About 12 years ago, my friend Anna gave me a set of watercolor paints and told me to give it a shot.

I had only touched paints a few times in high school art classes. After a sufficient number of bad watercolor paintings, it started to make sense. I learned how the colors dried with time, or bled for better or worse, or blended into innumerable nuanced hues, how to layer them and when to leave it alone. But what to do with these paintings? What are they good for? Since I had access to a good printer at the time, I thought, greeting cards.

After some research and trial and error with paper textures and cardstock weight and envelope options, I had a product I felt pretty good about. The owners of a local store in my town were gracious enough to let me set up a rack and sell my cards in small batches on consignment terms. From there, it bloomed.

I could never have guessed the impact that would have on me. So many people told me stories, why they buy the cards, why the paintings resonate with them, who they send them to and for what reason. I began to realize that cards are a medium for the things people treasure: words from someone they love in a time they need to hear them. I realized that the job of making this messenger material really is an honor. People may keep them. Important things may be written on them. They might mean things to people.

But life has a way of changing the tides, and all of these things sort of evaporated out of my hands. We sold our house and moved into a camper. I had to pack up all of my belongings and there was no where to work. There was no internet at our property (Starlink wasn’t a thing yet.) The printer broke. Covid happened. The main store I sold through shut down. My inventory of envelopes sealed themselves shut in storage in the Florida humidity like a sardonic metaphor. The whole endeavor was put on a shelf.

But I’m ready now, I think.

I think I can dust this thing off and offer it to the world again. I have a workspace. I found a print company that carries the exact paper, color, texture and weight that I love, so now these cards can be printed professionally of even better quality than before. I have internet. And I got new envelopes.

“Long Awaited”

This painting was for my sister in law, Shelby, when we were celebrating the arrival of her long awaited little one.

I hope by offering these cards here, at The Morgan’s Table, that they will fly further and find more people out there who will connect with the paintings.

And to anyone who ever bought cards back in the day, at Bayleaf, or at local festivals, thank you. Thank you for taking the time to look, for trusting my little paper “messenger pigeons” to carry your messages. Thank you for giving me a reason to share, then and now.

-Courtney