Brief aan Philip Zilcken Possibly 1905

Willy Sluiter made this letter to Philip Zilcken on paper, probably with a dip pen and ink, back in 1905. Imagine him hunched over his desk, the nib scratching across the page as he forms each word with care. The handwriting is so distinctive, with its elegant loops and sharp angles. I wonder what he was thinking as he wrote, what thoughts and emotions flowed through him as he chose each word. Was he relaxed, hurried, excited, or perhaps a little bit nervous? The way the ink pools and feathers in certain spots, like little dark clouds gathering on the page, reminds me of a stormy sky. And the way the lines curve and dance, they evoke a sense of movement, like the rhythm of a song or a lively conversation. I feel a real connection to Sluiter here, a fellow creative soul reaching out across time and space. It reminds me that we artists are all in this together.