12th Annual Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival

This ad card promotes the annual Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival, celebrating the illustrated world that takes place on the first Saturday in November every year. In 2019, it will be held at the Clark County Library on November 2, 2019 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m, featuring publishers, vendors, film screenings, panels and workshops, special comic and animation guests, live music and cosplay.

By Tram through Old Chorzów

Postcard BE-427724 from Belgium shows one of Grzegorz Chudy's paintings By Tram through Old Chorzów published by Postallove. Chorzów is a city with 2 million residents in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice, on the Rawa River which is a tributary of the Vistula.

Grzegorz Chudy, born in Katowice and known for his watercolor paintings, is a teacher of Polish literature and Silesian language.

Woman in a Fur Hat

Outgoing postcard US-3224039 to Belarus was sent on February 8,2015 and had expired since. The card shows an oil on canvas Woman in a Fur Hat, circa 1915, by Gretchen Woodman Rogers (1881 - 1967), an American painter associated with the Boston School.

The painting was said to be reminiscent of Girl with a Pearl Earring, circa 1665, by Johannes Vermeer. By referring to the Dutch artist’s most mesmerizing painting in her image of a contemporary woman, "Rogers links past and present, projecting an exquisite and timeless impression of strength and confidence."

The postcard was purchased at the gift shop of Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art during the annual Bellagio Museum Day in 2014, when the exhibition “Painting Women: Works from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston” was on display.

Giant Shoe at Cosmopolitan

Outgoing postcard US-3372310 to India shows a giant shoe at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, one of the sculptures made by artist Roark Gourley of Santa Ana, California. At 9 feet or 2.7 meter tall and big enough for a person to climb into for a photo, the sculptures were originally designed as art and not playground equipment. After being roped off for a while and sent back to studio for repair and rejuvenation in 2012, they are back and welcome visitors to take pictures, on only by them, but also in and on them.

Landscape with Peacocks by Paul Gauguin

Outgoing postcard US-3263776 to Taiwan shows an oil painting on canvas Landscape with Peacocks by Paul Gauguin from 1892. Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (June 7, 1848 – May 8, 1903), a French Post-Impressionist artist who was not well appreciated until after his death, is most recognized for his famous paintings of Tahiti. Matamoe, or Landscape with Peacocks, is one of his most beloved works. Peacocks walk in the foreground as a Tahitian man chops wood by a fire. A hut stands in the background with two women talking below palm trees as the sunset turns the landscape orange, purple, red and yellow. Gauguin's experimental use of color and synthetist style made his paintings distinguished from Impressionism.

Giorgio Bassani

Postcard SG-171940 from Singapore shows a portrait of Giorgio Bassani by artist L. Lee. Giorgio Bassani (March 4, 1916 – April 13, 2000) was an Italian writer, poet, and editor. He was best known for the Oscar Award winning movie The Garden of the Finzi-Continis in 1970, based on his 1962 novel Il giardino dei Finzi-Contini exploring the city of Ferrara with its Christian and Jewish elements of life.

When the Honeymoon's Over

Postcard US-3259468 to North Carolina shows a magazine cover, "When the Honeymoon's Over" by Western artist Bill Owens, for the Western Horseman's September 1987 issue. As do most of his paintings, this one shows a real cowboy, living and working in the contemporary West. Owen's artwork has appeared on the magazine's cover 29 times.

The Wheel of Time: Valerian K. Zholtok (1919-2000)

Postcard BY-1563582 from Belarus shows a still-life painting from a past exhibition the Wheel of Time. Valerian K. Zholtok (1919-2000) at the National Art Museum of the Republic of Belarus.

Valerian K. Zholtok was born December 13, 1919 in Zhlobin Gomel region in Belarus from a family of railroad employee. She graduated from the Vitebsk Art School in 1939, and had received many awards throughout her career. Many of her works are in collection of the National Art Museum of the Republic of Belarus, the Belarusian Union of Artists, Museum of Modern Art in Minsk, Belarus, and other institutes and individuals in UK, USA, Italy, Poland, Romania, and Japan.

