The Patron Saint of Postcards
In 2008 while I was living in San Diego, I had a vision of a postcard apron, a cape and a crown. I set out to create the persona, the Patron Saint of Postcards and for the better part of a year, I created postcards and wore them in an apron that I had my Aunt Bonnie sew. I ran around town, in bars, on the streets, either giving away or selling my one-of-a-kind postcards. I often rode the train along the coast and often would get strange looks from children and adults alike. I made people laugh (I hope) and feel a sense of adventure. My fondest memory was at the Carlsbad fair when a young boy came up to me and said while he waved his hands in front of his face, "Are you real?" I responded, "No".
You can see the postcards I gave away in the slideshows below. This was a time of freedom and even though I ended up barefoot and pregnant by the end of this phase, I can honestly say that I lived life to the fullest when I was the Patron Saint of Postcards. If anyone has any idea where my crown is, please let me know. You can send a message to leahstellaATgmail.com. I left it in Encinitas, outside of a cafe, in a tree covered with objects.
You can see the postcards I gave away in the slideshows below. This was a time of freedom and even though I ended up barefoot and pregnant by the end of this phase, I can honestly say that I lived life to the fullest when I was the Patron Saint of Postcards. If anyone has any idea where my crown is, please let me know. You can send a message to leahstellaATgmail.com. I left it in Encinitas, outside of a cafe, in a tree covered with objects.
Here are just a few of the people that I gave or sold my postcards to. This took place at the peak of my Patron Saint of Postcards phase. My favorite moment was when I visited Slab City and let residents pick out their favorite postcard to keep for free. Slab City is one of the few, if only, remaining anarchist towns in the USA. No one pays rent and there is no police force that exists within it's city limits. Here's a video I filmed at Slab City and Salvation Mountain.
Over ten years ago I created a website called Wrongland. In it my postcards were featured and this series was created during an illness I suffered. Before I became ill, I was working as a teacher in Japan and subsequently I had an intense and prolonged stress period. I became partially and temporarily deaf and had to return to the US. During my recovery at home, I created around 300 handmade postcards which in my mind all came from a place called Wrongland, USA. If you're on the West Coast, you can find these at an antique store in Leucadia, California called Caldwell Antiques. You can email Fred, the owner if you want to buy these postcards: fredson101@aol.com. Fred Caldwell is an awesome designer and a wonderful person. You can spend hours leafing through cool stuff and don't forget to ask to see The Strange Thing (cost: 25 cents).
