Alright brace yourself! This is a long blog post for me but I want to catch you all up to where we are in this exciting adventure of running a little working studio and gallery and how we got here! Here we go…
This is the store front right before I signed the lease!
Woo wee the last two and a half months of my life have been the busiest, craziest, most exciting, most nervous, and fulfilling of my life! No seriously! It felt like mashing all the emotions and planning of my Master of Fine Arts Degree, wedding and 10 Christmas’ into just two and a half months! I guess that’s what happens when you stop making excuses and just leap for your dream and open a gallery!
Looking back out the front of the Gallery space
Looking to the back of the gallery and into my work space
So how did this all happen? At once! Not really but it felt like it. My husband and I had tossed the idea of opening an art shop a little when we first moved back to Edmonds WA after finishing our degrees. There were a few empty storefronts that caught our eye but after a little bit we thought it wasn’t the right time. So I did a few street fairs and a lot of art making over the summer. I was having a good time. Selling a little but nowhere near where I wanted to be. Then I applied to a few bigger craft fairs for the winter season. I GOT REJECTED BY ALL THREE! Ouch. I was pretty crushed. Everyone always told me how great my work was and they could totally see me at these shows but it didn’t happen!
Demo Days!
I spent a lot of time at the paint pick up counter
So to say the least I was frustrated. I had a good long talk on a stroll with my Grandpa about what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go with my art making. Then he said “Why don’t you just open a working studio?” I started mulling it over. Talked to Nathan about it. It was finally the right time!!! We hoped!
This is where my new working studio is now… after we did a lot of changes!
Progress!
Nathan left for a work trip early Wednesday morning and by Friday afternoon I had scoped out three different available spaces in downtown Edmonds, picked one and signed the lease. Monday morning demo began! Redoing the whole space to fit my needs took a whole month!!! During that time I was frantically making more artwork along with picking out lighting, paint, furniture and lots of other little things. The next month was filled with moving art in, moving them around, moving them again, moving in my working studio, and putting all the finishing touches in. Lucky for me my husband’s internship finished up a few weeks into the whole process so I had some extra help. However we were still putting in the finishing touches right up to the minute we opened!
I started getting excited about my new work space at this point!
Lets not forget the dream storage space!
It’s easy to make a list of all the things that need to get done to open a shop but you don’t really realize that each of those things has its own to do list with hundreds of little steps along the way! I had page long daily To-Do lists but we got it all done!
We had some deep cleaning to do on the floors!
It was finally coming together and time to move “stuff” in!
Now we have been open for two weeks and we are still catching up on lots of little business things but I can already see how this little gallery of mine is taking me in the right direction of where I want to go!
Looking to the back of the gallery where my studio is!
The accent wall and a peek into my studio space where my husband is diligently watching over the gallery!
Alright, enough chit chat for today! I’ll share more soon and make it a regular thing so these blog posts don’t need to be so lengthy! Thank you for all your patience as we continue to update and work on the Blog, Facebook, Etsy shop ect. We put in long days and weeks to get it all up to speed for you wonderful supporters!
Looking to the front of the gallery at the eclectic wall!
Looking to the front of the gallery at the photo wall!
Wow… what a beautiful post about the process of having your own gallery. A huge congratulations. It totally looks awesome. Wishing you much creative success and selling your work also.
Wow! Your post is so inspiring that I think I’m up for cleaning one whole shelf in my office. Beautiful, well organized photos have that effect on me-Thanks! Can’t wait to see your work a bit closer to enjoy what you are creating. The space, as a whole, looks fabulous and so approachable!
Best,
Becky
“You’ve come a long way baby!”
Oh gosh, drooling here. That is one freaking awesome art gallery / studio you have there. how brave you are to set this up and how lucky you are you found such a lovely place.
Wishing you luck on your journey and may buyers line up to buy your work in the new year. ♥