Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Drew Isserlis Kramer. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Drew thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One of the toughest things about progressing in your creative career is that there are almost always unexpected problems that come up – problems that you often can’t read about in advance, can’t prepare for, etc. Have you had such and experience and if so, can you tell us the story of one of those unexpected problems you’ve encountered?
In the Summer of 2022, I launched a creative experiment titled, Lady & the Floofs. It began with the creation of a character: The Lady, a quirky and bohemian British caretaker of Floofs. A Floof is a creature with many needs. In print, in person and online, The Lady teaches Floofs of all ages to discover this sometimes scary, wonderful world.
First in an illustrated songbook, “It’s Hard to be a Baby,” The Lady calls for compassion for Floofs as they embark on the difficult journey of growing up. Sharing her own path from fearful Floof to bold Lady, the book encourages trial (especially of food) through joy and empathy. Moving from the page to the real world, The Lady took on a life of her own. Online and in person, I began to perform as the character for local Floofs and their grown ups. As a parent to young children, I regularly created unique experiences to encourage growth and trial. As The Lady, I encouraged Floofs and grown ups to try things through play. We threw spaghetti and flour from all corners of New York’s Tristate Area. We built cars out of cucumbers and planted enchanted dinosaur broccoli forests. We finger-painted my hand illustrated drawings with triggering ingredients like onions and mushrooms. We planted seedlings in the ground and ate leafy greens off the stalk. We learned where our food came from and ate without protest because it was all in good fun.
The Lady flexed my artistic itch through song, live performance, writing, illustration, and food-forward process art projects. But then came the question, was this a business or a hobby? While families enthusiastically paid to attend my events, it wasn’t a lucrative moneymaker. The events were expensive and time consuming to produce. I struggled with the pace of social media and the content creation necessary to game platform algorithms. And then there was the character. In contrast to the bold personality of The Lady, I can be a house cat. The constant performance drained me. Was it a business? No, it didn’t feel sustainable. Was it a hobby? No, a hobby felt purely for recreation. With The Lady, I wanted to make a statement. I wanted people young and old to hear my message of hope, bravery and magic. This was an act of expression. It was art.
Stepping out of the shadows as an artist, I learned that art is not a commodity. It is a form of expression that comes when there is a message to share. It sometimes requires quiet and rest to reconnect to the creative spirit. In the two years since beginning my creative sprint, I learned to let go. It isn’t about the number of followers or the frequency of production. Sometimes less is more. Once I let go of the achievement narrative, I gave myself the freedom to create and evolve. I often say that I am wandering in the wilderness. As long as I keep putting one foot in front of the other, I will get where I am meant to go. When I create, I remind myself that reaching one person is enough to make an impact. My purpose as an artist might not be to win awards or reach mass audiences. Perhaps I am here to inspire just one person. Maybe that person is you?
Drew, 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?
As a young, shy, arty tomboy, I struggled to answer what I wanted to be when I grew up. Raised in a messy divorce, the messaging in my household was, “support yourself.” This meant becoming a doctor or a lawyer. The creative industries seemed open to only the very best artistic talents. I never felt good enough.
Without knowing what else to do with my love of words, I did what many others do: I went to law school. Do you ever notice the nagging voice in your head that tells you when something is wrong? I’ve come to understand it as intuition. In law school, the voice never shut off, but was overpowered by a louder, more shrill ringing of fear. I wasn’t raised to be brave, I was raised to be safe. As I approached graduation, the voice was yelling at the top of her lungs. Safe didn’t feel so secure anymore. At 25 I took off in a new direction, finding my way by connecting with creative people. At a moment of technological disruption, I entered digital marketing through a combination of bold determination and luck. In creative agencies, I helped major corporations like Target and Unilever create community through content. For a decade, I climbed the ladder, but I always felt like a square peg in a round hole.
I continued on this path until I found myself clinging on the steep side of a mountain. At first, the slope of the incline was unspectacular. I didn’t even notice it. The call to have children wasn’t on my radar. However, as I approached my mid-thirties, I watched family members grow frail and pass, some far too early. I began to feel the call for future. I answered the scary call to motherhood and noticed my focus shift. I felt inspired and creatively fulfilled by the manual labor of raising children.
But in the winter of 2022, two and a half years into a global pandemic, I found myself feeling isolated and one dimensional. That summer, I resolved to return to my creative work. I gave myself two personal challenges: 1) host one baby class and 2) write one baby book–and tell the story on Instagram!
Lady & the Floofs began as an experiment. Six months into the challenge, I realized that the Lady was not just the story of a caretaker and her Floofs. The Lady is also the story of a woman stepping into her own as an artist–and that Lady is me! If you follow @ladyandfloofs on Instagram today, you will follow the farm-to-table story of growing up. Amid animated illustrations of super foods like the blueberry, you can catch a glimpse of The Lady reading Green Eggs and Ham, as well as her own original stories of self discovery. Here, I share Floof-friendly recipes, food art, explorations into textile arts and media articles relevant to my brethren of Millennial parents. Today, Lady & the Floofs is a creative platform for all of my artistic explorations of growing up. I hope you are here for it.
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
As artists, we will all struggle with periods of creative highs and lows. After reading (and re-reading) Julia Cameron’s classic manual for creative reinvention, The Artist’s Way, I know how to restore my creative connection. When I cannot get out of my own way, I return to the basics. Do your morning pages. Give yourself time to play and recover. Set your own creative rituals that will help you find the light in the darkness. The creative sprit is always there.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
The most rewarding part of being an artist is inspiring others to do the hard work of growth and change. As I put myself and my work out into the universe, my success metric shifted from entrepreneurial achievement to the motivation of just one person. When I hear that someone tried a tomato or started writing a manuscript because of my work, I see that one ordinary lady can possess the extraordinary power to move people.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @ladyandfloofs; @drewisskrama
Image Credits
Images are my own