8.18.2011

PROGRESS REPORT









A few little shots of what's happening over here in remodel land. Progress is feeling slow, but steady. Got water last week, rewiring happens next week, and then things should move a little quicker from there on out. Still searching for a few key items: anyone in Portland got a lead on cheap Velux skylights???

8.05.2011

ON MOVING // MOVING ON


When I started working for myself, almost 9 years ago, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. But I knew one thing: if I was going to make jewelry making my job, I needed a space away from the house to do that in. I needed to be able to get up in the morning, leave the house, and go to work. I'm lucky that studio space is still relatively cheap and easy to find here in Portland, and so since day one, that's exactly what I've done. And that's worked really well for me for a long time. I needed the regimen of getting into the car and going to work to keep myself in check. The studio was for work. Home was for, well, not work. And everything sailed along just fine. Until now.

Around the beginning of this year, getting in the car to go to the studio began to feel less like a daily routine, and more like a daily annoyance. When I moved into my current studio about 6 years ago, my business was in a different place, I had two employees and required a lot more space. And I have a lot of it there. Tons. Way too much for just me. What used to feel just right started to morph from a place that I felt good working in, to a cavernous enclave that was slowly making me feel unfocused, discombobulated, and cranky. Lots and lots of cranky. And then I started looking at my garage. A perfectly lovely, one and a half car detached garage that I've never put my car in. A garage that has been quietly acting as storage space for a whole bunch of stuff that I, quite frankly, don't need. A garage that I wouldn't have to pay any extra rent on. A space that would allow me to walk out the back door and work till midnight when I need to, without having to haul stuff back and forth across town and drive home late at night. A space that has massive potential for being pared down, light, and cozy. A space where I could put a wood stove! And that pretty much sealed the deal: You guys, I'm moving home.


Self employment comes with a myriad of both challenges and joys. One of the joys that I am trying to focus on lately is that working the way that I do really allows me the freedom to create exactly the life and schedule that I want, and this move feels pretty integral to that right now. As much as having that space away from home has been important to me for so long, the fact is that this is my career: after almost 10 years of self employment, I've got my routine down (I hope!), and I should be able to maintain that wherever I'm at. And at this point, it's much less where the space is at, and much more the space itself that matters to me. Moving my work home feels like a move towards much more flexibility, freedom, and most importantly, simplicity. (And, of course, a reclaimed barn wood ceiling...) I have the opportunity to build my dreamy dream studio, and it's time to go for it.

This move marks a huge change for me and my business. One that will involve all sorts of upheaval in the next month as the garage is transformed and I transition out of my current space. So shop updates and actual jewelry production will most likely be light as I comb the Rebuilding Center for doors and figure out what color to paint the floor. I'm super excited and all sorts of nervous all at the same time. It's a 'whole new chapter' kind of thing, and I'm so, so ready. I've already ordered the wood stove and everything...