Pen and ink

Pen and ink – ink on paper, 110 x 145 mm, 2012.
Pen and ink – ink on paper, 110 x 145 mm, 2012.

I’ve started writing letters again. Not emails. Not texts. Real letters.

Earlier this month, a girlfriend and I were fondly remembering our letter-writing days and wondering if it really had become a lost art when we hit upon a plan to start writing letters to each other again — something we probably hadn’t done for a decade or more (okay, definitely more). Oh there have been birthday cards and holiday postcards… but no letters. A sorry state of affairs.

The rules: no cards, no postcards, only letters in envelopes posted the old-fashioned way. With a stamp. A sketch (anything from a 10-second doodle to a one-hour masterpiece — at the writer’s discretion) would also have to be included in the letter.

We have now written, sent and received two letters each.

It’s early days but so far, so good…

Experimental collage

happy birthday Jess – mixed media, 190 x 255 mm, 2012.
happy birthday Jess – mixed media, 190 x 255 mm, 2012.

Question: what to do when you want to make something a bit special for an arty friend who has seen practically everything you’ve made over the last three years?

Answer: something else.

The background photo and the toy museum dolls (in the window) were taken in Nelson, December 2011. The vintage circus girl, shell and chrysalis are found images. Acrylic paint, a black copic marker and felt pens (probably also vintage) were used to complete the design.

I wouldn’t mind making a few more like this.

Angels Gate presents…

© Kevin Allison, 2012

Poster design for an acoustic evening next month in Timaru (and also on Saturday 18th August at the Darkroom in Christchurch). Tessa, Shayna and Scott are three talented singer-songwriters based in the South Island (of New Zealand). My thanks to Kevin Allison, owner/producer of Angels Gate Recording Studio, for supplying the photographs and for allowing me to go a bit crazy with the vine border.