Use your art to thank clients with a valuable gift.
But first, I’ll be talking about this artwork in this blog. It is available on my website!
In the fall of 2022 when I was trying to decide how to deal with my social media issue, and started thinking about my letter writing practice that dates back to my childhood. In April 2022 I participated in National Letter Writing Month. I bought a refurbished letter writing desk from someone on Facebook Marketplace, and I love it. It is a small desk, sized for letter writing, not for computer setups. It has 7 drawers. I stock it with my personal stationery, sealing wax and seals, business cards, postage stamps, a mailing scale, and other objects . I spent the month of April writing one letter per day to friends, family, and collectors. It was very peaceful and I enjoyed doing it. It is a meditative practice that settled me into thinking about each person I wrote to, and putting intention into each letter.
December can be a difficult time for me since through the past dozen years we have had a lot of loss and trouble during that month, so I didn’t really want to send out Christmas cards to clients. I decided to send out New Year’s cards instead. I wanted these cards to be unique, personal, and special, as much as possible.
I ordered printable stationery and printed a design of a bird that I had painted recently onto each one. Below the bird, I printed the title of the painting, “Goldfinch”, and then signed and numbered each of 100 printed cards. This way each recipient will get a limited edition gift for the new year. I have a professional printer, so was able to print the cards myself from home rather than sending them out for printing. This saves money for the artist, while still endowing the piece with additional value. As I discussed in a previous post, Art that Regular People Would Love to Own, there will never be additional prints made of this piece. I made 100 prints and will make no more.
The red stamp is my Tibetan chop mark, which I use on special projects. It says, “Peace”, which is my Buddhist refuge name.
There are some practices from years past that I plan to revive. Letter writing is one of them. Imagine getting a sheet of paper with handwriting that has been applied by someone who is giving you a gift of their kind thoughts and a signed and numbered print that they made. That’s special. At least I hope it is. I hope that for my collectors I will be remembered as generous in terms of my art and my heart. I think of gifts I have received like this in the past. My dear friend from the dog training world, Debi Davis, was a Master Calligrapher, and from time to time she would send gorgeous handwritten cards that I still cherish. Another friend from the colored pencil world, Jan Fagan, sent me one of her amazing troll drawings as a card several years ago. What a treasure! (Click her name to find her on TikTok!)
I hope that you will consider following me on Facebook. Yes, I’m changing my approach to social media, but that’s where I want everyone to gather round. That and, even more importantly, this email list. It would help me a lot if you invite friends to join us here. This list will be the best place to learn about things I’m doing and give-aways.
Here’s to a fabulous 2023!
Onward and Upward,
Kellie
