space :: to be

It's nearly December and I've yet to write a post about the new studio space. I get tired of saying that I'm busy all the time. So, instead, I will just say that my life has been very, very active.

On November 1st, 2008 Marilou and I used our very own keys to walk into one of the most beautiful spaces I have ever known. Never mind that it was Marilou's biggest event of the year that day. Never mind that I had a show to hang the next day. Never mind that nothing has slowed down since.

The space is ours--and, for this, I am supremely grateful. It has been a busy few weeks of designing the space, painting walls, and pricing materials. I've hunted architectual antiques; I've poured over paint chips; I've studied up on industrial hardware for sliding doors. I've looked at sinks and cabinets and closets. I have daydreamed endlessly over workbenches and am still on the lookout for that perfect desk.

Today, however, I set up my easel and simply painted. The photo (above) is of a work in progress--a farm cat (turned city cat) named Chubbie. I listened to music, took breaks to run circles with my wolfie, Anu, and, with paint brush in hand, stood bathing in a pool of sun. For lunch, I made a picnic on top of a four foot pile of sheetrock. I ate avocados and tomato with crackers, washing it down with coffee from my hot pink thermos. As I ate, Anu enjoyed her fair share of dog treats. We were happy.



Tomorrow begins Day 1 of construction. Somehow I've managed to talk my dad and brother into helping me build walls. My dad has somehow talked me into beginning at 7am.

Right now the space is 2,200 square feet of wide open bliss--but before the end of the weekend Marilou will have her very own office and I will have a private sun-filled studio--each will have large wooden sliding doors that open up into the rest of the room which we are dedicating to gallery and workshop space.

I've been daydreaming about this for so long now that I look forward to seeing the end result.

I have a feeling that a lot is going to change for me in the coming year. I don't know what or how...but I feel myself planting my roots deeply. Getting ready. Inwardly preparing.

This year has been thrilling and scary all at once. It has required great amounts of faith and perseverance. It has tested me to my core.

Tomorrow, however, is a new day.
Tomorrow, everything is possible.
And I find relief in knowing that tomorrow started with today.


"Be Brave: 7 Little Letters to Live By"
new addition on my Etsy here.

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