Year of the Book: Laurie Keller

On my next blog post I think I'm going to talk about my writing and illustrating processes, focusing mainly on my upcoming book, Birdy's Smile Book (September, 2010).  Either that or why I think it's important for kids to eat brussel sprouts, broccoli and spinach at least three times a day.  As I'm still undecided, please don't hesitate to drop me a line casting your vote on which topic you'd like me to discuss.  But for my #2 blog post -- wait, let me re-phrase that -- my second blog post  (pheww!) -- I'm going to show you where I live and work.  By the way, it means a lot to me that you're taking the time to read this, so thank you!  If you have a blog let me know and I'll read yours, too. 

So, about where I live.  If you're imagining me to be living in a big, fancy city, in a big, fancy house with a big, fancy art studio, with some big, fancy assistants who fan me and feed me bag after bag of peanut M&M's, well, then, you couldn't be more wrong.   I live in a tiny cottage in Michigan, out in the woods along Lake Michigan (and I'm the only one who feeds me bag after bag of peanut M&M's). 

"HOW TINY IS IT?", you ask?  Well, here's a picture so you can see for yourself.

 

Actually, here's another picture with me standing in front of it to show you how small it is. 

 

See what I mean?

Now, no one is forcing me to live in such a tiny cottage.  I live here with my boyfriend (he's an artist, too) and our two cats (they make art in their litter boxes) and we like living here because it's in such a beautiful location.  It's just....very.....small.  It's so small that there's no room for me to have an actual studio.  My "studio" is in the corner of the living room. 

 

I have my desk and computer and printer set up in the corner.  When I want to paint though, I have to set up an extra table right in the middle of the living room to give myself extra space to work. 

I did claim part of the wall on the other side of the room to put a bookcase full of children's books that I look at for inspiration. 

And there's a little window that gives me a great view of the woods.  I enjoy seeing all of deer, turkeys, birds and squirrels who stop by throughout the day (they like all the food I put out for them.   In fact, there are nine deer out there as I type this!). 

 

That's pretty much it as far as my studio. 

I spend LOTS of time there, but my VERY FAVORITE place to write and sketch is in a wildflower garden on top of a big sand dune that overlooks Lake Michigan. 

It's SO beautiful, peaceful and inspiring.

As much as I enjoy living here, one day, in the not-too-distant future, I hope to have a slightly bigger house and a real-live studio.  I hope it will still be in the woods along Lake Michigan.  One thing I'm sure of though, is that it will always be well-stocked with plenty of peanut M&M's as I'm convinced that they are packed with some secret ingredient that gets the creative juices flowing!   But as magical as they are, they're still not as tasty as brussel sprouts, broccoli and spinach, are they?!

Comments

[Brenda Ferber]

What a beautiful location! Thanks for sharing.