Images by Amber Gardener of Naturalight Photography

For years a pokey corner of a room on a congested antique desk with a very dated, slow modem computer was the environment that proved to be perfect for my words and artwork to flow.

Only last year was I inspired to completely gut the room and start fresh, designing my office from scratch.

I am a children’ s book author and illustrator and recently reconfigured my‘ writing space’ to incorporate a lovely, spacious desk that spans two whole walls. I am very lucky to have a large window that allows in the perfect amount of natural light. I have my favourite essential oils burning in my electric oil burner, igniting my sense of smell.

In the redesign of my new office, I have given myself plenty of room to spread out. I use a lot of visual references, and resource books when I am writing which are easily accessible. My computer has two screens so I have plenty of room on my desktop too. I use both PC and Mac, so of course I also have a comfy swivel wheel chair gliding between the writing and illustration elements of my work.

My vision board and inspirational artwork quotes hang on the walls close by to keep me focused on my goals. Framed illustrations of my previous books remind me of the journey I have travelled.

Having said all of this, this isn’ t actually where most of my initial idea writing takes place. My ideas are usually written on scraps of paper or in my‘ notes’ on my iPhone / iPad; most of the time in the middle of the night, while in the shower, vacuuming or in sitting traffic. My first children’ s book skeleton idea was written on the back of a parking ticket while waiting at early morning traffic lights.

Although when redrafting and editing, l just love my new office space. I love the freshness, the‘ down to business’ organised feel I get as soon as I sit down. I need quiet time where I can lose myself for as long as required.( With four children that usually late involves late nights and very early mornings). I love having my thesaurus, dictionary right on hand, as well as my favourite online resources.

In my new office I also have a designated illustration space. I have recently been time-lapse recording my illustration process, so I designed and built a contraption to incorporate LED lighting as well as a camera stand. I have all my materials and visual resources right on hand. This would have to be one of my favourite spaces to create my artwork.

I believe creativity is born from any environment, sometimes those even quite inconvenient. But for a very busy mum / teacher / artist / author / illustrator I am inspired every single day that I get to work in my office. The perfect environment for both my writing and illustrations..... for now anyway! www. nickyjohnston. com. au