Our Woolly Bear, by Katie Arthur. Published by OwlKids Books. Out in March 2024. I started thinking about the story that would become Our Woolly Bear three and a half years ago. We were still in the first wave of the pandemic, and my kids were one and three. As anyone with small children can tell you, you are never not busy when you’re caring for them. Even when you are technically not “doing” anything, you are always doing something. Usually five somethings. Usually all at once. It’s the absolute best, but… it also leaves very little time for much else. And yet somehow in the small moments between making snacks, and collecting rocks, and singing songs, and sweeping crumbs, and snuggling tiny humans to sleep, this book was born. Or at least the idea for it was. Rough sketch to final art I’ve been writing and drawing stories as long as I’ve been able to read them. Thirty years! There’s really no other activity that’s been so constant in my life. Nothing I can retreat to and find peace in quite like inventing a fictional world. But somehow it took me decades to actually focus my attention on a single project, see it through, and work up the courage to show it to someone who could make it real. Part of this is surely the pandemic effect that so many of us felt: a sudden urge to revaluate priorities and seize the moment. The now-or-never of it all. But it’s also the case that in having less time (way less time) for creative projects, I was able to bring a new kind of focus and clarity to the work. I stopped caring about what other people might think. I stopped caring about whether my stuff was good (or, worse, whether it was “sellable”). I didn’t have time to listen to the voice that’s always been in my head, fretting about whether I’m talented enough or smart enough or interesting enough. I used to feel like I needed an invitation to be a real artist. But that feeling now seemed enormously dumb. When I would finally have a second to myself in those days, I would just work. I would create like I used to when I was a kid, back when writing and drawing was something I did without interrogating what it was for. All I knew is that I had to do it. And so I did it. Final art from Our Woolly Bear (also my favourite spread). Early drafts and illustrations for Our Woolly Bear were largely completed between the hours of 8pm and midnight. I’d balance my art supplies and my iPad on my lap in front of the TV, or spread out at the dining room table. It wasn’t the idyllic way I’d imagined making a book. But before long, it was habit. I had a schedule—one I sincerely looked forward to (exhausted as I was). Fast forward a few years and a lot changed. My book found a publisher, and I was finally making final art. Yet my work schedule stayed pretty much the same. There was the occasional naptime or weekend afternoon where I could steal away for a few hours. But mostly, I kept working the night shift. It shocked me how much I could accomplish in a week if I chipped away at it, page by page, a few sleepy hours at a time. I’m almost finished my second book now, and I’m still working on various strategies to slot my work as an author/illustrator within the bigger puzzle of professional and family responsibilities. Do I routinely fall asleep with a pencil in my hand? You bet! But I’m also so glad I’ve stopped waiting for the right moment to finally get serious about making art. I really wish someone had told me when I was younger that there is no such thing as the perfect conditions for a creative life. You just have to build it into the life that you’re currently living, right now, and see what happens. No invitation required. And if you ever need a little extra motivation, feel free to send me a message. I’ll be up late. A real, live book! Our Woolly Bear comes out on March 15 and there are some links here if you’re interested in buying a copy.
Katie Arthur is the author/illustrator of Our Woolly Bear (March 2024) and Marty is Coming To My Birthday Party (Spring 2025). She holds an MA in English Literature and Creative Writing from Concordia University and is a graduate of the Humber School for Writers. In addition to picture books, she is working on a middle grade graphic novel. Katie lives in Malignant Cove, Nova Scotia. For more information, please visit www.studioarthur.com. Comments are closed.
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