Growing up in Detroit, Terry Kole dreamed of being many things. A veterinarian. A beautician. An airline stewardess. A rockstar. An artist. She finally settled on being an artist, though not drawing cars as her automotive environment might have dictated. Instead, she draws just about everything else: cartoons, welcome signs, news illustrations, book characters, and even a giant lobster.

I met Terry in 2018, when I was living in Providence, RI as her daughter’s family housemate. She struck me as a spunky woman, an unabashed artist, and a fiercely loving mother and grandmother. In our conversations we asked lots of questions around artistic practice, personal growth, and our shared faith in Jesus.

It was a blessing to chat with Terry recently and hear more of the story that has produced such an incredible woman. Our three-hour Zoom call was fun, thought-provoking, and unsanitized. These are some highlights of her story of “putting the thing you love on an altar” and learning to say “Yes” to God.

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I first met you as a children’s book illustrator, but your artistic journey is far bigger than just books. Where did your artistic journey begin?

My beginnings are very humble. My father was a car designer, so he already was doing artwork and doing fun drawings at home. He built a great big, home-made blackboard in the basement. He would have drawing lessons with my older sister on the blackboard in the basement. We were really young; she was maybe six, I was maybe four. And I remember hanging out in the background watching them and feeling wistful – wistful is a lovely way of saying I was jealous. I wanted my dad’s time and attention like that too. So I paid attention to what he was teaching her, and I would color and draw whatever I thought they had done. He finally noticed that I had this art ability and he started to spend time with me as well. That’s really the kernel of where [my art] comes from.

I think when you’re younger, when people say, “You’re really good at that,” it actually matters. You start to think, “Maybe I do have what it takes.” Definitely by the time I was in high school, I was one of two artists of note in that little tiny Detroit school. I told my dad, “Yes, I definitely want to be an artist.” He asked me, “So if you don’t want to draw cars for a living, what are you going to do? How are you going to make a living?” That was pivotal. It was one of those questions in the back of my mind that haunted me. I decided I needed to get very good at drawing all kinds of things, so I could get a job at any venue that required artwork.

So what was your first artistic job?

The first thing I did, I started a cartoon strip. It ran in a little local paper, and because that editor had friends, it ended up in five different Midwest newspapers.

I always think you should write what you know, you should draw what you know first. I didn’t name the cartoon strip – my middle name is Clementine and the editor thought that was a hoot, so he called it Clem’s Classics. It started out just hodge podge. It was my attempt to be funny in one square.

Eventually it developed into a character whose name was Clem who was an artist in an art department. The job was really boring: they made the lines on graph paper. Some of the things took place in the home, some things took place at work. A lot of things had to do with weight; girls are always obsessing about weight and food. So Clem would exercise so she could go get ice cream, you know, and the scale was broken because it gave you numbers you didn’t like.

The cartoon strip really was like my training ground, you know. I learned a lot about doing black and white illustrations. My sister who actually had a college education would look at my cartoons and give me critiques. I learned on the job how to improve my skill, learned about deadlines, paying your dues. Some artists get out there and they don’t have to pay their dues, but for most of us there’s a time where you just say yes to everything whether you get paid or not, whether you get paid a lot or not, just so you get the experience, so that you can land that job.

A big part of your story is saying “Yes.” How did that spirit of “yes” begin to grow in your life and artistic practice?

It really began in a difficult part of my life. I got married by 18 and divorced by 22. My first husband was a very young andinsecure person who on the way out the door said our marriage would never work because my artwork always came first. That was another one of those comments that took root in my mind, that affected me. 

Shortly after the divorce, I came to a crossroads in my life where I was most miserable and tried to fix my life. I tried to make amends for the things I’d done wrong, and nobody was forgiving me and nobody was taking me back. At this crossroads, I had these great big questions about God: “God, do you exist and if you exist, is this Bible true? If the Bible is true, I’m screwed because I’ve broken just about every commandment that’s in there. I need your help.”

