Vicki Moon Spiegel Spotlight
Vicki Moon Spiegel
Written by Nor Osborne, December 2025
Vicki Moon Spiegel carries a sketchbook with her everywhere she goes. Either in her purse or clutched tightly in her hands, she keeps it close, so when inspiration strikes she can sketch it out.
Her current sketchbook is thick, overflowing with over 200 sketches. This sketchbook is just one of over 150 sketchbooks she’s kept over the course of the last 38 years. Her sketchbooks track the history of her life, chronicling every thought and feeling she’s had since 1987 in pen.
“I think my sketchbook is one of the most important things, it’s what I’m proudest of in my artistic endeavors. I always have one on me, I draw every single day,” Vicki says.
Vicki never gets rid of a drawing, or any art material for that matter. Her studio is filled to the brim with old projects and a wide variety of mediums. Metal, wire, paint, clay, glass, fabric, beads- she’ll use it all.
“Some people might think I’m a hoarder but really I just see the possibility in everything. I can make something cool out of everything- so why would I throw it away?”
From watercolor to thread, crayons to ink, Vicki never rules a medium out.
“There’s always something to get excited about using and trying,” she says.
If Vicki could describe her style in one word, it would be “weird.” She’s eclectic and eccentric, meshing together all of the tools and ideas she has.
“I was born with a crayon in my hand,” Vicki explains. “I was always scribbling, intently watching my mom sew, making things out of junk.”
Frequently her projects relate to nature, resembling plants, people, and most frequently, animals.
“I grew up living out in the trees, always playing outdoors. A combination of that and my dad being a medic in the army led me to be really interested in science, especially biology, and a lot of my art shows that.”
She married young, had children, but never stopped creating. When she moved her family to Columbus, she was struck by opportunity; the Columbus College of Art and Design was right next door. Over the course of 14 years, Vicki took night classes, working towards a degree in illustration. Since then, Vicki has worked at a screen printing company and at a flag store, running the sewing shop and designing banners. But something was missing.
“I got the feeling that I needed to be a volunteer somewhere. I loved animals so I called up the Columbus Zoo, and they were actually just about to start a class for training volunteers. For the next 5 years, I was a volunteer.”
When the graphic artist position at the zoo became available, Vicki jumped to apply. Promoted from volunteer to designer, she spent the next 25 years filling every artistic need of the Zoo. She was behind the graphic design for every sign, publication, and educational material. Additionally, she painted murals, dressed exhibits, and sewed costumes.
Every job she has worked and gallery she has joined, have been chance encounters, opportunities she’s been fortunate enough to discover through coincidence.
“I have been really lucky to have people just come to me out of the blue. I don't ask. I always feel like when I'm supposed to do something, it'll happen.”
Random, fated run-ins have led to Vicki securing a spot in galleries and studios all throughout the Columbus area, including Short North and Westerville. Vicki’s work can currently be found in ‘Art at 43023’ in Granville as well as the ‘Tollhouse Art and Gift Shop’ and ‘Foothills Studio and Gallery’ in Coshocton. An arbitrary connection even allowed Vicki to become an illustrator for 5 different children's books.
Vicki’s experiences and creations are vast, more than she can count.
“I just have to create, constantly,” Vicki says. “I would live in a cave if I could, be by myself for the rest of my life, and be perfectly happy so long as I could keep making art. “
