But could I really make a living as in illustrator? Me, Manhattan, 1989

After thirty years of mentoring artists, I've now gone back to making art again. I didn't ever really stop, but I'm back with a gusto and passion that I haven't felt in quite some time.

My goal in my twenties was simple (and a bit unlikely for a quirky girl in those days): to make a living drawing pictures.

And I did. I spent the 1980's and 1990's making my living as an illustrator in New York and then Boston. One thing led to the next, and soon I had an incredible roster of illustration clients—The Grammys, Neiman Marcus, Levi’s, Penguin Random House, Rolling Stone, The New York Times, Sassy magazine, German Elle, and Vogue, among others. I had agents representing me in New York, Tokyo, and Paris.

One of my favorite assignments? Anna Wintour once asked me to choose any restaurant in New York, dine there, and draw whatever I wanted—expenses and fee paid.

It was a wild and wonderful time—and those years shaped everything that came next. Looking back, I see how those years of drawing for top clients taught me so much—about creativity, about business, and about trusting my own voice. Lessons I still draw on today.

I love nothing more than packing along just a few torn pieces of fancy watercolor paper, my fountain pens and a little Kurutake paint set. That's all I need! Plus maybe a dip pen and a bottle of carbon ink, and let's throw in a few watercolor palettes, and it wouldn't hurt to grab a few dozen Daniel Smith watercolors tubes, plus I have to be sure to bring some metallics and I won't go anywhere without a Leuchteturm journal which must be one with a bright yellow cover.

But that's it, I swear. You know what else is good? A water brush, so I can paint even on a plane. I forgot to mention a couple dozen gel pens. And you never know when you're going to want a muddy pink pastel just to put down some smudge.

Decades in the business provides me with plenty to share. There's my book, I Just Like to Make Things; literally dozens of courses I've written, my column for the gorgeous UPPERCASE magazine, and numerous articles. Words are cool. Sentences form from ideas, and I love ideas.

In the 1940's, my mother studied painting with Stuart Davis, the groundbreaking American modernist, seen at the Museum of Modern Art NYC. She took painting at the NYC New School for Social Research, as it was called, a haven for progressive intellectuals and artists. I am so proud of her, and so sad that, as a woman, she never received the appreciation I feel she deserved for her paintings. Maybe that's what motivates me to be sure that artists—women artists in particular—are seen, are valued, and compensated financially.

But she was an entrepreneurial powerhouse, and I felt like I had an honorary MBA by the time I left home. I learned that you always find solutions, to follow what you're passionate about and work hard at it, don't listen to the sexists, and to be brave enough to be your own quirky self.

While my childhood wasn't a piece of cake (imagine eccentrics and no therapy), the gifts she gave me were what I pass on to you, my students.

As of this writing, my mother is 101 and a half.

I just like to make things. Oh yeah, that's my book title. Anyway, I do, and I'd love to show you the highlights. Crafts are how I relax. I do teach them from time to time (ceramics, stained glass, calligraphy, lettering) but mostly they are to find the joy and meditative quality in handiwork. And buying craft supplies. Fun fact: I took a year of stained glass at art school in 1975 at CCAC.

I love to create overhead shots using the slow, soft north light from my window. I’ve got flat file drawers filled with objects, oddities, doo-dads, vintage wallpaper, and French linens and a flower garden where I can pluck the odd hydrangea or a chunk of moss, all for building flatlays.

I create these for my courses, projects, my book, my oracle cards—anything that needs a bit of visual magic. I thought you’d enjoy a peek, so I popped a few of my favorites here for you to enjoy.