The Creativity of Collaboration 

A writer, a painter, a book, and an unexpected friendship

In the Spring of 2021, I was contacted by Laing Rikkers through email, asking if I would be interested in illustrating a book of poem-like writings about botanical subjects she had written during the pandemic. She had found me by searching through every artist on the ASBA gallery website. I answered, ‘Sure’, though it took me a few weeks before I sat down with a cup of coffee to read her manuscript. From her very first sentences, I was hooked. 

What followed was an amazing 1.5-year-long journey of discovery, artistic experimentation, collaboration, and ultimately, an unexpected friendship. And, yes, a book. The combination of Laing’s words and my paintings is like the warp and weft of a blanket, together creating a poetry and art book that is greater than the sum of its parts.