Richard Baudet

This picture makes me wonder if this Hippy Fly will fly into the Hippo's mouth. Great collage created by Richard Baudet from France, merci beaucoup, Richard!

I love the postage stamp, too, because it shows where (whom) cow's milk in fact has been made for. And of course Richard's beautiful handwriting (I received this calligrapic collage before).

On the back side kind words for the Postmen.
I showed it to the man who looks after the p.o.boxes, and he was pleasantly surprised. Thank you, merci beaucoup, Richard!

Svetlana Volosiuk

An amazing animal, created by Svetlana Volosiuk from Belarus.

On the back so much more to see. I love languages, so I'm happy that Svetlana added these ephemera in a language which I still have to explore.



And see the beautiful artistamp on the envelope, which matches to the right arm of the weird collaged animal!



More art you can find here, and more mail art by Svetlana you can find on her website.

Thank you very much, Svetlana!

Ion Isaila

Great drawing made by Ion Isaila.

When someone sends mail art for this Real Weird Animals project, one of the first questions which come into mind is: Which animal this would be?
On the right I see a (wo)man, and on the left an, er...?
First thought this might be a Minotaur, the ancient Greek mythologic animal-man. But probably I'm wrong.
Well, in Art - so also Mail Art - it's never necessary to specify what the beholders (should) see. Look and think your own unique thoughts! Anyway, I like ballpoint drawings, so I'm delighted to have received this work of art from Düsseldorf.



I don't know how Ion knows that I like Smurfs, and I realize that this is the first time that someone addressed a Smurf directly to Real Weird Animals. Which brings a new question in mind: what type of animal would a Smurf be?!?



Thank you very much, Ion!

Katerina, Angie and Matthew

Katerina from Greece met Angie and Matthew in the USA, and this collage is one of the results of their mail art collaboration. I am happy to have received it! And added it to this Real Weird Animals site, because there are several interesting animals in their mail art. Like this sea water horse above.



And an Octopus. In Dutch we call the Octopus 'Inktvis', which means 'Ink fish' (maybe this word exists in English, too?).
So I think it a nice coincidence that this amazing eight-legged animal has been printed thanks to an eraser stamp and... ink!



Katerina added stamp stickers of a wellknown character and her new friends: Alice, in Wonderland. Here meeting one of my other favourite animals, this time an alas extinct one: the Dodo.



Thank you very much, Angie, Matthew and Katerina!

Lautaro Salgado

From Chile I received these friendly farm animals, gathered in a nice envelope.
Sent by Lautaro Salgado, who inside this envelope has added an add-and-pass-on chain letter mail art. That will be continued on an other day (and other blog).



Colourful artistamps:



Muchas gracias, Lautaro!

Galerie Le Lab

For the people who visit this Real Weird Animals website at a regular base it will be clear: I consider Humans animals, and Fish clearly are animals.
So the amazing combination of the two, Mermaids, must be animals who fit in this blog, too.

This jolly Mermaid has been created by Jean Claude Sarpi of Galerie Le Lab, as a reply to the Mermaid envelope I had sent to Marseille for the mail art project 'Mermaid in the port, queens of the sea...'.

And some land animals you can see on the postage stamp: a poor deer, attacked by a hunting feline and a man...



Nice detail (I think), added by the Post: the Marseille Post Office apparently considered this beautiful artistamp as a regular stamp.

Thank you very much, merci beaucoup, Jean Claude!

Cascadia Artpost (2)

These little fellows are called 'Peeps', but I would label them in this blog as human beings.
Nice photos, and note the artistamp on the backside. Thank you very much, Cascadia Artpost!



The same day this envelope came into my mailbox. Great messages on the rubber stamp prints on the back, don't you all think so?!





Inside an unexpected surprise: a 'Go Green' card! Cascadia Artpost has sent me a 'Go Green' card some time ago. It's an amazing card: within the paper there are seeds, which you can let grow by planting the postcard.
However, the back side of the previous card I considered too beautiful to have it vanish into the soil, so I wanted to keep that card complete.
And now he had sent me a second, almost blank, card! Looking forward to seeing which kind of plants will grow out of this.



Thanks so much, Cascadia Artpost, so thoughtful of yours!

