For Md. Postcard Artist, Mystery's in the Mail

Frank Warren collects mail at his Germantown home, which these days has included postcard responses to his request last year for secrets. (Katherine Frey -- The Washington Post)

Warren's Artomatic installation prompted Anne C. Fisher, a clinical psychologist, to include his three projects in an exhibition at her Georgetown gallery.

Warren was the only one not to offer his works for sale, meaning that Fisher had nothing to gain financially.

"His project has to do with healing as well as art, and I really wanted to offer that to people," Fisher said.

Warren cultivates a sense of mystery in his artwork.

He places clues that he hopes others will decipher. His projects sometimes contain words or images that hint at violence.

One of the postcards that has appeared on PostSecret features the image of a hand, a motif that echoes the cards in the Clopper Lake bottles.

A sentence is inscribed along one of the digits: "This finger has killed."

Warren acknowledges authorship of two secrets at the site: the account of the spitting incident and a confession about throwing bottles into a lake.

As for any others, it's a secret.