I first discovered Erin’s art through mutual analogue friends, and was instantly charmed by the joy it made me feel. That same sense of happiness carries through her approach to journaling and her outlook on life. Sitting down with her felt like sharing a warm drink with an old friend, full of laughter and ease. We hope you enjoy this glimpse into Erin’s beautiful world, told through the language of her art. - Eunice
Bk: We are so delighted to have this conversation with you! Could you give us a glimpse into your story and how you found your way into the work you do today?
Erin: I am so grateful to be talking to you! Thank you for having me. This is a really big question. I am trying to do a lot of things these days, including painting fine art and writing, but I think I’m known mostly for my illustrations that I create to share with people (on Patreon and Etsy) so that they can use them in their own journals.
I am a visual thinker and a visual journaler. During the pandemic I tore up every old magazine I had, mining them for images that could help illustrate my daily life. Even though I am an artist, I didn’t have the time or energy to draw my entries. I had a toddler and a baby at the time, and we were stuck at home while my husband was working sometimes 70⎻80 hours a week outside the house. Journaling was a lifeline, therapy, an escape, and I wanted it to be easy and fun. I very quickly ran out of images. I knew of people like my now⎻dear friend Courtney Diaz who were making collage sheets specifically for journaling. I had made printable stickers for planning and journaling before bullet journaling had been popularized and had sold them on Etsy as early as 2013, so it was an easy jump to use those skills in a slightly different way.
I was also struggling with the lack of time and space to paint on a larger scale. In 2018, I had finished a master’s degree with an exhibition in a gallery. It was my intention to continue to make work in that way, but the constraints of motherhood, the exhaustion of a cross-continental move, another baby, and then the global pandemic left me feeling extremely burnt out.
Illustrating for journals seemed like a side project while I waited for time to do bigger things, but it has helped me to become a better artist in more ways than I could possibly name. I have been able to develop my visual language. I have practiced communicating through image and metaphor. My drawing skills have progressed to the point where now the appropriate “level of wonk” to my illustrations has to be monitored—sometimes they’re too realistic for my personal style.
Bk: We read on your website that you didn’t start painting until you were 30! Is there a special story or catalyst that ignited this passion?
Erin: In 2010, I decided to draw everything I ate for the six months leading up to my 30th birthday. I only made it about six weeks, but that little project changed everything for me. The goal was to practice drawing while also paying attention to what I was putting into my body. (This had unexpected effects: Drawing junk food is much more fun and interesting than drawing healthy food.) I carried that little booklet (a moleskine cahier) around with me everywhere—out to dinner, to a friend’s show at a bar, a backyard bonfire....I have very clear memories of these times because of the drawings, but also because of the conversations that would happen when I pulled out my booklet to scribble down what I was about to eat. These conversations helped me gain self-confidence in my own ideas, and I began to see myself as someone who might actually be able to create artwork that other people could appreciate. Like many people, I held (still hold) a lot of limiting beliefs, but this project moved those limits back a bit. I think I secretly always wanted to be an artist.
Bk: We can see that you work with a variety of art mediums from watercolor, gouache, and more! What is your favorite to work with and why?
Erin: I love the freedom of using different media, and I go through seasons of favoring different ones. I think cycling through them helps to keep everything feeling fresh, though sometimes I’m after a certain quality or texture. Before I had kids, I mostly used acrylic gouache, but when I had my son I switched to watercolor, simply because I could walk away from it at a moment’s notice and not worry about the palette drying (or ruining brushes).
BK: Could you please share your analogue tools that are essential to the rhythm of your daily life? What is the role of each one?
Erin: Right now and leading into 2026, I have a system I’m about 80% comfortable with, but it’s always shifting a bit. I have a few journals: a morning pages journal that’s a Leuchtturm 1917 in a Hobonichi A5 cover; a Blackwing Traveler’s Company TN that holds my notes on my paintings and creative writing; a Paper Republic XL, my main journal right now, that’s set up to hold all my reading notes (mostly science fiction and related non-fiction these days); and a couple of inserts to hold my two forms of “regular, everyday journaling” that are (1) a loose, scribbly, thoughts-as-they-come Moleskine cahier and (2) a Midori that has been Frankensteined into the perfect receptacle for my scrappy, junk-journally creative notebook. I do my planning for work using a Plotter A5, and I have a Hobonichi A6 that holds memories about my kids or what I get up to in the day. Keeping things separated helps my brain know where to put things but simultaneously makes it difficult to know where to put things. Please send help!
