To really appreciate the “after” shot of my new studio space, you have to take another look at the before shot:
Yes, it truly is the exact same corner of the garagio! I did have to cede a little space to some of my husbands stuff such as golf clubs etc., but gained an additional 80 square feet and another wall. Unfortunately, my test kiln is floating in the middle of the room, but it’s small enough to move wherever I need it to.
After editing, cleaning and re-arranging I have a brand new, well lit functional space and none too soon either. My kid’s clay class starts today and with 19 students enrolled, I’m going to be busy. What you can’t see from the photo is my larger Paragon kiln which needs to stay near it’s dedicated 240 outlet and a set of shelves reserved for the kid’s work which I’ll be transporting back to my studio to fire.
I had such a positive response to my kid’s clay class proposal, that I had to split the class into two days. I started getting nervous when my phone kept ringing as parents called to find out if there was any more room. I have a hard time saying “no”, especially to kids wanting to learn about working with clay. Luckily after speaking with the school’s principal, I will be teaching half the kids on Monday and the other half on Tuesday afternoons.
I will also work on personalizing my space in the coming months - but that is such a gradual thing - a found item here, a favorite drawing of my daughter’s and so on. Right now, I’m pinching myself just thinking about my good fortune.
You know where to find me,
~Cynthia
Before & During Garage Studio Conversion
Before
My in-laws flew into town on Wednesday and as usual are incredibly helpful. After last weekend’s snow, I realized that I had better weatherize my “garagio” before it gets any colder. I want to be able to work in there year round, and not just in warmer months. I heard the term “garagio” somewhere else, and I thought “what a perfect description of my work space - not quite studio, nor garage.”
On Thursday, I drove up to gorgeous Evergreen, CO to have lunch with a couple of mountain gal friends and to pick up some studio furniture and 300 pounds of clay from a potter who is moving overseas. On the 45 mile drive back home to Denver, with an 8′ work table hanging out of the back of my well used Pathfinder and weighted down with clay, I wondered where I would put the table upon my return because, frankly, there just ain’t no room.
After emptying
On Thursday evening, my inlaws, husband and I debated waiting for a contractor’s bid to insulate and drywall my space, or whether we thought it was feasible to tackle the project ourselves. I’m sure you can deduce from these photos what course of action we have decided to take. The largest hurdle was emptying the garagio - and deciding what to do with the upright piano and all of the other junk. I’m please to share that my husband, father in law and I managed to wrangle the piano inside our house (though I am very sore this am) where it now resides and my daughter is now interested in taking piano lessons.
The other items were separated into things to sell on craigslist, items to donate, and items to keep for all eternity. A part of me thinks that if I haven’t opened the box in years, I should donate the whole enchilada - but once opening the boxes, memories come flooding back and I can’t seem to part with any items such as my daughter’s first shoes, my high school year book, or a box of my grandmother’s tea cups that she collected on all her travels. I’m trying to figure out where I can display the teacups in our small puzzle of a house.
Insulating
When we ended yesterday afternoon, the insulation was in place and 2 panels of dry wall were installed. I hope that by late this afternoon, that my studio will be put back together and ready to use this coming week. I can hardly wait to share the after photos!
In other news, I am very sad to announce that I had to turn on comment word verification after a proliferation of comment spam. I really detest it, but it seems necessary if I want to spare you from the latest viagra, breast enlargement or financial services commercial. I also don’t want to be a conduit for these questionable companies raising their rankings on the Internet by linking to their sites. I hope word verification does it, otherwise I will have to resort to comment moderation.
Have a good weekend,
~Cynthia
Blog
Website
Subscribe to Fine Art and More by CMGuajardo