Of course, one of my greatest inspirations these days is my own adoptive daughter. I hesitate to use the phrase "my own", because I know that some adult adoptees object to that term on the basis that the child does not "belong" to the adoptive family. Of course she doesn't, any more than any child "belongs" to their parents. A child is (or becomes) their own person. That is the goal. They are formed in certain ways by their family, by genetics and by way of influence, but ultimately (if you're doing it right) they become their own person. I don't argue with the stance of adoptive children who feel oppressed by their adoptive parents, but I think that it would also be a disservice on the part of an adoptive parent to refuse to call their child "mine". That seems hurtful to me, at this early stage of life when it is extremely important to a child to be included and deeply loved by their family. So I will continue to call her "mine" out of respect and love until she desires to be her own person, at which point I will, with great joy and respect, release her into her own life, and hope to learn from her personal journey.

My career in illustration began shortly before the turn of the century (isn't it strange to say that? The century is still too new to allow for comfort within that phrase), when I fell in love with hand drafting (now largely a lost art) and then architectural rendering, while studying for my certificate in interior design at the NYSID. From architectural and interior rendering, I moved into straight commercial rendering (though again, I am in the minority in that I work entirely by hand rather than on the computer). The move into children's illustration came rather late in my career, and stemmed partly from the ocean of superb children's literature that I survived on as a child, and partly (though I didn't realize it at the time) from my burgeoning desire to raise a child of my own.
Q inspires my work on a multitude of levels, imaginary, actual, active and visual. We also sometimes set up our own little fairytales of an afternoon, imaginary play which I imagine she interprets in her own way, and I in mine.
I will be interested to know, someday, what her mind conjures when we act out these scenarios, and how her imagination differs from mine. It is a creative process for both of us, a living thing, and I look forward every day to the paths on which it will take me next.

As the mother of a toddler, wandering the parks and lanes and shady gardens of the city, I see a plethora of wonderful kids. There is inspiration everywhere, and I take it where I can.
I see a story in every little face, and I fall in love with them so often through the lens. Some of them ignore me, and others interact with me gladly.
Some faces instantly inspire the groundwork for a painting, and those I try to capture and hold in my mind, a little story encapsulated in a frame or two, waiting to unfold.

Little Red Riding Hood.
Illustrations by Gustave Doré.
I think that the relationships between my children and their animals are a bit less explicit, a bit more uncertain than the relationship between Red Riding Hood and her wolf...but I think the same uneasy tension exists.
And btw I love that Prada has jumped on the wolf bandwagon with its imagery this season. It seems fitting.

Done over the course of about five years, the preceeding images represent the collection of paintings that comprise what I now think of as Les Voyageuses.

As you can see, it has been an evolution and a process of experimentation. But the look, mood and theme have remained surprisingly consistent.

This is why, as I've said, I really feel as if they have forced themselves into this world, taken on a life of their own.

The process is still happening, but now that I have recognized them as "a project", I feel like I can see the road ahead, if not its end.

Many children, real and imaginary, familiar and unknown, have inspired these drawings, and I continue looking for inspiration everywhere I go.
This sketch is quite possibly the very first of the Les Voyageuses drawings, before I began working large and in color. I'm still particularly fond of this one, even though it doesn't exactly fit in with the rest. It is, if you will, my "missing link" - the origin of this particular species. I suppose, then, I should call her Lucy?

Let's be honest. It isn't as if there is any way, shape or form in which I have time for another blog. But the fact is, an illustration blog is a necessity for me at this point. My husband an I are still in the process of setting up a shop for my work, where I will (in an undetermined but rapidly closing period of time) be able to sell prints and (time permitting) possibly even do some commissions again. When that time comes, I will need a site with which to compliment my shop.

In that interest, this will be the space in which I will contain my ideas, sketches, works in progress, changes in policy, new offerings, and the multitude of wonderful things that inspire me. It will serve as a virtual inspiration board, a bulletin board, and a sounding board. I will try to stick to categories, but it will be fairly freeform because...well, because that's how I think. I am not a categorical thinker.

So, well, ahem...to begin with, here is what has been going on in my studio most recently.
As many of you know, I have for more than a year now been doing illustrations for the Pioneer Woman's wonderful blog. It has also been just over a year since we brought our beautiful daughter home from China - a year of surgeries, speech therapy and paperwork, as well as a year of joy, laughter, and the greatest tide of happiness that has ever washed through our lives. Because time with my daughter is of the utmost importance to me, I had to suspend my portraiture and work on commission indefinitely. I would someday like to resume that work, but time will tell.

What I have been working on in my own (limited) studio time is the continuation and adaptation of a series of watercolors I started a few years ago, but which did not at the time have a name or anything more than the most vague and nebulous of concepts. It became a series more of its own force of will than of any real intention on my part. The series has taken on a life of its own, and I am drawing inspiration from that fact alone. I'm still not sure where it's going, or exactly what it is becoming...but I imagine that will all become clear in the fullness of time!

In following posts I will bring together the images (many of which have been posted on my other sites) that comprise this series thus far, describe my progress on the newest illustrations, and post some of the images, artists, designers etc which have come together over the years and decades to inspire this work.

I am tentatively calling it "Les Voyageuses", because...well, you tell me if you can understand why!