While I was studying for my master’s degree in art history, a nearby library exhibited their collection of illuminated manuscripts. They invited a prominent scholar of medieval books to write the catalogue, and in this catalogue, he attributes two of the manuscripts to women, specifically nuns. He praises the first manuscript, a fifteenth-century Rule, or monastic handbook, from the convent of St. Catherine in Nuremberg. He waxes poetic on the convent’s renowned scriptorium and describes…

I'm pretty inspired by the ingenuity and dedication of the people that live in my neighborhood and the neighborhoods surrounding ours: Noe Valley, the Mission and the Castro. I especially enjoy watching and interacting with the self-employed and the practitioners of off-the-beaten-path professions that I come across here. I go for long walks with my sketchbook and camera and try to record the characters that I fixate on. I like to let them know without…