Tag Archives: Ink

Post'd (cards + letters)

Post’d: Tea & Ink + metaphors of knives & telegrams

The important part is to enjoy tea {and the tools} +

Series of 9

Bound for the post office forthwith (tomorrow is a holiday in Japan hence closed) with a new batch for (some of) the “postcard as a service” subscribers… Each handmade on washi paper with ink sketches of different elements used in tea ceremony with specific narrative on the back.

Yep, 9 indeed

Just think: If all these folks got together one day, each with their card in hand, together they would have a (in)complete guide book to tea ceremony ;)

The tea cards anointed with these most wonderful Japanese remixed woodblock print stamps

[Update] Arrived at my favorite little post office, Shinogoze, with 11 minutes before closing the day before a holiday – they were, as always, excited to see my new creations – rather surprised that I make these things mail all over – and indulge me picking out *just the right* stamps + managed to squeeze up a few quick snapshots before they went into the chute of adventure.

The bonus/sundry assortment where adorned with the cute little Postal bear off on an adventure in England it seems

Bonus round: A few from the standard and experimental stacks also went out for various purposes including:

* train station in Tripunnithura, Kerala India (going back to India) & * post boxes in Kathmandu (foreign, domestic, regional) – in memorium

* telegrams (concerning roast beef, smoking jacket and a barman named Sunday) from the Majestic Hotel in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia / protip: find the poem written from this very experience elsewhere in this archive (snap too #evidence)

On the left is from DT Suzuki Zen Museum in Kanazawa, on the right is from Yumeji museums in Okayama / Both adorned with far more expensive stamp than necessary for the postal rain but seem to really fit the aesthetics. What is a few yen between magicians anyway?

* Two very important health of various kinds of practitioners celebrate birthdays (constantly enough, the same age milestone) and though they’ve been in close navigation to each other, I’ve never met… Anyway, pulled from the high value/not by me file for special wishes & gratitude

* assortment of pocket knives (with metaphor included) and even more metaphor with the importance of Scaffolding in most any construction/project, so often forgotten, no matter how sturdy (on a enotepad from some government office)

Get in on the fun, 2 ways:

Free/Occasional/Random/Fun; https://daveostory.com/more-daveo/postal-club/

Deluxe Postcard subscription & shop: https://daveostory.com/shop/

Post'd (cards + letters)

Post’d: inky card with details & musings

original photos by C.A. and collag’d by dvo

There are many reasons I love to send postcards and letters: the first of course is to just let people know I am thinking about them, followed closely by the meditative enjoyment of assembling paper, image and decoration just exactly right, but also enjoy seeing my creations reflected back across in another medium, weeks – or sometimes months – after I drop it in the box.

In this case, the recipient is a photographer who primarily shoots humming and other birds (and who’s lovely cards are elsewhere in this archive) and also takes wonderful close-up snaps of the details of my artifacts, in this case noticing the stamps – both ornamental and philadelphic – and the fuchsia ink scrawled with a quill.

To continue the recursive cycle, I’ve smashed four of her photos together in a little collage to zoom back from Japan to Vancouver once again, with evidence.

Ergo: A collage of close up details from a postcard sent from provincial Japan to West End Vancouver showing a beautiful franked stamp featuring illustration of a lady in kimono, an ink stamp unofficially commemorating Vancouver international airport established 1970, another ink stamp imitating an Immigration stamp from Narita airport and excerpt of a scribble in fuchsia ink possibly saying “happy birthday“ with a bit of another ink stamp probably saying “Postcard“.

Continue reading Post’d: inky card with details & musings →
DaveO Shop, Post'd (cards + letters)

Post’d: Letters + Stamping (& sending/receiving round-up)

The last few weeks have seen busy-ness with the construction, wedding anniversary, wife’s birthday, Golden Week projects, a crash day, medical treatment, Mother’s Day, plus Ichiro’s nursery school routine,… {and a few other complicated projects}.

The next couple of days hoping to catch up busi-ness with on another batch of deluxe letters, postcards, art dossiers, treats all accessorized with a stash of stamps – both postal & inky (and continue my glacial pace of replying to *almost* three emails a week :-))

And… A few results of recent making/writing/glueing etc. 

