art of the month club: A Mystery

I received an envelope last week, and here's what it looks like.

Very artistic: lots of stamps; pale, lowercase typed lettering; and that hand-drawn circle around the typed date saying "art of the month club." The return address has the same title, with a post office box number. It was intriguing.

When I opened the envelope there were two lovely, small wash drawings, but no word of explanation as to why I had received this, and no name to attach to its source. I like mysteries; maybe that's why I do the police reporting for The West End NEWS.

These drawings are well done, and each was on a piece of heavy watercolor paper. I'm assuming the person who did the artwork found these items on the street. Two street names are listed next to the dates, which are the same, "1.18."

On February 13 another envelope arrived. The date typed into this one was "feb 08," within the red circles drawn on the envelope.

Inside this envelope were four pieces of fuzzy cloth, cut out to resemble mustaches (I'm using the Webster's preferred spelling). There was a card enclosed with an explanation regarding what to do with these mustaches.

Also contained in February's envelope was this charming pin. How curious this all is.

I picked up my camera, looking for likely suspects to place the mustaches on. I didn't want to go around knocking on friends' doors or just carry the mustaches with me, waiting to pounce on unsuspecting people I might run across during my daily travels.

When it comes to something like this, I want to do it now. I decided to find things in my home to place the mustaches on, and then photograph the results, which I'll now share with you.

Here's my favorite: the Doughboy. I've been very fond of him since he made his appearance many years ago.

The mustache makes him seem a lot older, and not quite as adorable as he actually is. But he was a good sport, and he didn't mind posing for this photo.

This is my chainsaw bear, wearing sunglasses found in the ocean during a sea-glass collecting expedition, and wearing his FBI hat that he's quite attached to. He is not an FBI agent, in case you might be wondering. I prefer the way he looks without this mustache, but he's not going to keep it on forever.

I tacked mustaches on to this redheaded boy doll and this bear from a sign that had great meaning to me in my childhood.

I followed the instructions on the announcement and sent the four pictures to the e-mail address listed. I was hoping I might get some sort of acknowledgment but that didn't happen.

The drawing of this little bird was done by Susan Winn, whose beautiful fabric/bead art is astounding in its delicacy and complexity. I would have bet money that she'd sent the two envelopes. She has the time, the whimsical nature, and the talent to have imagined this "art of the month club."

I called her and asked her if this was something she was involved with and she gave me a hearty "No!" She claimed that if it were her idea, she would admit it.

So I'm back to square one; no idea who is responsible for this; no clues; the trail is dead. I'll just have to wait and see if any other envelopes arrive in the coming months.

I'll certainly let you know if there's an ending to this tale. Perhaps I'll have to ask some of Portland's detectives for their help in solving this mystery. They might be able to give me some tips.

Comments

[anonymous]

it's not susan.