Rising Above

Illustration I did as a private commission for a dear person, inspired by Theodore Roosevelt’s quote on persistence and rising above all critiques, difficulties and obstacles that we encounter in life.

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” - T. Roosevelt

Strong and kind 

Illustration on striving to reconcile the polarities that are often implicitly denied to women: being both warm and fearless; a woman of family and a woman of career; strong and kind; loving and ambitious, and so on…

Don't let the bastards grind you down!

This illustration is inspired by a quote from Margaret Atwood’s ‘Handmaid’s tale’ - “Nolite Te Bastardes Carborundorum” / “Don’t let the bastards grind you down”. It represents resistance and rebellion against the oppression of women.

Private commission.