My husband and I both have an odd sense of humor. We play pranks on each other. We also have many "inside" jokes. One of us will suddenly shout out a random cheesy 90s rock lyric from one room, and the other will yell the rest of the lyric back, in response. We'll have an hour long debate in the car over the custody arrangement on Mrs. Doubtfire, or exactly how many days it would take to travel to Montgomery, AL on horseback. We're married, but we're the best of friends. I know my best friend. I know that sometimes he needs a little encouragement to start the day off in a pleasant mood, and get him in a good frame of mind for a stressful day at work. Sometimes, I leave him little notes in the morning...on a dry erase board by the coffee pot, on the bathroom mirror in dry erase marker, on a scrap of paper beneath his keys. One time I made 30 origami foxes and lined them up like a tiny little army, just sitting on his desk when he got home. It's just...our thing.
I started leaving him a series of fast watercolor notes in the morning. I hesitate to even call them watercolors, really. In truth, they're fast, sloppy sketches that I work up the night before, write a funny note on it, and set it where he can find it in the morning. Many are sketches of pop culture icons- Miley cyrus, Dolly Parton, Drake, James Brown. I thought they were kind of funny, and one day, I decided to post some on facebook. I was geuinely surprised to find that other people thought they were funny, as well. People were asking to buy them, or for me to post the next one, or if I would make reproductions of the notes.
At first I really balked at the idea. The notes were supposed to just be a personal joke between the two of us. It felt strange to share them with a larger audience. Also, they're not any great piece of art. They're just funny sketches. They happen quickly, and without much forethought. It was strange to share something that I didn't consider "my work" with the world. But, the sketches took on a mind of their own, as it were. They became their own thing. Seperate from my usual work, but still from my hand.
Finally, Ann Madden (the Lens of Smith and Lens Gallery, in Bay St. Louis) decided to give it a shot. We decided to release a few in a small set of notecards. Ann worked on the logo and formatting, and I gave her the sketches. Of course, she needed to photograph them properly- we couldn't use my low quality, spur of the moment cell phone photos. But, until the actual photos are released and ready to print, here's a quick teaser of some of the sketches to come. We think they're humorous, and we hope you do, too.
Carmen