Nikki McClure's Studio and Sneak Peak at TO MARKET, TO MARKET

Nikki McClure is a self-taught artist who has been making paper-cuts since 1996. She is the author and illustrator of Collect Raindrops and Mama, Is It Summer Yet? and the illustrator of All in a Day, by Cynthia Rylant. She visits her farmers market in Olympia, Washington, every week. Visit her online at www.nikkimcclure.com.

Here is where she answer emails, scan artwork, and looks at small things blown up huge on the computer. Nikki's 6 year old son has his work bench right behind her. He makes daggers and boats and shields while she toils. Her Grandmother looks down on it all- a plasma cut experiment-glowing with the eastern morning light. Sometimes, when it is sunny, the light streams through the edge of my computer and makes rainbows on my fingers as she types. This is in her dining room.

Now a walk out the back door to Nikki's studio and her real desk, a bit messy this morning. Piles of projects and a discarded scarf lie in wait on top of the file drawer. The work of the day is to finish a picture her son and partner in a hammock, reading on the last day of summer before school started. She has photos and sketches tucked under the mat. The whole cutting board goes away when she is sketching. Nikki just uses it for cutting, to spare my neck. She keep my box of old blades in the far corner window ledge along with my sharp knife. 2 cups= tea and water. Bird feeders in all the windows. Her son's pictures of mushrooms and a forest hut.

Desktop. List of things to do, water, photo for next project, magic pencil- "I can only draw with this one and freak out if it is missing", my At-A-Glance calendar- a funny choice for someone who makes calendars, a crow sketch from the feeder, iphone and headphones because I am convinced that cell phones cause brain cancer, a vase with no flowers (need to do something about that)

Inspirational words.

Nikki's floor at the end of the day. A leaf from blueberry picking somehow made it into my studio too.

To see other studios or desks go to http://fromyourdesks.com

Her are is a sneak peak at Nikki's next book To Market, To Market

Known for art that celebrates the virtues of community, hard work, and living gently on the planet, Nikki McClure here explores a topic close to her heart: the farmers market. Alternating between story and fact, this lovingly crafted picture book follows a mother and son to the weekly market. As they check off items on their shopping list, the reader learns how each particular food was grown or produced, from its earliest stages to how it ended up at the market. To Market, to Market is a timely book that shines awareness on the skill that goes into making good food.