Drawing Inspiration w/ Maira Kalman

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How Pete The Dog Become Artist Maira Kalman’s Artistic Muse – And New Yorker Magazine Cover Star

Photo by Rick Meyerowitz

Photo by Rick Meyerowitz

About The Episode

Maira Kalman came with her family to New York City in the 1950s. Growing up, there were never any dogs in her home. But it wasn’t just the reluctance to have them by her parents, it was fear and terror of them.

The more time went by, that fear started to slowly dissipate within Maira herself. At the same time, she was becoming fascinated with them from an artist’s perspective, which would later grow.

Later on, her husband became ill and they decided to get a family dog to help their kids during that period. However, that dog really turned into Maira’s trusted companion.

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Pete, an Irish Wheaton, also became Maira’s artistic muse and a frequent fixture of her drawings. He became the subject of an illustrated book, What Pete Ate: From A To Z, where she chronicled his wide food palette (including items around the house). But it wasn’t only her personal work either - Pete even appeared on the cover of an issue of The New Yorker, who Maira frequently contributes to.

Another book that Maira did, Beloved Dog, some of her best dog illustrations from over the years, mixed in with some personal essays. Dogs have been one of the most important parts of her work over the years. Even for when taking Pete on walks, who has since passed, she would get inspiration around New York City - and still does, only now it’s just enjoying looking at other people’s dogs (at least for now, that is, with a future potential dog on the horizon).

About The Guest - Maira Kalman

Maira Kalman is an Israeli-born American illustrator, writer, artist, and designer. She has written and illustrated eighteen children’s books and is a frequent contributor to The New Yorker, including creating several covers for the magazine that you may have seen before. After initially being afraid of dogs from a young age, Maira eventually had a change of heart and opened up her world to dogs. She realized how much dogs have to teach us, how they’re natural comedians, and how they make us better as people.

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