Some events that happen in your life stay with you forever. Etched as it were into your very being, your persona.
Once such event had a big impact on me as a young woman of just 16. I had just befriended a much older lady who seemed so wise, so in control yet so warm and friendly. She seemed to genuinely like me. She treated me as an equal not a child or just another teenager. We had so many good times together. Full of fun and fantasy - we were connected. She lived distant from me in Berlin but we kept in contact by writing to each other. No matter what went on in the world, no matter the problems of every day life, Wiebke was always there for me.
One day a letter arrived in the mail from her. It was a greeting card and she had written some beautiful words but more importantly the cards she chose symbolised our relationship. It showed a lovely lake somewhere in Germany. There was a small jetty extending into the water and at the end of it was a little pink pig jumping joyfully into the water. The picture was so ridiculously funny, so light hearted and it was her all over. My friend who had taken the time to think about me and send me something that would make me laugh and cry at the some time.
I still have that card today along with many others that I keep in my ‘treasure box’. The cards in this box are special to me because of the people who wrote them. Someone that cares enough about you to pick a card, sit down and write it, then go to the post office to send it - to me that person is a true friend.
Yes, I can say that friendship is the inspiration to my work. It is such a joy to create hand printed cards for people who like to show their affection to one another in kindly written memorable words.