Welcome to the latest post for Look at my Desk, where we peek into the creating places of some of my friends from around the world. This time, back in Australia, we are uncovering the studio of the delightful Anna Walker, the illustrator of delicious books such as All Through the Year, Little Cat and the Big Red Bus, and the beautiful I Love books starring Ollie and Fred.
I am an illustrator and I tell stories. I paint pictures, knit wooly animals and play with mediums such as woodblock printing and collage.
My studio is like the cubby I have always dreamed of. I fill it with pieces I have collected and created – things such as a small wooden cow I bought in Rome, a knitted pigeon, rabbit tea cups and a paper mache toadstool I made. The space is in a basement shared by a photographer, a printmaker and a graphic designer. I love playing in the studio. It has a history of creative souls, as once upon a time a printmaker and artist used the space and there was a gallery above and another gallery next door. It is great to share ideas and collaborate with the others in the studio. We are making a short video of the space and showing part of the creative process of making a picture book and you can see it here:
I have just finished ‘Peggy’ my latest book which will be released in September 2012 and before I begin my next book (in collaboration with the lovely Jane Godwin) I am preparing for an exhibition to be held later this year.
For more about Anna you can find her in the following places
http://www.annawalker.com.au/
http://www.facebook.com/annawalkerbooks
https://twitter.com/#!/basementbird
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I am an illustrator and I tell stories. I paint pictures, knit wooly animals and play with mediums such as woodblock printing and collage.
My studio is like the cubby I have always dreamed of. I fill it with pieces I have collected and created – things such as a small wooden cow I bought in Rome, a knitted pigeon, rabbit tea cups and a paper mache toadstool I made. The space is in a basement shared by a photographer, a printmaker and a graphic designer. I love playing in the studio. It has a history of creative souls, as once upon a time a printmaker and artist used the space and there was a gallery above and another gallery next door. It is great to share ideas and collaborate with the others in the studio. We are making a short video of the space and showing part of the creative process of making a picture book and you can see it here:
I have just finished ‘Peggy’ my latest book which will be released in September 2012 and before I begin my next book (in collaboration with the lovely Jane Godwin) I am preparing for an exhibition to be held later this year.
For more about Anna you can find her in the following places
http://www.annawalker.com.au/
http://www.facebook.com/annawalkerbooks
https://twitter.com/#!/basementbird
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| the desk |
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| the bookshelf |
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| more desk |
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| at the desk |
This is the room where I write. Believe it or not, the rest of the house is tidy. This room is off limits to everyone but me.
The tangle of cables is not aesthetic but makes perfect sense to me. All of my reference books are behind me, on those wire shelves you can just see. I have a Macquarie dictionary, thesaurus, rhyming dictionary, style directory, world atlas and encyclopedias of art, music, medicine, biography and history. I've had them for years, even though I tend now to resort to Wikipedia when I need to know how many children Queen Victoria had, or which country has the most sheep. (The answers are nine and China.) You can see my spectacles resting on top of one of my notebooks, next to the printer. If I'm away from my desk and I happen to get an idea for a story, I jot it down. I'm the only person who can decipher my handwriting, so my ideas are perfectly safe.
My book, The Life of a Teenage Body-snatcher, was written in this room, during a particularly hot Melbourne summer. A minor disaster occurred. My desk used to have a very stylish glass top, but it decided to shatter one day. Fortunately, nobody was hurt and the computer survived. But the floor was covered in little cubes of glass. Since I was judging a story contest at the time, I had manuscripts all over the place, many of which had to be carefully vacuumed. That wooden desktop you can see is a cupboard door that I bought at Ikea. It's proved more reliable than glass.
I like to start writing at about seven o'clock in the morning. At nine I get some exercise, then I get back to writing, pausing briefly for lunch. I live in St Kilda so there are excellent cake and pie shops all over the place, hence the need for regular exercise.
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Ah - the need for good shops nearby. Thanks for this Doug ... keep up the exercise.
Doug's latest title
The Life of a Teenage Body-snatcher
Doug's website is here. Go and visit where you can even find out about another side of Doug's life - his writing for TV and heaps more!!!
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By: CHRISTOPHER CHENG,
on 7/7/2011
Blog: CHRISTOPHER CHENG'S BLOG: IT'S ALL ABOUT THE BOOKS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Meredith Costain, Look at my Desk, My Creating Place, Add a tag
And now for the desks of Meredith Costain. She is another creator who likes to spread out. One desk just isn't enough! Of course Meredith isn't in this snap of her Creating Space ... but her companions are.
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I work at two old second-hand desks that have been joined together so I can spread my stuff out comfortably across them. There are shelves full of notebooks and folders that contain ideas, drafts and research material (I write both fiction and non-fiction) and several bookcases full of – books! Some of the props I use for school visits (such as the dogs and cat from Bed Tails) live on top of my filing cabinet and others wait quietly in cupboards, ready to spring into action.
