Around this time in September of ’04, I was staying in South Haven, Michigan, caring for my Father, who was undergoing chemo treatments. I was getting a bit worried about the impact of working at a remote location like this for such a long period of time would have on my business. I worked up this illustration as a way of ‘beating the bushes’ and reminding everyone that I was still here and available for work. This is one of my favorite mailings that I’ve done in the 16 or so years that I’ve been doing this, and has actually stayed pretty fresh for years afterwards (I usually dislike anything I’ve done, once a little time has passed). I’ve been reusing the black and white image on the back of the postcard for subsequent mailings ever since. This postcard garnered me quite a bit of ‘nautical themed’ work in the years since I sent it out, and I’ve been quite happy with that result, as it was in the back of my mind that it might work out that way while I was designing it.