Artist in residence

Upstairs downstairs The Hugo Award-winning artist reveals how she works on both floors of her home… when her cat allows her to

Julie Dillon on how her cat is both a help and a hindrance in her dual-room home studio.

My work desk is my home-within-my-home, the place where I spend most of my day, and as such I try to make it as comfortable as I can. I’ve shuffled around the furniture and art elements over the years, slowly adjusting them until I get it just right, and I like how it’s set up currently.

I do all my art in Photoshop with an Intuos4 tablet and a dual monitor setup on a PC. For me, making a work area is primarily about atmosphere, mood and comfort. I try to make sure I’m setting up a place where I can get in a creative mood and focus on my work for several hours a day, without getting burned out or irritated. The room is usually kept relatively dark to avoid glare on the screen, and I have a lot of soft lighting to create a nice mood.

I work at this upstairs desk for most of the day and then in the evening I tend to go downstairs to watch TV while continuing my work on my laptop.

It’s nice to have a change of scenery in the evening, and there are some tasks that I’ll save for when I’m on my laptop (anything that doesn’t require extra concentration or careful colour calibration).

I feel I should disclose that I’m generally not allowed to keep anything on the top of the bookshelf. If I happen to stay up late working, my cat jumps up on that top shelf

and angrily shoves off everything in sight, until I get the hint and shut the computer down. He’s broken coffee mugs and has made a general mess on many occasions. It’s so nice that he cares so much about me getting enough sleep.

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