Thom Courcelle's Blog (217)

A lucky envelope including an original landscape (“If Trees Could Talk…”) and a bookmark that will get some good use in the near future!

Thank you, Awyn!

I also love the R. Johnson bunny on the envelope holding a message board which seems like a very…

 Hand-made postcards from  amazing artists...

(from top left, clockwise...): James Chester's (California) astonishingly beautiful botanical gel plate print; a cut-and-collage geometric "postcard quilt" from Zack in France; Tyler Hannigan's (New Mexico) hand-colored Linocut print "Flight #2"; and Coco Muchmore (Kansas) finds her political voice with a very creative use of rubber stamps…

Margreet Beemsterboer sends FLUX FISH...I'm glad she used a photo as the subject for her amazing hand-drawn sketches (quite special!) because otherwise it might have been a rather stinky art project!!  Below is the original inspiration and the lovely envelope she created:

It has been so wet and rainy (with major flooding) here…

Postcards received in my mailbox include works by...

(from top):

Jack of Cascadia Artpost

Greg Diaz

David Stanley Aponte of Subreal Alchemy

Zack of…

This small article appeared in my small hometown newspaper. It was tucked in such a small little space that I could've easily missed it. The notification makes me concerned that the long tradition of Mail Artists creating their own Artistamps may be included in this new "crackdown"—potentially meant to purge mail articles of unnecessary errata.  My fear is that the postal system's "unnecessary errata" may be another person's…

Sometimes you get a whole postcard... and sometimes the post office decides you only get PART of a postcard:

It is *STILL* mightily beautiful in its partial-ness. Achingly colorful and enthralling. Much thanks to Coco Muchmore for this beautiful thing.

I *DO* consider the Post Office a "participant" in Mail…

An ominous start to an ominous case was marked on the envelope ...errr, I mean "case file":

The all-female CSI team arrived at the crime scene. Wilemena immediately noticed a deep, dark void under the kitchen tiles sucking all the 1950s ambiance into a post-modernist 87th-dimensional topsy-turvy world.…

And this extra large board that came in the mail is extra Zen with Yin-and-Yang support for Ukraine...

The reverse side arrived with some interesting "funny money" dangling out of a used ice cream wrapper! Made me do a double take when it arrived...which I bet it made all the post people delivering it along the way do the same!!  The…

It's looking a lot like Christmas here in Vermont, USA, after a snowstorm last night has dumped more than a foot of snow on us...  So, it is only appropriate that a holiday greeting should arrive from Kat in Thessaloniki, Greece just in time! (...for the snow...not for Christmas, that is...)

Here is an accompanying photo of our back deck and…

A recent handmade postcard from Sue. And alluring design, and her paints SHIMMER in beautiful color on black board...

She's a beauty...Thank you, Sue!

A story in four pictures...…

There was an article by Elayne Clift in our "Opinions/Perspectives" section of my local newspaper's weekend edition (The Rutland Herald, April 9-11, 2022 edition). This is a VERY small, local newspaper, which none-the-less has won several Pulitzers in its long history (established in 1794). Anyway, Clift's article reflected for me the strong tradition that mail art affords for resistance against political injustices and championing for progressive social justice. And I thought that…

Not one...but TWO sheets of amazing limited edition artist amps from Adam...

If you are not familiar with the amazing artistamp artwork that Adam creates, you should definitely check out the Artistamp Creators Group on this Iuoma site:…

Received in an envelope covered with amazing Belgian stamps that is as colorful and interesting as the contents, Jean-Philippe Gilliot sent me a keepsake boekie of a compendium of Mail artistes that is a work of art in itself. The pages are filled not only with art, but with dada-èsque captioning that is not only intriguing, but a kind of phenomenologically-inspiring story-telling...…

A cat watches a group of fishies on the envelope of Sabela's mailer envelope, while inside, a cow observes things from his barn stall, Don Quixote stands by his trusty steed, and a colorful round-up of horses compliment the envelopes contents...

Cats seem to be a favorite, according to Sabela...and I will try to remember that in future…

Kathy's creations—that literally "dance" on their hinged limbs and appendages—never fail to bring a smile. Always something a little different about the realm from which her characters come...like this shy flapper girl at the dance hall, hiding behind her fan while teasing a prospectus martini-drinking DINOSAUR in a top hat onto the dance floor...…

Ed Giecek of Concrete, Washington, famous for hand-carved portrait prints, send a large package of goodies along with some Add-n-Pass pages:

What a treat! Much obliged! Try to stay cool out there!!!

Contributions depicted here from Yayoi SW; Salon deRefuse Studios of Rita J. McNamara; David Schultze; Renee Brandow; MomKat Katerina from Greece; and several statement pieces from the hand of Jack at Cascadia Artpost…

Also of note is this post-modern, cheeky, toothy, eye-catchy, nostril-y portrait of Natalie Portman by a famous artist in Santa…

You never truly know someone until you see their heart bared... Or they send you some first rate self-composed poetry along with their mail art...

Earlier this year I sent out some of my own trite verse that noted how quickly the seasons and months flew by. The most that might be said about my meager composition was that it cleverly rhymed...

But some of my creative mail art correspondents took it as an opportunity, or challenge, to send some of their own…