Love Notes Postcard Project

I have been so inspired lately to create new art pieces. Generally, I am spending at least part of my day wrapped up in music and painting. I couldn't be happier.

Although I don't need to add anything to my plate, I have done just that. A dear woman across the continent, Jennifer Belthoff, hosts a "Love Notes Postcard Project" every few months. It is this amazing postcard swap where you are paired up with a partner anywhere in the world. The idea is that you are given a prompt each week. You send your partner a postcard with your response to the prompt. I have participated twice before with less than stellar results. However, this time around I have been moved to create original postcards to send to my "love note partner." I think there is something completely moving about sharing your personal thoughts, and in my case my art, with a complete stranger. It has been downright invigorating for me. Let me share my process with you.

Here is how I create a postcard for this beautiful person:

• On Sunday, I receive my prompt. I begin thinking about what it is that I want to say in my writing.
• By Monday, I begin sketching ideas of how I can express my words through imagery.
• On Tuesday, I begin painting my words, and this process usually takes a few days to allow for drying times.
• Either Thursday or Friday, depending on the drying process, I add my writing to the back of my postcard and send it off to my partner.
• Then I spend my weekend waiting in anticipation for my partner to post that she has received my postcard. It is incredibly difficult to create an original piece of art and then just send it through the mail with no special packaging to protect it. You are never sure how it will arrive. Will it be as beautiful as you remember? Will the post office have stamped over your image? There are so many variables involved that you can't possible worry about them. You slide the postcard into that mail slot and pray that the recipient receives it just as you intended.
• By the end of the project, it is my hope to have gained a new friend. I think this time I have been lucky enough to be blessed with a truly beautiful person who shares her own thoughts with me as well.

This week I encourage you to pick up a postcard that speaks to you and send it to an unsuspecting person in your life. I guarantee that the surprise will bring a smile to their face and possibly start a trend of sending happy thoughts to those you care about. Be sure to let me know if you decide to take on this challenge and bring unexpected smiles to beautiful people in your life.

Hugs,
Jenni