Artists collaborate on a second helping of mental health-inspired book ‘Letter it Out’
In an era loaded with free typography apps and the overindulgence of AI imagery, one local creative is doing her best to make sure that lettering by hand is an art that is never lost. Veteran designer and muralist Jenn Lee Hester, whose handmade signage can be seen on shop windows, chalkboards and walls across Baton Rouge, has curated and edited Letter It Out Volume 2—the second book in her series of mental health-focused arts anthology collections arriving this month.
“This started because I really wanted to share my passion for lettering, and I didn’t see a connected community for doing that locally,” Hester says. “Since the first book hit, those connections and conversations are growing, and I’ve been hearing a lot of, ‘We really need this right now,’ from artists.”
This year’s lineup of contributors holds an even more diverse array than the debut book in 2024. Representing all experience levels and a spectrum of creative disciplines, Letter It Out Volume 2 highlights 17 original works, including pressed floral art, abstract painting, collage, digital design, poetry, and more.
When illustrator and podcast host Vanessa Saleh saw an open call to join the new edition, she knew it was an opportunity she should take.
“This was the first project I took on after two really tough years of therapy and healing,” says the Procreate specialist, who found out a week after completing her piece for the project that she and her husband would be moving back to Baton Rouge. “Art has been such a huge part of rediscovering myself on the other side of that hard season, and I realized Letter It Out creates space for artists to express their fears and insecurities while offering encouragement to others who may be struggling with the same things.”
Paired with their new work, each participant submitted an essay delving into the themes their art explores visually. Each is a vulnerable, intensely personal dialogue on a challenge faced during the creative process.
“Letter it Out makes complete sense coming from [Hester],” says contributor Jonathan Palmisano, a Baton Rouge-based illustrator and collage artist, who calls the collection “eye-opening.”
Palmisano counts Hester’s welcoming and creative spirit as the reason it was easy for him to open up about an artistic struggle and to share his work in a new way.
“I believe the perspective I’m trying to live by can help people see life in a more fun, optimistic and vibrant way,” says fine art painter Aaija Turner, who has participated in Letter It Out Volume 2 to step out of her comfort zone. “I see life as art. We are art. And we are more complex than the most complex painting that exists.”
Hester hopes the artist confessions collected in the book are both curiously specific and universally relatable, leaving readers uplifted—regardless of their own creative endeavors or personal circumstances.
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How we approach our creativity can mirror how we approach our emotions, relationships or any given social situation, and the Letter It Out series vibrantly illustrates that the questions artists grapple with to make more beautiful things are similar to those we all wrestle with to make a more beautiful life.
“This whole effort feels like it’s about breaking free of living for validation of others, whether that’s with our art or our behavior in general,” Hester says. “We’re all imperfect, and if we can accept that and be OK with it, we will be better off.”
Find updates on the book’s launch party and ordering details at @letteritout_book on Instagram and jennleecreates.com/letteritout.
