Valentines 2007

For my third year of sending Valentines, I got the crazy idea to draw each one by hand. I liked the idea that each person would get something unique, with their name on it, but that there would be a larger whole that they would also be part of. It did require that I brutally slash my mailing list: I intended to do 125, but as I remembered people I’d left out, it grew to 150. I had to cap it there: I was exhausted, out of time, and my drawing hand was nearly broken.

They were each on a 4×5 inch card, signed and numbered, and already much has been made of what number people are on the list. Not to burst the bubbles of those with low numbers, but the order was complex and not tied to relative affection. Those living further away went out first (#1 is for Min Wang, in China), those living closer went out last. Additional sorting was alphabetical by company name. There were a few stragglers, and there were a few who I held back because I hadn’t drawn a heart that felt quite right for them yet.

And of course there’s always the worry of “her valentine is nicer than my valentine.” Well. Is it really? I don’t think so. Below are all of them.