Quotes by Maira Kalman

About Maira Kalman:

Maira Kalman is an American illustrator, writer, artist, and designer. Her work most widely held in WorldCat libraries is Fireboat: the heroic adventures of the John J. Harvey, a picture book she both wrote and illustrated. It won the annual Boston Globe–Horn Book Award for Nonfiction in 2003.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

My sister is an artist and an interior designer. She went to high school for art. I went to high school for music.

Maira Kalman

if something does go wrong, here is my advice... KEEP CALM and CARRY ON.

Maira Kalman

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...

Maira Kalman

My dream is to walk around the world. A smallish backpack, all essentials neatly in place. A camera. A notebook. A traveling paint set. A hat. Good shoes. A nice pleated (green?) skirt for the occasional seaside hotel afternoon dance.

Maira Kalman

I don't like plots. I don't know what a plot means. I can't stand the idea of anything that starts in the beginning - you know, 'beginning, middle and end.'

Maira Kalman

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

Maira Kalman

I don't like anything permanent; I have to be able to flee. You have to be able to flee at a moment's notice.

Maira Kalman

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.

Maira Kalman

I have been working for over 30 years and am always wondering about where I am and where I am going. It does not stop and become a fixed event of achievement.

Maira Kalman

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.

Maira Kalman

You'd have to be completely crazy not to be influenced by and take from other artists. It's completely impossible not to.

Maira Kalman

It's almost impossible to reconcile the realities of how one feels during the day, hour by hour. But I approach things not cynically.

Maira Kalman

I truly believe there's always a solution to every problem.

Maira Kalman

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.

Maira Kalman

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

Maira Kalman

The book. Calming object. Held in the hand.

Maira Kalman

All terrific but the people. THE PEOPLE. Everyone looks so exalted, or so wretched, or so spiffy, so funny, so splendid. If you are ever bored or blue, stand on the street corner for half an hour.

Maira Kalman

The most inspiring objects are books. I have about 5,000 volumes in my home library. It's an unending source of visuals and ideas.

Maira Kalman

My mother was the influence on me - my father was absent. He was a diamond dealer; he was doing wonderful things in the background, and women were left at home. So my mother really was in charge of everything: the ballet, dance lessons, piano lessons...

Maira Kalman

I like Thomas Jefferson, though he intimidated me. I thought he would have been very tough to be around. I don't know if he had such a sense of humor.

Maira Kalman

Author Bio

  • NameMaira Kalman
  • DescriptionIsraeli American artist and creator of children's books
  • Born1949
  • ProfessionWriter; Graphic Designer