dinsdag 29 december 2015

Pepijn de Jonge (2)



Few months ago I received wonderful artwork by Pepijn de Jonge.

And now I am surprised by another piece of mailed art, including a very original drawing of an extraordinary - and musical - animal. Who is wishing all of us a happy 2016!



Thank you very much, dankjewel, Pepijn!

zaterdag 26 december 2015

HO,OWL (2)



Season's greetings by HO,OWL!

You might have seen this friendly Owlet before: some months ago I received this lovely Owlet, who I of course couldn't resist to draw, too.

Thank you very much, HO,OWL, and best wishes to you, too!

maandag 21 december 2015

Snail Mail Snails - 2015



Today is 21-12, which means the last '21st' of this year. Time flies...
Also 21-12 usually means the shortest day and longest night of any year.

About one year ago I sent Mail Snails to several mail art friends to wish them a Happy 2015.
I've sent these on postcards, to keep it that way or to colour, and to keep or to send it to whoever they wanted to send it to.

To my surprise I received some of them in return, via snail mail or email, and I love the way all artists added their 'handwriting' to the Snail Mail Snails!
Also a few mail artists, who hadn't received an original card, printed the snail and coloured and sent them.
Thank you very much, all of you!

The one above not only was coloured by FinnBadger, but also has been turned into an envelope. Which I think so suitable: FinnBadger has a mail art blog on Envelopes!

Here some other great contributions:


From Bruno Chiarlone


From Suus in Mokum


From Ana Marta Austin


From Dean (here in process)


From Katerina Nikoltsou


From Richard C.

Thank you very much!

P.S. I've received a few more coloured Mail Snails, but in the past year some of them crawled away to some hidden place. I'll post them as soon as I'll have found them back...

zaterdag 5 december 2015

Connie Jean (3)



Some time ago I received mail art from Connie Jean, accompanied by a call for mail art for the Squirrel Museum. I sent my contribution, and Connie replied by sending this picture of the mini exhibition named Scurry (nr 6). A pleasure to see my mail art - and many other great mail art - has landed!

The photo came with this special animal (which I think a Squirrel however in some way it reminds me of this quote).



Thank you very much, Connie!

dinsdag 1 december 2015

Mim



The Mail Pigeon is an important animal in mail history and now has been honoured by a stamp. This Pigeon not only brought this mail art to me but also accompanies the famous mail art historical Rabbit on this great mail art sent by Mim.

The 18th of November was (and next year will be) Banana Appreciation Day. That's why the front side of this mail art shows Bananas. Food for many animals (as long as they eat not too much). Home to many small creatures, like mealybugs and scale insects. And the Banana ex- and import also provides a means of transport to all kinds of animals, like spiders.



Thank you very much, Mim!

vrijdag 20 november 2015

FinnBadger (2)



Wonderful envelope created and sent by FinnBadger. He added great matching bird stamps, too.

The envelope was based on a calendar with pictures by the great artist Charley Harper.
See the variation of birds! I consider my own drawing style sometimes far too realistic, so I feel I can learn from Harper's minimal and so well depicting style.

Love it, thank you very much, FinnBadger!

donderdag 19 november 2015

Stripygoose (8)



The Islas Canarias (Canary Islands) I used to know rather well. As a child we went there for summer holidays several times, and presently there is a mail art exhibition themed 'the Camel' on the island Tenerife (which you can see on one of my contributions).

So I was pleasantly surprised when I saw - see above - that Stripygoose has found the birds in the islands! And in the strelitzia, a flower which thrives in the Canaries.

On the front side the Big Bird is watching us waiting patiently.



Thank you very much for this great mail art, Stripygoose!

donderdag 12 november 2015

Otto Sherman (3)





Always a lot to see and food for thought in mail art by Otto Sherman.





Thank you very much, Otto!

dinsdag 10 november 2015

Nico van Hoorn (6)



This atmospheric picture arrived in time for Halloween, but I just was a little late in posting. As I have not been growing up with this celebration I didn't know exactly what day it would be (now I know). 'Halloween' is introduced in our low lands since a few years, and it seems to become common. Although many (elder) Dutch, me included, consider this a commercial and americanization thing.
But I have received more pieces of Halloween mail art, also from countries where it is commonly celebrated. From Thom Courcelle I learned that 'All Hallow's Eve' is more than 'trick or treat' (see for instance this blog post and this one - I received this mail from Thom, too), and that it has a long history, also according to wikipedia, and there are even Gaelic and Welsh (so: European) roots.
And little by little I am starting to see the good, interesting things in it. For example this picture!

