Baby Steps can Lead to BIG BIG Things

Me teaching camp this week at
the Boys and Girls Club.
35 Weeks Pregnant

This post is dedicated to one of my campers this week, Miss Ashanti. Thank you for reminding me that people read what I write and for laughing about it with me! You are a special lady.

Wow.

I just looked at the last post and am so glad I posted it because I hardly remember the studio looking that way.  We have made so much progress in the last few weeks, it has been a whirlwind. It has also been so encouraging and I am so deeply, deeply grateful for this beautiful building and all of the helping hands- especially my father in law, Bill's. There is absolutely no way I could have accomplished any of these renovations on my own- in concept or in execution.

Every day my family and friends worked on the studio, I just felt so blessed that these people believed in me so much that their volunteered time was worth being spent on me and my business. I've faced much skepticism and disrespect for my line of work and the commitment of my faithful home studio makeover team really boosted my spirits and faith in myself and others and left me feeling blessed beyond belief. So, here's a look at her now....

Walls back up after my father in law took them off and restructured them. New beams were also added in the ceiling for support and to assist in hanging dry wall. I also got to pick where I wanted to add windows, that was pretty amazing for me! Between the hospital and my previous studio, I've worked without windows for almost 10 years- and being a natural light junkie I couldn't hardly believe that Bill said I could add windows and choose where they were placed.

With walls up, we could add insulation. My dad was in town for this portion of the renovations so he is pictured below. Then my friend Wendy and I joined him- he cut the strips and we stapled them up. I was proud to have my hand in the work! 

Here are Wendy and I thinking we are awesome for doing handy work. And FYI her shirt says "Instant Human, just add Coffee."

So, after the insulation (walls, cracks and the ceiling) came the dry wall. This was a big endeavor. These guys worked and worked on it. Below is my husband hanging the ceiling dry wall and in the photo on the right, it shows the whole crew that day, hubby, my father in law Bill, and Jon's cousin Bradley. Bradley was an angel sent from God this day! He was let off work early (like 9 am!) and came by to see if we needed help, bless his heart. He didn't expect to drywall all day, but we needed a third man and he stepped up to the task. I fed them well for it! :)

Here is a look at the skylight. We replaced the panel and framed up the center of it to dry wall around. The natural light is so wonderful!

We had someone to come in and mud the walls. This took time because the excessive rain slowed down the drying process significantly. However, a week later, we had smooth, even walls, ready to be primed and painted.

Somewhere in here our friend Gorg came and did a ton of wiring and electrical work. I chose where to place outlets and he wired everything up for the ceiling lighting, AC, 110s in the wall, etc. It was awesome. He also installed the sink, poured concrete, nailed up beams, installed the french door and it's door knob, and lots more. He would just whisk through, create a flurry of activity and loud noises, and then whisk away, leaving magical effects behind.

It just so happens that my dad loves to paint. He just so happened to call me the day the dry wall man was finishing up and asked if I needed a painter to come the next day (and he lives 5 hours away). I said YES! He came and along with my sister, Andrea and Jon, they primed and painted the studio which was the last task that made it looks like a real room for real people! My carpenter father in law kept hard at work at many of the details such as framing up doors, adding window sills, painting the new outside paneling, hanging lights, filling in holes, and more.

As soon as the paint was on the walls, I had my kiln moved in and loaded up. It had been weeks since I had been able to fire it and things were pretty back logged. I still am feeling the effects of not having a legitimate work space and am working hard to cycle through all the pots from kids camp and custom orders that are filling my now workable studio. It's amazing how just a couple of weeks can make a big impact in pottery's sensitive schedule. It is already a long process from start to finish, and adding a little kink like a move makes it much more cumbersome and long. 

Yet, we did it and it is was SO SO worth it.

I have a few semi-finished photos. None of these are very prepped for. So, this will serve as a glimpse of what we have currently and I will get some nice indoor and outdoor photos once things settle down from the series of camps I've been teaching and before the exciting arrival of my little one.

Here is a look from the back of the studio with some furniture in place. Jon is inflated by the fan in his defense.

And then a look from the front of the studio with my Kids Pottery Camp in action.

Wheel area- notice the lovely window and it's lovely window sill.

The whole fabulous camp bunch.

The studio is so workable, comfortable and mostly unfathomable. It will be my place to create for many years to come and I see it ripe with possibilities. Thank you to my people that have been so helpful and generous in making this happen, from the manual laborers to my customers to my students. You guys have seriously changed my life for the better and I am loving living this exciting, exhausting, and unpredictable life as a studio potter.

Much Love,

Lisa