I am growing to really enjoy Valentine’s Day. Partly it’s a way to remember the old school tradition of handing out “valentines” to all your friends in school (remember that, from elementary school?) It seems poignant somehow, a holiday that changes in meaning from the way you experience it as a child to the way you experience it as an adult. Also, it’s a holiday that celebrates love. It falls in the middle of February, which to many people can be the coldest, hardest month of winter to get through. Although it’s the shortest, it can seem so long somehow… and why not honor love in the middle of the coldest, hardest month of the year?
And partly, it’s an excuse for me as an artist to create some fun things to give away as gifts to friends and loved ones, to let them know they are special. Which, if you ask me, is a good thing to do…
OK, I get a little carried away. I confess that printmaking lends itself to becoming obsessed. Part of what I enjoy so much about printmaking is the ability to repeat the image, to make so many pieces and objects, all original and hand-crafted, from this one little block…. and that, I love.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Tags: block printing, printmaking, Valentine's Day
