Illustrated Breath: An Artist's Blog

This artist's blog is a view into the wandering mind of a diagonal person in a linear world. Here you will find a variety of thoughts, insights, adventures, inspiration, and creative instruction.

My father always said that there were two kinds of people in the world, horizontal and vertical, however, I was diagonal. My sister would then speak up and say, "She's askew and not even on the same plane." It took me years to realize that this slant was actually a good thing and just like a slide, a whole lot of FUN.

Welcome to an artist's blog; a deep dive into an artist's world.

Life is a Dance just like a Jackson Pollock Paintings

Like A Pollock, Life Is A Dance

I discovered that life is a dance on my first trip to The Metropolitan Museum of Art. I made a right turn and walked into a room full of paintings by Jackson Pollack and Mark Rothko. I was so captivated by the energy emitting from the paintings that I began to cry and dance. (I […]

Love is Explosive

What’s Love Got To Do With It?

I sit here on Valentine’s Day 2022 pondering this commercialized holiday of obligatory love.  If you can’t tell from that first sentence, I loathe Valentine’s Day. My skin crawls every time I have to walk past a stuffed red teddy bear holding a cliched heart saying, “I Wuv U!” Seriously? Do we really need to […]

Does art have to match the couch? No.

“It Has To Match The Couch Or It Won’t Work.” She said. 🙄

Don’t give your couch an inferiority complex with the art. Your art does not have to match the couch.

A New York City Adventure

An Ozian New York City Adventure

My adventure to the Big Apple helped get me out of a dark place after the passing of my sister. It awoke a sense of wonder that was lying dormant yet urging me to come out and play.

Drawer full of stuff that prevents you from getting out of the way

Get Out Of Your Own Way

Ahh, the beginning of a new year and we face the pressure of the New Year’s resolutions that are quickly discarded by January 5th. This year I gave in by 10:00 am on January 1st, by making pancakes with maple syrup for breakfast. I could hear the Little Debbie brownie whispering in my head, “You’re […]

2 girls watching an airplane at LAX airport gate dreaming of Someday

Someday…

Change your Someday’s to Thisday.

Stack of Art books

9 Books To Help Live A Creative Life

Deciding to live the life you want is a leap of faith. There is no guarantee that everything will be hunky-dory sunshine and rainbows, but you will discover a multitude of things about yourself. Here are 9 books that helped me take that leap.

Let me play with that hair

The Thing About Hair

Finding a bag of non-carcinogenic pixie dust is proving to be a problem.

Melissa Whitaker biting into a wrapped cosmic brownie. How to find yourself again

HEY! Little Debbie……Bite Me!

How To Find The Person Buried Within   Here it is. That one post where I reveal the truths about myself that NO woman ever wants to reveal, my age, weight, and height.  As an artist, I am used to exposing my soul to a gallery wall.  I’ve even exposed my nude self on a […]

Photograph of clouds in Arizona with mountains on the distant horizon.  Taken by Melissa Whitaker

Under the Influence

Inspiration is great, it’s what keeps the soul alive, but it’s the influences that encourage action to be taken.

Be A Know It All

Get the inside scoop on what's happening in the studio. Exclusive behind the scenes news.