As people were emerging from their COVID-19 cocoons in the summer and early fall of 2021, the Woman’s Club of Palo Alto wanted to create energy and anticipation for their “grand reopening” with a roaring 20s party. This series offered a playful way to entice members to a festive, yet safe in-person gathering. The event was a huge success.

In 2019, documentary film producer Julie Morrison reached out when she realized that there were a number of necessary visuals for her film which she had no way to represent.  I sprang into action creating maps of tribal groups, a cartoon about the decimation of phylloxera, and a likeness of J. Hunter Thompson, collaborating closely with Julie to fill some visual gaps caused by copyright constraints, missing historical records and other limitations. To learn more about this project, visit Call of the Valley: The Enduring Lure of Sonoma.

In 2019, my sister, Katy “commissioned” me (for free, mind you) to create a deck of cards for her daughter and my niece, Helen, in honor of her 30th birthday. I had created such a deck for a friend’s birthday in 2017 by crowdsourcing answers to the question “What I love about …” by asking friends at her birthday party. For Helen, we got fancy and created a google survey inviting friends, relatives, former teachers and colleagues to share qualities they love about her, along with any associated visual images that came to mind. I synthesized this into a deck of 30+ original watercolor drawings. Helen and my friend Megan both cherish (their word) this little portable pick-me-up and reminder of why they are uniquely wonderful. 

Many of us have been there with a loved one when it seems like time for them to hang up their car keys. That time came with my mom in 2018, then newly 90. My sisters and I were at our wits end and wanted to find a way using visuals and humor to give her motivation and agency in making the transition from driving herself to the joys of getting around through other means. Ask me how it all worked out.

This wand making thing all started in the fall of 2016 when I was about to leave for a political canvassing trip. I found a dried plant that looked like a wand and my traveling companions and I made a collective wish for a smooth trip. We forgot to wish for the main event—that our candidate would win the election. After election day, I began to make wands of all kinds from sticks and remnants of various kinds—bits of ribbon, feathers, an orphaned earring—anything I could find. Some people knit. I like to make wands and fetishes. I have made fertility fetishes for a long time which have had a good track record. I regard wands as a beautiful and intriguing object that can also be an instrument for the recipient’s intentions. My one request is that people remember to WISH BIG.