the studio

Yesterday was the day. I went to the shipyard to sign the paperwork and get the keys to the studio. Gosh – I got so nervous and almost scared before I left the house. I wanted someone to come with me and yet I knew this was something I needed to do alone. I knew that while I craved the presence of another, it would not change the nervousness I felt. Plus I wanted to experience it all – the feeling of riding the buses and trains to get there and to see if I could gauge how long this bus ride would take. Off I went, dressed in layers because while the weather seemed decent enough, I knew it would be cold near the waterfront. I remembered a scarf and it was well needed.

I met with the site manager. This woman was really nice and we chatted a bit as she explained the rules of the studio. Most of the information was about how to store things – like my spray paints have to be stored in a metal cabinet or container (like a metal garbage can) due to fire safety rules. Overall, all of the ‘rules’ seemed reasonable. After an hour of paperwork the keys were placed in my hand and I walked to my studio.

It’s in a building that used to be the Navy commissary. It still has a big industrial kitchen on the first floor and now they rent the kitchen out and it is used by several foodtruck businesses to prepare food. The second floor houses the studios.

I walked in and simply stood there, blown away. It’s a really nice, clean studio with freshly painted walls and a nice grey floor. There are about 5 windows that look out facing the water and in the distance you can see the city skyline.

Amazing – simply amazing.

There’s not much to see right now but here are two photos of the place with the furniture that was left behind by the last resident (they encourage each resident to leave some furniture behind so that the next resident doesn’t have to start completely from scratch…)