Thom Courcelle's Blog (230)

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…

Add-a-Head Add-n-Pass (Feel free to download these images and make standard copy-sheet size—8.5 x 11 inches)

Add a head…or two…or five…and pass this along to another…

David recently sent me a hefty Manila envelope and when I opened it, this happened...

Ephemera! Glorious! Ephemera!!! A LOT of it!!

David has either been collecting magazines since he was a toddler (or since his parents were toddlers), or he happened upon a yard sale with a mother load of Good Housekeeping magazines from the WWII…

Sometimes I get something in the mail that I just think, “...Whoa. What did I do to deserve something like that showing up in my mailbox?”  It’s “Something More Than Mail Art.”  Exhibit A:

Holy Seamonsters, Batman!

...That’s an…

Hedgehogs and sea lions and cat burglar kitties, OH MY!!!

Carina keeps in touch with late-winter greetings...and animals that the groundhog would only see if he hadn't seen his shadow on Feb. 2nd. But indeed he did, meaning six more weeks of winter weather. In fact...there's a snow storm expected to roll in here tomorrow dumping another 6 inches…

As soon as Fiorentina Giannotta came onto the scene of IUOMA, I knew I needed to make supplication for her mail art. I LOVE her portraits...so much color, so much detail, so much whimsy, so many layers of texture... look how she fills the space of her canvas in the piece to the right. And the historical vestments and hair wigs, etcetera, all add to a sense of…

This blog is continuing a series of posts describing received correspondence that is "Something More Than Mail Art"—(SMTMA)—mail art that exceeds the standards of anticipation. (For a fuller description, see my previous blog post: …

Sometimes we get something in the mail that exceeds expectations and excels beyond requirements of the medium of mail art. So this is a new "category" or "genus" or "subspecies" of blog post that I am creating for my documenting reviews: "Something…