Love Letters is a project led by former graffiti artist Stephen Powers with the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program. The paintings are on the elevated train route in West Philadelphia, so people see them on their way to work. There are 50 rooftop and street-level murals, each one a love note.
There's a special train going through the route extra-slowly on Valentine's day, which sounds like a much nicer proposition than being given a gonk-eyed teddy and special garage roses, but we are not in Philadelphia, alas. I suppose I might stir myself and post some Valentine present things, but the ones I've seen are so grotesquely cutesy that they make me feel a bit ill. All anybody really wants for V day is a stonking jewel, frankly.
Twenty-two year old Brooklynite Lily De Kergeriest, who has an excellent name - kind of like Serena Van der Woodsen but cooler - paints these lovely portraits of shoes. They remind me a bit of Andy Warhol's. They're A5 size and come box-framed; she also takes commissions. Prices for the pictures above start at £60. You can email her at lily.dekergeriest@gmail.com to discuss your requirements.
Paul Thurlby's Alphabet prints are so ludicrously beautiful that I am seriously tempted to blow the budget, order the whole lot and paper a wall with them. Except I can't. But look!
They're £27 each and take 2-3 weeks to be delivered to UK addresses, but if you buy two you get a third one thrown in. I was fine posting all the presenty stuff earlier but now I am in an agony of longing. I want these so badly. *loud voice* If any of my family were reading this, you know, on the offchance, they might like to band together and get me them. Like, all of them. All the letters. For me. For Christmas. Or my birthday. Or both. Please.