"excusez moi, mon cher pipo, vous avez du feu?" 3 x 3 inches, acrylic on photopaper.  Leo & Pipo are friends of mine on flickr. That's not their real names. But they are real people who have been friends for a very long time. You can read about them here....

What a joy to have a granddaughter who loves some of the same things I love. Making art and learning french are two of these activities. I must confess that even though I have studied in high school and college, (and even private lessons) my french is pretty rusty,...

"it is too dangerous to get out with a machine" 3 x 3 inches, acrylic on photopaper.The Letter to Earl now comes to a close, Mother signs off and adds a post script to let Earl know about the weather. When I finish with a series I can't help but feel some sense of...

"not now" 3 x 3 inches, acrylic on photopaper.Letter to Earl continues:  Clarence Geeting told pop that James is still laying on his back and cannot walk yet but he is improving slowly. They can't go to see him as he don't want them to come. When they leave he is...

"did he ever come home" 3 x 3 inches, acrylic on photopaper.Letter to Earl continues: Anna Cassady told me today that Harold is in India. She got a letter that was written Christmas and another that was wrote since. Up next: James cannot walk.More images on flickr.

"if they ever get to it" 3 x 3 inches, acrylic on photopaper.Letter to Earl continues: We don't know what they will do about Stoneburners' corn but I guess it will be shucked if they ever get to it. Up next: who is in India?See the cast on flickr.

Here's where the letter gets a little strange as I am not privy to what came before, so one can only speculate that there were some issues with Earl's "job" in the army... Earl you scare me where you get into it as you did last week. I am afraid they will take...

"it was so cold"  3 x 3 inches, acrylic on photopaper.Letter to Earl continues:Well, Susie Leiter Petersime died Friday morning and her funeral will be at her home in Lewisburg where her daughter Helen Paul lives. If the roads are so icy I will not get to her...

"lacks lake luster"  3 x 3 inches, acrylic on photopaper.Letter to Earl continues: Dick Hieter goes back to work but he had to notify the draft board that they would not accept him at the Great Lakes so I bet he will be drafted into the Army. "The sailors on...

"hit the road"  3 x 3 inches, acrylic on photopaper. In the previous post there was one sentence regarding Clara Ehler. I didn't have a painting done yet, I just finished it tonight. But the fact that the farm belonged to a woman, and had to be rented intrigued...

"what i heard tonight" 3 x 3 inches, acrylic on photopaper. Letter to Earl continues:  Well I heard Mrs. McKee tell Effie Wikle tonight that Lowell and Merriel both were examined and classed and placed in 1A. You see how farmer boys are kept out of the draft....

"he don't tell us much" 3 x 3 inches, acrylic on photopaper.Letter to Earl continues:He told some of this news to Young. He don't tell us much. Jose asked me today what I thought and if I blamed them if they had a sale. She said Reitz was supposed to come about the...

"he would keep his horse, a wagon and a manure spreader" 3 x 3 inches, acrylic on photopaper.Letter to Earl continues:Bud talks about having sale next month and then Forest Krietzer is going to farm for him. Jose had to help so much in the corn this fall that you...

"they will never get any more cobs while the engine is running" 3 x 3 inches, acrylic on photopaper.Letter to Earl continues:The Cowan boy was getting cobs before he did and he got sick too and Mr. Cowan took his boy to the doctor and then took him home and put him in...

"don't go up in the hay mow" 3 x 3 inches, acrylic on photopaper.Letter to Earl continues:He told Jose he was not drunk and handed her the medicine that the doctor give him. Ralph and your dad went over to help him get down feed as Jose did not want him to go up in...

I did only one drawing while I was in New York, but I left it at my mom's. It was a sketch of her dining room chair. My great-niece Hailey likes to draw, so we spent the morning sketching together. It always amazes me how people can just pull images from their minds....

(I have been away and the blogger interface has changed. Oh, I was confused for a moment. But everything is here, just a different place.) So, I was in New York, or more specifically Long Island and Manhattan Island, that's it. One day the east end, one day the city...

"bud was hauling corn cobs" 3 x 3 inches, acrylic on photopaper.Letter to Earl continues:Bud was hauling corn cobs yesterday afternoon while he was getting cobs he was overcome from the gas of the engine. He was so bad that they called Dr. Hearst to the elevator and...