You might ask 'Why is this posted on an Animals blog?', but I can reassure you. There is a Human person flying on a broomstick, and perhaps you cannot see it, but there is a black cat on this broomstick, too.
In the woods you can (or cannot) see Bats fluttering, and behind the Pumpkin there's a Spider. Among the trees there are even more Spiders, with itchy spiderwebs. And in the trees the Owl howls, so do the (Were)Wolves in the back. Can you see and hear them now?!



Nico added some of his famous abstract / constructivism art.



Thank you very much, Nico!

maandag 9 november 2015

Connie Jean (2)



Interesting collage created and sent by Connie Jean from the United States.
You can view from all sides, but I choose to emphasise the Canary Bird who was a great (and sadly) warner in miners' days).



She added a call for mail art: draw a Squirrel!
Something I of course like to do immediately, and fortunately I found some time to do so. My Squirrel meanwhile has landed in the Squirrel Museum :-)



Thsnk you very much, Connie!

zondag 8 november 2015

José Zinermann Nogueira



From Brazil this wonderful Bird arrived. Created by José Zinermann Nogueira. He also drew these weird, but maybe not existing/real, awesome (and a bit scary) animals:





And a Human(oid) wearing sunglasses:



Thank you very much, muito obrigado, José!

zondag 25 oktober 2015

Eva (18)



The most wonderful Animal I have ever seen, I saw today for the very first time in real!
The Fishus Globetrottus, also known as the Globetrotter Fish, was sent to me by Eva.

I think it is an Animal to whom I feel very familiar with, even though I don't have gills anymore.

In case you didn't hear of the Globetrotter Fish before, Eva was so kind to provide us with some scientific information:



The Globetrotter Fish arrived in a colourful envelope, showing aquatic Fish and other Sea Animals.



Fortunately (for me) the envelope first had been returned to sender, and fortunately (also for me) Eva did a second try to send it to the Netherlands. Fortunately for the two of us this time it arrived well, and by it's extra journey, oh fortune, I got an extra Moroccan Fish stamp!



Thank you very much, Eva, moltes gràcies, I love it!

zaterdag 24 oktober 2015

Borderline Grafix (2), Samantha Althoff (1), Jan Hodgman (2)



Some months ago I sent out a Soccer Field Aad-And-Pass to Samantha Althoff in the USA. To my surprise not only she, but also Jan Hodgman and Borderline Grafix have added to it, before returning it to me (which was a surprise to me also, as returning to me wasn't 'obligatory').

Above you see the wonderful result. No soccer players, but amazing Animals and other beautiful additions.



The AAP came in an envelope, with the Mink (Minxus) stamp you see above, and with an interesting photo from Borderline Grafix.



Thank you very much, Samantha, Jan and Borderline G.!

woensdag 21 oktober 2015

Tammy Riggins



Great mail art envelope, created and sent from the USA by Tammy Riggins.

The Fox and Dog of course lead me to add her mail art to this blog.



Inside there's this collage you see above. At first thought I'm seeing a face in it (humans are animals too, aren't they?!). However, with a less closer look, watching through the eyelashes and/or with some fantasy, you can see some feathered flying friends in it, too!



Thank you very much, Tammy!

zondag 18 oktober 2015

HO,OWL

I was expecting a parcel from Spain. After many days, the waiting time turned into weeks. Within Europe, so much time? I was amazed...
Also the sender started to wonder where it would be.

Finally the parcel arrived, and the stamp on the box gave me the clue:



Sent to my country from Spain: via Canada!

Inside the box there was the most lovely Owlet: ho,owl!
He immediately joined me to enjoy my morning meal.



We know little ho,owl by his stories. Check the ho,owl website to learn more about this friendly Owl! And see ho,owl's instagram account for more adventures.

By the way, he had been sent to me because I had drawn him my favourite breakfast:



Thank you very much, ho,owl and Piter!

maandag 5 oktober 2015

Ti Ar Raden (2)



My favourite colours: turquoise and bright yellow/green!
The Snail, of course, doesn't need an introduction. But who is the other fellow? So to see this lovely yellow creature is a Leafy Seadragon, a family member of the Sea horse.

This great work of art has been created by Ti Ar Raden.

On the address side a beautifully written 'Thank you' (Mersi bras in Breton) with the famous Ermine, watched by the stamp Cat.



Mersi, trugarez bras, Ti Ar!

Paloma Paprika



Great mail art envelope...



... containing a kind message, at the backside of this interesting human / ape hand collage:



... and goodies and three great mini zines, among them this one:



... of which this is the inside:



... and this one:



... created and sent from Australia by Paloma Paprika. Thank you very much!