On the Blue line to O'Hare

The last of the Chicago snapshots, taken from the metro on the way to the airport. Bye bye Chicago, I hope to be back some day...

The Scientist, David and I

As an homage to the great poet who was David Bowie, this is a re-post of a collage I made a couple of years back. David, wherever you are, and maybe on Mars, thank you for the show!

And for all David and The Little Prince fans, a special treat from Jarrett J. Krosoczka

Behind the scenes of a creative business - Tonia Speich-Hess talks about Kooky

On Bijou Caillou today: http://www.bijoucaillou.com/behind-the-scenes-of-a-creative-business-tonia-speich-hess-talks-about-kooky/

Mail art goodies

My mail art activities have now come to a complete standstill but I amazingly still receive the best goodies from my favourite people. I wanted to show you a few of them and to thank you for keeping in touch even when I'm not sending anything out! All of this made me smile and laugh and giggle, you are very talented artists and I'm the usual lucky cookie. I sure am.

A wonderful amended Hokusai from David Stafford, this is what happens before Marie's head explodes, LOL!! (he even got the colours of my jacket and scarf right. Amazing).

Artist Insane Dean needs some fresh air but it seems he doesn't mind the smell of goat cheese. Alright then, chèvre it is. But not just any chèvre. Chèvre-la-Pointe or nothing! On est gourmet...

"So how was your day?" is SO not a rhetorical question, I found out by reading Cheryl's free verse poem. A fantastic read, as is all of Chery'l work, needless to say.

Carina sent such an elegant diptych, I love the composition, colours and textures. And below, a stunning visual poem (sorry for the prominent folds, my scanner is on strike and has been replaced by a camera). Simply beautiful, Carina.

Patti and Dave's latest effort arrived just on time for Christmas, thanks you two! You look so peachy. Aren't we all getting warmer and warmer....

This one is from a few months ago and cost me to lose my favourite barcode art piece (the barcode sink) after a disastrous Facebook bid. Well, I didn't exactly lose it, I got 1Euro for it and it's now somewhere safe in a Finnish forest close to a Finnish lake where it is protected from mosquitoes. So there.

Rebecca Guyver sends a beautiful stitched and painted card and a collaborative boekie. So much visual poetry!

This one is from RCBz. I like it so much I'm thinking of asking him to design the logo for Bijou Caillou who's in desperate need of one.

And more from David (I told you I was spoiled). I love the Authentic Lone envelope, and the dinette, yea, tell me about it, it's all the rage in Japan now and my in-laws insist I should get one. No way.

I said no to the dinette but I quite fancy the small bull calibrator. My birthday is May 16 :-))

Et la cerise sur le gâteau, barcodes now have their own airline!! Barcode Air! OMG. Now that's a cool logo there! :-)) Are they flying to Tokyo? Say they do! I sure have the barcode illness but I'm flying first class so who cares. I'm sure they serve Chèvre crackers.

Arigatoo my friends! And happy new year to all of you!

Signs You're in Chicago

Since I didn't take many pictures in Chicago I bought this wonderful book at the Art Institute Museum Shop as a souvenir. I've always had a thing for neon lights, and this book serendipitously found its way into my collection. Here are a few examples of the gems you might come across in the streets of Chicago.

And my personal favourite...