Debbie Drechsler-The Dead of Winter

I love the austerity of this piece. Drechsler's story would not be the same without the illustrations accompanying it. Its a quiet piece about a subject that no one wants to talk about and is more common than people realize or choose to acknowledge. I like how wrapped up in her own thoughts she is, especially in the scene returning from the abortion clinic with her sister. They sit in silence, but you know from the panel illustrating the weather and the empty roads that its a tense quiet. Ive attempted to illustrate my writing before, and was so incredibly bad at it that I was embarrassed to go back and reread it, even though I was alone, and no one else ever saw it. I blush just thinking about it. The amount of respect I have for Drechsler for not only completing illustrated pieces, but succeeding beyond my wildest dreams, is immense. I wish I could do what she does, and has been doing, since she was a little girl. Not that I mind appreciating it from afar.