"they do not know if it is indigestion" 3 x 3 inches, acrylic on photopaper.Letter to Earl continues with:They could not get Dr. Schaffer as he had gone to church. After dinner they had Doc to come up. They do not know if it is indigestion or it might be like our...

"got pop" 3 x 3 inches, acrylic on photopaper. Letter to Earl continues with:While we were at church Bud come over and got pop to come over to look after Lady she was sick.Up next: indigestion.

"tonight is just icy enough" 3 x 3 inches, acrylic on photopaper.I anxiously awaited my delivery of old letters. I hadn't thought of it before now, but that is a sure way to get some mail, isn't it? But really, you know that I cannot resist vintage mail and...

"third right molar missing" 3 x 3 inches, acrylic on photopaper.Daniel O'Connell was also charged with violating the Espionage Act of June 15, 1917. He was sentenced to 7 years imprisonment due to his opposition of the draft laws. This is my last prisoner for a while....

"condition of teeth unknown" 3 x 3 inches, acrylic on photopaper.Jim Wong was arrested in Nogales, Arizona in March of 1917. He was convicted of smuggling opium."The most important reason for the increase in opiate consumption in the United States during the 19th...

I decided to follow my own advice. For years I've been telling my design clients that you have to be clear about what you do. How will anyone know about it if it is too vague? But that is just what I was doing with my all too artsy business web site. Chez Match is my...

"pigs is pigs" 6 x 4 inches, collage on paint swatch postcardWhy did I choose these elements? I don't know. Last night I wanted to begin with nothing but a random collection of things cut out. I have this little box that contains all the scraps that I made other work...

"third upper right molar missing" 3 x 3 inches, acrylic on photopaper.This is Thomas Carey. He was convicted in San Francisco on violation of the Espionage Act of June 15, 1917. He was charged in a conspiracy to obstruct the recruiting and enlistment service and in...

"teeth intact too" 3 x 3 inches, acrylic on photopaper.Part four: "They kid themselves into a belief that they can come back, but they can't."Having escaped from jail and the fate of Evert Impyn and Lawardius G. Borgart (portrait above), Roy Gardner eluded the police...

"teeth intact" 3 x 3 inches, acrylic on photopaper.Part three: "Those fellows couldn't hit the broad side of a barn."Roy Gardner did not elude the police for long. He was captured in Tacoma when the hotel owner, where he was about to check in, found him suspiciously...

"second right and left cuspids gold crowned" 3 x 3 inches, acrylic on photopaper.  Part two: Large Gold TeethRoy Gardner (portrait above), notorious train robber, had determination not to be caught or kept captive. After his escape with Pyron he was spotted in...

"upper central incisors have gold inlays" 3 x 3 inches, acrylic on photopaper.This is Norris H. Pyron, arrested in Los Angeles for conterfeiting.Starting backwards.Did you ever think you discovered something only later to find that your "original" idea is not original...

"central incisors false" 3 x 3 inches, acrylic on photopaper.George Spratt was convicted of conspiracy to violate the National Prohibition Act and embezzlement by a US Internal Revenue Officer.George A. Spratt, deputy collector of internal revenue, was indicted by a...

"upper rt central incisor crowned" 3 x 3 inches, acrylic on photopaper.I have decided to move forward with images of prisoners. The original photo was found on ancestry.com in the collection McNeil Island, Washington, U.S. Penitentiary, Photos and Records of Prisoners...

"lower left 2nd bicuspid missing" 3 x 3 inches, acrylic on photopaper.I am experimenting with some archived images of prisoners, mostly from Seattle in the early 1920s. This is John Wyllie, sentenced to one year and one day for violation of the Harrison Narcotics Act.

The fall 2011 postcard collective images have been posted. A very nice collection of cards and some talented artists (mine is number 22) take a look.

"saoirse", acrylic on photopaper, 2.25 x 2.25 inches This is Saoirse, she lives across the street.

Happy Holidays to all. For a detailed explanation of the pastiche this year please look at the holiday archive at the wren and the mistletoe.

"chicken wings revisited", acrylic on photopaper, 2.25 x 2.25 inchesI used these women once for a gocco print which I printed on magazine pages, originally on one that had a recipe for chicken wings. So, that was the original name for them. I just don't think anything...

