“Wonderful things happen when your brain is empty,” says artist Maira Kalman (b. November 15, 1949). But of course her brain is never empty – rather, it is a wonderland of the most enchanted and enchanting kind, brimming with painted poetics, hand-lettered philosophy, and enormous kindness. She speaks with the simplicity of words and richness of expression that betoken a full mind and draws with the vibrancy of a full heart, every project as much a feat of artistry as a profound meditation on our shared humanity, every brush stroke an inviting doorway into an exceptional soul. Born in Tel Aviv, Kalman moved to New York City with her parents when she was four and has remained there since, roaming Gotham’s streets with her endlessly observant eye and delighting its people with her visual magic for more than half a century. She has authored or illustrated more than 20 books, ranging from collaborations with Daniel Handler and his children’s alias, Lemony Snicket, to illustrated editions of such modern classics as Stunk and White’s The Elements of Style and Michael Pollan’s Food Rules. Kalman is also a woman of beautifully osmotic opposites: “A deadline is a beautiful thing. It puts me into a framework,” she says in an interview. And yet: “There’s a certain freedom to do whatever I want to do, which I guess is the definition of being an artist,” she proffers in her fantastic Creative Mornings talk. She turned her self-admitted disinterest in politics into a year-long challenge to trace the underpinnings of modern democracy, which became the charming New-York-Times-blog-turned-book And The Pursuit of Happiness. The project, of course, isn’t really about “politics” in the drily governmental or academic sense; it’s about all the complex composite parts of political awareness – idealism, hope, the capacity to cherish and savor our cultural legacy. Kalman enthuses: Hallelujah for knowledge and for the honor of language and ideas. And books. In fact, all of her work manages to expands the boundaries of whatever its presumed subject is, to broaden its allure, to invite us into adjacent worlds that only magnify the magic of the one she originally set out to explore. Kalman exudes a singular brand of optimistic curiosity, rooted in an unflinching faith in the radiance and relentlessness of the human spirit. Here it is, at its most alive, in The Principles of Uncertainty: How are we so optimistic, so careful not to trip, and then get up and say O.K.? […] What can I tell you? What can I tell you? The realization that we are all (you, me) going to die and the attending disbelief – isn’t that the central premise of everything? It stops me dead in my tracks a dozen times a day. Do you think I remain frozen? No. I spring into action. I find meaningful distraction. Wonderful things happen when Kalman’s full brain springs into action. Learn more: Brain Pickings (https://www.brainpickings.org/tag/maira-kalman/) | Maira Kalman online (http://www.mairakalman.com/) [http://thereconstructionists.org/page/6] What do Buddhist artist Agnes Martin, Hollywood inventor Hedy Lamarr, and French-Cuban author Anaïs Nin have in common? Their names may not conjure popular recognition, and yet, for Lisa Congdon and Maria Popova, these women represent a particular breed of cultural trailblazer: female, under-appreciated, badass. They are “Reconstructionists,” as the writer-illustrator duo call them – and for the next year, they’ll be celebrated on a blog of the same name. Every Monday for 12 months, The Reconstructionists will debut a hand-painted illustration and short essay highlighting a woman from fields such as art, science, and literature. The subject needn’t be famous, but she will, as Popova, the creator of Brain Pickings, puts it, “have changed the way we define ourselves as a culture." We spoke with Popova, and illustrator Congdon, about the inspiration.... [http://storyboard.tumblr.com/post/41698890843/the-reconstructionists-celebrating-badass-women]