brandon and i spent the holiday week up north in auburn california and nevada city. both are tiny historical mining towns that fueled my love of texture, color depth and my now aware love; doors! enjoy!
Daydreams of a future space
I’m a lover of spaces! Whether it is home or creative work spaces; dwellings are my thing! So much so, sometimes, I believe I should have explored a career in interior design.
As you know, I moved out of my creative work space this past August and am currently setting up shop in my humble garage. (you can read more about that here). And though a jewelry studio away from home may not be in the works for a while; I cannot help but dream a little, about what that space will look like and what it may offer me!
If the stars align in my favor, my future space will be open, bright and calming. I imagine concrete floors and clean white walls. Maybe a wall or two of exposed brick that is painted white. Tall ceilings and large metal framed windows that face north. There is a sink this time! Yes, and plenty of outlets.
Every now and then I allow myself to sit and daydream about the start of my day in that future space:
I imagine walking into the studio on a rainy day, with my [future] Grate Dane “Otis”. Making myself some coffee (black) and turning on some music while Otis finds his way to his bed atop the cowhide rug that lays below the windows. After I finally settle with The Knife station on Pandora, I begin my ritual of “awakening the studio”. Turning on the pickle pots. Then the torches at the soldering station. Uncovering tools and equipment. And warming up the laptop to later check open orders and answer emails. I imagine I would light a few candles before I began to sweep the floors. And as I turn to see Otis curled up in attempts to stay warm, the sound of the rain urges me to play around with some new ideas…
I do wish to share this future studio with 1 or 2 other jewelers or other creatives. If it is to be a shared space, It will be one of openness, encouragement and kindness. I would love to host many creative workshops and gatherings. The idea is to build a community and network of true, authentic friendships! Ah, I cannot wait for this to come to fruition!
*all photos via pinterest
Bittersweet
If you ask most artists or makers what their ideal creative space would look like, they’d probably say something like:
“… it would have lots of natural light, polished cement floors, large windows that over look the city, exposed brick walls and lots of room to spread out; right next to cool bars and restaurants”!
Well, I was fortunate enough to have such a space!
I shared it with two other studio mates for about a year. Over time, various opportunities and priorities lead my mates to journey out of the studio. And not long after, I found myself hit with a pleasant opportunity; my boyfriend and I finally found a beautiful 1920’s Spanish style house to call our own!
There was one dilemma; our beautiful old new home is literally on the opposite end of town!
At the time, I wasn’t quite ready to give up my space, so I commuted 18 minutes everyday to work in the studio. But after a few months, it actually became daunting. Now I know you’re thinking “its only 18 minutes”. But, when I got the itch to get up and make, that 18 minute drive diminished that feeling. Not to forget the time it takes to shower and dress good enough to be seen, pack lunch (which I usual forget to do) and pay for parking. It didn’t take too long for my downtown dream jewelry studio to loose its luster. So, on August 30th 2015, I moved Bless The Theory out of the cool brick and mortar building and relocated all my tools and contemporary wears across town to my garage.
Now, lets not cry over the departed studio, instead lets take a minute to look back on its glory!…
The photo above was shot weeks before I even signed the lease! I remember begging the owners to leave it “as is” so that I could finish the rest. I was SO egger to have a industrial space, I didn’t want them to touch a thing! It did not take me long to get settled in. I love decorating, so I did quite a bit of re-arranging, especially after my former studio mates left and I had the space all to myself.
It was unbelievable the amount of light that came into the studio! That lead to somewhat perfect product shooting days. (I say somewhat because, when do we ever have a “perfect” shooting day?) The light just seemed to last forever…or at least until he sun dropped. My electricity bill was always under $12! There was also so much great texture. I would find myself gazing at the walls on any given day! Those cement and expose brick walls made their way to my Instgram often! (See for yourself here)
And the views! Oh the views! On a clear day I could see ALL the way to DTLA. I could see Signal Hill and San Pedro! And most of all I could see beautiful Downtown Long Beach! The best view of DTLB was on a rainy day…
I’ll be honest; It was hard to say goodbye to such a fantastic jewelry studio. My second jewelry studio, in fact! I must say that I made some decent progress with Bless The Theory in that space! And I finally had a chance to host a fun Holiday Party/Sale with my former studio mates (that turned out way better that we could’ve wished for)! Which was something I’d been wanting to do for a while!
Yes, it was a great atelier… and I will miss it dearly! But, I know deep in my core that I will find another creative cave to call my own when the time is right. I know exactly what I need and what type of environment I want to create in. And I know that I want to be in it for a long while. So for now, I shale make the best of my humble, one window, garage and allow it to teach me patience and resourcefulness.
I do not look at this as a loss or a step a back (maybe a little of a step back). Instead, I’m CHOOSING to see it as: letting go of past opportunities in order to receive new and greater possibilities! And I CAN and WILL wait for that perfect space to come to me!
Thanks for reading
Char
Featured On :: Darling Magazine
It’s been a while since I posted anything in this little corner of my site and today I had a just the nudge I needed to put my hands to the keyboard! My Parallel Fold Stacking rings were featured on Darling Magazines blog post; “Products We Love Vol. 7”! And here is what they had to say about them:
“Why we love it: Summer is synonymous with minimal, which is why we love these dainty rings that can be worn independently or as a trio. Made from 100% recycled Sterling Silver, each ring is adorned with a subtle 1/8 inch silver fold and sets have variations of vertical and horizontal folds. Even if you can’t feel cool this summer, you can certainly look it.” – Darling Magazine
I truly feel that most contemporary jewelry can be worn with just about any genera of fashion. And I love when my minimal unisex pieces are paired with feminine dainty wears. I may have a particular idea of how my work is worn but it does not mean you have to wear it that way. So “thank you” to the gals over at Darling for giving my modern metal a place in their darling world!
You can pick up a set of my Parallel Stacker for yourself right here and read the full list of Darlings “Product We Love” here!
Thanks so much for reading!
Char