Love Letters

Work progresses on my solo show as I sketch a bundle of love notes my grandparents wrote to each other

Hope you're having a lovely day. I just wanted to share a brief update on the work for my upcoming solo show, Crayons & Cupboards, debuting in July at Art Plus Gallery in West Reading, Pennsylvania.

My latest completed image, like most other pieces for this show, was created mainly with crayons and other materials like colored pencil. All subjects in the show relate to a handful of treasured items I saved from cupboards in my grandfather's house after he passed away, following my grandmother's death thirteen years earlier: a letter holder shaped like a little smiley face man; hundreds of candid photos taken around the house or on road trips; artwork done by me or my sisters or cousins when we were children.

In my newest drawing we see an envelope stuffed full of love notes between my grandparents, presumably using my grandfather's lunch pail as a mailbox, written around the early 1970s.

My grandfather's notes are often humorous (“I've decided not to write a note today, but I love you”) and make references to long work hours as a trucker, wishing he could be home more often (or awake more often when he is home).

He typically writes of love for “his two girls” (my grandmother and their puppy, Candy), and later that number changes to three when Lolly joins the family (subject of another artwork, Beagles Are Forever, as seen in my previous post).

My grandmother's notes range from poetic (“be good, be nice, be true…”) to practical (“take that orange thing out of the freezer because there's a ham sandwich in it for you.") One time she promised to try to be less grouchy, but signed it “The Grouch.”

Most of the images I've produced, as I uncover more and more memories, are playful, or idiosyncratic, or nostalgic. But I am now working on a difficult image that could either tie the show together, or which I may omit entirely. It is an image of the family gathered around my grandfather at home in his final hours.

That sad moment marked a chapter closing, leading to a new era where I tried to not think too hard about how much I loved or missed my grandparents, those times, or the place that was their home. How could I, when every memory was a reminder of their absence?

And I succeeded, but perhaps too well. When I tried to recall a conversation, or the appearance or a room in their house, or what made my time with them feel special, I was alarmed to discover that I couldn't very easily do these things anymore.

But a couple decades have passed, and my solo show Crayons & Cupboards is my excuse to dig through boxes of long-hidden treasures; to oil the rusting time machine in my brain; do a bit of time-space travel; to spend time with them again; to spend time with that part of me again. To invite you all to do so, too.

Friends, family, anyone reading this, you are invited to the opening reception of Crayons & Cupboards, July 10, 2026, from 5 to 8pm at Art Plus Gallery in West Reading, Pennsylvania. Hope to see you.

PS I'm heading to Europe in less than a week to see friends in Switzerland and Germany, and to paint a mural. My updates might be affected by travel, but I'll definitely try to check in throughout the trip which will last for more than half of June!