I went on a two-year journey of trying to prove God and trying to prove if the Bible was true or not. On that same crucible was my artwork. I asked, “Did you, God, give me this gift and this talent that I’m supposed to use the rest of my life or not? Because my ex-husband said it got in the way, and if it got in the way of him, it’ll probably get in the way of You. If you don’t want me to draw, if you’d rather me be a clerk in a store or a beautician, whatever it be, I’ll do it. I’ll do it.”

What came of this remarkable surrender?

In that week of surrender, I got a phone call from The Detroit News asking me if I would like to illustrate a series of wildlife that survived in the city of Detroit for a large weekend Sunday magazine story they were doing. Here I was making cheap change as an artist in a photo lab and here they were actually going to pay me. At the time it felt like huge money – $200 for the color pieces and $100 for the black and white piece. I said yes because I really felt like it was an answer to prayer. 

To make a really long story short, they also called while I was in the middle of drawing those animals. They asked me if I wanted to make lithographs and sell the lithographs through the paper. I would get all the money; they just wanted to see who reads the paper, who pays attention and who might order. I didn’t even know what a lithograph was when I said yes! I called an artist friend and asked, “What’s a lithograph?!” 

It was going to be a $2000 investment and I didn’t have any money; I was in debt. I prayed and I asked God, “Is this something you want me to do?” I got advice from my pastor. Sheepishly, I went to my mother and I asked for $2000 and she said yes! So we went ahead with it. 

In two months’ time, I sold something like 500 pieces of art. I made $10,000. It was shocking! I had the money to pay off my debt, I had money to give my offering back to God, and it just kept going. They got orders for months and months, from places as far away as Alaska. Who in Alaska reads The Detroit News?

So that really launched my career. The Detroit News after another couple freelance jobs asked if I would like to be a full-time artist there. I’d go in from 9-5, get a story and illustrate it, and it would come out in the paper the next day. I said yes and all of a sudden my $5 a square [from the cartoon strip] turned into a full-time job that paid really well.

I never went to art college. While all my girlfriends were getting their first degrees from college – most of them went on to get masters degrees – I had a divorce certificate. I had graduated from the school of hard knocks. Everything I’ve learned about art has been a collaboration between me and the Good Lord. I’ll say yes to a job and then I’ll look up at Him and say, “I don’t know how to do this. Can you help me? Help my eyes to see and my hands to create what my eyes have taken in.”

That’s amazing. God said yes to you, and it seems like you just kept saying yes to Him.

God was still dealing with my heart. I had made a trip to Belgium where my mother is from. I interviewed there with a missions organization that created books that missionaries used around the world. They offered me a job. I came back to Detroit and really prayed about it; this was really going to change the whole course and direction of my life. And I said yes. After working for The Detroit News for a nice period of time, I moved to Belgium. I illustrated books for two years, using my black and white pen & ink skills. That’s also where I met Bill; we fell in like, fell in love, came back to the States, got married, and then went back overseas where we raised our two children.

I’d love to talk about your work with children’s books. I first discovered you as a children’s book artist. You’re a very well-rounded artist and could be doing many things, how did you get into illustrating children’s books?

As an artist who has lived in four other countries and five other states, there’s never been a guarantee that I’m going to get a job as an artist. Again, I just say yes to whatever comes along.

While living in Vienna, I worked as a teachers’ assistant for 8-10 year olds at an international school and then taught 4-6 year olds in a multi-national pre-school the US Embassy organized. I spent a lot of time with children in those years. I even organized a library for the teachers of specific reading-level books they use in the classroom and got reacquainted with books for kids ages 4-13.

When I landed [back] in the US, I was too old to fit back into the news industry, and we arrived mid-recession. We landed in Massachusetts near Plymouth. The Plymouth Center for the Arts was looking for anyone who wanted to teach teens. They grabbed me right away and I started teaching classes to teenagers. Then a friend of mine put me together with an author publishing in England and, boom, the next season of my life was born.

