Maira Kalman - Once you discover her, you won't want to lose her

Back when The New York Times charged a fee for its TimeSelect features (which included the best and brightest op-ed columnists like Frank Rich and Paul Krugman), I never expected that it would include the unique art of someone I had never heard of before: Maira Kalman. I loved wading through her work online but regretted that I wasn't supposed to share it with others who weren't TimeSelect subscribers. Recently the Times has made everything available to everyone at no cost.

Kalman is so good I don’t know where to start. She’s typically whimsical but can be serious (click on image below to enlarge): If you’re curious, go here, where her “Finale” was posted in April of this year. Scroll down and savor each item. If you haven’t had enough, slide your cursor over to “March,” and open up "One Thing Leads to Another". If you’re insatiable, you can work your way back through a year’s worth of art with fascinating comments. Here’s October, 2006: "Collecting Myself."

When I view Kalman’s work, I don't collect myself; I lose myself.

(photo of Maira Kalman - Yamazakis)