Breezy Brookshire is a Steward of Wonder
Jo March, Wandering, and Woodland Creatures
A couple of years ago, I started noticing an interesting name pop up in my newsletter stats and on my social media. I didn’t think much about it until I was opening for The Arcadian Wild in Indianapolis back in 2022 and met Breezy Brookshire at the merchandise table. I immediately knew who she was and gushed over finally putting a face to the wonderful name. We quickly began to learn that we have several friends in common since we are both Hoosiers and since then, after Breezy moved to Nashville, we’ve gone from being fellow Hoosiers to being fellow Tennesseans. We catch up over coffee and scones at North Wind Manor (The Rabbit Room headquarters) and I find myself always leaving a conversation feeling rejuvenated. Breezy is a incredibly gifted illustrator and has worked on books such as For Such a Time As This: Stories of Women from the Bible, Retold for Girls and Audrey Bunny by Angie Smith, The King of All Things by Shay Gregorie, and A Little More Beautiful by Sarah McKenzie to name a few. Breezy carries a breadth of knowledge about beauty and true things and she reminds me of one of my favorite passages from Philippians:
Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Philippians 4:8 NRSV
This conversation took place over Facetime on April 1st, 2024
CCE: “Breezy, what comes to mind when you hear the phrase, ‘steward of wonder’?”
BB: “At first blush, I think about regular people with an innate sense of imagination and how we all have the capacity for it. Then the children’s book side of me imagines a little woodland character with a staff that is probably literally stewarding wonder for many people! In that sense, it’s a role that someone plays but we all get to participate in it.”
CCE: “A lot of your work seems to be inspired by nature. Would you say that landscapes and woodland creatures like you mentioned are your favorite things to work on?”
BB: “Yes! I spent a lot of time in nature growing up. Sometimes it surprises me how much it has impacted me. Sometimes it feels like breathing and other times it’s like, oh! There it is popping up again!”
CCE: “Interesting! I grew up just down the road from you essentially and I have discovered that about myself as well. After moving to Nashville, I was convinced that I was leaving my ‘podunk’ ways but the older I get I realize how much of it courses through my veins. You’re left with this instinct to listen to the birds and to look at one when you don’t recognize its song.”
BB: “I was driving from Indiana back to Nashville yesterday and there were several moments during the drive where I wanted to pull over to look at a specific tree. I kept thinking, I’m missing my community! I want to find the trees! I wonder what those flowers are! I wonder what they’re going to plant in those fields! Yeah, it’s never going to leave me.”
CCE: “There’s that strip of central Kentucky on highway 65 that is just gorgeous.”
BB: “It is so underrated! It was around that point that I decided that there should be an app that documents all the scenic views. We need to tell people about this!”
CCE: “I couldn’t agree more. How do you think your work reflects a life of wonder?”
BB: “I think that in one direct way, I spent a lot of time with children’s books and that was such a core experience and I found a lot of wonder in that. So much so that I later on decided that I could do this as a profession. It’s springtime now and I’m also recognizing so many details coming back to life. I’m kind of a non-fiction girlie - I want all the nature, animal, and weather facts. Sitting under trees and paying really close attention to all the details of things growing and how they grow…noticing their shapes I think really influenced me and my style of drawing a little bit. I’ve found that I lean towards certain types of plants because I like the shape of them. I see how it’s connected to me personally and I can now infuse that into my drawing.”
CCE: “What are a few of your favorite plants?”
BB: “Trees that I have yet to fully identify because they’re off in the distance! I am also a big fan of white oaks because I love their rounded leaves. There are some different herbs and flowers too like daisy leaves. They’re very softly lobed with a few jagged edges but mostly quite soft. I like that combination. I love foxgloves too. They’re kind of tall and their leaves are quite soft themselves. I’ve seen photos that people have taken of bumblebees inside of foxgloves - the flowers sort of look like little teacups. I think the roundedness of those things get to me sometimes.”
CCE: “I’ve always been drawn to hickory leaves. They’re elongated and have those lobes on them. Poplar leaves are really fun to look at too.”
BB: “Poplar leaves are like an oversimplified maple leaf.”
CCE: “Yes! What children’s books did you read as a kid that stick out to you?”
BB: “The fairy tales were probably what stuck out to me the most. Saint George and the Dragon by Margaret Hodges and illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman was a favorite. Most of my favorite illustrators were British but Hyman was an American and probably the only one to be American in my list of favorite illustrators. I also loved The Hidden House which is about this little house in the woods and these doll characters. I’ve always loved houses and things with a strong sense of place and a very unique identity. There was a version of Rapunzel I really loved as a kid and I also loved William Joyce’s books on different fantasy characters like Santa and the Easter Bunny. There’s a really lovely, bubbly roundedness to his artistic style that I think really held my attention for a long time.”
CCE: “I recommend reading some of Tolkien’s Letters from Father Christmas. He illustrated it as well.”
BB: “I have seen that before! I need to save it for a rainy day. Speaking of stewarding wonder - I like having things to look forward to in the future. I’ll hold off a little bit and there will be a day when I will be so jazzed to finally get into it.”