Many of the plants in her paintings were grown by her own hands.

Happy St Patrick's Day

In celebrating St. Patrick Day, the annual Las Vegas Valley Firefighters St. Patrick's Day Parade and Fun Challenge was held at the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center (DLVEC) today.

The parade started at the Main Street Stage at noon. Led by Grand Marshal Terry Murphy, Honorary Irish Consul to Nevada, uniformed firefighters, honor guards, bagpipers and step dancers made its way along the Fremont Street under the Viva Vision canopy. Then the Firefighter Fun Challenge took place between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. where firefighter teams from around the country competed in a tricycle race, wheel barrel race, midnight equipment run, tug of war, hose bowling and garden hose efficiency contest. winners would donate their prize money to the charities of their choices.

Outgoing postcard US-3263675 to Hong Kong shows a vintage "Horse and Cart" poster "Lovely day for a Guinness", one of the most popular of all the Guinness beer advertisements, circa 1949, by artist John Gilroy. 

Step dancers perform at the Las Vegas Valley Firefighters St. Patrick's Day Parade.

Belarusian Cat

Postcard BY-1460654 from Belarus shows an illustrated Belarusian Cat by artist Ekaterina Shmirina, dressing like Ded Moroz (Grandfather Frost), a fictional character who in some Slavic cultures plays a similar role as Santa Claus does.

Fur Traders Descending the Missouri

Outgoing postcard US-3139095 to Russia shows one of the most famous paintings by George Caleb Bingham, a 19th century American artist. Depicting American life in the frontier lands along the Missouri River using the Luminist style, the painting was originally entitled French-Trader, Half-breed Son. It reflected the reality of fur traders' common marriages with Native American women. However, the name was changed to Fur Traders Descending the Missouri to avoid potentially controversial when it was first exhibited. Painted around 1845, this art piece is now owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

The stamped card was one of the EXTRAordinary Art Card series issued by USPS at the Saint Louis Art Museum in St. Louis, Missouri on May 4, 1990. It has a 15-cent postage pre-printed with a reproduction of the 1845 painting and sells for 50 cents at the time.

The liberty cap or Phrygian cap worn by the older man was the symbol of freedom and liberty commonly used in the 19th century. The animal in the boat was actually a bear cub, not a cat.

Montmartre

Postcard FR-446497 from France shows Montmartre, a 130-meter-tall hill in the north of Paris, France. It is known for the white-domed Basilica of the Sacré Cœur on its summit. The ancient Romans had referred the site as Mount Mercury in the 8th century, and Mount Mars in the 9th century. Saint Denis, a Christian bishop, was decapitated on the hilltop in 250 AD for preaching the Christian faith. The hill was named Mountain of the Martyr to commemorate the martyrdom of Saint Denis.

Many artists had set up studios or shops in or around Montmartre, including Salvador Dalí, Amedeo Modigliani, Claude Monet, Piet Mondrian, Pablo Picasso, Camille Pissarro and Vincent van Gogh.

Now Montmartre is also know as a nightclub district with vibrant nightlife.

Forbidden Jump

Postcard US-2651065 to Luxembourg depicts one of the thrills of boyhood on the farm or ranch - the forbidden jump off the windmill into the stock tank. Artist Fred Boyce captured this high point in the lives of two pint-sized cowboys for the Western Horseman magazine's September issue in 1959.

This vintage magazine cover postcard was from a postcard book purchased at the Cowboy Christmas Gift Show during the National Finals Rodeo in 2012.

Bears Star

Postcard RU-3035257 from Russia shows a fantasy illustration "Bears Star" by Russian artist Galla Yegorenkova, where Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, along with a full moon, were guiding ships through a cold, rough sea. 

Bellagio Museum Day

Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art (BGFA) hosted its annual Museum Day on Saturday October 4, 2014, in honor of Smithsonian magazine’s Annual Museum Day which offered complimentary admission to participating museums and cultural institutions in the U.S. on September 27, 2014.

