We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Diana Toledano a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Diana thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. I’m sure there have been days where the challenges of being an artist or creative force you to think about what it would be like to just have a regular job. When’s the last time you felt that way? Did you have any insights from the experience?

Such an interesting question! When I decided to become an illustrator, I knew it would take a lot of effort and time. I wrote long lists of goals and dreams, and making these dreams come true became my focus.

So I worked hard and, little by little, I crossed things off. First illustration commission, yay! First book published, yay! But whenever I achieved one goal, another one appeared in its place. There was a short moment of celebration and euphoria, followed by the thought “what’s next?”. – Sure I had illustrated a book, but wouldn’t it be great to get XXX award too?

The goalposts keep moving, so happiness keep being just around the corner. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very happy I chose this career! I love children’s books, I enjoy my work and I believe its meaningful. But I never got to experience the ease of “I’ve made it”.

I’m beginning to realize that I was confusing career success with happiness, and that is not sustainable or healthy. Being an illustrator became my identity, and I’m so much more than that! I’m a mom, I’m the kind of person that dances down the street, I love wearing patterns, I enjoy long walks… I (we) contain multitudes!

So while I’m not interested in changing careers, I do think I’d be equally happy doing something else for a living. As long as I stay creative (dancing, knitting, taking photos, sketching..), I’ll be just fine.

Diana, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Diana Toledano, pronounced the Spanish way: De-Anna. I am an illustrator, writer and educator. I grew up in Madrid where I studied Art History & Illustration. Now I live in California with my little bilingual family and two cats.

I enjoy playing with different techniques to create detailed mixed media illustrations for patterns and children’s books. I’m fascinated by deep stories that offer every child a place of refuge and wonder.

My books and patterns have been sold all over the world. Some of the titles I’ve illustrated include the chapter book series POLLY DIAMOND, the picture book ONE SNOWY DAY, and the non-fiction biography DRESSING UP THE STARS.

I have a background in museum education, so one of the things I love most about my job is being able to combine teaching, art history and illustration. I do school visits for kids, teach workshops for adults and speak at conferences. I’m also the co-founder of Picture Book Surgery (a great resource for people interested in children’s books), and I have taught at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, at the City College of San Francisco and the California Academy of Sciences, among others.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

Non-creatives frequently struggle to understand that even though drawing is fun for me, it’s still my job. There are things that I love about it, and things that I don’t. Deep down, our issues are pretty similar to the issues of a lawyer/programmer/accountant: we have problems with flaky clients, or tight deadlines, or a boss taking our work in a direction we don’t like, etc. It really is just like any other work: we are hired for our talents to solve a need.

It can be tiring to explain all of this… That’s why I love having creative friends! We get to commiserate together. And they understand that it’s okay to complain, even if this is our vocation.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I used to think that I worked best under pressure. Back in high school, I was great at studying for a test the night before. I thought that was something to be proud of… But once I became an illustrator, I started to see it differently.

I would procrastinate for months, and then work myself to the ground in order to meet a deadline. I’d end up exhausted and feeling guilty. Doing everything last minute wasn’t working for me anymore.

I grew up in a somewhat chaotic environment, so my brain was used to being stressed out. It was such a familiar feeling that my brain was trying to recreate it for me! Stress felt safe, adrenaline gave me focus and drive, and I did not know how to do things without it.

Honestly, this is a work in progress… I’ve been learning a lot about my nervous system, emotional health and trauma responses. I still have trouble managing time in a healthy way, but I understand what I’m doing, and I can show myself compassion. I’m working on it. :)

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.diana-toledano.com
• Instagram: http://instagram.com/dianatoledano/
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/dianatoledano

Image Credits
Portraits to the People.