Bk: Besides painting, journaling is also a huge part of your creative practice. What has been the greatest benefit you have discovered from this ritual?
Erin: I write to find out what I think. I converse with myself on the page. My mind is a whirlwind of ideas and thoughts and obligations and regrets and worries and, and, and...it’s either my ally or my worst enemy, and it’ll run away if I don’t tie it down with ink and paper. I also use journaling as a creative outlet with lower stakes than “actual” artwork. I am not much of a doodler, and I rarely draw in my journal, but I do find that the layering of all the colors and textures and text helps bring me to a place of inspiration, either directly or by clearing out all the junk that’s keeping me from creating. The difficulty is getting to the work outside of these pages, outside of where I feel safe. But I do think that the greatest benefit I’ve experienced is learning that accumulating all these journals is concrete proof that I have ideas that are worth exploring, and that, when explored, they’ll lead to even more ideas. As a mother, this is priceless. My actual brain is full of grocery lists, and the kid’s school commitments, and laundry lists of endless obligations. My paper brain holds the good stuff. (But I don’t ever call it that.)
Bk: Many creatives talk about experiencing a flow state. When you’re creating in your own journal or art, what does that moment feel like for you?
Erin: Like getting lost in something; like slipping through a portal. It’s nice when it happens, but I don’t think about it that much. If I depended on that experience then I’d never get anything made. As a mother to three young kids (an 8-year-old, a 6-year-old, and a 7-month-old), I work in fits and starts, and I rarely have the luxury of uninterrupted hours. I have moments of that feeling for sure, but I don’t wait around for it. The muse must find you working, or so they say. This is why my “studio” is in the kitchen. My entire practice is shaped around stolen moments—which could be used to do the dishes, but I often have different priorities.
Bk: In seasons where you feel stuck or disconnected creatively, what are some practices you engage in to get back into the flow?
Erin: I return to my books—either my journals or actual books written by other humans. I’m always writing little snippets down, and they’re often things that I can’t get to anytime soon. Sometimes all it takes is to read a couple of these and the spark is lit under me again. Also, never underestimate the power of a good night’s sleep.
Bk: With increasing interest in journaling and analogue practices, that also creates a variety of shifts or trends. How do you stay true to yourself, while being open to adapting and changing?
Erin: I think you just have to keep making things and notice when it really lights you up. I tend to just do the things I like over and over again. Every once in a while I’m tempted by these incredibly neat and orderly pages with perfect handwriting, but I rebel against them almost as soon as I begin to try it that way. I think it takes practice to notice things like that. If you aren’t enjoying yourself, then what’s the point? My style has definitely evolved over the years, but it’s a gradual process of curation and exploration rather than a cut-and-paste style.
Bk: What’s one thing you’ve unlearned about what it means to be creative?
Erin: Definitely the lie that you have—are born with—a certain amount of creativity, and it gets used up as you use it. It sounds silly to say it that way, but it holds so many people captive, including myself. I’m still unlearning this. I have to remind myself that more ideas will come, to not save everything until the “right” moment, and to guard against the most insidious, pervasive idea that some people are born creative and others aren’t. It’s actually the opposite—the more you use it, the more there is.
Bk: If your journal was writing an entry about you, what would it say?
Erin: Dear Diary, I’m feeling rather fat and bloated. Erin stuffed me with ideas and sketches and pasted in all sorts of things last week—so much so that I was begging for a break. But I spoke too soon, because now I feel all but forgotten. It seems that that other guy is getting all her attention and I’m languishing in this pile of books and papers. Will I ever be discovered? She’s definitely going to forget what she wrote in here by the time she comes back to me, but I’ll be here to remind her.
Where to find Erin:
❖ Bk Artifacts Featured:
- [TRC] Traveler's Notebook // Black (Alternative option)
- [Hobonichi 2026] Original Book (A6 / English)
- [TSL] Leather Tool Holder
- [TRC] 030 // Brass Clip
- [Postalco] Snap Pad Binder (A5)
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