Q & A
WHY DO YOU MAKE ART FOR KIDS?
Through my art, I encourage kids of all ages to dive into their imaginations and emotions, to embrace their mistakes, and to fearlessly share the best versions of themselves with the world.
Growing up in Northern Michigan, my Mom ran a daycare in our house with a giant library that continues to grow (and now lives with me in our attic!) Through all phases of my life, nothing has been more comforting than coming home after a hard day of work or school and curling up with a peanut butter sandwich and a picture book.
I’m drawn to projects that celebrate individuality, imagination, and creative self-expression. I strive to create stories for budding artists and dreamers that help bring out the magic of everyday moments.
This work feels more important now than ever. I believe imagination is essential to creating a curious, creative, empathetic and kind future, and it is through the eyes of today’s kids that I can see a brighter tomorrow.
CAN ANYONE REALLY LEARN TO DRAW?
Yes. Yes. 100% Yes. So often when we pick up a pencil and try to draw, what comes out doesn’t match what we see in our heads and it makes us frustrated. But fearlessly drawing through our mistakes is the way to discover uncharted territory. Embrace every drawing you make. Invite your ideas to tea. Then practice, practice, practice.
WHEN DID YOU FIRST KNOW YOU WERE AN ARTIST?
I think most of us are born artists and somewhere during the process of growing up we forget how and have to relearn to be artists again as adults.
So while my earliest memories involve drawing, I never really thought of myself as a “visual artist” until much later in life. I drew through most of my early childhood, but by adolescence, I was most interested in the performing arts. At that time, my drawings were usually nothing more than doodles in the margins of notebooks and the backs of receipts. But it was actually when I stuck my hands into clay for the first time that everything changed. Somehow, ceramics changed the way I thought about ideas and artistic expression and I realized that many of the ideas I was working on needed a different medium to express themselves. After that I let the ideas lead me, allowing myself to discover different materials. I started to discover figures in the scribbles and faces in my doodles and have continued doing so for the past several decades.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MEDIUM?
I have so many “favorites” it’s hard to choose…
I love getting messy. So if I have the opportunity to use my hands, I’m happy. But I usually tend to start most projects with a pen and a piece of paper. I go through love affairs with different pens depending on the project, but long standing favorites are the Uniball Vision Fine and the PaperMate Flair Pen.
But I love color, too! Oil pastels! Watercolor! You can never go wrong with a good marker. Truthfully, I like office supplies of any kind and enjoy experimenting with different materials. Digitally, I’m a fan of Procreate.
WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR IDEAS?
My creative process might be best described as “structured freedom.”
I am constantly sculpting and fine-tuning my ritual. Early in the creative process I like structured, timed tasks to keep me moving forward. I even schedule in brainstorming time. I like deadlines, so using an egg timer helps push me to finish a specific task in a specific time frame. And when I’m focused on the clock, I don’t have to time to let worry worm it’s way into my creative process.
I try to draw every day and always keep a sketchbook handy.
I’m also a huge fan of small steps. I’ve found that working on something for an hour over 5 days is much more productive than working on something for 5 hours straight. Even working on something for 10 minutes a day adds up to an hour of work over a week.
As I start nearing completion, the piece usually takes over. I go deeper into the “zone.” I start ignoring my egg timer and working for longer and longer sessions. The obsession takes over until the piece nearly complete. When I think I’m nearing completion, I like to leave the project for at least 24 hours, preferably longer, when I can revisit the piece with fresh eyes. With more clarity, necessary changes become obvious and this process is repeated until I love it as much in the morning as I did the night before.
WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE BOOKS?
My first favorite book was:
OSCAR OTTER (Nathaniel Benchley, Arnold Lobel)
My (incomplete) list of faves include:
THE DAY JIMMY’S BOA ATE THE WASH (Trinka Hakes Nobel, Steven Kellogg)
BIG MAX (Kin Platt, Robert Lopshire)
ONE KITTEN FOR KIM (Adelaide Hall)
BUNNICULA (James and Deborah Howe)
SIDEWAYS STORIES FROM WAYSIDE SCHOOL (Louis Sachar)
TALES FROM MOOMINVALLEY (Tove Jansson)
MITCHELL IS MOVING (Marjorie W. Sharmat)
BEAR CAME ALONG (Richard T. Morris, LeUyen Pham)
JULIÁN IS A MERMAID (Jessica Love)
ANDREW HENRY’S MEADOW (Doris Burn)
THE ADVENTURES OF BEEKLE: THE UNIMAGINARY FRIEND (Dan Santat)
KNUFFLE BUNNY: A CAUTIONARY TALE (Mo Willems)
HYPERBOLE AND A HALF (Ali Brosch)
BLANKETS (Craig Thompson)
WHAT IT IS (Lynda Barry)
OTHER THAN ILLUSTRATING, WHAT ARE SOME JOBS YOU’VE WORKED?
My very first job was as a paperboy. Through the years I have worked as an exhibition designer, a museum curator, a muralist, a puppeteer, a painter, a potter, a teacher, a field sketch artist documenting the behavior of the Ring-tailed Lemur (Lemur catta), a singing waiter, an animator, a taste-tester, a housecleaner, a library assistant, a book buyer for a bookstore, a caterer, a magazine editor, a window display artist, an office assistant, an historian, a television script supervisor, a radio pundit, a keynote speaker, a design judge, a stage actor, a stage hand, a costumer, a lighting designer, a scenic designer, a medium, a sleuth, a non-dancing role in a ballet, a non-speaking role in an opera, a tap dancer, a 2nd Tenor madrigal singer, a math tutor, a grocery cashier, an amateur ornithologist, a product developer, an uncle, a mobile app developer, a restaurant designer, a director, a playwright, an art handler, a registrar, a hand model, a daycare assistant, a face painter, a nursing home volunteer, a tour guide, a copy editor, a digital designer, a turtle daddy and a full-time fairy godparent.
DO YOU DO CLASSES/WORKSHOPS/SCHOOL VISITS?
Short answer. Yes. Long answer…see CDC guidelines.
Contact me to learn more.
ONE LAST QUESTION: HOW DID YOU MAKE SUCH A MESS?
Ha! Honestly, I’m not sure if I know how NOT to make a mess . But luckily I think messes are a good way to explore and grow. I always say, “If you’re not making a mess, you’re probably not having any fun.”
For an in depth look at some of my recent messes, please check out Experiments.