I also have another old leather-topped table I’ve had since I was a student, which is great for storing ‘overflow’. My (real!) cat Harriet often sleeps and dreams on top of this and my dogs Jack and Molly in a basket underneath. Dogs just like to be with you, whatever you’re doing.
The artwork above my desk comes from some of my books. There are illustrations from Musical Harriet by Craig Smith, the cover of Oliver’s Egg by Margaret Power, and a drawing to celebrate the release of Get a Life with Freddy and Fifi, by Leigh Hobbs. Outside the window is a sunny north-facing courtyard with goldfish in an old bath-tub and fruit trees full of (noisy!) possums and birds. It’s an old house so my study is often full of spiders and even the odd gecko. It’s a lovely place to work
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and I couldn't not add this photo that Meredith sent. Companions are very very important.
Meredith's latest titles are:
My Life in the Wild: Cheetah
My Life in the Wild: Penguin
Dance Academy: Tara – Learning to Fly
Recent books:
Bed Tails,
Rosie and Ned and the Creepy Cave,
A Year in Girl Hell
And don't forget ot see Meredith's website.
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By: CHRISTOPHER CHENG,
on 6/23/2011
Blog: CHRISTOPHER CHENG'S BLOG: IT'S ALL ABOUT THE BOOKS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Paul Collins, Look at my Desk, My Creating Place, Add a tag
Welcome to the world of Paul Collins, author and publisher. This post is a great insight into the life of a small independent publisher. Just look at that floor (yes this blog is about desks but the floor has cropped in here!)
These are Paul's words about bis Creating Space - including his floor!
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Everything I publish at Ford Street basically evolves here in the study. Yep, that's the unsolicited pile on the floor -- but at least it's always in my view, so gets its due attention. During the past four years the study has housed over thirty titles from authors and illustrators such as Susanne Gervay, Anna Pignataro, James Roy, Alyssa Brugman, Gary Crew and David Miller. I've also written many books from here -- possibly forty over the past eleven years. These include Wardragon, the fourth book in The Jelindel Chronicles, The Hiveborn, book three in The Earthborn Wars, the entire Grrym trilogy (in collaboration with Danny Willis) and the first book, The Spell of Undoing, in the new Quentaris series. The speakers agency side of Ford Street, Creative Net, also gets organised from here.
On the desk is mostly flotsam, such as receipts (I really should file them the moment I get them, but don't), unread manuscripts, publishing schedules (on the stand), Ford Street titles, and the usual lamp, phone, computer, printer, etc.
I love huge surface areas from which to work. I can guillotine paper on my desk, do mail outs -- you name it. I just shove stuff aside and away I go. I bought the desk from an import shop that was closing down. Most of their stock came from Indonesia. It's a solid table. Don't ask me how much it weighs but it's a mongrel to shift. And it doesn't come apart for easy removal.
My study also houses every book and short story I've written. That shelf on the right has over 140 magazines, journals and anthologies that contain my fiction and articles. Opposite, out of the shot, is a shelf full of books I've either published or written.
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The Glasshouse (illustrated by Jo Thompson) 2010
Mole Hunt, book #1 in The Maximus Black Files (2011).
You can see more of Paul's publishing at Ford Street Publishing and do check out his own website.
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By: CHRISTOPHER CHENG,
on 5/26/2011
Blog: CHRISTOPHER CHENG'S BLOG: IT'S ALL ABOUT THE BOOKS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: authors, Bruce Hale, Look at my Desk, My Creating Place, Add a tag
This is my friend Bruce Hale. Aloha! Bruce inhabits Hawaii (USA) and we always have a catch up at the Annual summer conference in LA. And Bruce loves geckos ... so that HAS to be a good thing!
Read on now and find out more about bruce and his Creating Space - we do have a lot in common: a love of animals, ikea desks and a short trip to the kitchen!
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I cannot lie — my room is a mess. I delayed writing this piece for a couple of months, hoping to catch my workspace in a clean state before documenting it. But this weekend, the truth struck me like a wet fish across the chops: it’s always messy. And in those rare instances when the desktop is clear, it’s just waiting for the next project, the next avalanche of paper.
Luckily, I’m the kind of guy who doesn’t mind a reasonable amount of mess. Sitting at this desk, I write novels and picture books, create illustrations, and generally stir up trouble. Above the computer hangs a timely reminder from my spiritual advisors, Ben & Jerry: IF IT’S NOT FUN, WHY DO IT? Gecko talismans are everywhere, from the beanbag geckos I use as paperweights, to the Chet Gecko standee by my light table, to the framed original artwork from the cover of THE MYSTERY OF MR. NICE.
