Valentine’s Day Cards

Feb 14

I love Valentine’s Day cards! I would rather send out one of these cards then a Christmas card. To me it is such a great way to tell friends and family that I care about them. Below are three of my favorites that I have designed and painted.

Mount Rainier As Inspiration

I live in Seattle and the natural setting is one of my favorite things about the city. In particular, I love on a clear day you can see the mountain ranges and volcanoes. Mount Rainier is one of the predominate volcanoes to see from Seattle. It also has so many impressive views from the air or on a hike. Of the three sketches I did for that year’s card, the one I did using Mount Rainier as inspiration definitely crept into the lead. Watercolor was the medium I decided to use and I hand painted over 40 cards to send to friends and family. Still to this day, I can spot one of the cards at a friends house and it brings me joy.

The Evergreen State As Inspiration

Washington’s states nickname is the Evergreen State, and I always feel at home being outside among the trees. A conifer tree is an unusual subject for a Valentine’s Day card but I wanted this design to also reflect my love for the outdoors and Washington. I wanted to put a hand done element into this piece and my original sketch was for the card was in watercolor. This year I knew that I would not have time to paint that many cards. Instead I decided to do a linocut and include a simple painting of color.

Birds As Inspiration

I had been thinking about social distancing a lot lately and how many people crave those physical connections. With a natural world angle, I decided upon using birds as a muse to show those connections and love. I liked picking a range of birds to show different emotions; a nervous kiss, a sweet moment, or a kiss that makes your feathers stand up. Each set of birds was watercolored and I digitally added in the hand painted heart for the final touch.