Making Valentine’s Day art cards has brought me joy for many years, and for just as many years, I found joy in sharing these art cards with people I know and total strangers. This year is no different.
The design idea for this card started with a poem I ran across just before Christmas last year. The poem tells a story of s person who is kissed under a bough of mistletoe. The thing the poem does not reveal is whether the kiss is real, or imagined, or a dream. It is a wonderfully ambiguous telling and I share it with you here:
(Pale-green, fairy mistletoe),
One last candle burning low,
All the sleepy dancers gone,
Just one candle burning on,
Shadows lurking everywhere:
Some one came, and kissed me there.
Tired I was; my head would go
Nodding under the mistletoe
(Pale-green, fairy mistletoe),
No footsteps came, no voice, but only,
Just as I sat there, sleepy, lonely,
Stooped in the still and shadowy air
Lips unseen—and kissed me there.
1873–1956
Walter de la Mare, born on April 25, 1873 in London, is considered one of modern literature’s chief exemplars of the romantic imagination. His complete works form a sustained treatment of romantic themes: dreams, death, rare states of mind and emotion, fantasy worlds of childhood, and the pursuit of the transcendent.
For Valentine’s Day this year, I want there to be no doubt of love and affection I hold for all my friends, and for all of humankind. Love is difficult sometimes, particularly in these days when it feels like there is so much division and animosity in the world. I believe there is enough love for everyone; there should be no hesitation in sharing that with people we know and people we don’t know.
Size: 4” x 6”
Edition size: 158
Medium: Acrylic, rubber stamps, mixed media
Ground: Watercolor paper