"our dad took our dog away", acrylic on canvas, 6 x 6 inchesAnd original small version, acrylic on photopaper, 2.25 x 2.25 inches.

"we buried him yesterday", acrylic on photopaper, 2.25 x 2.25 inchesMore to come in the next round of larger interpretations. See whole body of work on flickr.

"they were only pretty for a short time", acrylic on photopaper, 2.25 x 2.25 inches Now that there are ten pieces in this series I will need to concentrate on making each one into a six inch canvas.See the whole series on flickr.

"antigone and ismene", acrylic on photopaper, 2.25 x 2.25 inchesJake had no idea where I got the original photographs and tonight he commented "They look like upstate (NY)." And that is exactly where they are from... Buffalo. Funny that he picked up on that."andreas...

"little did they know there was a harem in the basement", acrylic on canvas, 6 x 6 inchesThis image has a strong connection for me in the faces of the workers, I was compelled to make the larger version right away, continuing with the series of very small to small to...

"little did they know there was a harem in the basement", acrylic on photopaper, 2.25 x 2.25 inchesThis is what the woman who owns the house that used to belong to my mother's family told us when we went to visit her in greece.

The latest ABAD (A Book About Death) show is opening in Seattle on November 11, 2011. This is my entry. Since dreaming about teeth indicates some sort of death (or so I am told) they seemed significant to go with the photo of a band of high school boys from an old...

"she left us alone too long", acrylic on canvas, 6 x 6 inchesI am continuing with the larger interpretation in the small clann  series based on the original 2.5 x 2.5 inch image (on the left).

"the dance was in her blood", acrylic on photopaper, 2.25 x 2.25 inchesSee more of the series on flickr.

"she wasn't there when santos died", acrylic on photopaper, 2.25 x 2.25 inchesSee more of the series on flickr.

"she looked at me oddly", collage on paper, 4 x 6 inches In this series of collages I am exploring the relationship between discrimination, color and age by using the pages from Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man, superimposing the "invisible" bodies of the highly...

"she didn't feel like smiling", acrylic on photopaper, 2.25 x 2.25 inchesSee more of the series on flickr.

"he forgot me", acrylic on photopaper, 2.25 x 2.25 inches

"money matters", acrylic on canvas, 6 x 6 inchesTo push the abstraction of the small clann paintings I want to blow them up to six inch canvases and repaint them, and after that further experiment with a large rectangular zoom repainted with larger brushes. This is...

"eleanor", acrylic on canvas, 6 x 6 inches Here is the final painting of Eleanor on canvas. I used the original photo, did a quick study and then did a more detailed final (see progression below).

"she waited a long time", acrylic on photopaper, 2.25 x 2.25 inchesNew series featuring images found in the same photo album from upstate New York. Today I painted these two small images and two larger versions (of previously painted miniatures) on 6 x 6 inch...

"she always knew" collage on photopaper, ink, acrylic paint and vintage paper. 6 x 4 inches. Portrait of Mary C. Leto. Things that are pertinent: pieces of wallpaper, parts of books, library stamps, wooden letters, 40s cross stitch, hollander beater,  and...

  "just one push", acrylic on photopaper, 2.25 x 2.25 inches "it was an accident", acrylic on photopaper, 2.25 x 2.25 inchesSee more paintings in this series on flickr.

 "she always knew" (detail), acrylic on photopaper, 6 x 4 inches This piece is not yet finished. I would like to do some collage with it. Things that have some meaning for us. This will take some thought.

 "they left the dust bowl behind", acrylic on photopaper, 2.25 x 2.25 inches"she dreamed of being in a movie one day", acrylic on photopaper, 2.25 x 2.25 inchesSee more paintings in this series on flickr.

"Over Cs" collage on cardboard, ink, acrylic paint and vintage paper. 7 3/4 x 5 inches.I found some wonderful manuals from an Italian correspondence school that serve as my background and inspiration to this latest collage and painting. An old map of Rome, an Italian...

accordion book, collage on paper with colored pencil, 6 x 6 inches23 Sandy Gallery in Portland is exhibiting Uncommon Threads: The Handicrafts in Book Arts from September 23 through October 29. The call for entries is open until this Saturday. As the name indicates...

portrait of eleanor, 3 x 3 inches, arcrylic on photo paperThis is Eleanor. She is my friend Anne's daughter. Sometimes we have coffee together on Sunday mornings, not Eleanor, she usually has juice or milk. Eleanor says my name quite emphatically "Hi Pat!" with the...

