“Here is where I answer emails, scan artwork, and look at small things blown up huge on the computer. My 6-year-old son has his work bench right behind me. He makes daggers and boats and shields while I toil. My 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 I type. This industry is inmydining room.

Now a walk out the back door to my studio and my 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 of my son and partner in a hammock, reading on the last day of summer before school started. I have photo and sketch tucked under the mat. The whole cutting board goes away when I am sketching. I just use it for cutting, to spare my neck. I need a better light. That one always creeps down. I 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. My 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). My inspirational words.

Getting more done!

My floor at the end of the day. A leaf from blueberry picking somehow made it into my studio too.”

I need a better light. That one always creeps down. I keep my box of old blades in the far corner window ledge along with my sharp knife. 

Nikki McClure lives in Olympia. She is a self-taught artist making papercuts since 1996. McClure makes a calendar of her papercuts every year that are sent far and wide. She has also written and illustrated several children’s books and journals including her latest book “Mama, Is It Summer Yet?” and the New York Times Best-seller “All In A Day”, by Cynthia Rylant. Her images also appear on Patagonia apparel and as magazine illustrations. Sometimes McClure collaborates with her husband, Jay T. Scott, making lamps, and with her son making gardens and large holes in dirt. In addition to all of this work, she picks blueberries, swims in wild lakes, and makes an occasional pie.

A journey through a day in the life. Work progress equals, in this case, natural lighting, organic surroundings and birds eye precision. Today, it only seems appropriate Nikki’s work space is featured on the last official day of summer.

Nikki’s exacto-knife truly captures the essence of seasons. She nurtures a better understanding of environment via water, leaves and animals.

Nikki is a keen observationalist (and self-taught). One final note: No, Kate’s not Nikki’s publicist, but you should sign up for your own 2011 Calendar now.