Getting a letter from you or any of my friends was no different than getting a present in the mail. It didn’t matter to me that there wasn’t a big red bow on it. The envelope had my name on it and that’s all that mattered in that moment. I would say thank you to the mailman and run quickly into the house and find a spot to settle down into reading the letter he had handed to me. My heart would sing with all the lovely words on those papers which made me feel connected to one of my old friends.
Before I say anything else I would like to say thank you so much for any letter, note, text, or email that you have ever sent to me. Staying in contact with my friends is important to me.
The invention of the internet makes it so much easier to stay connected but physical letters are different from emails and texts. I know that any correspondence takes time to write and effort but a handwritten letter on paper is and was so special to me. Sometimes the writer even leaves their scent, and you feel even more connected to them as if they are still in the room. I can even pick up and touch a letter from my great grandmother wrote and feel the indentation in the paper of her words.
The United States Post Office was more important to me than most kids I knew. I needed the mail because of my father and his amazing career. I didn’t look at it like that at the time because in order for him to move up the ladder we had to move. The impact of a different place didn’t just mean a new school and all the stress associated with that. It would also mean that I couldn’t see my friends every day and possibly not ever again. The tears would flow whenever I was told we were going to move yet again. I didn’t want to lose any of my friends, so I always made sure to write and hopefully keep that bond.
Sometimes just holding a pen will remind me of someone I have written to many times because of the whole sensory experience. The act of writing a handwritten letter involves touching an implement, holding it, and moving it around while it’s touching the paper. You can hear the scratching on the surface of the paper. The scent of the ink and the paper hit your senses as well. You’re thinking about what you want to say as you’re going through the motion, and you have that person on your mind at the same time. You get to address an envelope where you stuff your thoughts, lick a stamp and the envelope before you put it into the box. Sometimes you drive this important letter across town to make sure it goes out in today’s air mail. Letter writing is a also big deal to me.
I still have a need to have access at all times to paper and ink. It shouldn’t be surprising that my process in creating art begins with graphite and ink. I like to be deliberate and thoughtful when I start and then I let it get messy and lose myself in the process before I start the refinement phase. I get all my feelings out and onto the canvas or paper and the process feels very much just like one of my letters. Sometimes I even have words sandwiched in and under all the layers of paint. So, if you have one of my pieces of artwork hanging on your wall know it’s more than just art, it’s also me staying in contact with you in a way. The essence of me, what I was thinking and feeling and even where I painted it is all there in that painting.
Let me end by saying I hope all is well with you and your family and I hope we stay connected 🙂
Love,
Cathy