A New Studio Chapter
If you’ve been following along for a while, you might vaguely remember the winding path my art studio spaces have taken. But maybe not! I did kind of go dark for a while there! Hey look, I’m back! (waves)
RECAP
Around 2021, I said goodbye to the beloved shared gallery space I managed (Blueschool) and moved into a sweet little cedar-shingled building in Clinton with 4 art buddies. That space had charm, and I enjoyed 2 years there floating in the fir trees up on the 2nd floor and picking up noodles at Island Nosh. It got me through the tail end of Covid, and my daughter joined me there doing the last of her online school before she rejoined her friends back at school.
…But I had lost the thread on the paintings and projects I had been working on pre global pandemic, and felt a little lost. Then during a spontaneous beer date with one of aforementioned studio buddies, an old project idea that I had been inspired by a few years previously bubbled up. And for some reason I was like YAH…even though it involved two things I’d never played with before: clay and kilns. And I quickly realized: messy clay + kilns do not mix well with tiny 2nd floor office space. So… I moved AGAIN- home, where I hadn’t worked on my art since 2013.
So 10 years and 2 studios later, husband and I took on a big project: transforming one-third of our three-car garage into a fully fledged studio. It was a labor of love (and sometimes back-breaking labor of screws, chains, and paint brushes). With the help of Esteban’s Construction LLC, we boxed in the space, insulated it, and slowly started shaping it into something that felt like mine.
Some details I’m especially proud of:
We made trim that looks like antique barn wood by staining it with three different colors — and yes, beating it up with screws and chains for good measure. Whee! Great anxiety reliever.
The concrete floor got a sleek black stain. hmmm but now I kinda want to put in linoleum or wood floors?
The walls were lime-painted in two colors of white for depth and European fresco feel.
And the ceiling? Painted blue (daughter’s idea), with exposed beams stained dark and moody (again, in three different tones). Beautiful now, but Scott and my shoulders/lower backs still remember that job. Glargh.
It took pretty much the whole year to both finish and move in, but now, as I sit at one of my various work tables, with Maggie in her art buddy chair and the cats with a hammock to look out the window, I’m pretty content. This new studio is now the heart of Hidden Hearth Ceramics (get it? “heart” in “hearth” hee hee) - see next post!
