Gilded Statues and Haughty Chickens

5 things from the studio this week

Jul 04, 2025

Hey! I’m so thankful for you this week. That’s it. You’re awesome.

Here’s some things from the week that was:

1. SOME ART MAKING

For some reason I’ve had the huddled masses on my mind this week. Class and how government interacts with its citizens can be a touchy subject (especially lately), but there’s definitely room in our books and art for such things. I think my first real contact with these themes probably came from folk tales. There’s power in the stories we tell.

As for the art, I’m continuing to work on texture and pattern. These are in my wheelhouse eternally, but getting better and exploring the flattening they provide is … fun?

(Send help.)

2. WORK WISDOM

I promise to not be so exclusive in pulling from Rick Rubin’s The Creative Act in the near future, but this particular bit of creative wisdom stopped me dead in my tracks:

If we can tune in to the idea of making things and sharing them without being attached to the outcome, the work is more likely to arrive in its truest form.

DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD THIS IS?

I’m confident that I will attempt to divorce myself from the outcome in my next manuscript, my next illustration, my next book in the hopes of having it arrive in its truest form. Attempt. This takes real discipline. Great art can start its journey without a self-reflection on its worth, but over time it becomes difficult to not imagine its end game — the outcome.

The truth in this shines like a lamp in the dark so it’s worth trying with every keystroke and line drawn, fully and without reservation.

3. THING I LOVED

As mentioned many times, I maintain a kind of running inspiration Pinterest board. I refer to it when I need a jolt of visual joy, an aspirational pick-me-up.

This week, I went down an abstract painting rabbit hole, happily agog with texture and color. I pick up a lot of my aesthetic from folk art, simple shapes and rough and unfinished paintings. Susan Simonini’s work captures so much of this. I mean, this painting is stunning:

4. A BOOK TO READ

What’s better than a truck? A truck on top of another truck!

Could not agree more. I recently went on a Nic Henderson book buying spree and this was my fav of the bunch (written by Sorche Fairbanks). Nic’s work is vintage yet fresh and his craftsmanship is top notch.

What makes this book a delight? It’s simplicity in concept and in its rendering.1

I cannot fathom what black magic Mr. Fairbanks employed to get this bought by a publisher because it’s so pared down. Maybe a melted down truck tire slipped into someone’s coffee with some used oil? No matter — who ever saw the vision and then hired Nic to illustrate this gem was on a path to something lovely.

5. EPHEMERA, ETC.

It was #KidLitArtPostcard day yesterday and I was so excited by the response to WHIRBY’s cover reveal last week, that I wanted to share a sneak peek.2