David Stafford's Blog (201)

Things are picking up at the Oxnard MoMA where Nadine Wendell Mojica is Staff Historian when she is not in a self-induced coma. Luckily, as a resident of the Bautista Assisted Living Facility I get the newsletter which is packed with info. The envelope isn't too shabby either....Lots to chew on here and...…

There's something about finding priority mail from Finland in your mail box that's terribly exciting. A year ago I would never have dreamed of having any kind of mail from Finland let alone priority mail. But there it is. Carina's Nancy Drewesque illustration with thoughtful query overlay (courtesy of Manya Pletsch of Zurich).

This is the kind of  open-ended…

I received five pieces of stellar work. First, Suus in Mokum sent me one of her musical watercolors. Alas, the luminous quality of the ink she used isn’t readily apparent in this scan but trust me the inks are opalescent. I believe this is an abstract but you never can be sure these days. Like if I zoomed out from earth just beyond the depleted ozone layer would I see the pattern? Maybe but you don’t have to squint to feel the organic animalosity (like that word, Suus?) It’s very Rousseau…

Jen Staggs sent me a small thank you note and on the back was this handy reference guide to Jen's Pens.

It was late. I had decided to retire to my inner sanctum to examine Kerri's art werk. One particular piece caught my eye. It was several hours before I was able to snatch it back because I kept seeing faces in the work. Unmistakable faces. I burst into Patti's room for independent verification. "Can you see this hippo?" She replied calmly, "You're hallucinating…

Nadine sent me this last week and I fired off a reply as the Mail Art Assisted Living Facility is a notion that's dear to my heart. (I have a feeling that the crayons will be stubby and not cover the full range of colors). As usual Nadine's piece bears an underlying commentary. In this instance, about the irrepressible optimism of the Jung Social Worker. I hope Nadine…

This is the way all class photos should look and they should all include warnings about Darci Bush who by all accounts has grown up to be a perfectly normal person (the suits advised me to add this). Lotta work went into this one.  As well as riotous color, lots of detail and the signature touch: the price tag, as Stephanie looks ahead to her eBay years. Thank you, Stephanie. I predict a warm reception for this piece. …

Straight outta the mean streets of Heidelberg comes Svenja's Mail Art Nuns and Running Man with Camel. Svenja, like so many others, has sent me two (2) things before I could even blog one....(insert sound of smitten brow here). I love Svenja's wrap around technique and I'm going to try it soon. I can hear those national geographic maps a callin' me. I will need some help deciphering the text here, Svenja as my German (like my French) is limited to Woe est der toiletten. …

Another exhibit from the museum of small things by curator Theresa Williams. Weaving a story around an old Cracked card that depicts Brooklyn of long ago, Theresa reimagines the scene as it might unfold with the current residents of the contemporary epicenter of the hipness. I don’t envy Jimmy in his wonderment. Thank you, Theresa.

A small story:…

Angie has been steadfast in sending me her pieces WBOB (without benefit of blog). Here are just four of the things I've received since April including but not limited to: A pair of ATCS featuring a beautiful babe (possibly Jean Shrimpton) and a blue footed booby. The model has a haptic noose around her face, the booby seems content to sit aukwardly upon his continent. Also an alphabet card constructed from signage and a large breasted lingerie model proudly deploying her voting franchise. I…

Theresa Williams wears a great many hats, most of her own devising. The one that sent me this is the curator of the International Museum of Small Things, a post she has held since April when Mr. Fenwick passed away and gave her, with his dying last grasp, the small key to the small museum. It exists, like many rare and exotic things, in Bradner, Ohio. In fact, on the way in to Bradner there’s a big billboard that says, “Welcome to Bradner, Home of the Giant Pickle.” Many people have lobbied…

The Slow Def Blog Jam continues, even in the searing heat of summer. Tonight we feat Carina Granlund, my Finnish friend who has sent me this wonderful Robot made with “an easy etching technique using gum arabicum.” Carina, I want to know more about this technique.

The robot is of the mid-century modern variety, anxiety-ridden and and prepared (he carries…

I went home to see my mom (age 96) a few weeks ago and I noticed a Mockingbird singing away at the top of a telephone pole in front of her house. He sang for (what seemed) like five hours straight (with breaks for water and insects). I thought, “Now there’s a guy who likes the sound of his own voice.” Birders will interject, “but it’s not his voice. It’s a compendium of bird songs plus whatever other sounds he fancies.” True dat. But five hours! This is like Barbra Streisand singing for an…

Okay, the invisible tower is a stretch but bear me out here...Remember when you had huge CD towers poised like monoliths around your stereo? (Remember using the word "stereo?") Well, gradually and not so gradually those towers have been disappearing, fading into the limbo of orphan technologies. And there...is your invisible tower which is what Stephanie has condensed into one piece with multiple purposes: 1) archiving not just the covers themselves 2) but more importantly the experience of…

Lesley Magwood Fraser and I have a little dialog going about art, what it is, whether we can legitimately call all our creations art. On the days when my meds haven't reached stun I tend to be less sanguine about my own projects. Lesley, on the other hand, is filled with the hopefulness that Kloofians are famous for. To bolster her argument she, like Katerina before her, quotes Warhol to good effect. One thing is clear, Lesley's drawings are chuffworthy. Like most Kloofites she profits from…

As I may have mentioned I am behind in my bloggin'. In fact, some people have sent me more than several things that I haven't gotten around to acknowledging. Believe me, I will catch up but it may take a while. Katerina of Thessaloniki is one such person who, I think, has sent me four, count 'em, four artworks. (Frederick's of Hollywood is another but we'll save his story for some other time). Many of you have remarked that Katerina's Blue Period began this spring when the Aegean turns from…

Janine has been sending me things like crazy this spring. Like this joyful Matissean envelope.

And inside....

...this cornucopia of color, a garland of shoes with Mr. Pritt and me trapped behind scissorhands...Smashpo,…

I am so far behind in my blogging that I may never catch up. Forgive me, everybody. But I am starting here with a piece that arrived from Dean just before we departed for Europe.

It’s a wonderful riff on the Vizma Art Barns or whatever they are with one of Dean’s strange stories on the back that creates more loose ends than it ties up. Which, of course, is the way we…

Let’s lay this blogjam to rest with the lawyerly grouping of French, James & Granlund. Apparently Austin James has a secret life. But have no fear. His piece “Mood No. 6: My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult,” is definitely drawn from the gentler side of the Thrill Killers. Isadora Duncan is what comes to mind. Thank you, Austin.

Next Carina Granlund sent me…