Fair Hero: Subcultures I Knew Nothing About ~ Artistamps and Art Stamp Designers!

Monday, June 11, 2012

Subcultures I Knew Nothing About ~ Artistamps and Art Stamp Designers!

This past weekend, I went to a 20th Anniversary celebration of my friend Zen's mixed use project in Seattle ~ Whaac All All.

Robby and Janet, the owners, are artist and wordsmith respectively.

Robby is an Artistamp designer. His "country" is Tui Tui. And, what a country it is. Or, to paraphrase the great Jane Austen, "It is a truth universally acknowledged . . . what's a great country without great stamps?" There are commemorative stamps, First Day Covers with appropriate cancellations, stamps for various govermental departments, Fest Day stamps, famous Tui Tui elected officials ~ you get the drift.

Robby's nom de l'art is Dogfish.

His work is fully realised, intricately imagined and flawlessly presented ~ all on the face of a "stamp." It's breathtaking in its depth of detail.

Mail Art is not without its risks. Every Mail Art designer knows they have arrived when they are visited by the Treasury Department (AKA Secret Service) or when the FBI stops by their studio or investigates their entry in an international exhibit to be certain they are producing art and not postage. Keeping all that in mind, there is nothing more fun than receiving a letter from Robby. It's a pageant! It's stamped, cancelled, and dated ~ the only thing missing? A papal bull.

On Saturday, I got to spend some time in his studio. This is the best way to descibe it ~ Robby's studio is a wonder.