Summer 2020 - 4

EDITOR'S LETTER
Silver Linings
W
ell, a lot's certainly happened since my last Editor's Letter. If
you have a brick-and-mortar, your state guidelines determine
a lot about your business - but that's not the only factor.
In Chicago, Shayna Norwood of Steel Petal Press was open online and
curbside throughout the long quarantine. During the unrest in her Logan
Square neighborhood, she removed merchandise from her window
and placed a lone " Black Lives Matter " sign there. " Looters would be
supremely disappointed in our generally
useless (yet funny!) selection of gift items, "
Norwood wryly commented.
Norwood opened her doors, with extensive
new guidelines in place, on June 4; in the
same city, GREER Chicago never stopped
processing online orders, but announced
June 17 that its physical doors were closed
indefinitely. " The intimacy of our shop, while
welcoming during normal times, is now a
major disadvantage as our store is much
too small for social distancing and it's not
responsible to our customers, community or
team to operate under these conditions as long as this thing is circulating
among us, " Founder Chandra Greer explained on Instagram.
A deadly virus is not the only thing circulating among us, there is
positive change afloat too. I have gotten emails over the past week from
reps and retailers specifically seeking ranges from Black makers - a first
for me. These showed me that I too can do better representing work from
all makers in these pages, so I'll be making a concerted effort to do so in
coming issues.
We all clearly have our work cut out for us. But there are bright spots
along the way. It seems nearly every day I come across a maker who has
created something amazing to
light our path through these dark
times. For example, I was wellacquainted
with Tal Sphantzer of
Talfoto's exquisite Petal Portraits
of women and blooms, but by May
she shifted gears with her riveting
Masked Portrait Series of her
Greenpoint, Brooklyn, neighbors -
one of which I've shared here. " (It)
presents a visual document of an
extraordinary time in the history
of New York City, " Tal described.
You can see more in the
@talfoto IG feed, and she even has a
gofundme to turn them into a book. So thank you Tal for paying homage to
the brave souls who have gotten us and our precious letters and packages
this far - and will help lead us into more peaceful times.
Until next issue,
Photo courtesy of Tal Shpantzer @talfoto
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4 Summer 2020 | STATIONERY TRENDS
Photo courtesy of Simone Jowell Photography

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Summer 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Summer 2020