Austin Kleon

Austin Kleon

Typewriter interview with Kate Bingaman-Burt

10 questions about daily drawing, teaching, the Honda Fit, and more

Austin Kleon's avatar
Austin Kleon
Sep 23, 2025
∙ Paid
Some of the wonderful things Kate makes

Hey y’all,

Kate Bingaman-Burt is an illustrator, educator, and co-founder of Outlet in Portland, Oregon. She’s currently working on a book about her 20 years of daily drawing. She shares her drawings, stories, and creative process in her delightful newsletter.

This typewriter interview was conducted via the magic of the United States Postal Service. (For a plain-text version with links, see the P.S. below.)

Do you have any advice for people who want to be more creative?  YES! Lower the stakes. Make it small, not precious & do it often.  So many people get stuck on “What should I make?” or “What’s the point?” BUT the point is that you made something! You are moving! You are noticing! You are here!  I’ve kept a daily drawing practice for almost 20 years now and it is a simple & small habit that is repeatable & doable. The practice makes the space.   You don’t have to feel creative to be creative. Just show up & keep moving your fave pen or pencil or combo of both!
You seem to really love teaching. What are some lessons you’ve learned about teaching? How do you do it?  Teaching is creative work. It’s also relational, logistical, unpredictable work. It’s like performance art mixed with therapy mixed with a very detailed Google Doc.  Some things that I have learned over the years: Listen more than you talk. Share your weird process. Model what it looks like to not have it all figured out.  A good classroom is collaborative. I am a facilitator. A cheerleader, a permission-giver. My students learn from each other as much as they learn from me.  The goal → Create a space where ideas bounce around, where mistakes are ok, where everyone feels like they have something to offer! Plus lots of check-ins, visitors, fieldtrips, snacks & encouragement!
Do you have any hobbies? (The sillier or more trivial the better, IMO.) Do you collect anything?  Yes! I collect receipts, zines, security envelopes, deli counter stickers, and anything with satisfying typography. I’ve drawn hundreds of these things… my own archive of the overlooked. I also love drawing other people’s collections. There is something magical about how objects tell stories when they are grouped together.  I’ve made drawing series of my own favorites too: books, record albums, T-shirts, buttons, comps, and other sundry items. Looking around my desk right now, I can see a few ongoing collections: PEZ dispensers, cassette tapes, and a growing gang of thrift-store ceramics.  Basically: if it’s a little busted and someone loved it once, I probably want to draw it.
Do you see yourself as part of an artistic lineage? Who would you place in your creative family tree?  Absolutely. My creative family tree starts with my actual family. My grandma, Nan Pollard, was a children’s book illustrator from the age of 19 until she lost her central vision in her mid-70s.   I grew up watching almost my entire family make a living from the things they loved to make. My uncles were painters and designers. My grandpa was a commercial illustrator and portrait painter. My parents ran a weaving business—looms in the living room! Yarn everywhere!  Yes, I’m a full-on art nepo baby, and I am so lucky for that! I got to see what a creative work ethic looked like up close. Art was part of daily life. It was how you made a
Living! It was normal!  Beyond family, my lineage includes joyful rule-breakers and deeply curious teachers—Corita Kent, Paul Reubens, Amos P. Kennedy, Lynda Barry, John Waters! Zine makers! Public librarians! Students who surprise me in crits! Anyone making something weird & generous & real!  I draw at my grandma’s drafting table. I make work in community. I learn every day.  This tree is messy, growing in all directions—and I love that!
 What has being a parent taught you about doing creative work?  That I wasted so much time before having Hank (now 7). Time is no longer mine! It’s borrowed! Squeezed! Interrupted! But that’s also good—it’s made me more focused. I make things when I have 10 minutes, and sometimes that is enough!  Hank has really taught me how to notice again. He moves through the world with volume, curiosity, and very strong opinions about socks. Parenting has made my work even scrappier, softer, and more honest. I work faster and I let more mistakes in.  Also—you can’t push your creative path onto your kid. Hank isn’t me. He doesn’t care about drawing. He is creative in his own way: big ideas! Big feelings! Big play!  My job is to support, not shape.

