The Postmistress Of Paris & Other Influential Women

Illustration of Mary Jayne Gold by Bree Reetz

The first book I finished this year was a good one!

I loved how the main character was strong, independent, piloted her own plane, wore trousers, loved her dog, was friends with surrealists, could laugh at herself, came from a life of comfort and left it behind to adventure, and took action to help people escape the Nazis in France by delivering secret messages. When I finished The Postmistress Of Paris I was surprised and delighted to learn that the idea for the main character was sparked by the very real, Mary Jayne Gold. I’ve drawn her portrait, above.

The seed of inspiration for drawing women was planted…

… while reading Inferior by Angela Saini. I felt white hot anger reading about the incredible women in this book. I started furiously writing down their names as I read. I wanted to see their faces. How had I not known about these badass women? And as I learned about them (sometimes having just heard of them for the first time and sometimes gaining a new appreciation for their contribution to their field) I decided I wanted to draw them and share their story.

So I made a plan.

In the front part of my journal, the first 25 pages or so have a different layout and I like to use this area for fleshing out my ideas for personal projects. Because they’re located in the front of the book, they’re easy to find and reference later.

I wanted to share this example because one of the things I’ve learned in my own practice is that having a few projects outlined means that I don’t wait for inspiration to get to work and that inspiration finds me working. Having a to-draw list, allows me to show up and focus on my practice without getting hung up on big questions or lost in inspiration rabbit holes.

Do I always draw from a list or for a specific project? No. Illustration is my personal practice and I find that I get the most joy out of my practice if I don’t force myself to be too rigid or results focused either. But I do owe a lot of my consistency, growth, and evolution as an artist to little personal projects like this.

I write these project outlines for myself, with no intention of showing them to anyone, so consider yourself lucky to have this rare glimpse at my messy notes behind the scenes.

Want to see the portraits I’ve done so far?

Yellow

It was last year around this time, that my Grandma asked me out of the blue, “what’s your favorite color these days?” I paused for half a second before I answered, I hadn’t really thought about a favorite color recently.

And yet, I could immediately visualize…

…a collection of my things, all in the color yellow.

And so I said “Yellow” and her eyes lit up and she said “Ooh I thought yellow!” in what had become her simple, unfiltered way.

Now, when I look at my yellow things, I like to think of how yellow brought her joy too. You lose people, but they’re never really gone, they just come to you in different ways.

Alice Phoebe Lou

Alice Phoebe Lou’s Album Glow was the soundtrack for every sunny moment of my year.

In 2021 I listened to 1,808 different artists and 143 different genres. But I spent the most time (1,097 minutes) listening to Alice Phoebe Lou. Apparently this put me in the top 0.5% of their listeners!

Listen to the album Glow here.

“I’m one of those witches, babe
Just don’t try to save me, cause I don’t want to be saved”

I knew I wanted to create a drawing of Alice Phoebe Lou to commemorate how much the music has meant to me. While there are many gorgeous photos that could serve as muse, I was particularly inspired by a charming live performance of the song Witches and decided to create this five-frame illustrated animation.

Watch the live performance here.

Little Free Library

I just love little free libraries, they have provided me with so much joy. I will walk up a steep hill in a downpour to check and see if there are new titles in a neighborhood library. I enjoy leaving my own books for other readers as well. I’d love to have my own little free library someday. Someday, when I can afford a house, I will set up a little free library in the yard and curate it’s contents for you. Not only will I share books, I will share plants - I can’t seem to stop propagating them. In this way I will perpetuate another simple pleasure I have enjoyed; the distinct pleasure of finding plants with cheerful little signs reading “Free” or “Take One” and me proceeding to carry them all the way back home. The plants and books from my neighbors have filled my heart as much as my garden and my bookshelf.

Flurry Of Emptiness

It was hard for her to find the words and this made her flustered. Finally she said, “my mind is a flurry of emptiness” and I said “It’s ok, it’ll come to you later.” Because I knew that would make her feel better, even though I knew that it wasn’t true. What I didn’t realize was that this would be our last conversation.

Being Is Enough For the Moment

I walk daily. Even when my thoughts are loud, putting one foot in front of the other is nearly always possible. My eyes are always open but sometimes I see. It is on these days that small treasures find me. Sometimes I slip into a peaceful place, between thoughts, swallowed whole by nowness. Being is enough for the moment.