Name: Claire Astrow

Location: Oakland, CA

Profession: Publishing Assistant at Illustoria Magazine

Claire holding the first issue of Illustoria at Skylight Books in Los Angeles.

Favorite Artist/Illustrator: My favorite all time illustrators are Jillian Tamaki, Daniel Clowes, and Tove Jansson. Currently, I’m obsessed with Phoebe Wall and Joohee Yoon. In the more general ‘artist’ category the list is always growing and growing, but my true heroes are Chris Johanson, Philip Guston, and Hope Gangloff.

Best book you’ve read in the past year: Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Kids book you could read every night: Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold was my absolute favorite when I was a kid. I would get lost in the imaginative collage illustrations and pretend that I had the same super powers as Cassie Lightfoot to fly around New York City and have fabulous roof top parties with my family.

Best memory of being a kid: My family used to have a weekend ritual of loading up our car with bags of bagels and heading out for a picnic at the Marina del Rey beach. The bagels would always get half covered in sand but we would eat them anyways. Afterwards my sister and I would put on gobs of protective gear and get rollerskating lessons my mom, who was a 90s rollerskating fanatic.

Favorite weekend activity: Going to concerts and shows in SF, going on hikes, eating delicious food out in the Mission or Oakland’s Chinatown.

Song Currently on repeat: Jennifer Lara-I am in Love (so groovy)

Favorite meal: Pad thai, green curry, and sticky mango rice please!!!

Last time you made something with your hands: An EP album cover I made for my friend’s band, Dream Boat.

Loose Tooth EP cover for Dream Boat, by Claire Astrow

Fun fact about you: If I was born a boy, I would have been named Honus (after Honus Wagner) and my twin sister Lilly would have been named Cleon (Cleon Jones). I often fantasize about what Honus Gozonsky's life would have been like. Would he be ultra cool? Would he cope with all the name bullying? Would we be friends? The world will never know...