Playful affection radiates from Patti Warashina’s Valentine to Robert Sperry (1996), a hand-crafted collage that turns a simple greeting into a miniature artwork. Against a clean white ground and a thin red border, cut-out faces and bodies are arranged with the exuberance of a scrapbook—part portrait, part visual joke, and entirely intimate. The red heart motifs and warm, slightly worn paper edges give it the unmistakable feel of something made to be held, saved, and revisited.
At the left, an older man in a suit and dark hat looks off with a faint, knowing smile, while the right side becomes a whirlwind of repeated profiles—one face upside down, another tilted, and one playfully sticking out a tongue. The composition suggests spinning thoughts and giddy obsession, as if the beloved’s presence literally rearranges the world. Bright reds in the clothing and hearts punctuate the scene, echoing Valentine iconography while keeping the focus on character and humor rather than sentimentality.
Along the bottom margin, the handwritten message anchors the piece in personal history: “MY HEAD SWIRLS WHEN I THINK ABOUT YOU, BOB,” paired with a date and signature. That candid line makes the artwork feel both public and private at once—an archival glimpse into artistic friendship and affection expressed through mixed media. For readers searching for Patti Warashina artwork, Robert Sperry connections, or 1990s artist-made Valentines, this image offers a charming, human-scale testament to how love and art intertwine on paper.