Preface
Vulnerability moment. I am beyond grateful for all my supporters and family. Before my very first solo show, I had been contemplating getting a part time job, walking dogs or something to get me out of the house that would supply some extra income to keep my business going.
It’s not that my business was failing, no. Failure only comes when I decide to stop trying. Rather, the word “recession” had been floating around a lot lately I noticed, and sales had started dropping off. I hadn’t had a website sale in over 2 months and I had a lot of business expenses for my first tent events over the summer. It was becoming a lot.
After the success I had at my very first show (selling over 20 original paintings, and setting a new record for the gallery space I was showing at) I decided to treat myself with something that had been calling my name for so long; more space. See, Daniel (my husband) and our little dog, live in a small 1,000sq/ft, 3 bed house. One bedroom ours, one is his office and one is my studio, all tiny. However, the backyard had plenty of space so I decided to make the leap and purchase the one thing I had been sitting on for years… A new studio.
Prep
I did an embarrassingly large amount of research, that took weeks and decided on the style and size of the studio. Originally, the space that we set aside when we redid the landscaping, was set for an 8x10. After feeling like this just didn’t really seem big enough for me, I decided to go with an 11x13 studio, which meant that I’d need to re-home a few plants around the garden, and do some further digging and extra yard work. I decided on the studio below, wanting a ton of natural light, and to hopefully add to the property value. Thankfully the studio is small enough where I didnt need to get a permit.
work, work, work, work
Foundation
Once the plants had been moved, the foundation needed to be laid down so that the studio could actually sit on something. Getting everything level was the hardest part, and took almost 5 hrs just to set 9 concrete blocks in the dirt at the correct height. So glad that’s done and I am not in the construction business….
We used 6 4x4’s and later I went in with 4 more 10 footers to give it some more structure for the floor joists to sit on. It looked so…structural!
The Build
A few weeks went by, I had an art show, took a day of rest, the wood delivered and we got back to it.
At one point we found a hole in the wood, a large cracked piece that needed to be replaced, and another small crack in the window trim so we needed to wait another week so they could send me the replacement parts.
Then the rain came. I had to sprint to home depot for a large enough tarp that would cover the whole structure since I did NOT want the wood to warp any further than it already had while we waited for those replacement pieces.
I wish I could say that the build was easy but it was not. It was the source for multiple panic attacks, mental break downs, and many baths to try and recover from the physical and mental wear.
The Roof is on, so let’s add another roof?
Yep, another roof. A fellow artist on IG had mentioned a metal roof would be quite magical during the rainy seasons. I checked out both the price of the metal, and shingles and both were about the same gouging price number so I decided to go with the magic!
I wanted to also add insulation in the roof becuase the wood for that came in at 3/4 inch wide and it was pretty drafty in there. That required me to have to add more structure for the insulation, get the insulation, plywood, cover with roofing paper and then finally the metal on top. Each job almost more exhausting than the last.
Huge thank you to my husband and in-laws who finished the roofing job for me while I was vending at a fall craft event. Daniel and his dad are a rare breed of men that are simultaneously sweet and would do anything to get the job done, especially for those they love. Thank you!
Painting!
And for the END of the majority of the work needed to get this structure winter/weather ready, we paint! I used to think painting was fun, but I don’t anymore.
THE FANALE!
The Next Steps
Up Next (in a rough order) is to:
insulate and add flooring
add rain gutters
electricity
paint inside
organization and decor inside
front porch/stoop