Ep 79: Blair E. Clark and Artwork for the 12 Days of Christmas

Episode 79 features an interview with Blair E. Clark about the artwork she did for my book Celebrating the 12 Days of Christmas. A native of Michigan, Blair is a Central Illinois artist whose work you can find at: https://blairjeffers.wordpress.com/. At the moment she is in the process of starting her own business Rabil Illustration (stay tuned for more info), but she also co-founded and helps lead the Emerging Artists Collective, a group of artists in Peoria, Illinois looking to equip developing artists to become more established. Blair and I have known each other a number of years now. She and her husband are family friends whom I go to church with and respect deeply. 

Image taken from Peoria Magazine article
"Rediscovering the 12 Days of Christmas"

When I began writing my book I knew I wanted to collaborate with Blair on the artwork. I also wanted to give her the opportunity to have her work featured on and within a book that people can buy all around the world. It was tremendously enriching to sit down with her every few months and check in about how her piece was coming along, discussing what influences, symbols, and general direction we wanted it to take. In our conversation, Blair talks about her process, some of the imagery embedded in the her work on the book that might not be immediately obvious, and also her approach to making Mary and Joseph people who were not white Europeans and yet still universal figures we can all relate to.

Here are two recent articles featuring her art and community work (one of which I wrote):
"Rediscovering the 12 Days of Christmas" in Peoria Magazine
"Collecting Growth" about the Emerging Artists Collective in Peoria Magazine

Subscribe to the podcast on itunes 

Check out the podcast page to subscribe on Stitcher, 
Google Play, Tunein, and PocketCasts.

My book Celebrating the 12 Days of Christmas is available most anywhere you can purchase books online:
Amazon
Christian Book Distributors
Wipf and Stock
Barnes and Noble
Google Play
Faithlife Ebooks

You can also listen to the previous more longform interview I did with Blair on episode 22.

Other related podcast episodes and articles:
Ep 79: Dr. Michael Ward on C.S. Lewis, Paganism, and Christmas
Ep 71: Happy Pagan Christmas!
Ep 72: The 12 Days of Christmas, New Years, and Epiphany
Episode 63: Artist Jaci Musec

Episode 46: Artist Quinton Thomas
Episode 13: Artist Jessica Ball—Owner of the Art Garage
Episode 21: Carol McPherson—Director of the Fost Gallery
Episode 38: Musician Jared Grabb

Episode 40: Coffee Artist Kagan Masters
Episode 42: Artist Alec DeJesus (2017)
Episode 44: Natalia and Earl of Yaku