Nancy Bell Scott's Blog – December 2011 Archive (20)

 She wanted this trashbook pale and snowy, like the season: 

It's very successful both as a trashbook and in fulfilling her wish for me to have white trash. I love it! Thank you very much, Diane, I too am fulfilled!  Four more photos follow, and viewers will see that some holiday color did sneak in there. A favorite is the 2nd Place ribbon in the last photo. It…

"Celebrate Light" is the perfect message this time of year: 

Beautiful message, colors, shapes--I love it and have put it in the studio storefront window so people passing by can enjoy it too. Roberto Rios sent a very Christmasy card that I'm…

Catherine says this is the artistic result of a conversation we had a while ago: 

This is a monotype+collage, and I think it's brilliant--evocative, stylish, and detailed yet with a certain undefinable atmosphere. Catherine tells me not to worry, this guy "looks grumpy but he's sweetness itself!"  I love it, Catherine, thank you very much.  Very nice, artful envelope…

Katerina is even still numbering her cards. #367/365 and #368/365: 

That's the spirit. Katerina is doing special things with stars and U.S. handmade paper these days. These are really lovely and uplifting, Kat., thank you so much.

Mim sent something…

Really do love the unpredictable stitching on this very small two-pager: 

(And yes, two thumbs up for Rachel Carson.) Another great Nadine drawing/watercolor, along with missing camouflage birds (seen below on envelope), book note on back, and both sides of the envelope, not to be missed. The back of the envelope has a little something drawn by Nadine that makes my skin…

I hope you mean the comforting lady with the newsprint Christmas tree, because as an existential question, WHERE ARE YOU can be scary, and endless. (The answer today is: I don't know.) I do love this postcard, Svenja, plus the little packet of…

Envious of the coinbook pages Alicia has sent others, I received a coinbook and couldn't be happier: 

This coinbook is painted thickly and beautifully with mostly copper-penny-color paint, has a few more "pages" to it (Alicia pasted the text…

Great watercolor, David, and is she singing, laughing, or screaming? Whichever it is, two thumbs up. Maybe it's all three, so much the better.

The other side at first looked partly as though you were sending me a denim patch to wear with my…

Newman is an apt name here, because Dean has created a new man: Oh yes. And he did so not only by pasting Paul Newman's popcorn-package face on as the head, but also by cutting out individual popcorns from the package and using them for haptic happy pieces of popcorn in Leonardo da Vinci's (new) man's four hands as well as a fig leaf for the guy's "privates." It's about time,…

Many materials! As a non-reader/speaker of Italian I am finding them a challenge, but the instruction to "fun yourself" makes a lot of sense to me. The CD, with sounds/songs such as "Several Species of Big Wet Animals Gathered Together In An Undersea Cave and Grooving With a PC," "Whales Cry," and "Disco In Sealand," has already been listened to and is quite interesting. Don't let the cover…

Victoria's stunning card begins this post. Thank you very much, Victoria: Kerri sent the following smokily nice piece (with my name and address on a lovely green back), and her special envelope is included in the photo because it is really striking (notice that my postman doesn't mind marking up mail art on a bad day!). Thanks very much, Kerri:…

By Guido, "Moths Crossing the Danube Around 1890": The imagination in this piece--the concept, the title, and how it was constructed--floors me. I did get a kick out of finding moths crossing the Danube long ago when I opened the envelope! Speaking of the envelope, here is another of Guido's beauties that I love, "Rules to Dodge and Other Games," dedicated to Bob Dylan:…

Botticelli book cover, that is, a nice one: This is a thank-you note, according to Svenja, for the book cover she liked so much--notice the beautiful gold heart in his hands. It might be a little forward of Botticelli, but I don't mind! On the address side Svenja uses a "pfg" stamp or print block, which I am also very taken with and she says she bought along with some other…

And I love it: Beautiful composition and use of color. The piece is hard as a rock, like everything I've received from Judith, and there is something very appealing about that aspect too. (It might almost be bulletproof, like Erni's packaging!) Her lyrical words, which she often includes, are on the back and are lovely and appreciated. Thank you so much, Judith ~…

Here is he is, describing himself, sometime in the 1950s: It's kind of sad to learn that David's only "distingwishing" feature was "maybe" his back teeth, since probably few of his classmates actually got to see them. But we have learned since that David has more than one distinguishing feature, such as his hair in the 1970s during his presidential run, his spooky eyes even…

...in this wonderful wrap-envelope that nearly didn't survive the postal system: The envelope arrived torn, with the book-covers educational brochure sitting beside it. Lucky! Lisa tells me she took the chance because the map is of my own part of the world. You…

Here is the most unusual, an experimental paper with wax, front and back: The texture of this thick waxy paper that still smells like wax is beyond description. I can only say that it's a grabber, the feel is like nothing else, and I touch it at least once a day. …

First Solstice III, one of my favorites from Theresa, with a Ruskin quote on the back:

What follows is, I believe, a New Arzamas letter communication from Theresa to me, rich with Kandinsky, Mallarme, and ... Williams!…

A great deal of richness in these two mailings, the first on "outsider" art:

The second, Solstice II, begins with a wonderful asemic collage by Theresa--torn out of her own journal--accompanied by a Kenneth Ames quote on the back:…