A New Way to Collect Original Art
There is something special about opening the mailbox and finding Art Felt Greetings by Melissa Lea.
Art Felt Greetings by Melissa Lea grew from my love of traditional snail mail. The playfulness of surprise accompanies the simple pleasures we receive when we connect through original art.
I elevate the familiar idea of a snail mail club by including something especially meaningful in every mailing: An original work of art.
Not simply an art-themed gift or a reproduction of a painting. Every Art Felt Greetings mailing includes an actual one-of-one artwork that I created in my studio.
It is part art collection, part pen pal, and part surprise.
Three Art-Filled Mailings
One Art Felt Greetings order includes three separate mailings, sent approximately every other month over a six-month period.
You choose the month in which the experience begins.
Each mailing includes:
- An original artwork by Melissa Lea
- A limited-edition print
- An additional surprise gift
- A personal note from me
The contents change with every mailing, and the exact artwork and gifts remain a surprise until they arrive.
I want opening each envelope to feel a little like receiving a present that you didn’t choose for yourself, yet somehow feels as though someone chose it with you in mind.
A Beautiful Way to Begin an Art Collection: Art Felt Greetings by Melissa Lea
Collecting original art doesn’t have to begin with a large painting.
A small original can live beside your bed, on a desk, incorporated into a gallery wall, or even kept within the pages of a favorite book.
Art Felt Greetings makes beginning an original art collection approachable.
For someone who already collects art, it offers another way to add intimate one-of-one works to that collection.
Original Art Connects Differently
There is something different about encountering the original.
A neurological study found that viewers had a substantially stronger emotional response when seeing original paintings face-to-face than when viewing reproductions of those same works. In the study, the measured emotional response to the originals was approximately ten times stronger!
That fascinates me.
A reproduction can beautifully share an image, which is one of the reasons I include a limited-edition print in every Art Felt Greetings mailing. But an original is something else entirely.
You can see and feel the surface, and you know that the artist’s hands created it.
This is connection.
And this is the beauty of real art.
Keep It, Collect It, or Give It Away
You might decide that not every original you receive will remain in your own collection.
Art Felt Greetings can also help you keep original art available for gifting.
You might open one mailing and immediately know where the artwork belongs in your home.
Another piece might make you think of a daughter, friend, neighbor, teacher, host, or someone who could use an unexpected reminder that they are special.
Art is wonderful to receive, and just as wonderful to share.
Give the Entire Experience to Someone Else
Art Felt Greetings by Melissa Lea can also be purchased as a gift for someone else.
Choose a different recipient, and the complete three-mailing experience will be sent to that person.
That makes Art Felt Greetings particularly lovely for birthdays, encouragement, thank-yous, holidays, celebrations, or simply reminding someone that you are thinking about them.
Instead of opening one gift on one day, the recipient gets three different moments of anticipation over six months.
And you get to be the person responsible for the happy mail.
Art Felt Greetings is Personalized, but Still a Surprise
Art Felt Greetings by Melissa Lea is personalized, but it is not a commission.
That distinction matters.
I want to know enough about the person receiving the mailings to make thoughtful selections, but I don’t want to remove the unexpected element that makes the experience fun.
After an order is placed, I ask a few general questions that help guide my choices, such as:
- Do you prefer florals, pure abstracts, or a mixture of both?
- Is the recipient under 25 or 25+?
- Does the recipient tend to prefer a more feminine or masculine visual sensibility, or is there no preference?
- Is there a favorite color or color family?
- Are there colors the recipient especially dislikes?
- Is there one optional detail you would like me to know about the recipient?
These answers give me direction without determining the specific artwork.
Your Personalization Choices Are Confirmed
After your order is placed, you will receive an email to confirm the recipient information, select a start month, and answer a few personalization questions.
This gives you an opportunity to confirm the details before I begin preparing the mailings.
The surprise is playful, but there is something more behind it.
I paint intuitively. I don’t begin a painting knowing exactly where it will end. I respond to color, marks, movement, and what is happening in front of me.
There is trust involved — trust that I don’t need to control every outcome, trust that goodness can emerge beyond what I could have planned, and trust that what arrives may be exactly what was meant to arrive.
Art Felt Greetings carries that same spirit from my studio into your mailbox.
From the moment you place your order, to the moment that you open the envelope, you can trust that something good has been chosen for you.
That feels very much like the way I paint.
An Invitation Into My VIP Community
Purchasers and recipients will be invited to join my VIP list for access to exclusive studio content, special updates, and other opportunities to stay connected with my work.
Joining is always optional
Ready for Art Felt Greetings by Melissa Lea?
If Art Felt Greetings by Melissa Lea feels like something you would love to receive ~ or something you would love to send to someone else ~ visit the shop page to see the current price and place your order.
After your purchase, I will be in touch by email to confirm the recipient, choose the starting month, and gather the personalization details that will help guide me while keeping each mailing a surprise.
No Automatic Renewal
Art Felt Greetings does not automatically renew.
One order includes three mailings. When the third mailing has been sent, that Art Felt Greetings experience is complete.
There is no ongoing commitment and no automatic charge for another round.
If you would like to continue adding to your collection, replenish your stash of original art for gifting, or send Art Felt Greetings to someone new, simply place another order whenever you would like another three mailings.
Why Art Felt Greetings?
The name has layers, just as the mailings do.
There is the art.
There is the greeting.
And then there is the felt part.
The feeling behind choosing something for another person.
The anticipation of finding something unexpected in the mailbox.
The experience of holding an original artwork in your hands.
The evidence that another human being made it.
The connection created when something passes from one set of hands into another.
Art can begin a collection.
Art can add to a collection.
Art can become a gift.
Art can brighten an ordinary day.
Art can carry affection, encouragement, memory, color, and connection.
Art can be felt.
That is the heart of Art Felt Greetings.
