José Manuel Figueiredo

A Zen Dog! This collage has been made and sent by José Manuel Figueiredo from Portugal. His work is recognizable by the tiny boat rubber stamp.

Both pictured dogs (Rafeiro do Alentejo - Portuguese Watchdogs) are in good company. Or, the other way round: both pictured Humans must be lucky people to have such a loyal four-footer around.



Thank you, obrigado, José Manuel!

Ryosuke Cohen

This richly coloured Mail Art work Ryosuke Cohen sent from Japan.
On this A3 sized Brain Cell Life Form number 776 various mail artists have contributed. And among the faux postage stamps, rubberstamps and other kinds of art you can find several weird animals: many Mammals (most of them human beings), some Fish and one Bird (click on the picture to enlarge).

More about Ryosuke Cohen you can find on his website, RyuosukeCohen.com.

The contributing artists to this Mail Art work are the following:



Arigato, thank you very much, Ryosuke! And thanks to all who contributed to this marvellous Mail Art 'Teamwork'!

Wilma Duguay

When I think of Wilma Duguay, I think of the Sea!
Wilma Duguay sent this beautiful drawing from Canada. When I saw the pencil drawn animal, the first thing that came into my mind was: 'that must be a Sea urchin skeleton!'
Fortunately Wilma wrote the name of this animal next to it. Fortunately, because I never had heard of this animal before: the Sand dollar.

And indeed, this Sand dollar (in Spanish speaking countries also called 'Galleta de mar' - 'Sea cookie') is a curious animal. Read more about this echinoderm (stinged-skin) on wikipedia.

This makes me also wonder about the number '5'. Why, like also Starfish and Sea urchins have, Sand dollars always have a fivefold radial symmetry? (And why do we mammals have five fingers/toes each hand, each foot?)



On Wilma's mail artwork there are more weird Sea animals to see and to enjoy!

Thank you very much, Wilma!


Update November 10th, 2010:

Wilma surprised me with a new letter, and put forward to make this apposite Sea magnet part of the Existing Odd Animals. So here you are!
(I added the back side next to the wonderful Sand dollar, Starfish and Shell.)



This fine work of art (only 5 x 4.5 cms) has been made by Linda Kobera, a painting artist who's pasisonate about miniature art.
More about Linda Kobera you can see on her website.

Again thanks a lot, Wilma!