CCE: “Oh, that is wonderful! It’s such a good book that we usually buy for our friend’s kid’s first Christmas. I love the thought of that book being around their entire childhood. Highly recommend it. I love the thought of holding off to save it for an intentional time you have set aside. Is that a way that you steward wonder in your day to day?”
BB: “Yes, though I feel like it’s been tough to do through the winter. I am only starting to reconnect with wonder here in springtime. When I am feeling a lack of wonder and imagination, I usually plan a time to stop by a library and I will try to get really quiet to make some space without my phone nearby. I’ll put on some music that I know will be good background music and put me more into an imaginative mode. I’ll read either new books or really familiar books to remind myself what drew me to it in the first place. It’s really fun to remember that feeling of being excited. I try to come up with ways of being reminded of what it felt like to be full of wonder as a child. I like to go on walks and I just my mind wander a little bit. Sometimes you have to make a point to give your mind some space to reconnect with the things you love. I love gardening for example, and I used to plan these imaginary gardens for myself. I wanted to plant these plants and had dreams for these kinds of plants - I ultimately try to remind myself of things I did when I was little.”
CCE: “I have never considered that before!”
BB: “I planned so much as a kid - houses, tree forts - I used to ask for graph paper pretty frequently.”
CCE: “Did you ever consider becoming an architect?”
BB: “For a while! I thought about that or becoming some sort of engineer. I got a hold of a David Macaulay book about inventions called The Way Things Work and it would show you how these things worked.”
CCE: “What makes it hard to steward wonder?”
BB: "Stress is a big one. I think worrying about bills and the future just always gets in the way. There are ways to steward the stress but sometimes life is just a little tough. Then you can get through a tough patch and you can get back to this place of wishing you had been more aware of the fun things of life. There’s a lot of science on how the brain reacts to stress. It’s like fear and love. You can’t experience love, creativity, or imagination when you’re in a state of fear. Your brain starts to go in survival mode and you just have to get good at realizing what is going on. This is a fear response or this is a stress response. Then you start to notice that you have only been focusing on the negative or that you have not made any effort to get out of your head, go for a walk, or talk to a friend.”
CCE: “I wonder if stewarding wonder is a result of privilege.”
BB: “I think it is a privilege, though I think that God wants us all to be able to afford to use our imaginations. Some people are unfortunately just stuck in survival mode without a lot of options other than just getting by. That impacts you emotionally and requires so much compassion and understanding. That is an exercise in imagination as well - being able to love well. This is marginally related, but there is a quote from Van Gogh that says, “There is nothing more truly artistic than to love people” - When you’re able to out of your head and take notice of someone who is struggling, you can come along side of them. Love is a form of creativity.”
CCE: “That’s a great point. If you have the means to steward your own wonder, perhaps you can give someone else the means to steward their own.”
BB: “That can go really far.”
CCE: “I always think of the musicians who move to town - they’re young, broke, and alone - and I enjoy taking them out to lunch and giving them a brief space to let them tell me about their dreams.”
BB: “That does so much for people!”
CCE: “I only know to do that because people did that for me. It is such an integral part of Anna and I being in Nashville. We have been here for ten years now and we know what it feels like to live here and not have many resources. We have developed a community here and have been fortunate enough to invite people into our home and hopefully give them an evening off from worry and hurry and stress. Anna is such a good cook and is so motherly on top of that. We have always said that we want our home to feel as though you can stay as long as you want and that you can leave with a full belly, heart, and mind.”
BB: “Hospitality has such an impact on people - I have those people in my life as well. The need for comfort and to feel fed and safe is such a primal need and to be able to provide a space for people laugh or cry on top of that is rich. It’s like the house of Elrond - you do not need to be wealthy to provide many of those things for someone else.”
CCE: “What inspires you to be full of wonder? What is something you have been interested in recently?”
BB: “Film scores and soundtracks are a really great way for me to get into that mood. The Little Women soundtrack that Thomas Newman composed in 1994 is a good one. I love pop music and anything that makes me feel like moving. While I have been working recently, I have decided to stop listening to podcasts and I have started listening to one of those lo-fi playlists. There will be some occasional nature sounds and real mellow music and it really gets me in the zone.”
Breezy’s favorite lo-fi playlist
CCE: “Newman is a favorite of mine too. He did the score for the film about Tolkien that released a couple of years ago. I love that one! Film scores are great for that because a good one won’t distract you from the film but will help an audience focus on the story. What are a couple of your favorites?”
BB: “I love the Tolkien soundtrack too! I like to go on drives in the country and I put that soundtrack on. How to Train Your Dragon by John Powell by is another favorite.”
CCE: “I can’t thank you enough for joining me today and chatting. You mentioned your love for Little Women earlier and I was wondering if to end this conversation, you could tell us which March sister you identify the most with.”
BB: “I think I am a very conflicted blend of Jo and Meg. I want to be a homebody but also go on adventures!
You can follow Breezy on Instagram as well as purchase a beautiful print from her, and find the books she has worked on at her website.