Back in April I was bitten by an urge to create a tiny book in a typewriter ribbon tin. I just couldn't stop there because I loved the feel of these vintage containers, and they are small and manageable and somewhat mysterious to me. They have a history too, where...

"money matters", acrylic on photopaperAnother set of paintings in the tiny art collection of books due to launch on July 21st will include replicas of these little acrylic paintings that I did by copying vintage photos, reprinting them on photo paper to the desired...

King's Bridge, water color and pen on paper, 3x3 inch. Tiny art in tiny packaging. I am working on a new series of book projects launching July 21st that will include these little water-colored sketches of life in the Bronx from the late 17th century. This is one of...

Received a piece of mail art from i'm a super hero and made this in reply.old knitting instructions, children's book pages, jam label and stencil, collage on paint swatch, "red wild cherry"And then in a 4x4 collaboration with 3 other IUOMA artists, Imelda Wubben,...

envelopeThis is my entry for the corresponding Seoul, Korea SECREt eXCHANGE, organized by the artist Terry Reid. secretAnother major exhibition that involves cultural exchanges “Tell Me Tell Me: Korean and Australian Art 1976-2011” will travel to the National Museum...

civil war, coffin-shaped, picture-frame pendant, with collage: text from vintage history book pages, tied with black ribbon.

There are two corresponding exhibits taking place between Sydney and Seoul.Tell Me Tell Me: Australian and Korean Art 1976 - 2011 is a major exhibition of Korean and Australian contemporary art celebrating 2011 as the Australian-Korean Year of Friendship. The project...

Join me and over 100 other artists on Friday night May 27th at the Quick Before It Melts show and sale to save the Icehouse. Blurb from New Times Jackalope Ranch: "Local artist Hugo Medina (he just goes by Hugo) had his first show at the Icehouse in downtown Phoenix...

re-purposed gocco print, glued on as a book cover to cardboard, with wallpaper backing, 4x6 inches, "their dog was run over by a car"Participating in Lisa Iversen's call for Textile Mail Art Project. Deadline has been extended till the end of October!

collage on paper, 4x6 inches, "William Kelley"Front of postcard with layered "palimpsest" representative of the Novgorod Codex inspiration from Coffee Messiah's call for postcards at his blog The World Is a Town. When you find an image of a prisoner whose name is the...

me and George CushingThe opening for the A Book About Death ~ Memento show went very well. There was great support from my good friends here in Phoenix and well wishers from afar. The Honor Guard performed a beautiful ceremony for John S. Turner and Rev. Copsey said a...

Things are moving along for the ABAD ~ Memento show. I have been working on organizing the postcards, collecting and uploading them to the website, and making some trinkets for the gift shop. 1½ x 1½ inch mini book in antique brass caseWe are privileged to have...

It's that time again to answer the call for entries for the Kalamazoo Book Arts Center event The Illustrated Accordion. This year I started out with a little treasure I found at a local antique mall, a typewriter ribbon tin. I wanted to create something appropriate in...

In an old history book I was reading about how the early American colonists decided to make a break with England and the Revolutionary War began. It made me wonder if they would be appalled at current political issues. Components: map of England, American history book...

front and back, 3.5 x 2 inch collageThis card is small. I used an old business card for the base. I started out with the drill illustration... thought about what else is drilled... you have to listen to drills when you learn, things are drilled into your head when you...

more fun with pages, stamps and wall paper.

E-mail art call... fun concept from corral de piedra.This is my submission. The original field seemed like a potato farm, made me think about the famine, then I refer to my photos of the art bottles where I depict potato farmers, a letter from an American...

my postcard entry for abad ~ mementoJohn S. Turner 1947 – 1972John S. Turner was a sensitive man. I didn't know him, I only know of him through his papers, personal items and his sister, Julie.He was born just after WWII, his Hungarian parents had moved to Germany...

If you have been following along, you already know of my interest in death. Since my friend Mary C. Leto found the mystery items hidden in a heating grate, and we collaborated on an artists book that expressed the plight of those buried on Hart Island (potter’s field...

