Creative Intersections
Featuring: Lindsay Cordero
I love picture books! Art and text meld beautifully in these books, creating an immersive experience for the reader—especially when they’re shared by a teacher, parent, or other trusted friend or family member. Picture books that focus on science present information and images that are both beautiful and reliable. (For my horseshoe crab book, we had three different scientists review the text and images for accuracy!) These books may be aimed at young readers, but older readers and adults can enjoy them—and learn a lot from them—too. Plus, there are some amazing creators out there putting their heart and soul into making them.
One of those creators is Lindsay Cordero. I met Lindsay through the Highlights Foundation. I attended a workshop for science writing and art on their beautiful campus years ago and loved it. Spending several days immersed in subject matter I love with other creators who shared my interests felt like wonderland. Lindsay received the Highlights Foundation Diversify Science Scholarship and attended a similar program more recently, and I’ve been impressed by her dedication, enthusiasm, and unique perspective. I’m excited to share more about her work here on Twig & Ink!
Interview: Lindsay Cordero
What sort of work do you do?
My name is Lindsay “Bones” Cordero; I am a published author-illustrator, an artist, and a Major in the United States Air Force.
Which aspect of your work has the most personal meaning for you?
I always wanted to pursue art, but at 18 followed in my family’s legacy of service when I joined the U.S. Air Force. I received my commission as a 2nd Lieutenant from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 2013 and have had an incredible Air Force career for the past fourteen years.
But, I couldn’t give up my art. I began to quietly and painstakingly built an art business alongside my military career in 2015. I started by selling commissions and now offer original paintings, prints, stickers, and my picture book on my website. All my offerings fall within three focus areas of my creative practice: literacy, conservation, and mental health.
This past July I decided to separate from active duty and pivot into the Air Force Reserves so I could focus on my next few books and dedicate more time to my art. It was a hard decision, but I know that my highest service in my lifetime will be through my creative work, especially my picture books, and I couldn’t delay any longer.
How are science, art, and writing part of your work, and how is the interaction between these areas important to you?
As a creative bi-racial Hispanic female working in the national security space, I find myself at a lot of different intersections. My identity intersects further within my creativity as I look at my duality as a writer and artist. Perhaps it is because of all those intersecting identities I find myself with multifaceted interests within my creative practice.
I follow my inspiration through the categorical areas of mental health, literacy, and conservation. Science is interlaced throughout each. Obviously developmental psychology and cognitive science underpin mental health and literacy, and marine biology underpins conservation. But I am trying to explore other layers beneath these fields of study through my art itself. I am working on a story inspired by somnology where I hope to mirror the artwork to the stages of sleep architecture. Another story I am creating focuses on mycology (truffles!).
I am surprised and delighted that I now follow my curiosity across so many fields of study because I disliked studying math and science, especially in college. I think academia can be so dry, but art is an avenue of access to learn in a way that feels exciting.
Is there a particular environmental problem that feels important to you?
The impact climate change has had on the aquatic world affects me deeply, and one of the focus areas within my creative practice is conservation.
I got certified as a scuba diver when I was 12 and have gone scuba diving all over the world thanks to my Air Force travels. Over the years my skills with my art and scuba diving improved to the point that I began to merge my two passions.
Now I sketch underwater while scuba diving on the reef! I think of it as “aquatic en plein air.” Once I come to the surface, I set up my mobile art studio and create paintings inspired by my dives.
When I descend beneath the waves, something ancient within me stirs. As if a part of me only returns home at depth, and as if the time I am out of the water is breath withheld.
Most people will never see in person the beauty of a living reef. I have also seen the reefs change. I have seen healthy boulder coral over a thousand years old and have also seen swaths of staghorn coral bleached. So, as much as I can I will bring the beauty of the reef to the surface through my art and writing so that others may appreciate it too.
How does your identity affect your work?
In the Air Force, I had the opportunity to be exposed to so many STEM-related areas I never would have gravitated toward naturally: aeronautical and astronautical engineering, electronic warfare. Warfare is highly technological, and I struggled to learn advanced scientific and mathematical concepts. But once I learned them, I was able to teach them through my creative skills (For example, drawing planes emitting rainbows to teach electronic warfare. It sounds absurd, but it worked great with students.).
In the military, I began to see how my creative skills somehow translated across so many different worlds and mediums. I no longer hesitate when it comes to exploring an idea I am curious about. Why do we sleep and dream? How does the brain clean itself? What does mycelium look like? How do pigs detect truffles? Does a supermoon affect coral spawning? Why do eels look so nervous?
