Maira Kalman

“Michael Pollan is a champion. In all ways. A man of great integrity, humor, and common sense and kindness.”

“I live in a small world of gouache and brush and pen and ink. I'd like to explore the world of multiples - etching and prints.”

“I'm in a complete state of panic before I begin something because I'm sure that it's going to be a complete disaster. I'm going to do a worse job than anybody could ever imagine anybody doing on the planet Earth.”

“I like the brooding man - a brooding man with a sense of humor.”

“I don't listen to the news. I don't read the newspaper unless it's eccentric information - and the obituaries, of course.”

“It is impossible to know what fate will bring. If you love to write or paint, you will keep on writing or painting, and things will either work out or not, and you just have to keep being in the process.”

“I still do have the little lunch bag that my mother made out of a towel and embroidered with my name on it for when I went to kindergarten.”

“My workspace is defined by books, ephemera, quiet and light. I don't have a computer, telephone or a fax machine there.”

“Soon enough it will be me struggling (valiantly?) to walk - lugging my stuff around. How are we all so brave as to take step after step? Day after day? How are we so optimistic, so careful not to trip and yet do trip, and then get up and say O.K. Why do I feel so sorry for everyone and so proud?”