How has the collaborative relationship between you and the author grown you as an artist?

The one good thing about self-publishing is that, as an artist, I only work with the author. And that’s fantastic because my theory of working for an author is that it’s actually his or her story. It’s my job to get inside their head and see the world the way they’ve created it, see the characters with the personalities the way they see them, and then be their hand to get that done. It’s not the way all artists think, but for me this has worked. I am their servant during this period of time. 

It’s been a challenge because some authors can articulate their thoughts better than others. There was a book I did called I am the Rainbow but the rainbow wasn’t the bow in the sky; it was aurora borealis style rainbows. That loose artist that I want to be, that I’m not, needed to show up and be there for that aurora borealis. [My son] Nick was home at that time, and he saw my struggle. He said one of the best things; he said, “You know, Mom, you need to give yourself permission to suck. This rainbow that you’re working on right now, it doesn’t have to be the one that goes into the book. Just play with it. Make your paper really wet and see what the colors will do. Let the aurora borealis happen.” And for the book, it happened.

I work better if the author engages with me a lot. I love working in an art department where there’s an art director and other artists around, but I don’t have that experience right now. Nobody wants an old lady in their art department. As a freelancer and doing children’s books, I need to have contact with the author. When the author goes silent, the artwork is harder to come by. I like the back and forth. I do think during this pandemic, we have to give ourselves a little bit of grace that some of these things are dropping off. When the doors open back up, we’ll reconnect and we’ll find a way to flourish again. 

The stories that I’ve worked on—one was particularly meaningful but , in general, these authors aren’t going to win Caldecott Medals and I’ll probably never win anything either. But I realize that these authors are walking around with these stories for about ten years before they put it together and invest and find an artist and get it published. I love to help other people get their stories told.

What’s your favorite part about being a children’s book illustrator?

I love creating creatures and little people and worlds that kind of smile back at you. I love the idea of telling children stories, love the idea of them sitting on their mommy’s lap or right next to their mommy where they hear their mommy’s heartbeat. There’s a certain aroma of mom there and it’s a special time. I’d like to be a part of that. When somebody in my world takes a picture of their child reading one of my books, I just melt. 

My little grandson Parker is 4 ½ and I bought him a book for Halloween that one of Nick’s friends wrote and illustrated; the author/illustrator just nailed it! It’s called Frankenstein Doesn’t Wear Earmuffs by John Loren, and Parker, he can’t read a word, but he’s memorized the whole book. In his little tiny four year-old voice comes this 32-page, really well-written, full-of-emotion book. And it’s like, oh my gosh, this is so wonderful.

I’m currently working on a series children’s books with a local author about Alex the Cape Cod Ant. The words are simple enough that seven-year-olds can read the books to their little three or four year old brother or sister. I’ve got a couple pictures of a whole little family of these little kids reading the book together, and I just love it.

That love for children translates well into your current teaching. Tell me more about your experience as an art teacher.

I didn’t have a college education, but I started teaching art even in my twenties. If someone knows you are an artist, they’ll always send you their 10-year-old and ask you to teach them art. Well, I gotta pay the bills, so yes I will teach. 

I started learning early on how to share my knowledge, but I had a false belief that I had to train everybody to be a Little Me: This is the way I do it, therefore I’m teaching you my way, therefore please work harder and harder to get that to look my way. In one class of homeschool kids, I had a 10 year-old boy break down in tears because I was insisting that he change his illustration to be more my way. 

After that, I had a good walk on the beach with me and God; I felt horrible. I talked to my art teacher friends who actually were teaching in public schools and had the degree and had learned how to teach. I learned the importance of someone’s signature, someone’s hand, someone’s imprint. Now my teaching has transformed. I might have someone whose [style is] very scratchy and very scribbly, but if they can master that, that will be a unique style. How dare I try to change that style to my very smooth, realistic, could-be-in-a-medical-manual style!

