Maria&IVAN
An engagement luncheon invitatation, Utica,NY
The illustration puts Ivan and Maria where they actually are together, on the water, with Romeo and Luna close by, tags round their necks with their initials. Around them, the details that are theirs and no one else’s: the countries that raised them, threaded in as flags rather than stated outright, UK, Ukraine, Uruguay, the Philippines. Magnolias for Charlotte. A picnic basket because Ivan cooks. A fishing cane because it matters to them both, not as decoration.
their boat carries their name. that was the starting point.
its all about the little details and winks that make the story unmistakably theirs
details
A bottle floats with a message inside it, marry me? A tag hangs nearby, a real love story. The ring is there too, if you look. Romeo has a weakness for crab, so a crab appears, and a lobster creeps up behind him without much dignity. Birds carry the getting married banner overhead, one of them a bird particular to Ukraine. Turtles and fish fly rather than swim, because on this boat that is allowed.
the stars of the show
every illustration is bespoke, made by hand with details from conversations and photographs … and some investigating of my own
” They turned out better than I could have imagined. I can’t wait to hang up the large print in our house and for my grandparents to see it.”
—MARIA