Secreted about the space, I’ve got oodles of animal figurines. A replica of the Maltese Falcon sits on the little bookshelf above my computer; cats and elephants and alligators peek out from various shelves and nooks; and I’m just beginning to expand my collection of windup critters.
I put this desk set together with my own hands and an Allen wrench, courtesy of my good friends at Ikea. The iPod dock keeps my ears happy. The keyboard and chair are ergonomic, and my kitchen is only a 30-second walk away.
All in all, the perfect workspace for me.
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Bruce's Latest books are:
Snoring Beauty and another terrifi Chet Geko title, Dial M for Mongoose
You can find Bruce here at his website http://www.brucehale.com/. And if you want to find out more about writing then you might want to subscribe to Bruce's monthly newsletter The Inside Story through the Bruce Hale Writing Tips website. Go on, check it out!
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By: CHRISTOPHER CHENG,
on 5/12/2011
Blog: CHRISTOPHER CHENG'S BLOG: IT'S ALL ABOUT THE BOOKS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: authors, Wendy Orr, Look at my Desk, My Creating Place, Add a tag
Thrilled to have here for the latest instalment of My Creating Space my fantabulous friend Wendy Orr. We don't see each other often but communication in cyberspace is the next best thing. Wendy of course wrote the wondeful Nim's Island which wa made into the movei that starred Jodie Foster. How grand - and Wendy has some great'red carpet' photos on her website too. But for now, read on to discover Wendy's Creating Space and look - another Ikea desk is mentioned.
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For the first time in my life, my creative space was designed especially to be my office when we built the house. I was actually quite happy in the odd spaces I had in houses before, but I love this.
I wrote my first books on an old kitchen table, then an IKEA desk my kids had finished with, but a few years ago I had this desk purpose built: lots of room for files, a keyboard drawer, a hole for that messy spiderweb of cords: perfect. Then I had these bookcases built from two blackwood trees that were knocked down in a storm – a long wait of milling, drying, and finally building, but absolutely worth it! The only problem is that they’re not elastic, so books are already being stacked in odd places.
Besides books, I’ve got teddy bears that belonged to each of my parents as well as my kids, a Folkmanis chameleon puppet that the Nim’s Island producer, sent me because it reminded her of Fred, the princess puppet that Red Balloon Books in Minneapolis gave me at the Princess and her Panther launch… the only rule is that everything on display has to make me feel good. The walls have awards, illustrations from my books, a portrait of the Alex Rover hero that was under the writer’s desk in the film and the freestanding movie poster jammed behind the couch. The back of the sliding door usually has maps for the work in progress (I’ve just taken Raven’s Mountain’s maps down).
And I’m lucky enough to have a beautifully peaceful green view out my windows… (and a massage table from when I’ve sat at the computer too long!)
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and i thought it most important to add this photo too ... with a few pieces from the MOVIE!
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By: CHRISTOPHER CHENG,
on 3/17/2011
Blog: CHRISTOPHER CHENG'S BLOG: IT'S ALL ABOUT THE BOOKS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Libby Hathorn, Look at my Desk, My Creating Place, Add a tag
And this week we get to peer into the Creating Place of Libby Hathorn.
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I’ve always wanted a serene writing environment with the ‘accoutrements’ of writing around me creating a space both physical and emotional but always inspiring. I work in a book-lined study at a large-ish desk. If I look up from my desk I see the garden and it’s a good place to let the eye rest and the mind wander. Often I collect things to do with the book in progress, so gum leaves whilst writing Thunderwith, pictures of The Hanging Gardens of Babylon whilst writing Zahara’s Rose, many, many poetry books whilst compiling The ABC Book of Australian Poetry. But other things like my crocodile pen, greeting cards, postcards, or photos end up scattered here for a while because they constitute something ‘sparky’ to me...It ‘s a changing place though, depending on the work in progress.
Today in My Creating Place:
The bust of child- my muse a gift from my husband John when we were in Normandy
Notebooks- filled with anything and everything from scraps of novels to lists of chapter heads or title names, the odd poem.
Folders without labels that say something to me e.g. Indian cloth-bound folder always means the book I’m working on now.
The composers- two small bust of Verdi and Puccini whose music, along with Ella Fitzgerald’s is always inspirational
Teapot for the necessary 101 cups of tea whilst work is in progress
Flowers-whatever is in season
Latest book at pages stage I Love You Book with the fantastical illustrations of Heath McKenzie.
Libby's Latest book:
The ABC Book of Australian Poetry; a treasury for young people ABC Books, 2010
Other recent books:
Fire Song ABC Books. 2009.
Zahara’s Rose IP Kidz, 2009
Georgiana; Woman of Flowers, Hachette, 2008. Winner Society of Women Writer’s Biennial Awards 2009.
You can find Libby at her website here.
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Such beautiful work! And what a charming video! Great series, Chris!