I graduated from high school in 1980 in a small rural town in Oregon, a county so vast it’s larger than Rhode Island and has more cows than people. In school, I did just enough to get by, often distracted and doodling on PeeChee folders when I should have been paying attention. Art was my favorite subject, and it has been my passion for as long as I can remember.
After graduation, I married my high school sweetheart, and we soon started a family. Every evening, after the kids went to bed, I would spread out my art supplies on the kitchen table, bringing to life the images that danced in my head throughout the day. Along the way, I found a few side projects that allowed me to earn some extra money while staying home with my children. My first side hustle involved painting ocean scenes on small myrtlewood plaques and magnets, which were sold to tourist shops along the Oregon coast. It was repetitive work, but it let me use my artistic skills and stay present for my family.
In 2000, I met a wonderful woman named Tina, who owned a rubber stamp business called Imagine Rubber Works. She wanted to license some of my illustrations for her stamps. We struck a deal, and I created dozens of designs for her. Part of our agreement included receiving a sample of each stamp I designed, and I still have a large drawer in my studio filled with them.
Fast forward a couple of decades and a shift to a different career path in graphic design and marketing. One day, my mom ran into Nancy, the school librarian from my high school. She mentioned that one of my stamp designs was her all-time favorite and that she wanted to get a new one since hers was worn out. My mom passed along my contact information, and I eagerly dug through my drawer of stamps. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the one she was looking for.
Last week, I visited my mom in that same little town where I graduated, and I brought along some stamps for Nancy that I thought she might like. It had been over 44 years since I had last seen her, and it warmed my heart to see her craft room, imagining her using my art to create her unique, one-of-a-kind greeting cards. I can still picture her shelving books in the library like it was yesterday, her bright smile, kind manner and beautiful red hair, which is still evident after all these years.
And the story doesn't end there. Nancy sent me a photo of her favorite stamp and I was able to find the original illustration in some folders I had stowed away. I sent Nancy a high resolution scan of the illustration and a link where she can order a custom stamp if she wants so she can have a copy of her favorite stamp