What excites you about teaching in this new way?

I get extremely excited when I see someone learn. It’s a silly thing but my mom used to say, “When the student is ready the teacher appears.” It took me a while to figure out what the heck she meant, but she was so right. I’ve taught a lot of students who could care less; they’re in my class because their mom paid for them to be there. 

I’ve also been teaching adults now for three years and I love it because they’re there because they want to be there. They want to learn. When you have a student who wants to learn and asks you questions and is engaged, it’s exciting. And it’s exciting to see them grow.

Right now, you’re quite busy with teaching, illustrating and commissions. Are there any personal projects you’d love to work on as well?

If money wasn’t an object, if there was a donor who wanted to pay me like my authors pay me, there is one particular book I’ve got in my mind. The working title—this is where my husband’s writing expertise is needed!—being “Can He See Me Now?” It’s the story, in childlike terms, of Psalm 139 [from the Bible]: If I go to the heavens, He is there; if I go to the depths of the sea, He is there; if I make my home across the sea, He is there.

What would you hope for kids to get out of the book?

I want children to know that first of all, you’re never alone. That if their parents abandon them, if their parents are drunks and disappear every night, or are drug addicts, that they are not alone in that house. God is always with them. If they’re being beaten and abused and put in a closet, like some of my friends have been, they are not alone. God is sitting with them in that closet. If they end up in a foreign country where they don’t speak the language, like my kids did, those first few weeks where they don’t have friends yet and they’re on a bus on the way to a school they don’t know, they are not alone. God is with them right there.

I think when you get to a certain age, you start to think, not that we can fashion our legacy, but you kind of wonder, as you look back at your life, what will be my lasting legacy? And I want mine to be that God loves them. That they’re not alone and that this isn’t just it. That there’s more to life than just this short 75, 85 year old journey on this earth. 

As I’ve been teaching kids, I find that so many of them are so hurting and so troubled. I can’t tell you how many art students I have who are on three medications: they’re on anti-anxiety meds, anti-depressants and a sleeping pill. So many kids are growing up without a rudder, not knowing there is a God who loves them. 

I was the kid with the two drunken parents, nobody coming home at night, wondering who’s making supper. But my parents gave me an anchor: they sent me to Catholic school, and my mother subscribed to these little tiny Catholic kids books. Those books I read, on my own, in the garage, because otherwise I would be made fun of. I learned about God and my prayers reading those books; a God who loved me. I don’t even know what those books were called but those lessons I’ve carried in my heart, they got me through. I want to leave this message to this generation, to all these generations of kids. Because one day I will die, but books, goodness gracious, those could last a couple generations, a couple centuries.

You say you can’t fashion your legacy, but you are building a legacy in your art, your teaching and living. What do you hope to communicate most through your work?

It’s a weird thing to say, but I think as I’ve looked at my art, I hope it’s the love. The love of the author, who has loved this story for so long and finally put it into words. The love and the effort it took me to research what kind of grasses grow at Peter’s Pond on Cape Cod so that it’s in that book. The love between characters, for one another as friends. I think I hope that’s what comes out. There are other artists who draw stories that are dark or sad or scary and that’s really cool—but I don’t like to be scared and I don’t want to scare kids! I want to do and create things that encourage them or make them laugh or make them feel loved.

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There are many ways you can follow, learn from and connect with Terry:

• Connect with Terry DeYonker Kole on Facebook
• Get updates on her latest books through Facebook pages like “The Making of Goodnight Plymouth”
• See her portfolio on www.terrykole.com 
• Get in touch at tkole2001@yahoo.com 
• If you’re in the Rhode Island and Massachusetts area, consider taking classes with Terry through the Plymouth Center for the Arts and the Wickford Art Association

Remember, the stories you write now are legacies for those who will follow you—and that is truly a great blessing!

Tune in next month for another Chat with a Creative! Follow the blog or subscribe to Katie’s newsletter to receive an update as soon as it’s posted