Andrea Skyberg

After a brief holiday hiatus we’re back in full swing with not one, but two studio tours today on Tuesday Tours! Award-winning author and illustrator Nina Laden has created a number of successful picture books, some of which have been translated into many languages and are available in various countries around the world.

Most of Nina’s books have been created in her city studio in Seattle, but recently her imagination has gotten so big, she’s expanded her creativity into a second studio in her small cottage on Lummi island in Washington State. I think this smart lady has given herself the best of both worlds—a dynamic studio, which is inspired by the surrounding city life, and a contemplative studio, which soaks up the natural environment.

Nina’s books are a lot like her environments—at times feisty and eccentric like The Night I Followed the Dog, and at time quiet and contemplative like Once Upon a Memory (which, by the way, is one of my family’s favorite books, and one in which I almost always end up wiping a tear away by the final page).

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your creative medium.
I’m a writer and an illustrator, but I really consider myself an artist, or just a “human being creative.” I work in as many mediums as possible, except I don’t do digital art. I have wanted to make children’s books since I was two years old.

How long have you had your space and how does it affect your creative process?
Right now I have two studios. I’ve had my little studio-shack in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood, behind my city home for over 17 years now. It is nice to have a separate space to do art. I can write anywhere, though. My city studio is a sweet place, but it doesn’t have plumbing, so I have to walk to the house every time I need to change my paint water. This can be a pain in the wind and the rain.

Twelve and half years ago we bought a small cottage on Lummi island in the San Juan Islands in Washington State. In 2012 we finished a huge studio/garage building and I’ve been gradually moving into the space there, which has a working sink! Eventually I will have two complete studios. I know this is a wild dream come true. I’ve worked very hard, and I’m still working hard to make it happen.

Describe a typical work day. Do you have any rituals you do before you start creating?
Coffee. Very strong coffee. This is my daily morning ritual. Checking in with my social network and email happens in the morning, too. Here is the real truth: I don’t have a typical work day. I am not a slave to any schedule, but I honor my deadlines. I switch hats between writing and illustrating, so my days depend on what I need to focus on. When I am on a book illustration deadline, I have to warm up my city studio. The propane stove takes sometimes an hour to get things toasty. I drink coffee and read the newspaper (yes, a real paper, not a digital one) while my studio is warming up.

Like cooking, before I create, I set my “mise en place,” I gather the tools I need and get everything lined up, turn on the music and start working… and hope that I won’t get interrupted.

Please tell us about a time you had the most fun working in your studio.
Isn’t “fun working” an oxymoron? Just kidding. I don’t really think of what I do as “work.” It is just who I am. When I did the very complicated collage and painted illustrations for my book, Roberto The Insect Architect I was totally absorbed in the process. Each spread took over a week to do, and at night my dreams were made of little pieces of collage material. I guess that was fun, or was it torture? You have to enjoy the journey no matter how hard.

Does music influence how you work? What’s on your playlist now?
Music is a big part of my life. I’ve played guitar since I was 8 years old. I write songs. I also play ukulele. I still have my old turntable and play both vinyl and discs in my city studio. My taste in music is very eclectic, but I’m partial to the blues. I play a lot of blues, world music, and a lot of indy/alternative stuff.

What is your greatest source of inspiration as an artist? Is there any special item/trinket in your space that inspires you?
It’s hard to say what my greatest source of inspiration is. The short answer is: my imagination. But my imagination was sparked by my mother. She was a fine artist and an art teacher. She died 29 years ago and never lived to see me get published. I call her my Avant-Guardian Angel, though and I think she watches over me. Years ago I did a painting of her and me from memory in oil paint on paper, and wrote something she told me. It hangs in my city studio.

Is there a favorite drink or food that you have while you work?
I don’t eat or drink while I work, in fact I forget to eat and drink. Then my husband interrupts me and makes me go back into the house to eat so I won’t get “hangry” (hungry and angry for those who don’t know).

What are the three best things about your studio?
City Studio: 1. It is cozy and funky. 2. It has a dream loft. 3. It has great built-in work areas with long surfaces and very cool drawers.

Island Studio: 1. It is palatial. 2. The view doesn’t suck. 3. It has a work sink!

If you could add a new tool or piece of furniture to your studio, what would it be?Right now I am shopping for a huge new drafting/drawing table for the island studio. I love my old Boeing Engineer’s table in the city studio (I found it at a yard sale for $40). As I’ve gotten older, I also need to get magnifying swing-arm lamps. I miss my visual acuity.

What colors inspire your creativity.  Are those colors incorporated in your space?This may sound bizarre, but colors don’t inspire my creativity. I want a neutral background, like a blank sheet of paper. The things I create, the things I collect, the art supplies themselves are what brings life to my space, and allows me an environment to bring my visions from my head to my hand to the surface I am working on.

What advice do you have for people who want to make a personal space where they can be creative?
I can honestly say that it doesn’t matter where you create, as long as you do create. I’ve worked in a corner in a bedroom, I’ve worked on a portable drawing board in a hotel room. I feel that wherever I go, my journal goes, and it is like a tiny studio in a leather cover. For a studio to be a studio it needs a chair, a table, a lamp, and a person with an imagination who wants to turn nothing into something. A studio is a place in your mind where art is born.

What’s coming up for you and where can we find out more?
In the last year, I had two board books, Peek-a Zoo! and Daddy Wrong Legs both publish with Chronicle Books. In 2015, a picture book that I wrote, Are We There Yet? will publish from Chronicle Books, and Peek-a Boo!, the third book in my board book series that started with Peek-a Who? will come out. I have a picture book, If I Had A Little Dream, that Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster is publishing—I will not be illustrating that one. I am working on a stack of picture books that I’ve written, and now need to do sketches and sample illustrations so my agent can submit them. I have a middle grade novel that I’m working on, and a completed adult novel that I have not sold yet. My website is: http://www.ninaladen.com. My blog is: http://www.thenightifollowedtheblog.blogspot.com/

Wow! You’re busy! Thanks so much, Nina, for sharing your studios with us today and best of luck on your upcoming projects!