Thursday, May 19, 2011

My new studio!

It took almost a month, but my studio in our new house is finally set up and work-ready. Today I'll be taking you on the official tour!

The studio is located in the basement of our new house. What it lacks in natural lighting it makes up for in size, as it's more than TWICE the amount of space my last studio occupied.

There's ample room for Barbie storage, that's for sure.

When you walk down the stairs, past the Barbie bins, straight ahead is what I call my "sorting & cutting area" this is where the dolls are sorted and organized and the station where I'll eventually be cutting out the various doll parts I need (once I get a stool tall enough to sit here that is.)


This is an overview of my fabrication/bench area…



Midge sits atop my flex shaft, as she's done in all my studios.


To the right of my bench is the "resin station" where all my epoxy magic happens.


And to the right of that area is my soldering station. (my bulletin/inspiration board is a little empty at the moment, but that will change)

You can't tell from this photo, but there's a basement window to the left of this area which is where I'll be setting up the new fume exhaust unit I just purchased. Hooray for finally having a proper ventilation system!


Looking back towards the stairs again, this countertop area is a sort-of "miscellaneous task zone" right now. It has my tumbler, my ultrasonic and various storage items.


And of course Charlie gets a comfy spot on this counter for his visits…


Just to the right of that, sits my antique pharmacists cabinet. This beauty has 96 drawers in it and the whole unit rotates!

I can't even begin to express my love for this piece. It was my grandfathers who was a pharmacist in Lake George, NY where it served him and his pharmacy for decades until eventually making it's way to my parents basement where it sat in storage for years.

It was promised to me a while back and I'm thrilled to finally have the space for it! It's the heaviest thing ever and admittedly was a huge pain in the a** to move from my parents house to here but will be SO worth it once it's all cleaned up and usable again.

I'm also fortunate to have a slop sink downstairs which is HUGELY convenient (situated right between the washer and dryer so I can get laundry done while I work… bonus!)

This new space will be great and I'm certain will serve me well for a few years at the very least. However, one of the biggest perks in buying this house is sitting detached from the house just outside our backyard…

…a HUGE 3 car garage! Someday (soon-ish we hope) it will be converted into "My Dream Studio!" The studio I've been fantasizing about, scheming and planning for since I graduated college. Two of the three bays will be converted into my studio, and the third will be kept as a regular garage door for our car/storage (we're a one-car family anyway so it's perfect.) It will be insulated/heated, with lots of windows and maybe even a skylight or two! We have some other house projects that will need to come first, but this will truly be a dream come true for me when it happens.

So that's the tour! I'm hoping to get back to a more regular posting schedule here on the blog now that we're settling in so stay tuned. I have lots of custom orders underway right now… I'll share images of those soon!

8 comments:

Diane Librizzi said...

I loved this tour! It gave such a perspective on how you work. I had no idea there were so many tasks to complete in the develop of your jewelry. Thanks for this and good luck in your new space?

Miss Dot said...

ditto., thanks for the wonderful tour of your new space, including cat! I think it really helps people to understand the process of producing unique work if they see the spaces that the work comes from.. Hey, I bought a new winter coat this week and my first thought was "oh I can wear my Barbie brooch on this" :-)

Julia, the Thanksgiving Girl said...

Yay for the new working space!!

alekz said...

awesome! although i was hoping what turned out to be pliers in a tighter shot was a mini-assembly line for barbie-legs brooches ;^).
-alekz

Anonymous said...

love love love the antique pharmacists cabinet.!!!

Christine Culver

la Joie de vivre said...

Today was my first day working in my new home studio. I'm so keyed up that I can't sleep so I'm sitting in our bathroom reading all the blogs I've book marked in the last few months but haven't gotten to. I share your joy in having a new place to work at home and am oh so jealous about your future dream studio. Someday, I keep telling myself, someday.

BTW, if you haven't gotten a suitable tall shop stool yet, you can have one of the two I brought home. I only really have space for one but cannot bear to put the other our yard sale on Saturday. It needs to go to an artist. It's an old steel one with pressed board seat. I'm in NE Seattle - let me know if you want it.

Cheri

la joie de vivre said...

Ha - I am a ditz!

I've seen your work here in Seattle and saw "Beacon" somewhere in your blog so my subconscious decided you live on Beacon Hill in Seattle. Silly me - Beacon, NY.

So I guess I won't be gifting you a shop stool after all what with the expense, carbon footprint and all.

Best wishes for creativity and productivity in your new space. Love your work!

Shel said...

Great studio - really love the antique cabinet! Oh - and of course, your jewelry! :)