Spring themes

A simple hand grabbing for colorful radishes out of the ground makes this weeks spring themed card. (We really had spring on the brain last year from April through May.  I don't think we'd focused so much on any one season until now.)  I like the way this card is both detailed and simple in the same drawing.  This combination makes it seem so energetic!

On her card, Jessica wrote about spending more than a month away from her art supplies and her art because of more work trips.  She wrote about both wanting to do a drawing everyday and feeling like there wouldn't be enough hours in the day (until retirement) for that kind of thing. 

A year later, I'm feeling swamped at work and also thinking there aren't enough hours in the day to do the things I need to and the things that keep me sane! Well said pal :)

Green- all the rage!

I just read about this card company called Regreet. They make a greeting card you can use and then re-use. You may have thought re-using a card was tacky (if found out!) but actually its now hip! It makes you green...

Check it out. Regreet is a card that you send someone along with a packet of labels/stickers that let them cover up your signature and such. That way they can save (time and) the earth while still getting the points for mailing the card to someone else for their birthday. But actually I think the coolest part is that if you start the chain you can see where your original card travels. Somehow, being able to login and see where my card ventures in the world makes me smile.

Blue brilliance

Lynn used a kit I gave to her the summer before to make this cyanotype. We both used to play with such kits when we were kids. It brings back a lot of memories and makes me want to experiment with this technique now. I certainly have enough sun. Lynn wrote in the card that it would be neat to expose cyanotype paper with the cut paper designs like the ones I like to make. Sounds like a great idea. Now if only I had the necessary supplies!

This card arrived as school was winding down. Lynn said said she was feeling full of creative ideas and ready for the summer so she would have time to do them all. First on her to-do list was to pick up a sewing machine at her pa's so that she start sewing as soon as the kids were released.

Mapping the unknown

I have been thinking a lot about maps since I read this article in Slate a couple of days ago. Julie Turner uses maps submitted by Slate readers to illustrate commonalities between hand drawn maps and to point out why they are often superior to the 'accurate' maps printed for the masses. Definitely worth a read. Julie Turner points out that hand drawn maps only include information necessary for the reader and this simplicity makes them more user friendly and personal. They also become more detailed as we get further from home - we dont need a guide to what is known. Also check out the comments section where this great link is posted. Wonderful inspiration for a pair of artistic travelers.

Contrast of colors

I think I was supposed to post this card earlier in April, because Lynn wrote on the back that it was getting warmer in Michigan although everything was still brown. The brightly colored leaves on the card seem to show that she is optimistic this will change. The blue spot emphasizes this point.

Like the brown of her outdoor world, the card's underbelly is sad. Lynn wrote that she had been excited to recently reconnect with a friend from home only to discover that her friend was terminally sick with cancer. She lamented this news and its timing, happy to catch up but longing for more time with her.

I remember receiving this card in the mail and instantly picking up the phone to call Lynn. Snail mail might be conducive to expressing some of these hard to share feelings but cannot compete with the telephone when immediate comforting is in order.

Color explosion

Jessica branched out to color! And it looks good....

I love how she blended the colors on this vegetable (I think onions) and I hope it comes across digitally! When Jess lived in DC she had a farmer's market almost right behind her house on weekends. I wonder if the first spring market was her inspiration for this card?

On her postcard she wrote to me about enjoying being at home for a few weeks between business trips. She was savoring some normal activities like meeting friends for drinks and getting doctor's appointments out of the way.

Her card and message remind me of a time in the summer when I was in DC and we spend a morning at the farmer's market. We ended up chatting with the vendors about how to keep your herb plant from dying off so you could keep getting fresh basil. One thing about being with Jessica, you will have conversations with everyone you meet. Its fun!

Nocturnal inspiration

When I am not working, I have been walking a lot at dusk and in the evening the past few weeks in Tamale. As night falls on the city, I find myself completely absorbed in the way that colors change. The coals of an iron stove light up a woman's green dress and the the bronze earth below. A red light silhouettes a woman carrying a silver pan on her head. Television light reflects on a crowd of faces gathered around an outdoor TV. They are flashes that I cannot seem to put on a postcard. For this reason, I had to share this link to a piece by the photo journalist, Lynn Saville, in the New York Times. I love these photographs as much as I love the city they capture.