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?

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.

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.

Yeehaw

I’m a horse girl, I told them that on the application. I explained in detail how I started riding at a young age and how my skills advanced quickly because my horse was, to put it simply, challenging. It had been several years since I’d been in the saddle but I still felt confident about my horsemanship and I was excited to get involved with a horse rescue as an adult.

I showed up to volunteer wearing reasonable leather boots, but not cowboy boots specifically. In fact everything I had on was perfectly functional for the occasion. But I could tell they’d made up their mind about me just by looking at me. They didn’t think I knew shit and treated me poorly.

Before the day was out I did have a chance to ride. They put me on a horse that didn’t want to go anywhere without a mean kick in the side. I believe in training horses to respond to a gentler touch and so I was disappointed to discover how this horse had been treated.

We road around the paddock a bit before hitting the trail. At which point another rider knocked over a jump very near to my horses legs. It spooked my horse, causing it to buck like a mustang at a rodeo. I stayed in the saddle and reigned in the horse, no problem.

And that was when they quit judging me by my ‘city’ boots and skinny jeans.

One outfit doesn’t always do justice to our multitudes.

Recognizing My Light By The Shadows

Listening to the beat of your wings, I realized suddenly, I was the flame.

Afternoon Coffee

Our time together used to disappear into hot coffee, dipped like a pastry and savored. I have no idea what we talked about most of the time, but the conversation was easy.

Ordinary Delights

I found a new book in a little free library. And I’m charmed by a tide of pink petals at my feet as I walk home.

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.