“Vocations which we wanted to pursue, but didn't, bleed, like colors, on the whole of our existence.”

— Honoré de Balzac, novelist (1799-1850)

The list is long of vocations I have wanted to pursue: weaver, calligrapher, hat maker, book artist, furniture painter, printmaker, typographer, painter, quiltmaker and fabric artist, sculptor, photographer, set designer, costume designer, product designer, designer of so many things! I have experimented with most of these activities to varying degrees. I certainly have applied multiples of 10,000 hours to the craft of graphic design, many hours taking pictures, thousands more to painting—there are few pleasures for me as great as standing in a field, surrounded by cow pies and June bugs, painting. And indeed all of these pursuits inform all of the others—bleed, like colors, on the whole of my existence. It’s a rich life.

A book artist, painter, and designer, Margaret Buchanan divides her working life between painting and her graphic design business, Buchanan Design. She studied graphic design and painting at Virginia Commonwealth University, in Richmond, Virginia, where she earned a BFA with honors. She also studied painting at the Leo Marchutz School of Drawing and Painting, in Aix-en-Provence, France. She has taught graphic design in the Communication Arts Department at VCU, and her paintings and books have been exhibited across the US and Canada. One of her books, First Impression: A China Diary, was included in the AIGA’s annual 50 Books | 50 Covers and is a part of the Columbia University Rare Books and Manuscripts Collection. For a complete listing of her work, please download her Résumé.