Marcia Hartsock,
Cincinnati, OH.
I’m an illustrator, and Caucasian. In the 1980s, I was painting a wall mural in my integrated church that included a large eye that I had painted blue. A group of African American women friends from the church approached me and shared their thoughts and feelings about blue eyes. I have never forgotten that, and it changed the way I approached my own illustrations from then on. I owe them a great deal of thanks for being so honest with me.