No. 39: A Love Letter to Writing Letters
Revisiting snail mail through a creative lens
My love of letter writing dates back to my summer camp days, when each year my mom would send me away with new stationery so I could write home regularly. I loved stationery sets like this one, finding different-colored papers to write on, decorating the envelopes with stickers, and using various postage stamps from the post office. I am still obsessed with anything small, like the seed envelopes that were featured in Sara Midda’s In and Out of the Garden. And books like Griffin & Sabine or The Jolly Postman, each with actual letters tucked into envelopes glued on the pages that you can pull out and read, still make me so happy and I will always have them close by for inspiration and good vibes. The interactive aspect of these books is what inspired this class that I created a little while back on Skillshare.
To this day I collect postcards, any interesting papers I come across, and stationery, and I enjoy upcycling old artwork or sketches to write letters on. I have about ten pen pals whom I write to (ir)regularly, some more often than others. I always say that the finding of what I will write on, the addressing of the envelopes, the creative challenge of figuring out what fits into what envelope or making the envelopes by hand, choosing the postage stamps—the whole process of gathering the letter-writing ephemera—is more fun than actually writing the letter.
Typically, my letter writing is messy and rambles on about not very much. My letters used to have more significant content when the world moved at a slower pace and I wasn’t always delivering information over social media. These days most of what I write is old news once the letter arrives at its destination. I do try to send messages that are a little more surprising or about something I haven’t previously drawn about or shared. I like the feeling of knowing that whoever is on the receiving end will smile when they see my letter in their mailbox. That a small slice of me made its way by truck, car, boat, or plane to my receiver’s hands. Honestly, for me, the fun of getting a letter in the mail far outweighs what the letters actually say. You can read more about my love of handwriting in this post.
In this digitized and fast-paced world of ours, the art of letter writing is something I hope to continue and encourage others to embrace or return to as well. If you are unsure how to get started, I suggest having fun and being creative in the process. You only have to purchase stamps, as everything else is potentially free. A trimmed-down cereal box can be made into a bunch of postcards, for example. Start to grab the free postcards at restaurants or buy a book of blank watercolor postcards and just paint some color or abstract patterns on them. You only have to say hello or I miss you or I love you. The simplest messages are the most appreciated. Putting your cards into the mailbox forces you to take a walk or drive and reconnect with your neighborhood or town. Time slows down.
My camera roll is as much of a visual diary as my sketchbooks are and is filled with snapshots of mailboxes and mail slots discovered in various places I have traveled as well as close to home. I love the iconic mailboxes in the lobbies of old New York City buildings, each one a testament to the city’s history and the way people used to communicate with each other.
Above is a letter I found in a box deep in our closet a few years ago. The box contained many old letters I had written to my now husband back when we were first dating in 1995. This one made my jaw drop when I unfolded it and saw that I had drawn over a six-day period and called it a “picture letter”—a precursor, it turns out, of my now well established practice of drawing my days. I love this letter for multiple reasons—the content, the memories, and what it reveals about me and my enduring interests. These letters are a time capsule to myself as much as they are for the person I wrote them to, and thankfully I still have access to them!
Or don't you like to write letters? I do because it's such a swell way to keep from working and yet feel you've done something.
~Ernest Hemingway, in a letter to F. Scott Fitzgerald
As part of all of the retreats I lead, we each paint on a postcard to send home to either ourselves or a loved one. Above are the postcards that everyone created in my 2022 and 2023 retreats at Anna Tasca Lanza Cooking School, where I will be teaching again this September. (I will be teaching for a fourth time in 2025, and will announce in the next few months when you can book a spot.)
In the video at the very end of this email I share how I sort through my piles of artwork, ephemera, papers, and postcards to create a multipiece letter. It is something I often do so that whoever is reading my correspondence has fun following along on various bits of paper and artwork.
Do you send snail mail? If you do, tell me a little bit about the mail you create in the comments. I will choose one person to send a letter to next week!
Class Announcements
On June 1st the link to sign up for my workshops at Stationery Festival in Brooklyn, NY will be available. The events take place on August 8th and 9th, each day from 1-2:30pm. You can choose either day. Limited spots are available, so be sure to set your calendar reminders so you can sign up quickly. My paid subscribers will be first to get the link!
Here are links to watch the replays of my previous two classes with Derwent:
Sketch and Paint Your Coffee and Sketch and Paint Citrus Fruits
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Most of my Skillshare classes feature my favorite Caran D’Ache art supplies. My relationship with the US distributor, Creative Art Materials, started back when I wrote Draw Your Day in 2018, and they saw how heavily I featured their art tools— many that I have been using since I was in grade school. Click here to find some my favorites on the Orange Art wesbite.
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