I also think climate change is a national security issue. This ties directly into my passion for scuba diving while making art. I don’t know how to bridge both interests in my life, but I hope to somehow align further what I do in the national security space to my creative practice.
What influences and inspires you?
I get so much inspiration from the coral reef. It is like a whole cast of characters performing a story only I can see, and I love how it unfolds while I’m on a dive. I have seen everything from an octopus punching a crab (repeatedly) to a spotted eagle ray missing his tail (I assume lost in an epic battle with a shark).
I also get inspiration from daily joy. My debut picture book The Krewe of Barkus and Meoux was inspired by the Mardi Gras pet parade here in Louisiana. Everyone dresses up their pets and family along a theme, and the creativity is insane. Pomeranians in poodle skirts á la 1950s, poodles with fur colored to look like Pokemon. A Persian cat named Victoria dressed like Queen Victoria. The floats are miniaturized too, which is adorable. So daily joys are something I keep an eye out for.
Emotions are another source of inspiration, and I enjoy mapping them visually for my mental health themed portrait paintings.
How many of the 5 human senses are involved in your workflow? How might you try and involve more senses than you currently do? (from Aniruddha Gupte)
I do this literally in my creative work: Peri (named after the perigord truffle) is my main character in The Great Truffle Snuffle (a picture book still in progress) who passionately snuffles for truffles using all his senses.
When I work in my imagination, I can easily sense everything about the story as if it is corporeal. The smell of coffee steaming on the stove. The rays of sun cutting through trees to warm a character. The cold of fear settling in during a pivotal plot twist. All of it comes to life for me!
I would argue that a sixth sense guides me more than any of the others, though—the intuitive feeling that you MUST do something even though you may not be able to articulate why.
Tell about a time you realized you were not like other people. Also/and, tell about a time you realized you were just like everyone else. (from Sarah Courchesne)
I think this is the ultimate message we need to try and return to over and over: we are all beautifully unique, but within that uniqueness is a shared humanity. Through that shared humanity, we are not so different after all.
I think as I tried to assimilate into the military, I realized that I’m terrible at assimilating. I realized how painfully different I was when I went to basic cadet training at the U.S. Air Force Academy. It was difference on so many levels, to include being a minority. I hate being told what do to, what to wear, what to think and value and aim for. I love to dance to the cadence of my own inner voice. I was miserable because I literally could not fit into a community or system where the point was to “be outstanding, but don’t stand out.” I still hate that phrase.
On the flip side, I know I yearn for belonging and acceptance. I hope to be seen and understood, and for my work to be appreciated. Over time I have learned that behind all sorts of behaviors, personalities, and pursuits, everyone shares those common needs. Even if they don’t know or admit it. We all want to belong. We all want what we do on this earth to matter. I always try to lead from that place of empathy: acknowledging everyone’s inherent worth and deservedness.
If you could have a day to hang out with anyone in history, who would you choose, why, and what would you do together? (from Yvea Moore)
Norman Rockwell. I would love to have the opportunity to share a meal, a cup of coffee, a moment – any amount of time – with Norman Rockwell.
His work captured the complexities of the American identity in all their nuance; his art captured the humanity of people in ways I can only dream of. He was an absolute master of the craft, and he also served in the Navy during World War I. As a veteran and an artist, I wish so badly I could ask what it was like to create art during and after the war. I often wonder what it was like for Walt Disney and Roy Lichtenstein as well, since they served in World War II and then pursued their creative careers. They can both join me and Norman for a cup of coffee!
What sort of mental or social barriers have you encountered when advocating for the relationship between art and science? How did you overcome them? (from Derek Russell)
I am always confused when people see the arts and scientific fields as categorically different. They are invariably intertwined and inform one another endlessly! I like to point out that Einstein played violin, and even Eisenhower and Churchill were painters.
Thank you, Lindsay!
Watch Lindsay’s documentary debut on the Air Force Artisans streaming series here.
And you can learn more about Lindsay and her work on her website, Instagram, and Facebook.
Branching Out
Rooted (Stuff I like, maybe slightly off topic.):
Autumn is a great time of year to make ink! Walnut, pokeberry, marigold, wild grape, acorn cap—I’ve made all these and more, and foraging is easy right now (at least here in Pennsylvania). For additional ideas and recipe suggestions, check out Jason Logan’s work, including his book Make Ink.
Rounded (Preview of coming attractions.):
Next month, Beth Pratt will talk about her work, including her advocacy for P-22, the mountain lion that lived right in the heart of Los Angeles.
Reaching (A question for you!):
What’s your earliest memory of being out in nature?