Love letters, Loved
Written with stick & blood ink
Fingerprint for proof

a letter i shouldn’t be sharing but hopefully you can’t read the ink and quill scribble. note thumbprint for authenticity
vaguely poetic sharpie notes on the back of Suez snapshots (includes mug shot of me at sea cause i am goofball)

Plus: a few dispatches through the wormhole to intended recipients. A stationery sampler to Hez and mysterious India B&W lomo postcards to Beez. Yes amused and pleased.

India B&W Lomo spy photos (extended set), framed with letter like i am a big shot
super stationery variety fun time to the someone who i know loves it

Oh and… 

Just arrived (May 6th for accuracy) at my seitai doctor’s office to see the painting print I gave him (Gravelly Beach No. 4 “Sakura”, oil on canvas sheet 2005) is framed and hanging in his waiting room.

Gravelly Beach in Seitai doctor’s office, Okayama, Japan

Yep, I’m exhibited at goat farms, doctor’s offices and refrigerators around the world. To which my pal Dan in Massachusetts, said, “You’re on my wall too” with this evidence: 

Gravelly Beach in Western Mass

Reply: “You’re making me feel like a big deal here buddy. Truly appreciate it. I mean there’s nothing finer than sharing creative pursuits out into the world >> especially this “gravelly beach” series which has been sitting in storage for 15 years waiting to float around for people to breathe life into it”.

Now available as a postcard for purchase (but you probably already knew that or maybe already have this print)…

DaveO Shop, Post'd (cards + letters)

Love Letters to Lovers Never Met

Everyone needs love letters, even from lover’s you’ve never met, or never will… The mystery and alchemy of combining ink, metal, paper, glue & affection/intention and sending into the abyss where, somehow, through the efforts of many hands and assorted machines, auto-magically time travels into your heart. Crisp, tactile, affected by the elements, scarred as such by the journey.

Of course I’m *always* writing letters and postcards ~ with paints and poems ~ and as it goes, February 14, my love was climbing matsu pine trees to cut into decorative arrangements on a blustery day in Okayama, and I sat quietly in a second-floor room with analog tools and a full heart.

Now, these dispatches – which required circumnavigations to create & augmented with mixed media splendour ~ will make their way to spark other hearts, possibly yours. Or someone’s heart you wish to spark. I’m here to help. #PostcardsAvailable

Elsewhere Scenes, Personal Musings

Tea Ceremony in Sketches

Gallery

A loose translation of the poem on the scroll in the alcove

My darling Ryoko studies Japanese tea ceremony with a group of others from Okayama and Kurashiki. Recently i was invited along to a special tea-drinking session at her sensei Ms. Matsuke’s house (she’s moving house so wanted to do one last one shindig at her home). 

We gather around, have some snacks and chat while setting up and then convene in a room to go through the process. As a new-un to the routine, i sketched a variety of quick scribbles to remind myself the process and find the moment of stillness (not always easy for this eager fella). Brief notes accompany the sketches. 

The general set up of the tea room with the alcove, scroll of poetry, brazier, tatami mats on floors – otherwise intentionally sparse.

Continue reading Tea Ceremony in Sketches →

Scrapbooks + Journals

Notebook snippets: various ink stamps in Japan (featuring Lafcadio Hearn)

Gallery

Museums and galleries in Japan, as well as various temples/shrines and assorted other places of note, often offer inky stamps to collect and stamp in one’s own notebook – or if forgotten, on slips of provided paper. These are usually rather large and sometimes the ink pads are a bit worn out. Nevertheless, i seek these out and stamp in my ever-present scrapjournals.

This collection is collected on a ramble around Matsue, Shimane-ken at the Lafcadio Hearn (Koizumi Yakomo) museum and later, at various galleries around Kurashiki, Okayama-ken.

Continue reading Notebook snippets: various ink stamps in Japan (featuring Lafcadio Hearn) →

Scrapbooks + Journals

Inky Stamps: variety sampler

Image

I gather inky stamps (of many sorts but mostly olden postal-related ones, usually found on the dusty bottom shelves of forgotten stationery/office supply shops, forlorn and bereft) and have assorted collections scattered in various pouches located in storage lockers, desk drawers, forgotten suitcases and rucksacks for handy deployment as needed.

Pictured above are some of the aforementioned stamps, stamped (obviously) onto one page for my reference. Noting some are woodcut and other metal designed for letterpress print use. One is (again obviously) custom designed.

Carry on.