Thom Courcelle's Blog (211)

Large board mail art post from Dean, with an emphasis on the history of Toulouse...

"Ne pas enlever cette étiquette." I would NEVER!!!

The reverse side has an aerial view of some of the monastic communities' buildings in Toulouse named after Saint Saturnin (I think), and a split image of the saint himself. Saint Saturnin…

"Yummy Cabbage Cream Cheese Cake…."

As far as I can tell, the recipe goes something like this:

1 can apple pie filling

1 box Jiffy White Cake Mix

1 cup chopped pecans

1 cabbage

Mix all ingredients together. Stir with a wooden spoon 1,322 rotations. Caution! [May cause bursitis.] Bake for…

Lucky me, I got a fatty envelope from Amy Irwen… with all kinds of goodies inside ripe for use on future mail art...

Included were two of Amy's sewn-on-board ATCs, both texturally and visually amazing On the left, "Window Series #21"  and on the right "Storm Warning."…

One of the saddest and MOST EMBARRASSING things that happened during my move in 2014 from the west coast US to the east coast US was the loss of a special DKult Trashpo mailing that was sent from MailArt Martha. She had taken such care with the package and REALLY SCORED A 10-POINT EXECUTION with this piece. I laughed and laughed when I originally received it and was amazed at the brilliant creativity of it...

…AND THEN I LOST IT IN THE HECTIC PROCESS…

What's black and white and read all over? Mail Art in my postbox from Carina Granlund!

Whoa… Finland postage stamps are fun!

Is that a trick question?…

Ever had one of those humbling "trying-to-keep-up-with-the-Joneses" days with the mail art you receive? Well, David is always keeping me on my toes and upping the ante on how to be hilarious...

Not only great mail art… but prolific, too!!…

Dean must've been studying with the monks of Tibet, because his mail art is becoming very transcendent and mandala-like...

Wait… THAT guy doesn't look like a Tibetan monk!

Mérci, Monsieur Mailartiste…

Received this large board mailing from Jude Weirmeir some time ago… It showcases the many talents of a creative genius. Musician, lyricist, artist, funny man, and riddle maker…

I like how the various finger hole-keys are all different…

Ugh. Sorry everyone…Spent literally whole day trying all method options to upload photos with only frustrating results. Culprit is very likely the pooptastic internet service here. Must now retire attempts for today to save my sanity. (shaking fist at the heavens):…

Enjoy some of these documentation photos of the pieces I've received from some very artistic friends:

PETA might get after David Stafford for this one (I heard that Tara is ring-toss game challenged! She has to swim with the "slow" whale pod! Tara is restricted to the shallow end of the pool!) but David's absurd and hilarious sense of humor is giving me the giggles. (Thanks for the cow, David. I can affix it to future mailings I wanna send…

Another winning piece of Mail Art collage from the amazing Svenja Wahl:

Super cool!!  Thank you, Svenja!

Where does the time GO??????  Though things are a whirlwind on the home front, I thought I'd post these several pictures of some great received mail art that's arrived in my mailbox...

MomKat sent a Paul Gaugin birthday greeting of wonderful beauty!  Paul Gaugin's birthday was on June 7th!…

Well, it's the end of the month, and I don't wish to keep anyone in suspense any longer.  So as the esteemed judge for this month's MOBMA award, I have the duty of crowning this IUOMA Group's best submission.  The task was arduous, rife with hair-pulling (literally--see Vizma's submission), and tortured. Tactics of bribery were ignored.  I was so overwhelmed by the pressure, that I eventually broke the contest down into several categories, for which prizes are being awarded and sent in the…

A closer look...

Contained in a fantastic envelope!...…

I shouldn't expect anything less than Trashpo perfection from Diane Keys.  She sent me a fantastic assemblage of Trashpo relics and gifts:

Including a Gift Certificate for use at the DKULT Gift Shop!!…

Fine details and tiny secret treasures included in this fab mailing from fellow mail artist, Schooling:…

A very special package arrived a little while ago from Heleen de Vaan in the Netherlands.  Both of us being members of the Fiber Artists Group and lovers of all things yarn-ish, I had sent her a knit/woven card quite some time ago.  Well it was my turn to be treated and surprised with her astounding knit creation made just for me...

Here is the back of the knit purse...…

In keeping with our recent mail art exchanges detailing the cultural and topographical nuances of our respective cities, Dean send me an oversized placard emblazoned with city of Paris district (les arrondisements) maps, with a foreboding warning concerning the car parking situation in the City of Lights:

"To Park, or not to Park;

To Drive, or not to Drive;

To Pay, or not to Pay;

Paris Life, unknown to Tourists"…

So my home computer is still gasping its last few breaths, and I have ben WAY too busy at work to be able to get myself to the tech store to buy a new apparatus.  So I am staying late at the office in order to catch-up on posting some of the fab mail art I have received in the last month or so... (Apologies for posting things so tardily.)  This will be a sort of Blog Jam, therefore.  (I am starting to feel like a binge-blogger!)

I have also decided to enlist the help of an…

Wait... oh, make that, "I got a hand from Dustin Hamby!"

This piece--Midas's gold hand--arrived just like this (naked; no envelope).  As if the piece wasn't amazing enough as it is, I'm impressed that its unique shape made it through the mail all in one piece.  The back side is made of felt and the address label, return address label, and stamp are all glued…