Lance Lekander.

"Sometimes it's like a disease; you have to be creative, you can't stop," says Lance Lekander, He started drawing while growing up in Anchorage, and now it's his living. He confesses to craving a 9-to-5 job with weekends off, but he can't not be an artist. "Basically, I was destined for it," he says.

His website, Lekander Artworks, is populated with grinning monsters, rockin' robots, and fun-loving freaks. He sells psychedelic yoga leggings, handmade yeti dolls (resembling his logo for the award-winning hotdog stand Yeti Dogs), and a collection of digital typefaces. The mission of his "super-secret underground laboratory" is to make people say, "That's the gol-darndest art I ever have seen!"

Lekander keeps busy with commissions for book illustrations and selling his wares at craft fairs. He was once drawn to architecture as a possible career, but he realized he "didn't want to get into 'how much stress this bolt can take.'" He adds that interior design is still an option, and that would be a sight to see: an entire room decorated like counterculture comix and vintage movie posters.

Alaska Business: What do you do in your free time?

Lance Lekander: I sketch a lot. Work is free time.

AB: Is there a skill you're currently developing or have always wanted to learn?

Lekander: I've been sewing... I've had some of my designs printed on waterproof fabric, so I've made dry bags and things. Looking to make backpacks and stuff.

AB: What's your favorite way to exercise?

Lekander: I'd rather be out hiking on a sunny day... At the gym, I do Spin class and Group Power... When I do my own workouts, I end up doing things I like, but when I go to Group Power [I do] sguats and lunges.

AB: What's the most daring thing you've ever done?

Lekander: When I go to someplace and they have big cliffs to jump off into the ocean, I get apprehensive. Like, "This is high." But then I see a little kid do it, and I'm like, "If they can do it, I gotta go. You know?"

AB: What are you superstitious about?

Lekander: I'm not superstitious, but... I always think, when my ladder's there, should I walk under my ladder or not? Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. But I always think about that.

AB: Have you ever had a supernatural experience?

Lekander: Not really...