Thursday, March 25, 2010

Cartoonist Colin Shelbourn's ideal garden office

As part of the Be My Guest campaign this month which encourages bloggers to guest post on other sites, the marvellous cartoonist Colin Shelbourn and I are swapping posts on the theme of sheds. Here's his on his ideal shed (and here's mine on his):
At present I work from home. A traditional garret has been set aside for my exclusive use so that I can throw ideas and ink around without upsetting the dogs. This is all fine but I'm beginning to outgrow it and beyond these four walls there lies a garden. Over in the corner, just past the compost heap, lies the ideal location for a luxurious shed or garden studio.

In between staring at a plastered wall, trying to think of cartoons, I occasionally doodle plans for my ideal shed. Here are some the requirements I've listed so far. Warm, friendly, plenty of room for books, pads, a computer and a drawing board. And light. Lots and lots of light. For this I need windows and, above all, a window facing north. It's a cliché but all artists like a north-facing window and cartoonists are no exception. You get the best light without all the glare. Wearing sunglasses at the drawing board may be the epitome of cool but they drop off in your coffee.


It would also be desirable to have window facing south. This would overlook Verbier, with a view of the Swiss Alps. Placed beside the window would be a handy pair of skis ready for the lunchtime swoosh down the slopes to a mountain restaurant. The west window would look out onto Hawaii's finest seascape at Hanalei Beach. Or possibly Chaplin Bay on Bermuda. I'm very catholic in my exotic, scenic-window beach requirements. I'll even take Tenby Harbour, at a pinch.

The east window would have twitchable net curtains, enabling me to peer unobserved into the editorial office of Private Eye. Then I can see exactly what bizarre decision making process is involved when they reject one of my cartoons (I suspect darts).

Clearly all this would be a bit tricky to accommodate in a single garden shed. It might need to be modelled along the lines of a blue police box capable of travelling through time and space. The space bit would save on train fares when I'm visiting clients. And the time travel facility would be enormously handy when faced with a tight deadline. Plus I'd be able to steal other people's jokes from the future.

Rather a tall set of requirements, you may think. Ahh, but I remember the days when I dreamt of having my own garret.

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