| THE EPISTOLARIAN |
Hello dear Quaintrelle!
This Friday, I submitted all 82 chapters of my upcoming book to my editor. I’ve been heads down on the photography and design, so this will be a rather brief email today. In fact, it's a little comical I've been so busy given what this seal is about!
The book is coming along beautifully, and I can’t wait to share it with you when it arrives this autumn.
Our newest penny for the Hastings Étui has arrived.
Dolce Far Niente
My friend Melissa taught me the phrase dolce far niente several years ago.
The sweetness of doing nothing.
| The Dolce Far Niente Penny |
I immediately started working on a penny inspired by it. Yet for some reason, I could never quite get it right. The design sat in my sketchbook for years until this spring, when I finally felt I had found the lettering I was looking for.
I drew the script by hand and then reworked it slightly so it would be thick enough to show well in wax. I wanted it to feel like one of those café signs you might stumble across on the Amalfi Coast.
The Amalfi Coast is where I acquired my very first wax seal.
On the heads side, the penny bears the inscription Dolce Far Niente.
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On the tails side, a classical urn overflows with lemons and olive branches.
In ancient cultures, urns held wine, oil, grain, water, and sometimes the ashes of the dead. They speak to memory, inheritance, and the things we choose to carry forward.
The lemons bring the warmth of summer. They are symbols of abundance, hospitality, joy, and friendship. Yet lemons themselves are not sweet. Their gift is transformation. They turn ordinary water into something refreshing and bring brightness wherever they are found. They remind us that a good life isn’t simply sweet. It is transformed into something vibrant and sustaining.
The olive symbolizes peace and prosperity. Yet because olive trees can withstand drought, wind, and fire, often outliving the generations that planted them, they are also a beautiful symbol of resilience.
| The Dolce Far Niente Penny |
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| The Dolce Far Niente Penny |
Meet Me in New Orleans
This Friday, I'll be at Scriptura in New Orleans, where I'll unveil two new collector seals. These are special edition collector seals that will be available exclusively through Scriptura.
If you'd like to meet me in person, I'll be there from 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM on Friday, June 19.
The new seals at Scriptura also mark the launch of my first American collection. The first shop collection debuted at Memo Press in London last year, so this feels like a very meaningful milestone.
I'll share a full preview of the seals on Wednesday before my trip. In the meantime, I wanted to show some of the original sketches I used before modeling for engraving. They may offer a couple clues about what's coming.
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With love,
