This was a wedding present for a special couple—my cousin Arthur and his beautiful bride Janisha—who were married on the first of July. Hopefully they’ve opened their gifts already, and I’m not ruining any surprises.
In March I made a series of small pen, ink, and collage pieces that I called “Little Lefties” (see all the Little Lefties on the “Art” page). While I’ve since regained use of my right hand for drawing, I plan to keep on making these little guys—with left-handed drawings or right. For my cousin and his wife, I chose three drawings of the palm trees in my Carmichael backyard.
I mounted them on these rustic little handmade panels and added some bits of collage. Each one has a scrap of origami paper, and some complementary colored construction paper. I put the blue one in the center because the drawing (left-handed) was the most dense. The two on the outside are a bit looser and I think they thusly make a nice little group of three.
I signed them, labelled them “Left”, “Right”, and “Center”, and stacked them up with some protective papers in between. I used some simple string to tie them together.
For wrapping, I used a bit of woven paper that had packaged a big roll of canvas. It’s sort of burlap-like, but glossy. I put a little card in a tiny little maroon envelope, and then added the bow (cut printer paper and scotch tape).
All in all I loved the look and feel of the package. It had good heft, a satisfying texture, and I imagine was fun to unwrap. I’d toyed with the idea of a more symbolic set of images for this fine couple, but in the end I decided what better symbol of partner-hood than a pair of trees growing together and standing tall against the elements?
I’d like to congratulate Mr. and Mrs. Roberts on their marriage. May they sway together in the sunshine for many years to come!
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