“Painting Women: Works from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston” is the current exhibition at BGFA, showcasing 34 paintings by women artists from 18th to 20th centuries. The show will run through October 17, 2014.

The featured postcard shows the Portrait of a Young Woman, circa 1797, by French artist Marie Louise Elisabeth Vigée-Le Brun (1755–1842), one of the paintings on display. The postcard was purchased at BGFA's gift shop.

Smooth as Silk

Postcard US-1920292 to Germany shows a performance of aerial contortion, where one or more artists perform aerial acrobatics hanging from a special fabric such as silk. It is very popular in various shows in Las Vegas. Climb on the suspended fabric, usually without using safety lines, performers rely only on their training and skill to wrap, suspend, fall, swing, and pose in various positions while maintaining safety. 

Aerial Contortion by Las Vegas Hotties at Fremont Street Experience on September 26, 2014

Tom of Finland Got Stamp of Approval

Breaking the tradition again, I am blogging a postcard that I don't own yet. It is part of the Tom of Finland packing - postcards and stamps issued by Posti, the postal service company in Finland.

Stamps commemorating homoerotic artist Touko Laaksonen, known as Tom of Finland, went on sale on Monday, September 8, 2014. With pre-sale from 178 countries, the stamps become the country's best seller so far. Great oversea interests come from Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States, and France, according to the number of orders placed outside Finland. 

Designer Timo Berry told Finnish public radio station YLE: “It’s great that these images, which in the past had to be sold under the table, can now be openly stuck on an envelope or a postcard.” Similar to the Harvey Milk stamp issued in the United States on May 22, 2014, Tom of Finland stamps celebrate the freedom of expression and mark the progress of LGBT rights. 

Memories

Postcard BY-1337780 from Belarus features an oil painting on canvas made with a palette knife by artist Leonid Afremov, born in the city of Vitebsk, Belarus in 1955. Leonid Afremov graduated from the famous Vitebsk Art School in 1978. The school was founded by Marc Chagall (July 6, 1887 – March 28, 1985), a Belarussian-Russian-French artist, in 1921. Leonid Afremov moved to Israel in 1990, and became known as a Israeli modern painter of landscapes, cityscapes and figures. "The scorching southern sun filled with colors and brightness made Leonid's paintings positive and joyous."

Marvel Heros

"Amazing Las Vegas Comic Con" returns to Las Vegas for the second year from Friday June 20 to Sunday June 22, 2014. South Point Casino is hosting 300 exhibitors, an international artist's alley with more than 200 artists, and a video game arena, showcasing the best and brightest in comic book and pop entertainment. Enthusiastic fans dressed as their favorite fiction characters, and a costume contest was on Saturday tonight, Tomorrow is Sunday Kid’s Day; admission for kids 10 and under are free with paid adults.

Outgoing postcard US-2813945 to Malaysia shows some Marvel Heroes, fictional characters by Marvel Comics.

Valley of Fire

Postcard US-1804465 to Germany shows a flaming sunset view at the Valley of Fire, the oldest and largest state park in Nevada located 55 miles from Las Vegas, dedicated in 1935. The Valley of Fire got its name from red sandstone formations, formed from great shifting sand dunes some 150 million years ago when dinosaurs were around. You can find areas of petrified wood and early Indian petroglyphs throughout the park. There is a diverse desert bio-community that features creosote bush, burro bush, and brittlebush; beaver tail and cholla cactus; springtime blooming plants such as desert marigold, indigo bush, and desert mallow; birds such as raven, house finch, sage sparrow, and roadrunner; lizard and snake; coyote, kit fox, spotted skunk, jackrabbit; and the desert tortoise.

The Valley of Fire was designated as a National Natural Landmark in 1968. The park is also marked as Nevada Historical Marker #150. A close-up view of an area in Fire Canyon, part of Valley of Fire, has made on to the Nevada Statehood Forever Commemorative stamp, to be issued by USPS in Las Vegas, NV on May 29, 2014, to celebrates the 150th anniversary of Nevada statehood. The oil-on-Masonite panel was painted by Nevada artist Ron Spears.