 This piece is a Persian card that a friend gave to me. I think the glasses and hand go perfectly on it. I feel so happy when things come together like this.

My friend Andrea, in the U.K. sent me the postcard awhile ago as part of her Lost Art project. It's an old tourist photo of Natural Bridge with a couple in the foreground. I added the hand only, which really made me laugh.

Mexico, still on my mind.

Cathedral in San Miguel de Allende. A beautiful night.  There was a shrine out front, but we weren't sure what it was for exactly.

 The lovely Rosewood Hotel near where we were staying on Terraplen. We had a great breakfast there.

Why didn't I buy some of these cute cups?

More from Mexico

We took an architecture tour of San Miguel de Allende, led by our friend Barry Zaid, who now resides in SMA. It was very interesting, of course.

Patterns, tiles, colors, good memories.

Can you make out the sign? Yes, that's a Starbuck's, right in the center of SMA.

Catching the sunset from the balcony, from the house on Terraplen calle. Does that tree look like a monster to you?

Mexico (mas)

Being outdoors a lot was so wonderful. The weather was perfect. The only day it rained was on the day we were leaving SMA to Return to Mexico City.

 This is the Virgen of Guadelupe, which was everywhere. See the angel holding her up and the rays of light emanating from her? Everywhere, on buses, on buildings, in restaurants, and, of course, in churches.

Hat seller.

Hats for sale, everywhere.

I like these two people chatting and the third just standing an looking off to the left, the palm tree stuck there. And then there's that pigeon and a leg. Something about this composition was very satisfying to me.

The Parroquia in SMA. There a funny story about this.  It appears that this is the top of a tall cathedral, but it's not. The architect had no idea that this design was part of a larger structure so he built this as the actual church.

Mexico trip (more)

 The grand-girl was a great traveler. She was so easy, took everything in stride. Here she is wearing her safety harness. Rather than carry a bulky car seat, her parents found this cool harness that hooks into the adult seat belts. She like the harness. She said that it was like Frida Kahlo's corsets she had to wear because of her accident. Hard to believe that she knows these things. In this photo, she's a month away from her 4th birthday.  We were taking a break on the road from Mexico City to San Miguel de Allende.

Some chimichurro in a terrific coffee shop, cafe, in San Miguel de Allende.

 We stopped by a cemetery in SMA. We always like visiting cemeteries in countries we visit. They're so peaceful and so different from cemeteries in the U.S.A.

The view, looking up, at a small cafe. A bird, a colorful building.

More birds, right next to us. Very chirpy. The cafe was called Cafe Magico and it was on a main street into SMA called Salida de Saleya. The inner area was tiny, the patio was the main seating area. The owner was friendly and brought Grand-girl a gigantic glass of fresh orange juice. What a treat.

In our friend Barry's house. Devils on display in an interior window. We loved the color of his house. So cheerful.

More MEXICO!

 Tortillas being made by a pretty fascinating machine at the big mercado near Frida Kahlo's house. This is the view from the inside of the market. On the outside, there was a walk-up window where you could by them by the dozen or less or more. Fresh tortillas1

We walked to a plaza and found an area with stands making fresh tortilla things. Can't remember the name of them. Do you know what these are?
The woman made a tortilla, filled it with stuffing of your choice, then fried it and yum, freshly made food! I had cheese, bean, and shared a squash blossom filled one with my DIL. So delicious.

I had some fizzy lemony drink. Pato Pascual!

Here's a photo of the finished food. I'm getting hungry just looking at this, remembering how delicious it was.

I love how the buildings are painted in bright colors. This was a municipal building with a police station in it. It faced a lovely plaza/park area where lots of people were relaxing, enjoying the beautiful weather.

Here's our grand-girl with helado. She was quite quick to learn and remember that word.

I took photos of newspapers during our vacation. It was interesting to see how Mexicans wrote about things.  This article talks about how a higher wall between the U.S. and Mexico won't be an obstacle. This newspaper has a very good reputation for good journalism.

Have you been to Mexico? What were your experiences? We found the people to be very warm and open. Even my family members who don't speak Spanish, were able to get along fine. I was excited to be using my Spanish all the time.