Welcome to Pig Squash Press!
- …housed in a spare bedroom in my 1930s home located in downtown Nanaimo’s Historic Old Quarter.
The writiing and business end of Pig Squash Press all happens here, in a room that is just 8 x 11 feet. (Book construction for the hand-built books happens in a second room.)
I make book-art objects out of everything from roofing tarpaper to tree bark. This is "Radical Uprising" - the front and back covers are Douglas-fir bark.
- That tall cupboard is my paper safe, and my storyboard is visible on the right.
I built this paper safe to keep all of the speciality papers that I use in creating my book-art objects protected from light and air.
When I am working on a full-length trade book such as Red Zone or Ride Backwards on Dragon, I storyboard the entire book using a cork bulletin board. Each card represents a poem or a visual in the book. I spend a lot of time rearranging the cards until I find the right sequence for all the elements.
A portion of the storyboard for RED ZONE.
I made the handle for my paper safe out of a branch from the old heritage apple tree in my backyard.
My fabulous new printer/copier/scanner (Brother DCP-7040) that totally rocks like Gibralter! (Do people still say that?)
Et moi!
Pig Squash Press 
Very cool! Did you print Red Zone yourself? On your cool
Rock of Gibralter printer?
Thanks, Jane! 🙂 For my trade books like Red Zone, I do all the design, layout, file prep, etc. here at home (after doing all the writing, of course). And then I email the files to Island Blue/Printorium Bookworks in Victoria for the actual printing and book manufacture.
Very cool Kim. A peek at the physical surroundings of a brilliant mind and a creative, hard working soul. Thanks! Always an inspiring thing.
Thanks, Theo! 🙂
Always interesting to see where creative types work their magic. Thanks for sharing!
Love how you’ve painted some of the furniture! Am in the process of rearranging my office space for the umpteeth time and it’s given me some ideas – thanks!
You are awesome. That is all.
Awesome, Kim, you are such a fabulous artist! Thanks for sharing, looks k like a fun, cheerful place to write and create.
Terri
Thank you Terri! 🙂