Tell us a bit about yourself?
My name is Katie Miranda, I'm an illustrator and painter from California. I have an etsy store that sells jewelry, scarves, fine art and prints. I have a BFA in illustration and an MFA in graphic novels from the Academy of Art University. In 2005 I left California to volunteer with the nonviolent resistance movement in Palestine. I lived in the West Bank for three years where I divided my time between being a volunteer human rights worker, a political cartoonist, and an art teacher to children. Now I live in Oakland, California and just finished the first issue of my comic book called Tear Gas in the Morning which is a story about the nonviolent resistance in Palestine.
Apart from being ‘creative’ what do you do?
Apart from being creative, I volunteer with local anti-war and anti-occupation organizations.
What inspires you to do the kind of work you do?
The bravery of other citizens, standing up to occupation and repression like Palestinians, like Egyptians, like Syrians, like struggling Americans whose homes have been foreclosed inspire me. I don't mean to leave anyone out. I should say the bravery of "The Protestor" like Time magazine named. These people inspire me, the martyrs inspire me to work for a world in which the atrocities and injustices we are seeing today won't continue into the future. The gifts and generosity of God inspire me.
Do you look up to anyone? Who? Why?
I look up to a lot of people, activists like Neta Golan and Huwaida Arraf. Two teachers of mine: Michael Buffington who taught me character design and Ehab Thabet who taught me Arabic calligraphy. All four of these people are masters at what they do. I'm lucky if a little has rubbed off on me.
What other passions do you have in your life?
Other passions... well my husband and I are trying to figure out how we can build an earthship. I think this is the future of building.
How do you promote your work?
I promote my work on my Facebook page, on Twitter, and using google adwords. I've had some success with google adwords. I also try to promote myself by trying to meet my customers needs, by giving good customer service, making them feel like someone cares about them. So much customer service these days is depersonalized and cold. What I like about Etsy is that it's not that way.
In the future I’d like to be…
In the future I'd like to be doing more of what I am doing.
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