Fraenz Frisch

Fraenz added this drawing of a funny Dog on his envelope. Inside the envelope beautiful artistamps, collages and a call for entries for the digital mail art projects of Fraenz.
So the content might not have to do with Real Weird Animals (except for the fact that it's human mankind who creates email art, affiches, etcetera). But look at this dog - really a funny weird kind gentle animal, don't you think so?





Hey look, there's Cow pictured, too!



And great rubber stamp prints, also tributing the Postman. Thank you very much, Fraenz!

Alison

Alison from South Africa created this beautiful envelope. See the Ladybird on the postage stamp! And a Caracal, and of course the Air Mail Bird.

Inside this envelope she sent a nice letter, accompanied by the postcard you see below. Speaking about South-African animals, usually the 'Big Five' come into mind. And the Giraffe, and Zebra.
However, there are of course many more animals. Among them these 'Ugly Five'.



I think these 'Ugly Five' at least as interesting as the more well-known African animals. They usually have a bad image, not only for their appearance, but also their behaviour is thought to be bad. Which is exaggerated by negative propaganda by movies like the Lion King (o.k. the Warthog has got a more sympathetic imago by this movie).

The 'Ugly Five' are very important animals in the whole circle of life. What would we do without them? How would the landscape look like, without these weird useful creatures? The Hyena and Crocodile allow herbivores to not starve from hunger, by eating some of them. And the Hyena, Marabou Stork and Vulture are the cleaners of the savannah.
And the Warthog, well, it's just a cute animal, holding the tail as an antenna when he/she runs around.

Ryosuke Cohen (2)

On the Brain Cell life forms by Ryosuke Cohen you always can see various Animals.
When he sends Brain Cell forms to me, usually he uses my name as the addressee. This time the mail art was addressed to Real Weird Animals. So I am happy to share this one with you. Enjoy!

And especially I am happy - and feel honoured - by the fact that this time he choose to use my version of the Orion Soup.



Many more Brain Cell life forms you can find on the Brain Cell Compilation website.

Thank you very muchm arigato, Mr. Cohen!

Mail Art Martha (4)

Mail Art Martha sent me two, no, in fact three treasures: a Rabbit (or Hare?), the famous Mail Snail (on the envelope, both rubber stamp and postage stamp). And artistamps of her Postman, Kevin!



Of course Postmen are people whom we should cherish. On the stamp you can see how he brings both mail art and a smile to Mail Art Martha.
So it's a good idea to dedicate a stamp to this very important person!



Thank you very much, Martha!

Dórian Ribas Marinho (2)

Another surprise from Dórian Ribas Marinho from Brazil!





More amazing works by Dórian Ribas Marinho you can find on the world wide web.



And always nice to see the envelope filled with beautiful postage stamps.

Thank you very much, muito obrigado, Dórian!

Cristina Blank

Received from Cristina Blank from 5Blanks from Germany, these two animals, chatting before a golden background.



Cristina also included a call for entries the mail art project 'Angels & Demons'. See the colourful collage of works by 10 colleague mail artists, and below more information about the 5Blanks mail art project.





Thank you very muchm, herzlichen Dank, Cristina!

Erni Bär (4) and Edmund

The famous Hippopotamus from Hamburg: Edmund.

Thank you very much, herzlichen dank, Erni (und Edmund)!

Humberto Miguel Jiménez

A nice surprise from Mexico! This picture of the Damselfly has been created by Humberto Miguel Jiménez.
The Spanish name 'caballito del diablo' literally means 'devil's pony'. In Dutch we call this amazing creature 'Waterjuffer', which means 'Young lady of the water', or 'Señorita del agua' in Spanish.



Also the Mexican Post added a nice Bird sticker to the envelope.

Thank you very much, muchas gracias, Humberto!

Petrolpetal

Along with the Birds on the envelope a very interesting mixed media mail art arrived, created by Petrolpetal from South Africa.
DId I say Birds? Yes! Note - besides the big fine drawn Bird - the Peacock feathers. And the bird on the South African Air Mail sticker! Funny that the Post has added the cancellation stamp in a similar direction to this sticker :-)

The mixed art consists of, if I'm correct, paint, stamp ink, serviette and plastic:



Petrolpetal also included this silver-lined paper. The stamp print must be a Feline. A Lioness, or Cheetah, so to see.



When I scanned it, the picture turned out to be totally different from what I saw (see picture above), so I also made photos, in which you can see the silver shining (see below).



Thank you very much, Petrolpetal!