This one was made for my dear friend, Shari, who is an excellent collage artists. She inspires me, and I wanted to say thanks.Components: a page from Dicken's "The Haunted Man", a map of London, child from McCall's Complete Needlework Catalog 1940, 17th century ear...

This is in reply to a mail art letter, which on the back was photocopied the path to heaven, it reminded me of some old catechism lessons from grammar school, so I couldn't resist this reply and thinking about blood.Components: page from St. Joseph's Missal (the...

This found photo was with a group from upstate New York, a Greek family with some relatives that look like they could be part of my family too. I just love these two guys. I wish I knew their real story, but instead, I'll just compose one.Components: 17th century...

Wednesday morning musings, practicing for a large project coming soon.Components: story from children's book, "A good man and his good wife", photocopy of an old German postcard addressed to Willy Herrmann, Brooklyn, N.Y., vintage wall paper and blown-up vintage...

Entry to a mail art call put together by Reinhard Hammann in Mainz, Germany. Show dates May 13 to June 12.Components: photocopy of Mrs. Mary Searles Penrose, Elgin Academy, 1930. German stamp, German language page, old wallpaper, crayon, tracing paper and rubber...

After sending my first Quaker art to the Netherlands, I received a wonderful comment from Valentine M. Herman, in France, who promised to send me a postcard with some history of a very famous Quaker from Valentine's home town. I received his card and loved it. This is...

This piece was done for the Imagine Squirrels show in Miami, AZ, put together by Mudhead Reynolds. Which pays homage to the work of French novelist René Daumal and his unfinished work Mount Analogue. Excerpt:While climbing, take note of all the difficulties along your...

Sending a collage out to my father's cousin in NY, I thought it would be fun to give a nod to St. Patrick. Components: an Irish stamp from my dad's collection, a 1960s advert, vintage wall paper, green crayon and some of the text from Mr. Dooley on Making a Will and...

Having fun responding to a letter from Richard C. He remarked about a comment that I had been doing mail art since 1965 by saying I must have been doing crayon drawings for my grandmother, sweet. That made me think of my Yiayia, and inspired this postcard. Some of the...

Getting involved in the A Book About Death exhibits has introduced me to a great group of creative people and inspired me to apply for a membership in the International Union of Mail Artists (IUOMA). This card was done in response to a request from a fellow member,...

"A Book About Death in Venice" handmade artist's book 3" x 4" coverHow to make a book, for ABAD, Italy that is truly Italian? I started with vintage wall paper given to me by my Italian friend, Robrt, to create the cover. I thought about how I would name the piece and...

"A Book About Death in Venice" handmade artist's book 3" x 4" My contribution to UN LIBRO SULLA MORTE - A BOOK ABOUT DEATH. The Nuovo Archivio International Biblioteca Artist’s Book  /NABILA-FLUXUS/ Treviso, curated by Virginia Milici) presents an exhibition in...

5 3/4 x 4 1/8 inches, collage, mixed media and wax on paper.Curious stories get more connected... In a continuing string of coincidences I was mailed a link to a letter from Melinda Hunt, in response to an editorial by Lawrence Downes in the New York Times. Alston...

My friend Shari and I wanted to try making a button necklace, so we went shopping for some jewelry parts this morning. We did not have a lot of time, so we planned on getting together again to dabble in the project. In the meantime I couldn't wait to try my hand at...

untouched photo shoot for the header of the abad blogToday I finished setting up the blog for the A Book About Death exhibition in Phoenix. It has been a few months in the planning with Matthew Rose the founder of this international art phenomenon. The show will...

Vintage bottles, HO scale prisoners and guards, hand made skulls and bones along with some fake dirt compromise this series of Hart Island related work. In the 19th century two events took place in the city of New York. One was the creation of the city's largest...

A mere stroke of the awl, collage on paper, 6 x 4 inchesOur neighborhood book club decided to read Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain as the next selection. I know, really? That's what I thought. But, oh, what a great treasure trove of material there was to be found that...

a matter of highest importance, collage on paper, 5 x 3.5 inchesThe challenge of getting this project done to meet the deadline of January 1, 2011 has been accomplished, with just hours to spare. There was a great deal of thinking about how I would interpret the idea...

chair series, winter greetings, collage on index card, 2010This year I decided to not think too much about my winter greeting cards. They have a bit of humor behind them and I hope that people will find them amusing. Each one is an individual collage, and no two are...