We at the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop want to celebrate our visual arts friends this summer with a peek into their work or studio spaces on Instagram. We are curious about the spaces and rituals that give rise to creation. Do folks leave home to go work in a studio, or clear a corner of the kitchen table? Is the creative space a physical one, or perhaps a set of tools that signal it’s time to make art. Read the full length features and follow us on Instagram @chawindc to meet and learn about some of our favorite, local artists.

This week we’re featuring Megan McGregor. 

1. In a few sentences introduce yourself.

In kindergarten, I drew a portrait of myself as a grown-up in front of an easel with a tabby cat at my feed and captioned it: “I will be an artist and have the same cat I have now.” While my childhood cat is sadly no longer with us, I can say that not much else has changed. My passions — art and cats — remain the same. When I’m not drawing or snuggling my three cats, I work at a growing educational nonprofit where I train teachers. 

2. Briefly describe your work and/or artistic process 

I began drawing every day in 2019 as a birthday challenge, and I decided to keep going. I’ve learned over the past two years that building a habit isn’t about perfection — I often draw the same doodle day after day — but it is instead about developing a practice and prioritizing time for it. I aspire to draw comics, but I mostly doodle my partner and, unsurprisingly, our cats. 

3. What is your favorite art supply at the moment? Or tell us about a happy accident in your studio. 

We’ve been drawing in Conte pencils in Ellen’s Life Drawing class at CHAW. I actually hate Conte (sorry, Ellen!), but it is currently my favorite art supply because it is pushing me out of my comfort zone and making me rethink how to build value. My actual favorite art supply at the moment is India ink. I’m accepting tips on how to not get it all over myself and my belongings when I use it!

You can find Meghan’s work on Instagram @mjmcomics