GROOVY

What's inside? What's inside? Did I win a contest?

Holes in envelope give clues:

Open!

Groovy memo pad from the past!

Can't wait to make my grocery/hardware-store shopping lists! But it's almost too precious for that. It's an artifact from when all things were groovy, even memo pads. Those were the days, my friend.

Celestial Gaze

That's me waxing poetic with that title. I don't know much about either of those musicians. I did listen to some VU the day his death was announced and I felt like I should listen to more of this but I haven't. In a synesthesia-like way, when I hear those songs I think of a kind of drawing, like Giacometti's portraits, with hesitant, spidery lines, lots of them, some erased, some wider, some lighter, but all eventually adding up to a thing to be reckoned with.

Cutouts

Sturdy layers of hidden meaning...

Is it a map, a diagram, architecture, instructional brochure, historical setting, geographical place

?

And on the front:

Lemons! Which are growing in abundance in my back yard as well. I just read about an art project where you get a map and close your eyes and point your finger on a spot. Then you go to that spot and document it with drawings, photos, whatever. Your art is the result. This is like geographical spot-mapping art, but it came in the mail. And there's lemons, which I love. I will always embrace geography and lemons as subject matter.

I sent you one right away because it came together without a lot of thought or planning. Speedy.

Money in the Mail

I don't know that I've gotten cash in the mail for quite some time. Possibly since the 1970s. There have been the pseudo-checks now and again that try to get me to buckle under for some sort of scam, but no cash in many years. So, this was a happy surprise! Annnnd...it's back in my court and I must admit that I am a bit stumped as to what to do next. Now that I have more time (ahem) it seems as if I have less than ever. Today I went out for lunch with some friends from work and we had such a good time, four hours slipped by and we still weren't done hanging out. And then my day had gotten away from me and all my best laid plans to work on stuff were postponed for another day. Funny how that happens...it's like those freeways where you think you'll have more room if you build more lanes but then more traffic mysteriously shows up and clogs the freshly flattened asphalt and snarls the roads anew...this makes little sense...it would be nice if money behaved the same way that traffic does. Or maybe it does...hmmm, taking that analogy to its logical conclusion, you make more money (lanes) and suddenly there are more things (cars) that present themselves to be bought with your newly minted dough (driven on new pavement)...so, ok, I guess money does behave similarly to traffic. OK, for sure I am rambling now. But continuing on with my ridiculous comparisons, maybe money and time have an inverse relationship? Which could be a good situation for me...maybe now that I will have less money yet more time, I won't be able to spend as much? Or maybe I will have to stretch and or enlarge my coins* to make them go further, in which case, this penny is the perfect solution. And while I have you here reading my whacked ramblings, did John ever tell you the pennies story from his trip to India? I was going to put the word "pennies" where the asterisk is but thought better of it when suddenly I remembered our friend's fabled story. If you don't know the tale, you might ask him to recount it for you. You will never think of pennies the same way.

Patterns in the Mail

Handcrafted mail offerings are down, way down. Reversing this mail pattern, here is a pattern in the mail. It's a pattern and it makes a pattern and it is a pattern in the mail.

From 1982 it came

Coincidentally when I got this, I was, yes you guessed it, looking at patterns online and in Photoshop. I was looking at Greek-vase patterns, to be precise. Simple borders. Simplicity patterns.

Bird with Crown

I am so sorry it's taken me this long to post. This week has been so surreal. And your painting is also surreal. There is so much beauty here. And you are so very consistent that I must tell you that you should think about doing more painting. Look again at your painting of the Woman in White. There is another one here that I cannot remember the title of, but if you will look at those two and then at this one, you will see what I mean. There is a hauntedness, an otherworldly quality to these paintings.

Half Mail / Half Ant - MANT

I salute you.

I mean, this is a masterpiece. And it got through, no problem.

Proof.

As suggested, I played with scale. It's interactive.

This guy can't believe it and looks a little nervous.

But I cherish MANT.