The mail just brought this small piece from Bobbi Studstill's Cobaltika Studios. It’ll take the place of a couple of her other pieces that I’m moving to my campus office. It turns out that I really can’t work well without one of her word-and-image mezclados around, so it’s fortunate that she keeps them so reasonably priced. (This one was only $10.) She’s running a holiday special right now at her Etsy store, so if vernacular art is your thing, stop by and take a look.

My fondness for Bobbi’s work is such that I asked her to make our wedding announcements a couple of years ago. Since our ceremony was so small and private — just the two of us, two witnesses, and an interfaith minister — it felt right to be able to send family and friends a small, handmade piece of art that might let them know how much we appreciated their love and friendship as well as their willingness to respect our wishes for a closed ceremony. In retrospect, these announcements have become pretty integral in my emotions about the whole thing. I’m so glad that Bobbi was willing to make them in this particular fashion. Here’s what they look like: