Clean lines, beautiful colors, and simple prose mark the work of Jorey Hurley, whose beautiful children’s books could easily double as artwork on your nursery walls. Hurley started her creative career after law school, when she began designing handbags as a fun outlet. This lead to textile design, children’s books, fine art prints, and partnerships with boutiques, hotels, and retailers. Her most recent book is Beehive, which details the cycle of bees making honey. Join us for a tour of her gorgeous New England studio!
I wake up early and draw every morning with coffee. My studio is on the ground floor of our house. I create my art digitally, and I’ve cycled through various types of tablet and various drawing programs – there are lots of good options. Recently I like Procreate with an iPad pro.
This is the room I use for layout, framing, anything that benefits from great light. It’s basically just windows and a big table.
Here you can see the table in an unusually clean state. Our house, where my studio is, was built in 1845, so it has great natural light. The windows still have the original glass, which is a little wavy, and I love how that softens everything.
I spent most of my time in the computer and printer room. I have my big monitor here and in the winter I put a heated carpet under my desk (we’re in New England so it’s chilly) and my dog loves that. In the late afternoon there’s really great light – it’s my favorite time in the studio especially in the spring and summer when the days are long.
This room is for zoom calls and collaborative work.
The most important tool in my studio is my glasses (!), which are front and center here.
Images courtesy of Jorey Hurley
Today we’re visiting Caldecott Honor winning author and illustrator, Peter Brown! Peter has been featured on our blog multiple times (see 
Photo 4: To publicize my new picture book, Fred Gets Dressed, the publisher arranged my very first virtual book tour. I sat in this spot and stared at my laptop and spoke to readers all across the country. I discussed the book and read from it and gave drawing demonstrations. It was great that I could speak with so many people, in so many different places, all from my studio. But I’m really looking forward to doing in-person book events again.