01/13/2022
I grew up spending a lot of time in my grandmother Dorothy's art studio in Michigan. She had a massive space that filled with natural light in the afternoon. Every medium was available to me - pastels, oil, acrylics, watercolors, clay. Literally everything you could find in an art store was in her studio. As a child and a creative, this was the most special place in the world to me. Did you have a space like this growing up?
In her studio we'd explore design, composition, and light. I was a lover of big, bold colors and patterns and she loved the way you could create soft light in watercolor. She taught me the basis of everything I know about design.
When she passed away, I found her sketchbook. She loved details and celebrating the individual idiosyncrasies of each person she met. This page of ears has always struck me and made me pause.
I'm sure this was just a practice page for her but I loved the way she'd carefully noted the details in each of the ears she's drawing. I have this picture in my office and it's a reminder for me to listen, lead with love and sweat the details.