Art that Speaks For You

Did you know that Valentine’s Day is right around the corner? I kind of forgot. Not that I don’t completely love my love, but time just seems to fly by around here. We are always working on some project or planning the next one. My love, however, did not forget that it was almost here. He is definitely a hopeless romantic at heart. This year Valentine’s Day has inspired him to create a few new products.

Thanks to my mom, at Christmastime he received a scroll saw. This was very exciting because it meant that he would be able to create very intricate wood pieces. His inspiration for Valentine’s Day gave him the perfect opportunity to use his new scroll saw for the very first time.

When Edward is creating he goes through different stages, as most artists do. The first thing he does is look at the stuff that is already out there to get inspired. Then he starts thinking and sketching. After the sketching is done he begins creating. These signs were no different.

They did pose a different question for both of us though. Why can’t we find much out there that is specific to the LGBTQ community? I am sure that all the signs can be inferred with whomever you love in mind, but what about something specific. So, this is where Edward thought that he would begin his creative process.

He began by designing the hearts to go on the signs. After the design was set he cut them out of the wood with his new scroll saw. Then he cut the fence board painted it and distressed it to prepare it for the hearts. The first round of signs looked like this.

We posted them in our shop on Etsy, and we let our friends on FB know where they could find them. When they were shared, a friend reshared them and put the caption “Sometimes art speaks to you, and sometimes it speaks for you.” I absolutely loved this caption because I felt like that is what Edward was going for, but he felt like they were missing something. So Edward went back to the creating mode. He decided to add some words to the signs and they turned out so wonderful! Now I do really think they speak for you! Check them out now!