These typewriter interviews are made possible thanks to the kind support of paid subscribers.

 What do you do for exercise? Do you detect any creative, intellectual, or spiritual benefits?  I walk. I do weight training in a gym once or twice a week, which is also part social for me. I would never do this on my own—I need the structure and the people to get me to show up. The weight training is in no way Herculean, but I like feeling stronger.   Exercise is my instant de-stress button. I always feel better after moving, even just a little. Movement helps me unjam my brain. If I’m stuck on an idea or spiraling about something, a walk usually helps me reframe it.
I’m a big fan of “silly rituals.” (I “smoke” a cigarette pencil in the studio.) What’s the weirdest or most embarrassing thing you do when you’re working?  I operate on a strict carrot-and-stick system when I’m trying to complete tasks. Finish this email you don’t want to write? You can then go downstairs and get a seltzer. Finish this spreadsheet? You are allowed a snack.  Most embarrassing? Sometimes I withhold going to the bathroom until I finish a task. It’s effective!  I also watch an amazing amount of dumb TV when I draw. I call it “white noise TV”—shows I’ve already seen and don’t really need to pay attention to. Parks & Rec. I just did a six-season rewatch of Girls. It’s background
chaos while I focus on lines.   My working style is part reward system, part bladder control and part Detective Stabler.
hat’s your relationship to music? Do you sing? Play an instrument? What songs would you put on a mixtape for someone who didn’t know you?  I can’t sing. I once auditioned for the role of Annie in 1st grade (red dress and all), and my music teacher told me that I couldn’t sing. That ended my musical theater dreams.  But I LOVED band. I played the flute faithfully from age 10 through college, and again (semi-ironically, but also sincerely) in a band called Papers when I was in grad school.  My first leadership role was being tapped to be drum major of my high school marching band. I took it extremely seriously. Still would! A very quick way to make me emotional is a YouTube video of a high school band performing a
classic rock medley with full choreo.  As for a mixtape? It would be a blend of New Order, R.E.M., early Paul Simon, The Feelies, Roger Miller, Dorothy Ashby, Alice Coltrane, Belle & Sebastian, Buddy Holly, Television, Depeche Mode, Ted Hawkins, Will Oldham, and the Ronettes.  This list will be different tomorrow—it just has to make sense in the moment.
Describe a perfect day in Portland.  Some of my favorite days are quiet and solo: getting up early, sitting outside with Crema Coffee and a notebook. Making lists. Saying hi to familiar faces. Wander to a few thrift stores—not necessarily buying anything, just looking and noticing.  Lunch at my favorite taco cart (two chicken tacos, chips, and a Diet Coke).   More walking, and maybe some time to paint.  But more often than not, my perfect Portland days happen with Hank. We’ve been doing these epic Saturdays for years. They might start with breakfast at a diner, followed by a playground, maybe a quick farmer’s market loop? Or we take the MAX downtown to his fave fossil shop. We stop to see Grandma Sherry at the Saturday market (she has had a booth there
years.) Eat orange chicken. Hit up the Goodwill. Go to the library. Find another playground. Ice cream is always involved. I love these days — a little routine, a little surprise. THE BEST.
What is it about the Honda Fit? (I drive a 2010.)  My car is also my sometimes-office. When Hank was littler, it really became my main writing space. I crammed so much work into his car-nap times. We are long past the regular nap phase now & I miss it deeply. But back to the Honda Fit! I just love a small car. We are a two Fit household (2012 + 2013). I have packed an amaaazing amount of art supplies, yard sale finds, and many bags of mulch into my Fit. This is my car of choice until a 1977 yellow AMC Pacer with woodgrain paneling drops from the sky & becomes mine.

Big thanks to Kate for being the 11th participant in this series of typewriter interviews!

Subscribe to her newsletter, buy her Zine Starter Kit, and sign up for her VIRTUAL Risograph Basics workshop!

xoxo,

Austin

P.S. Here’s a full transcription of the interview with links:

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