I’ve always had an interesting relationship with numbers: for something so “scientific” they’ve actually been a source of consternation for me during most of my life. From a young age, I counted the number of stairs there were or how many times I’d scuffed my feet, and then of course there was the “eat at least 3 bites of everything on your plate” dinner rule (which I appreciate now more so then I did as a child).

As I got older though, numbers became less manageable and rather scary: and I’m not just referring to those dreaded calculus tests! I started counting the miles I had run (always hoping for a larger number), the calories I had eaten (always hoping for a small number) and how much I weighed (also hoping for a low number.) It’s a strange and uncomfortable world to live in when you’re always freaking out over numbers.

So, it was a bit of an interesting experience to design the numbers for the 2nd edition of The Strumpet. I covered pages and pages of my sketchbook with numbers–but this time, it wasn’t numbers of calories or pounds, it was just…numbers–numbers that I created, drew and redrew, to be used for something other than beating myself up.

I realize that this sort of thing might not make sense to many, but, in a small way, creating these numbers marks another step forward for me and I am grateful for that.