Matt Flips over Betsy

Love Blossoms: Hand drawn Flipbook (animated for the MOSA gallery)

Matt made this for me in the fall of 1995. I had just left Ithaca for good and Matt was working long hours in an underground lab finishing his master's thesis. Both of us were deciding what to do with our fledgling relationship - to take a chance and move to Seattle together, or just part ways and wish each other well.

One afternoon in Boston a package arrived for me - no note, just the flip book. Matt told me he made it by cutting squares out of manila folders and doing the drawings in between data runs. I can't say it answered all the questions I had about our future together, but it certainly was a good sign.

Matt says he made it because it was fun to do and he wanted to make me something that would make me happy - simple as that. The flip book is on my list of things I would rescue from the house if it ever caught on fire.

Betsy 4/2/01