Katerina Nikoltsou (32)

Who could ever have thought that this piece of orange mail art would have something to do with Animals?



Well, it does: Bats on the back side!



And how can this Goldfish be related to Mammals?



Well, just add some Horses on the back!



Created and sent by Katerina from Greece.



Thank you very much, Katerina!

Stripygoose (14)

From the Sofa series, this tiny Bird and a sofa resting on.. books!
Created and sent from the UK by StripyGoose.

On the back side a pretty Bat stamp, a Bird artistamp and Stripygoose's famous Bird rubberstamp:



Thank you very much, Stripygoose!

Tia Battiston

This unique photo, of a pet we almost all wish to have in our house, has been sent by Tia Battiston.

The Deer came in a wonderful envelope showing more mammals: Monkeys:



And a Bat:



Thank you very much, Tia!

Willemien Visser

This great collage, including a scary looking but in fact tiny cute animal was send to me by Willemien Visser from Germany. If you look close, you can see more animals on the front side.

On the back side a pretty Peacock and a rubberstamp showing Fishes. Even German Post has helped to complete this Animal mail art, by adding a postmark showing the Town Musicians of Bremen: a donkey, a dog, a cat and a rooster.



Check Willemien's website, she has a call for mail art, themed 'Fishes'.

Thank you very much, hartelijk dank, Willemien!

Eva (23)

Usually I don't post regular postcards here, but this time the received card shows a little history, and the postage stamp on the back is interesting enough to be posted here, too.

Sent from Spain by Eva, this postcard came from the Belgian museum Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences. This card shows the permanent exhibition 'Gallery of Humankind'.

The stamp shows the Myotis capaccinii, in English known as long-fingered bat, in Spanish the long-legged (patudo) bat (murciélago), in German the long-foot (Langfuß) bat (Fledermaus) and in Dutch just Capaccini's bat (Capaccinni's vleermuis).



It is the first shaped Spanish stamp I've ever seen.
Thank you very much, Eva!

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!

Angie & Snooky

This collage, showing a pug, has been created by Angie (I guess, assisted by Snooky) from the USA.



The stamp shows another interesting and famous mammal, the Bat (and Batman).

By the way, this collage was sent also for the International Banana Day!

Thank you very much, Angie and Snooky!

Nicole Eippers (14)

While we still are waiting for snow and the temperature remains above 0 degree Celsius, Nicole Eippers succeeded to find a real winter landscape. Including animals!
The Mole, a Bat, an unknown Bird. The Belgian Butterfly stamp. And of course.. Nicole's famous Pig.

Hartelijk dank, merci beaucoup, Nicole!

From the Azores

A looong envelope.... Containing (among other interesting info and a message) four looong pictures from weird, interesting animals from the Azores islands. The fact that the animals were pictured on bookmarks, explained the curious size of the envelope.
Here they are:



The Azorean Bat, the Loggerhead Turtle, Cory's Shearwater and the Roseate Tern.
Obviously the illustrator had not intended these as mail art, but the fact they were send by snail mail in such a funny envelope, and that these animals indeed are weird, special, made me think they belong here, too.

Amazingly drawn by the Portugese illustrator Fernando Correia (his amazing website is worth a visit!) and sent to me by Eva. Moltes gràcies, Eva!

Eni Ilis

These bats (or would they be vampires?) were created by Eni Ilis from Brazil.



More work by Eni Ilis you can find by e.g. google.
Thank you very much, Eni!